In honor of Spooky Season, we here at the DC History Center are bringing you three spine-chilling, local ghost stories with materials from our archives. Our collections, via the Kiplinger Research Library, are open to researchers by appointment. Who qualifies as a researcher? You do! We have been collecting items and papers since 1894 with the mission of capturing our city’s unique history, and we work hard at making local DC history available and accessible to as many interested people as possible.
Are ghosts real? Who knows. But if they are, Washington, DC is (understandably) one of the most haunted places in the country. And with so many preserved and renovated old buildings, tales of centuries-old paranormal activity abound. Read on for some of our favorites, and if any of these topics or locations strike your fancy, send us a quick email at library@dchistory.org to come view some of our materials.
The Three Sisters
Eat your heart out, Shakespeare: this is a love and death tragedy in triplicate. As the story goes, the three strapping sons of a chief defied their father’s orders and stole a boat so they could fish in the treacherous waters. They quickly met with disaster and began to drown. Three beautiful young princesses set out on a small raft to rescue the foolhardy brothers, and were also quickly dragged down by the river. As they died, the sisters cursed that part in the river, which is supposedly impassable. According to the legend, sounds of desperate screaming and uncontrollable sobbing can be heard when the Potomac is about to take a life.
This story is Native American folklore, purportedly from the Powhatan tribe. Colonizer John Smith (of Pocahontas fame) recorded hearing the screaming and sobbing firsthand. In the place where the sisters reportedly died, there are three small islands: a warning to any enthusiastic sailors to give that area a wide berth.
If you would like to learn about Georgetown’s doomed Three Sisters Bridge, read this 2016 article in our Washington History magazine, downloadable on JSTOR. Other resources include an excellently researched 1969 Washington History magazine feature on the subject and a variety of primary sources and other documents available in our archives.
To register for a free JSTOR account, click here.
Ghosts Trapped in the Columns
Before it was The National Building Museum, it was the Pension Building: initially built to manage the distribution of benefits to combat survivors and their families from the Civil War onward. One of the most striking features of the building is its fifteen imposing Corinthian columns, some of the tallest in the world. These famous columns are hollow and, while originally white-washed, were later painted to look like marble. They serve as time capsules for important documents and artifacts of the 1800s, which were encased in metal crates and entombed in the columns. These artifacts include the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, typographic and battlefield maps, a facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, and other War and State Department publications. The great majority of the columns have not been opened and the troves remain untouched.
Some insist that the columns are haunted. By World War I, the building had gained a reputation for harboring discontented souls. Night guards frequently complained of seeing swirling grisly ghosts and skulls in the painted swirls of the marble. Allegedly, nighttime is when the Building Museum is at its spookiest: a lady in white strolls the moonlit halls, and apparitions lurk in shadowy corners.
To take a look at original documents and photos from both the Pension Building and the later National Building Museum, make an appointment with us! Indicate call numbers and titles for the items you would like to see from our catalog; as an example, check out the search results for this topic here.
Is the Octagon DC’s Most Haunted House?
The rustle of invisible silks. A wildly swinging chandelier. Screams and mysterious disappearing footsteps in the dust. Now a museum, the Octagon House, located at 1799 New York Avenue NW in Foggy Bottom, is said to be the home of several spectral residents. During the War of 1812, as the White House burned, James and Dolley Madison were offered temporary residence in the stately mansion. Dolley Madison is reputed to be quite an itinerant ghost, as she haunts several famous locations, the Octagon House included.
According to local lore, the random sound of servant bells is attributable to Octagon House’s original owners, John and Ann Tayloe, who both died in the home. However, it is the circular grand stairwell that most often draws reports of paranormal activity. Visitors report cold spots and uneasy feelings when climbing the stairs, and some have heard piercing screams. It is said that one of the Tayloe daughters fell to her death from that stairwell, and sightings of her have been reported since at least 1908.
There are many more tales of ghosts haunting the mansion, including a murdered gambler who haunts the room he was shot in, and soldiers in centuries-old garb walking past visitors. Flickering lights and doors mysteriously opening and closing have plagued the new museum since its founding. If you would like to check it out for yourself, Octagon House is open to visitors this Fall on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 am to 4 pm.
Exploring Our Resources
Books in our collection:
- Alexander, John. Ghosts: Washington’s Most Famous Ghost Stories. Washington, D.C.: Washingtonian Books, 1975.
- Washington’s haunted past: capital ghosts of America. BF1472 .U6 A65 2006
- The ghosts that walk in Washington [by] Hans Holzer. Illustrated by Catherine Buxhoeveden. BF1461 .H6384
- Ghosts: Washington revisited: the ghostlore of the nation’s capital / John Alexander. BF1472 .D57 A44 1998
- Ghosts: Washington’s most famous ghost stories / by John Alexander. BF1472 .D57 A4
- It happened in Washington, D.C. / by Gina DeAngelis. F194.6 .D35 2004
Primary source materials in our collection:
- P 3292 – The Ghosts of the Pension Building
- P 1052 – National Building Museum ephemera
- P 4339 – Blueprints, National Building Museum
- P 1244 – The Building building: proposal for a National Museum of the Building Arts. (1978)
- P 6557 – Building a Landmark: A Guide to the Historic Home of the National Building Museum (1999)
- P 2489 – The nation builds for those who served: an introduction to the architectural heritage of the Veterans Administration. (1980)
- P 0421 – Selections from the AIA architectural archives.
- E 1122 – Octagon ephemera.
- P 2979 – A brief description and history of the Octagon House / by Glenn Brown.
Washington History articles linked in text:
The Three Sisters Bridge: A Ghost Span over the Potomac. Mathilde D. Williams. Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. 69/70, The 47th separately bound book (1969/1970), pp. 489-509.
Unbuilt Washington: The Three Sisters Bridge Georgetowners Wanted. Don Hawkins. Washington History, Vol. 28, No. 1 (SPRING 2016), pp. 84-85.
Outside resources used in this article:
Special thanks to D Black for research assistance.