White Horse Tavern, Rhode Island

The White Horse Tavern in Newport, Rhode Island was established in 1673 and holds the oldest tavern license in the country.

The White Horse Tavern in Newport, Rhode Island is the oldest tavern still in operation in America. Not only does it hold this distinction, but it is also listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places, and it should come as no surprise that it is said to be called home to a couple of resident ghosts.

Located on the corner of Farewell and Marlborough Streets, the first building on this site was constructed in 1652 by Francis Brinley as a residence for his family. For the next 20 years, he lived in the two-story, two-room residence.

In 1673, William Mayes Sr. saw the commercial possibilities of the building and purchased it. After enlarging the structure, he turned it into a tavern and inn. Mayes officially obtained a tavern license in 1687. His son, William Mayes, Jr., a notorious pirate that operated in the Red Sea, also helped run the tavern at times. After his criminal adventures, he would return to Newport with his bounty, where he was openly welcomed and protected by the townspeople. William Jr. inherited the tavern in 1702. However, the British authorities were not so forgiving and shortly afterward, the tavern was operated by William, Jr.’s sister, Mary Mayes Nichols, and her husband, Robert. For the next 200 years, with one brief interruption, the Tavern remained in the Nichols family.

In the 1720s, an overnight guest of the inn died in his sleep. Dying of unknown causes, authorities feared a communicable disease and sent Mary Nichols and an Indian girl who worked at the inn to Coaster’s Harbor Island in Narragansett Bay, which was used as a quarantine island at the time. While there both women were infected with smallpox. Mary survived to later return home, but the Indian girl died of the disease.

In 1730, Jonathan Nichols became tavern keeper and gave the White Horse Tavern its name.

Newport, Rhode Island in 1730

During these early years, the tavern served as a center of local affairs throughout the early years of Newport. The Town Council met here, as did the colony’s General Assembly while Richard Munday’s Colony House was under construction in 1739. At other times the building was also used for large meetings and by the Criminal Court.

During the American Revolution, British warships arrived in Newport’s harbor in December 1776. For the next three years, British soldiers occupied the city. Many of the towns’ residents, including Walter Nichols, who then owned the tavern, fled the city during this time. While Nichols was gone, the tavern was occupied by British troops. When they finally left in 1779, Nichols returned and reopened the tavern. He also added the gambrel roof and enlarged the structure to its present dimensions.

In 1895, the Nichols family sold the property to Thomas and Bridget Preece, who turned it into a boarding house. By 1954, the old tavern showed years of use and neglect and through the generosity of the Van Buren family, the property was acquired by the Preservation Society of Newport County. For the next three years, the building was carefully restored and again opened up as The White Horse Tavern.

White Horse Tavern Interior, 1970s

In 1972, the Tavern was recognized as a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1981, The White Horse Tavern again became privately owned, when O.L. Pitts of Fort Worth, Texas and three partners purchased the Tavern, as sponsors of America’s Cup. Later it was purchased by Paul Hogan, a Newport native, and in 2014, it was sold to a Newport-based group.

Today, the 350+-year-old building remains a popular drinking and dining location that is known as one of Newport’s finest restaurants.

The two-and-one-half story clapboarded building is also of great architectural significance, as its original section is one of the earliest structures preserved in the state. Much of the 17th-century character of the interior is still intact and is well maintained.

However, along with its long history, beautiful structure, and upscale ambiance, some say that the old building is called home to several spiritual residents.

One of these is said to be the man who died at the inn in the 1720s. He has been seen by staff and guests dressed in common, shabby Colonial attire, most often in the main dining room by one of the fireplaces. He has also been spied in the upstairs men’s bathroom.

Another unseen entity has been known to tap staff on their shoulders and is said to act as a guardian of the building. A little girl has been heard crying near the restrooms on the second floor when no one is there. The entity of a female has been seen floating above the dining tables and was even captured in a photograph. Heavy footsteps are sometimes heard in unoccupied rooms.

More Information:

White Horse Inn
26 Marlborough St
Newport, RI 02840
401-849-3600

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Sprague Mansion - Cranston, Rhode Island

Today, “one of America’s most haunted mansions” is open to the public for tours. Around Halloween each year they also hold an annual Ghost Party— playing on their reputation and the home’s history of tragedy to maintain a building of significant historic value. Once the home of society’s elite members, the Sprague Mansion in Cranston, Rhode Island fell on hard times and faced demolition in 1967. Luckily the local historical society purchased and has since maintained the estate.

The Sprague family was powerful in Rhode Island society. Investing early in textile mills and printing the popular calico cloth of the late 1700s and 1800s in bulk brought them riches. But it also seems to have brought them a share of tragedy. Two of the Sprague brothers, William and Amasa, ran “Sprague Print Works” in Cranston in the 1860s. Business was booming and the Sprague family was growing tremendously wealthy thanks to the wonders of industrialization and the factory system. And then, on New Year’s Eve day, 1843, Amasa’s badly beaten body was found. Amasa was dead and there were no eyewitnesses.

