Washington Ghosts: Historic Strolls
Even if your Scooby sense doesn't feel sudden cold spots at the bottom of the stairs or unseen fingers clutching at your throat, a ghost tour can be an info-taining way to take in the history -- or legend -- of a city. I've taken numerous ghost tours in my travels -- the best combination of story and storyteller was a Key West tour, hosted by a man whose gravelly voice could be mistaken for Robin Williams, but far scarier. The variety of spooktacular ghost tours held in the Washington area provide the ghost-hunter and the skeptic alike an opportunity to learn more about what some say is one of the most haunted cities in America.
Washington may not have anything comparable to the black double-decker elegance of London's Necrobus tours, but this town still offers plenty of theatrics in the name of a haunted tale. None may be more theatrical than Historic Strolls, led by Greenbelt native Natalie Zanin and a rotating cast of specters. Zanin has given tours since 2001, and every year or two writes new scripts for herself and her actors, who are likely to pop up at any time and just as quickly disappear into the night.
The Ghost Story Tour of Washington is led by Zanin, appearing in the role of Dolly Madison, who figures in several stops along the tour. Zanin/Madison weaves spooky tales about creepy characters like the Vampire of Brookland, the Ghost Organist of St. John's Church and the sad story of Marian Hooper Adams.
"Clover" Adams was the socialite wife of writer Henry Adams (though she was sadly omitted from her husband's The Education of Henry Adams). She was also an accomplished portrait photographer, but it was by this that she met her demise: Adams killed herself by drinking potassium cyanide, one of the chemical tools of her trade. "Clover" is thought to haunt several locations around Washington, including The Hay-Adams Hotel on 16th Street. Adams is memorialized in multiple places around the city, including Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Grief Memorial in Rock Creek Cemetery and a copy of the statue fondly known as "Black Aggie," which can be found in the courtyard of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The most haunted building is Washington is, of course, the White House, and here you will find out which former President haunted Bush Senior and Dick Cheney, and which founding father Mary Todd Lincoln heard playing the violin.
Zanin, who told me she did not believe in ghosts until she worked at a haunted Dupont Circle mansion, is joined by two actors who play multiple roles at various spots along the tour. This gives the evening a feeling of street theater. At one point during a tour Saturday, our group passed a tourist unfazed by Zanin's Dolly Madison get-up. "You're not as creepy as that one over there," she said, directing our attention to the black-clad ghost of Teresa Sickles (played by Emily Morrison), whose lover, Philip "Son of Francis Scott" Key, was murdered in Lafayette Park. We were later treated to the strange sight of the ghost of Teresa Sickles running off, hankie in hand, directly in front of a Secret Service detail. Suspects were not apprehended. One wonders if, after having lived long lives, of course, the costumed performers will return from the dead to ply their trade for twenty-second century ghost tours.
The Ghost Story Tour of Washington is a charming, if not exactly frightening, diversion for the whole family. (Although the tour is recommended for ages eight and up, one brave young girl, who I'd guess to be around six, had a blast on the tour I attended.) But those seeking to expand their studies in Washington history/ghost tourism have an added treat this month. For the rest of October, Zanin offers A Tale of the Tayloes and other Scary Things, which features a tour of the Octagon Museum, once home to Col. John Tayloe III. This tour is helmed by Zanin/Madison alone, and what it lacks in street theater, it makes up for in creepiness. Few ghost tours take you inside the reportedly haunted buildings, but the Octagon House, in conjunction with the American Institute of Architects, makes a welcome exception. Here are told tales of ghost bells, phantom smells, doors that mysteriously open and horse-drawn carriages that can be heard pulling into the driveway. Legend has long held that two of the Tayloes' daughters (they had fifteen children!) fell to their deaths on the house's spiral staircase, but there are no records of such deaths. Still, stories persist about ghostly candles that can be seen moving up the staircase. Zanin names the Octagon the second most haunted building in Washington, next to the White House.
The Octagon is not the only stop on the tour, and, as on the Ghost Story program, Zanin talked about buildings that I had passed by for years but never knew anything about, like the site of the Old Van Ness Mansion, now the Pan-American Union. Scary tales abound at the Red Cross' headquarters on 17th Street, as well as their neighbor DAR Constitution Hall -- that strange feeling at the back of your neck at the Belle And Sebastian show last week might not have been hipster 'stache.
Here's a list of D.C.'s ghost tour options, for those looking to make the most of the Halloween season:
- Historic Strolls' Ghost Story Tour of Washington meets at Vermont Avenue and I (Eye) Street NW, just outside the McPherson Square Metro Station. For the rest of the month, tours are given Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., with a special tour on Halloween at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children under 16 (recommended for 8 years and up). Reservations are not required for the weekend tour. The Octagon House Museum tour, A Tale of the Tayloes and other Scary Things, will be held Wednesdays this month, October 20th and 27th at 7:00 pm. To make reservations, required for this tour, contact Natalie.
- The Georgetown Ghost Walking Tour operates, rain or shine, on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. through October 29. Please arrive at least 15 minutes before departure time. Tours begin at the Old Stone House at 3051 M Street NW (near the intersection of 30th and M Streets).
- Haunted Tours of Washington, D.C. meets daily in October at 8:00 p.m. in front of the Dolley Madison house, located at the corner of H Street NW and Madison Place. Tickets are $15 for ages 12+, $8 for children aged 7-11; children under 6 are free.
- Washington Walks offers a tour of "The Most Haunted Houses" nightly through October 31. Note that this walk does not include interior visits to any of the buildings featured. Tours embark from the 17th Street exist of Farragut West Metro at 7:30 p.m.
- Foosteps to the Past offers a "paranormal tour" of Old Town Alexandria for $35, as well as a good old $10 walking tour. The Alexandria Spirits Tour departs from the northeast corner of King and Alfred Streets (in front of Bittersweet restaurant). October/November tours are given Sunday-Thursday at 7:00 p.m., and Friday-Saturday at 7 and 8:30 p.m.
- The National Building Museum gives a lantern-lighted ghost tour led by the ghost of Mary Surratt. Remaining tours this year will be held October 31 and November 2 at 8:00 p.m.
- District of Columbia Metro-Area Ghostwatchers (DCMAG) provide "paranormal investigations" within the District of Columbia area. They have conducted nearly 150 investigations throughout the world and claim to be the oldest and most successful team in the D.C. area.