Haunted Places in Potomac, Maryland



  • 0

    Marwood Mansion

    Potomac, Maryland

    Witnesses in this former house of the Gore family say they have seen the bathroom window open by itself, the toilet flushing, and steam coming from the tub, as well as eerie sounds from the basement. An apparition of the family's butler has been seen on the steps and around ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Clara Barton National Historic Site

    Glen Echo, Maryland

    5.1 miles from Potomac, MD

    Clara Barton National Historic Site, home of the famous wartime nurse for the last 15 years of her life, is said to be haunted. Folks have reported apparitions and it is believed that Clara herself still lingers here in spirit.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Beall-Dawson House

    Rockville, Maryland

    5.4 miles from Potomac, MD

    This restored 1815 home and museum site is haunted by an apparition. Speculators say it may be original builder Upton Beall, his wife Jane, or one of their daughters: Jane, Mathilda or Margaret. Some suppose it also could be a household slaves. Ghost tours are offered around Halloween.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Omni Shoreham Hotel

    Washington, District of Columbia

    10.6 miles from Potomac, MD

    This mammoth upscale 1930 hotel is home to its fair share of haunts. In 1930, a rich family, one of the hotel's finiancial backers, moved into Room 864. Reports say that one night their nanny awoke feeling ill, suddenly collapsed, and died. A few days later their adopted daughter Helen ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Halcyon House

    Washington, District of Columbia

    10.8 miles from Potomac, MD

    Built by first Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert in 1787, Halcyon House was sold in 1900 to Albert Clemens, a nephew of Mark Twain. Clemens, who died in 1938, believed that perpetually altering the house would extend his life, so it changed quite a bit over the decades in ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Woodrow Wilson House

    Washington, District of Columbia

    11.1 miles from Potomac, MD

    At this museum, both staff members and visitors have reported seeing President Woodrow Wilson's apparition sitting in his rocking chair. Also reported have been the sound of a man with a shiffling gait walking with a cane and the sound of a man sobbing.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Old Stone House

    Washington, District of Columbia

    11.1 miles from Potomac, MD

    The 18th-century home is reported to be one of the oldest buildings in D.C. It's believed to be home to at least four spirits, who knock things off shelves and perform other mischievous tricks. One spirit is said to be an "unfriendly male" who has scared many a visitor.


    Read more »
  • 0

    M Street Bridge

    Washington, District of Columbia

    11.3 miles from Potomac, MD

    Visitors to the bridge should keep a lookout for two ghosts. One is a phantom stagecoach, which locals saw from the early 19th century to the early 20th century; the other is a drummer boy who had been knocked off-balance by a strong breeze and drowned. Witnesses say they have ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Walsh Mansion - Embassy of Indonesia

    Washington, District of Columbia

    11.5 miles from Potomac, MD

    Formerly the Walsh Mansion and now the Embassy of Indonesia, this 1903 mansion is believed to be haunted by Evalyn Walsh McLean, daughter of original builder Thomas J. Walsh. The mansion had 60 rooms, including a theater and a ballroom. Evalyn Walsh married publishing heir Edward Beale "Ned" McLean, whose ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Cost Plus World Market

    Potomac, Virginia

    11.5 miles from Potomac, MD

    I use to work at this store years ago and can tell you (and I'm sure you can ask other people who have worked there) that this place is truly haunted. When I worked over night here or worked a closing shift there were many strange happenings. There was always ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Old Post Chapel

    Arlington, Virginia

    11.8 miles from Potomac, MD

    Many Arlington National Cemetery burials started in this old military chapel, in use since the 1930s. Witnesses have reported unexplained voices and footsteps, locked doors have been known to open by themselves, and at least once, a soldier went into a room to find all the cabinets wide open. A ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Renaissance Mayflower Hotel

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12 miles from Potomac, MD

    This 1925 is known for its beautiful inlaid gold decor, and also for its resident ghost. When Calvin Coolidge won the U.S. presidency, he was expected to go to his Inaugural Ball at the Mayflower Hotel. However, his son Calvin Jr. had just died of an infection, and the devastated ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Decatur House

