Haunted Places in New Hampshire: 10 Sites With Real History

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The best-known haunted places in New Hampshire are the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, Wentworth by the Sea in New Castle, Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, and the stretch of Route 3 where Betty and Barney Hill reported their 1961 encounter. Below are 10 haunted places in New Hampshire, each split into what the record supports and what is only told as legend. Most ghost stories here come from inn websites, tour operators, and local lore, not independent documentation, and we say so wherever that is the case. One famous legend, Ocean-Born Mary's haunted house, turns out to be a 20th-century invention.

Quick answer if you're short on time: Of these haunted places in New Hampshire, the Mount Washington Resort and Wentworth by the Sea are the easiest to visit with a meal or a room, Strawbery Banke has the deepest documented history, and the Hill case is the state's best-known UFO story, not a ghost story.

1. Omni Mount Washington Resort (Bretton Woods)

The grand hotel was built between 1900 and 1902 by Joseph Stickney, an industrialist who made his money in coal and railroads, with a crew of about 250 Italian craftsmen working in masonry and woodwork. Stickney died a year after it opened, and his widow Carolyn inherited it, later married a French prince, and spent her summers there until her death, which one state magazine dates to 1936. The best-known ghost is “Princess” Carolyn, said to appear in Room 314 (now called the Carolyn Stickney Suite), brushing her hair on the bed she brought from France, and to walk the third floor and the stairs. The hotel's own history page does not tell ghost stories, though the resort appears on a “most haunted hotels” list published by Historic Hotels of America. The Carolyn stories come from travel and ghost-tour sites, and we found no named witness or contemporary record.

Can you visit: Yes. It is a working resort with dining open to the public and tours. Confirm current offerings and any renovation work before you plan a trip.

2. Wentworth by the Sea (New Castle)

The hotel opened in 1874 as Wentworth Hall on Great Island, and financier Frank Jones bought it in 1879 and expanded it. In 1905, Russian and Japanese delegations stayed there during the negotiations that produced the Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War. It closed in 1982 and sat empty and decaying for years, was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of America's Most Endangered Places after a 1995 demolition plan, was bought by Ocean Properties in 1997, and reopened on May 16, 2003. In 2023 it left the Marriott brand and now operates under the Opal Collection. Its abandoned state is part of why it has a spooky reputation: the 1999 film In Dreams used it as a haunted-looking set while it was vacant. We found no named ghost or documented sighting. The hotel shows up in local ghost-tour and lecture programs, which is the extent of the paranormal record we could verify.

Can you visit: Yes, as a working hotel with restaurants and a spa. Check current hours for the public areas.

3. Strawbery Banke Museum (Portsmouth)

Strawbery Banke is a nearly 10-acre living-history museum in Portsmouth's Puddle Dock neighborhood, with historic houses standing on their original sites. The Sherburne House, built by John Sherburne between 1695 and 1698, is one of the last three wood-framed houses from the 1600s still standing in New Hampshire, and records show the household once included an enslaved man and woman whose names are unrecorded. The Jackson House dates to around 1790. The museum's “Ghosts on the Banke” event is a family Halloween experience with costumed actors and trick-or-treating from house to house, built on historic characters and tales. We did not find a specific, documented haunting for any single house, so treat the ghosts as part of a theatrical program rather than a body of witness accounts.

Can you visit: Yes. It is open seasonally for general admission, and Ghosts on the Banke is a ticketed autumn event. Check the museum's calendar for dates.

4. Island Path Road and Goody Cole (Hampton)

Eunice “Goody” Cole is a documented figure. She was first accused of witchcraft in 1656, spent years in prison in Boston, was acquitted in later trials, and died in October 1680 in Hampton. She was never executed, and she is often called New Hampshire's only convicted witch, though historians debate that label. In 1937 and 1938, during the town's 300th anniversary, local residents formed a society to clear her name. The ghost story, that she haunts Island Path Road as a shape in the fog with flickering lights and moving objects, comes from a state magazine's roundup of local lore. The tale that she was buried with a stake through her heart is a local legend, and Wikipedia describes her burial as hasty and unmarked.