There was, however, an entire family to blame the murder on. It seems an Irish immigrant (a member of an unpopular minority at the time) by the name of Nicholas Gordon owned a small pub near the print factory. At lunch the Sprague’s workers would frequent Gordon’s pub and drink a pint or two. The idea that their workers were drinking on the job infuriated the Spragues and Amasa managed to get the city council to revoke Gordon’s liquor license.

Amasa had no real reason to ask such an action be taken, but he was a Sprague, and therefore quite influential. Gordon was just another struggling immigrant. The license was revoked.

Unfortunately, Nicholas Gordon had asked his entire family to come join him in Rhode Island due to the popularity of his pub. He felt certain he could find work for them since business was going so well, being as how he was so close to the Sprague’s factory. His family had only recently moved in when the liquor license got revoked. It must have been like a punch to the gut. Suddenly Nicholas’ booming business was nearly worthless.

So when Amasa’s body turned up, dispersions were automatically cast on the Gordons. Amasa’s body lay in state at the family home in Cranston before his burial. Perhaps this is why his spirit lingers there.

The police supposedly arrested every member of the family they could find, including an elderly matriarch and the pet dog. Claiming the Irish families were tremendously tight and surely there was quite a conspiracy as a result, the first trials were for Nicholas’ brothers. With a prostitute as the main witness (and she supposedly kept mixing the brothers up when delivering her testimony) and a jury that certainly included no Irish immigrants’ peers, the first trial found John guilty of the murder. They had no tangible evidence, and the prosecution and the judge both showed blatant examples of discrimination. John was hanged as a result. It took him twenty minutes to die. William was found unanimously not guilty. Nicholas was released on bail, most of his jurors voting for an acquittal. By the time his trial came up, the murder that originally had no witnesses now had nearly 100.

Perhaps it is no wonder that Amasa haunts the family home—rather it may be a greater marvel that John Gordon does not as it seems he certainly has a right to. Strange presences have been felt in the house and a man in black has been seen on the stairs. Cold spots are frequently felt and visitors often get strange and creepy feelings related to the “doll room” where a collection of traditional dolls stares at the visitors staring at them.

Strange things have shown up in photographs of the cellar and people have seen strange reflections in the cupola; some were debunked by the “Ghost Hunters” (TAPS) investigation crew in 2007. But TAPS also experienced some strange things while there. The RI Paranormal Research Group also performed a lengthy investigation of the site, finding sufficient evidence to support claims the mansion is indeed haunted.

But then there’s the ghost of the lovely Kate Chase Sprague. Kate may well be the ghostly woman first reported in 1925. In her time Kate was considered a remarkable beauty and a woman at the height of fashion. Her style was often mimicked by other ladies, and, as the wife to Governor William Sprague, she hoped to someday be the First Lady of the White House. But things did not go as Kate had hoped and she died at her father’s deteriorating estate in Washington DC, destitute and all alone in 1899. It is no small wonder then that people have believed they’ve seen Kate standing before the mirror in the mansion’s ballroom. Perhaps she returns to the mansion to relive better times just as Amasa returns to revisit tragedy.

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Belcourt Castle - Newport, Rhode Island

Belcourt Castle is a large Louis XIII style estate that hosts regular ghost tours and candlelight mystery tours–and with good reason. Belcourt Castle, the sixty-room summer cottage of Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, has a reputation for being one haunted destination that does not disappoint. Construction started on the estate in 1891 and continually employed three hundred skilled craftsmen for three full years.

Oliver intended to use Belcourt to display his collections of armor, medieval manuscripts, stained glass and numerous things related to his love of horses.

In 1895 the house was officially opened with a grand ball, its hostess was Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt, the wife of Oliver’s best friend and business partner. Perhaps her husband, William Kissam Vanderbilt, should have suspected something was amiss. Whether he suspected his best friend and his wife of any indiscretion or shared emotion is a bit of a mystery. Regardless, after having three children, Alva divorced William and married Oliver.

The two traveled extensively, collecting as they went, until Oliver died in 1908. The next year Alva redesigned the first floor of Belcourt. Some have speculated that Oliver would have disapproved because he loved the place exactly as it was. Alva’s attention then shifted and she became active in the women’s movement and a great supporter of the arts. Traveling frequently, Alva let Belcourt fall into a state of mild disrepair. She died in 1933.