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.3 miles from Potomac, MD

    The ghost of war hero Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr., is said to peer out the second-story window of his 1819 house or walk out its back door. Decatur was killed just 14 months after moving here, in a duel between himself and former friend James Barron. Ghostly weeping also can ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Blair House

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.3 miles from Potomac, MD

    Now a complex of four connected townhouses and the official state guest housing for the President of the United States, the historic Blair House was built in 1824 for Joseph Lovell, eighth Surgeon General of the United States Army. It is said that the ghost of President Woodrow Wilson has ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Hay–Adams Hotel

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.3 miles from Potomac, MD

    Allegedly haunted by the ghost of Marian (Clover) Hooper Adams who lived in the residence that occupied this site prior to the hotel being constructed. Mrs. Adams committed suicide by ingesting potassium cyanide. People claim to see and smell distinct scents that they attribute to her, including the smell ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    The Octagon House

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.3 miles from Potomac, MD

    Built by Colonel John Tahoe in 1799, the historic Octagon House was used as The White House during former president Madison's term. One ghost here is the spirit of Colonel Tahoe's pregnant daughter, who died when she threw herself from the top banister. She committed suicide after finding out her ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    St. John's Episcopal Church

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.3 miles from Potomac, MD

    The 1816 church's President's Pew, reserved for the President of the United States, is where the hauntings are said to take place. So the story goes, when the old church bell tolls for the death of a notable person, six ghostly men in white robes appear at midnight in the ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Cutts-Madison House - Dolley Madison House

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.4 miles from Potomac, MD

    The spirit of former First Lady Dolley Madison is said to reside at her home, built in 1822 by Richard Cutts, Dolley's brother-in-law. After her husband James Madison died in 1836, Dolley lived here until her death in 1849. Although the house's next owner Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes changed things ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    The White House

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.4 miles from Potomac, MD

    A number of mysterious happenings have been reported in the White House. President Abraham Lincoln's apparition is seen in the Lincoln Bedroom and all over the White House, President Andrew Jackson is seen in the Rose Bedroom, and President William Henry Harrison is heard in the attic. Abigail Adams is ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Treasury Annex

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.4 miles from Potomac, MD

    A ghostly woman in a long white dress roams the second floor, seen by several employees working late. Also experienced have been unexplained footsteps and voices, and even a toilet flushing.


    Read more »

  • Ghosts of Alexandria (VA)
    Michael Lee Pope
  • 0

    Lafayette Square - Presidents Park

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.5 miles from Potomac, MD

    President's Park, a.k.a. Lafayette Square, is said to be haunted by Philip Barton Key II, son of Francis Scott Key. As legend has it, in 1958 Philip Key had an affair with the wife of one of his friends, Daniel Sickles. In his rage, Sickles shot Key, who was unarmed, ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Caldwell Hall - Catholic University of America

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.5 miles from Potomac, MD

    A ghost story told at this historic university explains some mysterious lights and an apparition that appears in Caldwell Hall's attic window. The spirit is said to belong to a priest who took a fatal fall from the window after discovering a book on exorcism.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Willard InterContinental

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.7 miles from Potomac, MD

    The grand hotel has had many famous guests, such as Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, General John J. Pershing, and Harry Houdini. Another renowned guest, once a U.S. president, is believed to still reside here. An apparition believed to be Ulysses S. Grant has been ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    National Theatre

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.7 miles from Potomac, MD

    Opened in 1835 originally, the theater was demolished and rebuilt in 1923. Deceased actor John McCullough's spirit has appeared here in the role of Shakespeare's Hamlet. According to local stories, the actor was murdered here in the 1880s by another actor. The ghost has been seen as far back as ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Kerby Hall - Trinity Washington University

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.8 miles from Potomac, MD

    This hall is rumored to be haunted by a student who died in the late 1960s. She has been seen in both the staircase and the 5th-floor lounge, as well as in some dorm rooms.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Piero's Corner Italian - Carlos O'Kelley's

    Fairfax, Virginia

    12.9 miles from Potomac, MD

    This location was once a "Carlos O'Kelley's" restaurant. Now it is an Italian place called "Piero's Corner." Back when it was Carlos O'Kelley's, it was said that a dishwasher who worked there hanged himself in the building and haunted the premises from then on. Numerous waitstaff reported ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Ford's Theatre

