George Washington's keys are jingling in an empty room. Footsteps sound overhead when nobody is upstairs. And at one Virginia Beach hotel, even a cat supposedly has trouble checking out.
Virginia's ghost stories give some of its best-known historic places an afterlife of their own, with tales of restless residents, mysterious lights and visitors who disappear before anyone can ask what they're doing there.
Four places featured in Patch's earlier haunted Virginia roundup return to this list, joined by additions from roundups published or updated this fall by local tourism organizations and the Central Rappahannock Regional Library.
The hauntings are folklore and reported experiences, rather than established facts. But readers who enjoy a good shiver with their history will find plenty of stories at these nine places.
A creaking floorboard is one thing. A mysterious fireball racing through the house is considerably harder to ignore.
That's among the legends attached to Bacon's Castle. Surry County Tourism recounts a tale of a fireball traveling down the stair tower, through a former doorway and across a field toward nearby church ruins. Another story involves a woman in white appearing on the property.
The real history is substantial, too. Built in 1665 for Arthur Allen, the house is the oldest brick dwelling in North America, according to Preservation Virginia. It took its name from followers of Nathaniel Bacon who occupied it during Bacon's Rebellion.
Apparently, retirement wasn't enough to get Washington out of the house.
Fairfax's October roundup recounts a security employee's 2012 report: After the mansion was emptied and locked, the employee heard keys jingling in Washington's bedroom. The tourism organization notes that Washington was known for carrying a heavy set of keys.
Other stories include overnight guests who claimed to see Washington's spirit and an interpreter who reported watching a young woman carrying flowers disappear at the bottom of the stairs.
Washington isn't the only Founding Father with a ghost story.
At George Mason's Gunston Hall, visitors have reported seeing Mason's apparition in mirrors, according to Visit Fairfax. Its roundup also describes unexplained footsteps and reports of figures in period clothing inside and outside the house.
In a historic home, old-fashioned clothes may not draw a second glance. A figure in the mirror might.
Some tavern regulars are apparently reluctant to leave.
The Central Rappahannock Regional Library's October ghost-story roundup connects the Rising Sun Tavern's haunting lore to John Frazer, who leased and operated the building as a tavern and died there in 1793.
The stories include flickering lights, sudden cold and objects moving without anyone touching them. The library also recounts a tale of an unseen presence repeatedly switching lights back on after a curator turned them off.
Closing time, it seems, was open to negotiation.
Chatham's Lady in White supposedly keeps a much less demanding social calendar than most ghosts.
According to the library's roundup, the legend involves a young woman separated from her lover and sent back to England. Her spirit is said to return to Chatham every seven years, appearing in a long white wedding gown.
The next appearance, by the story's calendar, would fall on June 21, 2028.
That leaves plenty of time to decide whether you want to be there.
At the Peyton Randolph House, the unsettling question is whether those footsteps belong to anyone still living.
The Virginia Tourism Corp.'s haunted-sites guide recounts reports of heavy footsteps overhead when no one is upstairs, as well as sightings of a young man walking through the house. The tale connects him to a lodger who became ill and died there.
The house's documented history deserves attention alongside its ghost stories. Colonial Williamsburg interprets the property as the home of the Randolph family and 27 enslaved people, exploring the contradictions between slavery and the revolutionary struggle for freedom.
At Ferry Plantation House, volunteers say shutting off the lights doesn't always settle the matter.
The museum's own collection of paranormal accounts describes third-floor lights found on after volunteers had turned them off, mysterious balls of light above the roof and fleeting sightings of children on a staircase landing.
The brick house dates to 1830 and was built using bricks from an earlier manor that burned, according to the site's historical timeline. It remains a fixture of Virginia Beach ghost lore and appears in the city tourism organization's recent spooky-places roundup.
A phantom bellman would be convenient. A ghost cat might be harder to persuade to leave your room.
Both appear in the Cavalier's collection of supernatural stories, according to Visit Virginia Beach. Its roundup also describes tales of a wandering World War II soldier and a ghostly pianist.
Sixth-floor lore includes reports of cold spots, whispers and windows opening on their own. For travelers who like their accommodations with a little atmosphere, the stories supply plenty.
Readers of Patch's earlier roundup may remember this location as Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery. Lexington renamed it Oak Grove Cemetery in 2020, according to the state's VA250 history guide. Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson remains buried there.
The ghost stories have lingered, too. Business Insider's recently updated state-by-state roundup selects Oak Grove as Virginia's haunted destination, citing stories of Jackson and other Civil War soldiers haunting the cemetery.
Planning your own ghost-story outing? Check each site's official visitor information for hours, admission and tour availability before heading out. An afterlife doesn't necessarily mean access after hours.
Sign up for free local newsletters and alerts for the
Across Virginia Patch
Patch.com is the nationwide leader in hyperlocal news.
Visit Patch.com to find your town today.