Belcourt does not necessarily seem to be haunted by its owners or any members of the large staff that worked there for decades. Rather, it seems Belcourt is haunted because of some of the antiques in its collection. Furnished with art and trappings from more than 30 different countries, Belcourt has a lovely Gothic ballroom featuring haunted chairs. Some visitors have reported feeling chills race up and down their spine while standing near the chairs, others have reported strange sensations of energy moving across their hands. Supposedly if you try to sit in one of the haunted chairs you’ll feel resistance, while trying to take a seat in the other may just get you tossed out of it.

There is also a screaming suit of armor in the Gothic ballroom. The original owner of the armor was killed by a spear entering the visor’s eye slit. People claim the owner’s screams can still sometimes be heard around the time he died in March.

A carving of a monk is also supposedly haunted by its ghostly counterpart—so keep your eyes open. Cameras are not generally allowed in the castle, but a few people who sneaked photos (at risk of having their camera taken and being kicked out of the tour, so don’t do it) claim they have proof of orbs in several rooms.

Belcourt Castle is certainly worth a visit, many have said their guides were well-educated and that there is simply too much to see and learn about in a single visit. Whether you’re interested in the ghosts, the antiques, the history or the architecture, Belcourt seems to have something for everyone.

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The General Stanton Inn - Charlestown, Rhode Island

In more than 200 years of history, the General Stanton Inn has only had six owners since the time the Native Americans owned the land. In 1655 the land was given to Thomas Stanton, an interpreter for the Native American tribes in the region, as a show of gratitude. Thomas had arranged a successful hostage exchange between rival tribes. Essentially, when the Manesses tribe kidnapped a Niantic princess they demanded far too much wampum for her safe return. The Niantics went to Thomas at his little trading house on the Pawcatuck River and asked him to intercede on their behalf. He brokered a deal and was granted a nice chunk of land by a Niantic Sachem as a result. That land became the Stanton estate in Charlestown, Rhode Island.

The General Stanton Inn’s owners over the years have tried to maintain some of its original ambiance. The Inn still has traditional low ceilings and rough-hewn beams. And ghosts.

The original house, a modest one-room building was moved onto the property in 1667. For a while it served as a simple schoolhouse for local Indian children, as well as Thomas’s own offspring. Over the years rooms were added to the original structure (now called the “Indian Room”; in 1740 Joseph, a son of Thomas, added the “George Washington Cabinet Room.”

Joseph made a name for himself as one of Rhode island’s very first Senators in the US Congress and later a State Representative. But as things settled after the fall-out of the Revolutionary War, the family fell on hard times and the home (considered a mansion then) became an Inn. Joseph, the militia General the Inn’s named for, let his nephews run the business. It became quite successful as a regular coach stop between the towns of Providence and New London. While other business struggled under the early Prohibition, the Inn attracted gamblers and partiers of all classes and backgrounds.

People have reported everything from strange noises and sensations to actual apparitions at the General Stanton Inn, one of the hot spots for paranormal activity being the Washington Room. A male ghost has been spotted here, and people have reported being touched—often tapped on the shoulder—by something otherworldly in both the Washington Room and Williamsburg Room. Is a spirit from the Inn’s rich past trying to get someone’s attention? If so, it seems the spirit has gotten frustrated with visitors at least once, when a finger of a manikin was reportedly hurled by an unseen force at a workman in the attic. Perhaps it was merely the spirit’s way of delivering a somewhat coded and yet not so subtle message… But most spirit activity at the General Stanton Inn is what many would consider mild and well-mannered, so stay the night and arrange for a proper tour. Although not necessarily a spine-tingling experience, a stay at the Stanton can be quite educational.

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Inn at Shadow Lawn - Newport, Rhode Island

A lovely Victorian mansion built by the famous architect, Richard Upjohn, the Inn at Shadow Lawn is now a lovely B&B, complete with crystal chandeliers, stained glass windows and heirloom china. Not far from Newport, Shadow Lawn was built for Hamilton Hoppin, one of two argumentative brothers. It seems the house invited angst, even after the initial owner died.

According to local lore, in 1913 a young heiress and her husband moved in to the beautiful mansion. For a while they seemed quite happy, but he was young and, as a doctor in the town, had many reasons to meet with his patients. Especially the attractive ones. He soon tired of his wealthy wife and began a pattern of cheating on her—often and sometimes publicly. Perhaps his boldest move was using a hefty part of her inheritance to purchase one of the first automobiles. Sure, he took her out in it a few times for a spin, but soon it was just a convenient way to travel to and from his trysts. A flashy car impressed the ladies, even then it seems.

His wife, utterly disillusioned would wait by the windows facing the drive. Every day she waited. And every day he’d come home, fresh from his womanizing ways, expecting she would simply accept his behavior. She did for a while. Then one day in June she took matters into her own hands. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the knowledge he’d been using her for her money. In the end it doesn’t matter. It is relatively well-accepted that she had a gun, and he was an idiot.