    Washington, District of Columbia

    12.9 miles from Potomac, MD

    At this historic theater where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, folks say John Wilkes Booth's footsteps still can be heard running up the back stairs to the Presidential Box.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Mary Surratt's Boarding House - Wok and Roll

    Washington, District of Columbia

    13 miles from Potomac, MD

    Notorious Lincoln conspirator Mary Surratt's former boarding house is now Wok and Roll, a Chinese restaurant, and it is said to be haunted by Mary Surratt's ghost. Witnesses have heard unintelligible murmurs, unexplained footsteps, muffled weeping and creaking floorboards.


    Read more »
  • 0

    National Museum of Crime and Punishment

    Washington, District of Columbia

    13.1 miles from Potomac, MD

    On display is the Tennessee electric chair, used on 125 men from 1916 to 1960. It is said to be haunted by the ghosts of the men whose lives it took.


    Read more »
  • 0

    National Building Museum

    Washington, District of Columbia

    13.2 miles from Potomac, MD

    The 1887 National Building Museum is said to be haunted by ghosts who appear in an unusual way. Formerly the "Pension Building," where pensions were processed for Civil War veterans, widows, and orphans, it has 15 Corinthian brick-and-plaster columns painted to resemble black onyx. Witnesses say the colors on the ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Old Long Bridge - 14th Street Bridge

    Washington, District of Columbia

    13.4 miles from Potomac, MD

    General Edward Braddock's 1755 expedition to capture Fort Duquesne was attacked, killing or wounding 900 men, in what is now known as the Battle of the Monongahela. Rumor has it that on the anniversary of Braddock's departure near the bridge or along the nearby bluffs, the ghostly sounds of military ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Independence Avenue SW

    Washington, District of Columbia

    13.5 miles from Potomac, MD

    This part of the avenue is believed to be haunted by the ghosts of slaves. It is the former site of two notorious slave markets: the Yellow House or Williams Slave Pen, now the FAA headquarters, and the nearby Robey Slave Pen, at the 7th Street corner. Locals have heard ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    George Mason University

    Fairfax, Virginia

    13.9 miles from Potomac, MD

    The crew team at George Mason University has reported seeing the ghost of an old man near the docks or dam. Legend has it that he's Old Man Johnson, a deceased area rower who, in the 1970s, found his wife having an affair. The distraught man went out rowing and ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Gallaudet University - MSSD

    Washington, District of Columbia

    13.9 miles from Potomac, MD

    MSSD is the Model Secondary School for the Deaf. The ghost of a girl who committed suicide has been seen in the dorms, as well as another female spirit. Hoofbeats also have been felt through the campus, thought to be left over from Revolutionary War soldiers.


    Read more »
  • 0

    United States Capitol

    Washington, District of Columbia

    13.9 miles from Potomac, MD

    At the U.S. Capitol, folks say that late at night, the statues in the Statuary Hall come to life and move about the room. It is also said that a black cat appears in the basement just before a national disaster occurs. The ghost of a builder who died during ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Library of Congress

    Washington, District of Columbia

    14.1 miles from Potomac, MD

    Tales are told of a ghostly police officer who haunts the stacks at the famed Library of Congress, often helping those who become lost amid the vast collection. Appearing both in uniform and in casual clothes, the officer, who often even tells people his name, is deceased sergeant. Other strange ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Fort McNair

    Washington, District of Columbia

    14.7 miles from Potomac, MD

    The ghost of Mary Surrat, convicted in a plot to assassinate President Lincoln, has been seen here, presumably trying to convince fort guests of her innocence. Building 21 has an unknown spirit lingering in spirit form. Workers here have heard footsteps in the attic and have felt something behind them ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Bladensburg Dueling Grounds

    Colmar Manor, Maryland

    14.9 miles from Potomac, MD

    When dueling was outlawed in the district limits, this area, now a park, became the spot where men could defend their honor. The apparition of Commodore Stephen Decatur, killed here in 1820, has been seen here, as well as other shadowy figures.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Marine Barracks - 8th & I

    Washington, District of Columbia

    15 miles from Potomac, MD

    The mysterious presence is said to linger around the lower parking garage, where a fatal accident involving a young child occurred. Some Marines have heard the child calling out early in the morning; others have seen a red ball rolling down a garage ramp.


