Haunted Delaware: Ghost Stories from the First State

Delaware may be the second-smallest state, but its haunted history reaches from university buildings and historic estates to a Civil War fort and the towns along the Atlantic coast. This episode visits six places where documented history, local folklore and reports of unexplained activity meet.

The journey begins at the University of Delaware in Newark before continuing to Rockwood Mansion near Wilmington and the Amstel House in New Castle, home of the legend of the Lady in Blue. At Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island, stories of shadow figures and unexplained voices are considered alongside the suffering of the Confederate prisoners once held there.

Farther south, the Addy Sea in Bethany Beach carries tales of phantom music, footsteps and a presence associated with Room 11. The final stop is the Cannonball House Maritime Museum in Lewes, where a War of 1812 landmark became connected to the mysterious story of a woman named Susan. Together, these locations show how Delaware’s historic places continue to accumulate memory, uncertainty and legend.