She waited in the bushes by the driveway and when her ne’er-do-well spouse rumbled in and stepped out of the vehicle, she shot him. She was charged with his murder but finally acquitted. There had been no witnesses, although everyone in town could surely imagine her motivation. But murdering one’s spouse (even a flaky philandering spouse) was “simply not done” in that era. So, although she never served jail time, it seems that the town shunned her.

Living a tortured and then lonely life, it is no wonder some aspect of her seems to linger around the beautiful house where she had dreamed so often of happiness. Occasionally mysterious footsteps are heard and a filmy figure has been spotted near the windows she used to watch for her husband through. Is she hoping he’ll return again and they’ll reach a reconciliation? Maybe. Or perhaps she’s just hoping to get one more shot at him.

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Tower Hill Road - Cumberland,Rhode Island

Various numbers of Ghosts have been reported on this Road.  Most common is the Ghost of a little Girl whom is spitted in the front yard of one of the houses.  The road is narrow and twisting with a lot of Hills, the Deadliest curve, it's been reported that the Ghost of a little boy running with his dog.  Also, in this area sometimes a Toddler on a tricycle is spotted.  Many have spotted various, strange apparitions in the woods and fields along the road.  Often when traveling this road,people get a strange watched or haunted feeling.

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Scallabrini Villa - North Kingstown,Rhode Island

Haunted by the ghosts of children that have died there. It is presently a nursing establishment composed of two building facilities. The new building was erected in 1995. However the older building completed way back, unsure of the date, was originally a Rhode Island Hospital children's facility. It is said that children could be heard laughing, crying, or playing. Particularly, room 103 is said to be the room where many spirits stay. Keep in mind that it presently houses retired nuns and priests, and is under
direction of the Scallabrini Fathers, so you may not be able to gain
access.

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Rhode Island School of Design - Providence,Rhode Island

There are two spirits that reside on the fourth floor. One is a male entity
that has been known to be seen in the bathroom. He also is known for
playing with people's music selections and breaking windows. It is said
that a young man killed himself by jumping off of the balcony back in
the 70's when the hall was new. The other Homer four ghost is a woman
who has been seen in a few of the rooms. She turns on faucets in the
girls bathroom, and reportedly blood has been randomly seen there late
at night in the shower stalls. On the ground floor lounge, students
claim the VCR and Television sometimes work on their own will, and also
visible shadows move about the room. Homer two is the home of the ghost
of an old man who wanders the halls at all times of the day. An angry
entity haunts the ground floor of Nickerson Hall. When walking through
the underground passage between Homer and Nickerson, students can hear
something banging on the metal doors in one of the storage rooms. The
poltergeist has been known to move about the ground floor of Nickerson
on occasion.

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Charles Loof Carousel - Riverside,Rhode Island

The Charles Loof Carousel, also known as Crescent Park Carousel is over 100 years old and at once had an amusement park, and a ballroom. Now all that is left is the Carousel because in the 1960's the Ballroom burned to the ground. Its has been said that people were burned to death in this fire. An employee reports when she opens up in the morning, sometimes the music turns on without anyone else being there and the lights flicker. They also report seeing woman in bellhooped skirts walking around down near the water. There also used to be train tracks where now is the bike path. At night you can hear the trains and see lights flashing wildly. Not only has all of this happened in the past in this small town but at the Crescent Park beach a man murdered his wife in 1989 and buried her in the sand.Whenever you go to sit near where he had buried her, you get a feeling
of anger and you feel like your freezing up because of a coldness that
hits you.

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Great Swamp - South Kingstown,Rhode Island

This was a place of a massacre that took place during the colonial era. There was a battle between the colonists and the Indians. This was called a massacre because the Indians were not prepared against the advanced weaponry of the colonists. Now this place has been a burial ground of the Indians at night you could still hear the war cries, and gunshots and screaming and crying that took place and see Indians dressed in war regalia walking through the swamp.

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Fairfield Marriot Inn - Warwick,Rhode Island

Apparition of a man in Farmers clothing seen at 4:00 A.M. on the fifth floor. Children have been heard
running on the fourth floor when there are no children in the inn. A
couple of the rooms are also known to be haunted and cold spots have
been felt, and unknown voices have been caught when using a tape
recorder.

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Woonsocket High School Auditorium - Woonsocket,Rhode Island

It was said that 2 people got killed falling off the scaffolding during the original building of the high school. One of the two who were killed has been seen and felt in the auditorium on multiple occassions by kids in the
band and chorus. It shuts down lights, turns on the spotlights, turns
on the music and other audio equipment.. and it has been heard that it
sometimes makes noises during nightly rehersals, etc.. It once shut the
curtains half way during a senior assembly. (there is a ladder that
leads to a dark tunnel near the ceiling to get to the spotlight room).
The spirit has been seen in the spotlight room and everyone is now too
afraid to actually go up there.

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