    Read more »
  • 0

    St. Elizabeth's Hospital

    Washington, District of Columbia

    16.7 miles from Potomac, MD

    Paranormal experiences here have included groaning sounds, footsteps, cold spots, and strange noises. The site is still an operational hospital and trespassing is not permitted.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Lee-Fendall House

    Alexandria, Virginia

    16.9 miles from Potomac, MD

    The Lee-Fendall House museum, once used as a Revolutionary War hospital, is said to be haunted by female apparition in period clothing, a woman and child who appear on the back stairs, and the sound of an antique telephone. The site has been featured on an episode of TV’s Ghost ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Gadsby's Tavern

    Alexandria, Virginia

    17.2 miles from Potomac, MD

    Gadsby's Tavern was built in the 1770s and reportedly was visited by many of the country's founding fathers. According to rumor, the tours through the historic site do not include one of its rooms, which is closed tight. Why? It's said that a lovely ghost resides there. Legend has it ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    The John Douglass Brown House - Fawcett-Reeder House

    Alexandria, Virginia

    17.2 miles from Potomac, MD

    The John Douglass Brown House, aka Fawcett-Reeder House, was built in 1772 and was allegedly visited by George Washington during his lifetime. Around the colonial home, witnesses claim to have seen apparitions of ghostly Revolutionary War-era soldiers.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Ramsay House

    Alexandria, Virginia

    17.3 miles from Potomac, MD

    Ramsay House is used as a visitor information center, and originally was named for William Ramsay, Scottish merchant and city founder. Witnesses claim to have seen apparitions in 18th-century clothing in the building's basement.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Ball's Bluff Battlefield

    Leesburg, Virginia

    18.8 miles from Potomac, MD

    Ball's Bluff Battlefield Regional Park and National Cemetery is a 223-acre park that contains a Civil War battlefield and the third-smallest U.S. National Cemetery. The 1861 Battle of Ball's Bluff took place here, and 54 soldiers are buried in the cemetery. The park, which offers tours and over 7 miles ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Oxon Hill Cemetery

    Oxon Hill-Glassmanor, Maryland

    19 miles from Potomac, MD

    This cemetery is located off Oxon Hill Road, catty corner to Levi's Barbecue, behind the Post Office. About 10 years ago my husband and I were hanging out with a group of homeless people. We would go to wherever they set up camp and just sit around and drink and ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Woodlawn

    Alexandria, Virginia

    21.1 miles from Potomac, MD

    Historic Woodlawn was originally built in 1805 for Martha Washington’s granddaughter Nelly Parke Custis and her husband Major Lawrence Lewis. Now a museum, the place is rumored to be haunted by some of its many generations of former residents.


    Read more »
  • 0

    Glenn Dale Hospital

    Glenn Dale, Maryland

    21.7 miles from Potomac, MD

    Glenn Dale Hospital, built in 1934, was once a tuberculosis sanatorium with 23 buildings. It closed because of asbestos problems in 1981. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 2011 and is regularly patrolled by police. The Goat Man of Maryland, a half-man, half-goat creature, ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Oatlands Plantation

    Leesburg, Virginia

    22 miles from Potomac, MD

    Oatlands Plantation was once a 3,500-acre wheat and wool producer with over seven dozen slaves. Now a historic site of only 260 acres, the 1804 manor house museum is rumored to be home to a few spirits. Doors are said to randomly lock on their own, and witnesses and paranormalists ...


    Read more »
  • 0

    Manassas National Battlefield

    Manassas, Virginia

    22.2 miles from Potomac, MD

    Historic Manassas National Battlefield Park contains an unfinished railroad ordered by Robert E. Lee. The Civil War-era railroad site is said to be popular with the spirit set, as several accounts of paranormal activity surrounding the area have been reported.


    Read more »

  • Ghosthunting Maryland
    Michael J. Varhola


» Cemeteries near Potomac, MD

» Find museums in Potomac, MD