Can you visit: Island Path Road is a public street in a residential area, and a memorial stone to Goody Cole stands in Hampton. Respect the neighbors and stay on public property.

5. Ocean-Born Mary House (Henniker)

This is the most famous New Hampshire ghost story, and the best-documented case of a legend being manufactured. The legend says that in 1720 pirates captured the ship Wolf, that a baby named Mary was born aboard, and that the pirate captain spared the passengers if the child was named after his mother. Local historians accept the core of that: Mary Wilson, tall and red-haired, did wear a gown made from the pirate's green silk when she married James Wallace in 1742, and she died in 1814 at age 94. The rest does not hold up. According to those historians, she did not marry a pirate, did not bury treasure, and did not live in the Henniker house that bears her name. She moved to Henniker to live with her son in her last 18 years. The haunted-house story began in 1917, when Louis Roy bought the home of Mary's son Robert Wallace, renamed it “Ocean Born Mary House,” and claimed she had died there. A tall red-haired ghost with glowing eyes is the legend that grew from that. The ghost story came after the marketing.

Can you visit: The house has been a private residence and has changed hands. Do not approach it without permission, and confirm whether any public access exists.

6. The Betty and Barney Hill Encounter (Route 3, Lincoln)

This one is not a ghost story, and we include it because it is New Hampshire's most famous strange-events case. The record: on the night of September 19, 1961, Portsmouth couple Betty and Barney Hill, driving south on Route 3 through the White Mountains, reported a bright object and about two hours of missing time. They said their watches stopped working, and Barney's binocular strap was found cut. In December 1963 they began sessions with Boston psychiatrist Benjamin Simon, who used hypnosis, and the Boston Traveler published their story without their consent on October 25, 1965. The book The Interrupted Journey followed in 1966, and a TV movie in 1975. The claim: that they were abducted by beings aboard a craft. That is their account, recovered under hypnosis, and it has never been independently confirmed. Skeptics have offered explanations including sleep deprivation and a misidentified Jupiter, and one historian has argued the experience reflected the stress the interracial couple faced. A state historical marker stands on Route 3 in Lincoln, put up in 2011.

Can you visit: Yes. The marker is on a public road near the Indian Head Resort, so park only where it is safe to do so.

7. Nancy Barton and Notchland (Hart's Location)

The story, repeated in local histories and the Appalachian Mountain Club's writing, is that a woman named Nancy Barton set out on foot after a lover who had run off with her dowry, was caught in a snowstorm, and froze to death by a brook in the notch, now named Nancy Brook. Friends are said to have covered her body with stones. The record is partial: a sign was placed on the trail in 1931 saying she perished there in 1778, and a tombstone displayed in the Notchland Inn's parlor reads “1778. Nancy Barton. Died in a snowstorm in pursuit of her faithless lover.” But a Find a Grave entry gives different dates, 1772 to 1788, so the year is not settled. The ghost, a woman wandering the grounds, comes from inn and ghost-story sites. The brook, falls, and mountain named for her are real, and they are the most reliable part of the tale.

Can you visit: The brook and falls are on public trails in the White Mountains. We could not confirm the Notchland Inn's current operating status, so call before you plan a stay or a look at the parlor tombstone.

8. Three Chimneys Inn (Durham)

Valentine Hill built the oldest section in 1649, and the house is described as the oldest in Durham, in the settlement at Oyster River Falls. The ghost is Hannah, said to be Hill's daughter, who reportedly drowned in the Oyster River behind the inn, and staff describe a mischievous presence that hides objects and interferes with electronics. We could not find a record of Hannah's death. A state magazine's roundup notes that her drowning is presumed, not recorded, so the ghost has a name but no document behind it. The stories come from the inn's own lore and ghost-listing sites.

