By: Tom Morgan
The haunted history of some of these local destinations may change MY mind, but you should still visit these places.
Hauntedrooms.com did some research to find the ten most haunted places in Virginia, and three of them are close!
SWANNANOA PALACE, AFTON
One of the unique things about Swannanoa Palace is that it took about 8 years to complete the building work.
It was officially completed in 1912 and was originally owned by a prominent Virginia family called The Dooleys. When the family died, the house was transformed into a county club.
Unfortunately, during the Great Depression and World War II, the house was more or less abandoned. From 1949 and 1998 the mansion was rented by the University of Science and Philosophy, but it now lies empty in a terrible state of disrepair.
It is sad to see it decaying, but the good news is that the current owners do have plans to restore it to its former glory.
The paranormal activity only really started to gain attention in the last couple of years, but in that time a number of different paranormal investigators have managed to pick up some very compelling EVP evidence.
They believe that it is the Dooley family who is haunting their former home.
STAUNTON TRAIN DEPOT, STAUNTON
Staunton Train Depot has only really started to garner a spooky reputation fairly recently. However, it has quickly become one of the most haunted locations in Virginia.
If you visit by day all you will see is a charming and fairly welcoming train station. However, by night things are very different.
It is not really that surprising that there are ghosts here considering the fact that there have been several tragic events at the station. In 1864, it was burned down by Union soldiers and several people perished.
There was also a mental hospital close by which had awful living conditions for patients and some say that the ghosts from there have wandered into the station on occasion.
There have been a wide variety of ghosts reported here over the past few years.
Among them, there has been a little girl killed in a train accident, a Confederate soldier, several older mental patients and a number of people believed to have died when the station was destroyed by a train derailment in 1890.
COLD HARBOUR BATTLEFIELD PARK, RICHMOND
Aside from Gettysburg, Cold Harbor is said to be one of the most haunted battlefields in the United States.
It was here that General Lee celebrated one of his last victories over Grant and his forces.
The area is now part of a National Park and so protected by rangers, but that doesn’t stop people from spotting some of the many ghosts that are said to remain to haunt the trenches.
Visitors also report hearing the distant sounds of a brutal battle going on.
Read about the ten most haunted places in Virginia HERE
