page_title: Reportedly haunted locations in the District of Columbia
section_title: Georgetown
hierarchical_section_title: Reportedly haunted locations in the District of Columbia / Georgetown
caption_attribution_description: English: Halcyon House, also known as the Benjamin Stoddert House, at 3400 Prospect Street in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
context_page_description: There are a number of reportedly haunted locations in Washington, D.C. Founded on July 16, 1790, the city is the capital of the United States. Washington, D.C., has been the site of military battles, deadly duels, assassinations, untimely deaths, and associated tragedies.
  Washington's haunted history is so well known that some of its haunted locations were featured in a 2006 documentary, America's Haunted Houses, on the A&E cable network. Novelist Dan Brown mentioned them prominently in his 2009 novel, The Lost Symbol. Notable purportedly haunted locations include the United States Capitol, Capitol Hill, the White House, Lafayette Square and nearby buildings, Independence Avenue SW, The Octagon House, Chinatown, the National Theatre, Hay–Adams Hotel, Woodrow Wilson House, Omni Shoreham Hotel, and many others.
  The United States Capitol is reputedly haunted by many past representatives of the United States House of Representatives and government officials, officers who served during the American Revolutionary War, workers who died during its construction and a "demon black cat" that is said to make appearances just before national tragedies or changes in Presidential administration.
context_section_description: General Edward Braddock left Observatory Hill in Georgetown in 1755 on an expedition to capture the French Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War. Braddock's expedition was surprised on July 9 in the vicinity of present-day Braddock, Pennsylvania, in what is now known as the Battle of the Monongahela. Nearly 900 of Braddock's 1,300 men were killed or wounded, and Braddock himself killed. Since before the American Civil War, witnesses say that on the anniversary of Braddock's departure they can hear shouted military orders, horses' hooves on cobblestones, the sound of men marching, and the sound of metal clanking against metal. The sounds can be heard near the old Long Bridge or near the Georgetown bluffs overlooking the Potomac River.
  Halcyon House (3400 Prospect Street NW) is a 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m²) mansion originally built in 1787 by Benjamin Stoddert, the first Secretary of the Navy. Halcyon House was owned by several individuals in the 19th century, and is alleged to have served as part of the Underground Railroad. The home was sold in 1900 to Albert Clemens, a nephew of Mark Twain. The original structure was heavily altered over the next 38 years. Clemens believed that perpetually rebuilding the house would extend his life. The coach house was joined to the building, apartments added to the north face and rear, rooms built within rooms, hallways added and then walled off, and even a small crypt added in one room. Clemens died in 1938. Halcyon House is allegedly haunted by the spirits of numerous runaway slaves who died there during their escape to freedom, and whose moans and cries can be heard in the basement. Others claim that the ghost of Benjamin Stoddert has been seen, heard walking through the house, sitting in a chair, or whispering unintelligibly. The spirit of a woman has also been spotted in an upstairs window. A six-year-old visitor claimed that the woman frequently woke him at night by rearranging his covers. Two residents say they have experienced levitation during the night, with their bodies being reversed so that their feet were on the pillow. Unnamed residents have told about lights mysteriously going out and sounds in the attic.
  The Old Stone House (3051 M Street NW) was built in 1765 by Christopher and Rachel Layman. The house was sold in 1767 to a wealthy widow, Cassandra Chew, who constructed a kitchen in the rear in 1767, and a second floor between 1767 and 1775, and a third floor in the 1790s. It remained in private hands for almost two centuries, used as a home and place of business, until the federal government purchased it in 1953 . An exceptionally large number of spirits, residents and visitors claim, inhabit the small house. These include: A woman in a brown dress standing near the fireplace, a heavy-set woman standing on the staircase and also in the kitchen, a man with long blond hair and wearing a blue jacket, a man wearing short pants and long stockings, a woman in a rocking chair on the third floor, a small boy who runs down the third floor hallway, a man dressed in Colonial-era clothing standing in the master bedroom, a man dressed in Colonial-era clothing seen on the second floor, a young girl with curly hair running up and down the staircase, an African American boy, and a German-looking craftsman. The laughter of invisible children and the translucent images of women cooking in the kitchen have also been observed. The Old Stone House may also contain one of Washington's only malevolent spirits, nicknamed "George," who has choked and pushed visitors and whose presence (often indicated by an extremely cold spot) leaves witnesses with an intense feeling of dread. The hauntings at the Old Stone House are so well known that they were mentioned in Sandi Wilson's short crime story, "The Blonde in Black."
  Bridges in Georgetown may also be the sites of ghostly activity. Two specters are said to haunt the site of the M Street Bridge. M Street NW was known on the Georgetown side as "Bridge Street" before the street renaming of 1895. In 1788, a wooden drawbridge was built ov
caption: Halcyon House
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