Virginia is for Lovers… and apparitions… and things that go bump in the night. Our picks for Most Haunted Places in Virginia:
- Wythe House– Williamsburg-Circa 1753 classic colonial house is home to Lady Shipwith, who died under mysterious circumstances. Not long after her death, her hubby married her sister. Hell hath no fury.
- Ferry Plantation House – Virginia Beach – Ferry service dates back to the 1600s and houses many ghosts including the Witch of Pungo. She was drowned for practicing witchcraft in the Lynnehaven River.
- Cold Harbor Battlefield – Richmond – In 1864, over 13,000 soldiers died in a battle that wiped out Grant’s troops. After starvation and dehydration killed many more from both sides.
- Central State Hospital – Petersburg – Formerly known as the Central Lunatic Asylum, it is still a working facility and has been since 1870. First to allow black people. Well known for being overcrowded, still to this day.
- Radford, Va. – Home of the Lady in the Mirror at La Riviere and the St. Albans Sanatorium. The Sanatorium was built on the grounds of a bloody battle between colonists and the Shawnee Indians in the 1700s. THEN, it became home of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. THEN, they said here’s an idea, let’s build a Lutheran Boys School on the grounds and hire a headmaster who was an absolute monster. Suicides and homicides were said to be common, but, their football team was really good. FINALLY, in 1916 it became a psychiatric hospital. Just not a good one. As a matter of fact, it was downright deplorable where lobotomies and such were practiced with regularity by a staff of 48 to the over 6,000 patients.
- Staunton, Virginia – By day beautiful town. By night, a little less welcoming. The train depot has had 2 tragedies. In 1864, it was burned down by Union Soldiers. In 1890 a train derailment destroyed it. Staunton was also home to one of those “less than adequate” mental hospitals we talk about so much.