Can you visit: It has operated as a guest inn with a restaurant, but confirm that it is currently open and what it offers before you go.

9. The 1875 Inn (Tilton)

The inn on Main Street in Tilton dates to 1875. The legend is that a girl named Laura, about 12 years old, died in one of the building's fires in the 1800s and still appears in rooms, stroking guests' hair and turning lights on. The inn was featured in the Ghost Hunters episode “Uninvited Guests,” which aired on September 8, 2010, and the investigators reported voices and other events on camera. A television episode is not independent verification, and we found no record naming Laura or dating her death. Listings dated 2026 show the inn open, with hours Tuesday through Sunday.

Can you visit: Yes, as a guest or diner. Confirm hours and availability first.

10. Mary Lyon Hall, Plymouth State University (Plymouth)

Plymouth State grew out of the Plymouth Normal School, founded in 1871. Mary Lyon Hall, a residence hall named for the Mount Holyoke founder, was built on its site in 1916, renovated in 2006, and added to the New Hampshire Register of Historic Places in 2012. The campus legend says two girls were killed in a tunnel linking the hall to Blair Hall, and that their screams or a heartbroken ghost haunt the basement. Versions of the tale differ: in one, a boy kills two girls and himself, and in another, a collapse kills a young couple. Some ghost-listing sites call the hall an “1800s” building, but the university's own history dates it to 1916, which is a reminder to check the basics. We found no record of any deaths in a tunnel, so this is a campus legend.

Can you visit: It is an active student residence. Do not enter without a university invitation.

What's Actually Verifiable

Across these haunted places in New Hampshire, the building dates, closures, and reopenings are documented, and so are Goody Cole's imprisonments and Mary Wallace's real life. The ghosts mostly are not. Ocean-Born Mary's house is the clearest case: historians trace the haunting to a 1917 renaming, not to anything that happened in 1720 or 1814. The Hill encounter is a recorded event with a documented timeline, but what happened on the road in 1961 rests on the couple's account and hypnosis sessions, and it remains contested. Every apparition in this list rests on inn websites, tour operators, and retellings.

Visiting Haunted Places in New Hampshire Responsibly

Haunted places in New Hampshire include hotels, a museum, a campus, and roadside markers you can visit, plus private homes you cannot. Check hours before you drive, book official tours where they exist, and do not enter closed buildings or private land. Trespassing is illegal, and the Henniker house and the Plymouth State residence hall are not open to the public. For the wider picture, see our guide to haunted places in the United States, our list of real haunted places you can visit on Halloween, and our neighboring guides to haunted places in Connecticut and haunted places in Massachusetts. For another New England witchcraft story, read our best books about the Salem witch trials.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most haunted place in New Hampshire?

There is no objective ranking of haunted places in New Hampshire. The Omni Mount Washington Resort and the 1875 Inn in Tilton are among the most promoted, and Strawbery Banke is the best documented as a place of real history. Treat any “most haunted” label as marketing, since the ghosts are unproven and the history is what can be checked.

Is Ocean-Born Mary's house really haunted?

The haunting story is a 20th-century invention, according to local historians. Mary Wilson Wallace was a real woman who died in 1814 in Henniker, but she did not live in the house that carries her name. Louis Roy renamed the home in 1917 and spread the tale that she died there, and the ghost legend grew from that promotion.

Was Goody Cole really a witch in Hampton?

No evidence supports that, and the record shows a woman persecuted by her neighbors. Eunice Cole was accused of witchcraft starting in 1656, jailed for years in Boston, and died in 1680. She was never executed. In 1937 and 1938, Hampton residents formed a society to clear her name, and her ghost is a later local legend.

Did the Betty and Barney Hill abduction really happen?

The couple's 1961 report and their later hypnosis sessions are well documented, but the abduction itself has never been independently confirmed. Skeptics point to sleep deprivation, a misidentified planet Jupiter, and the stress the interracial couple faced. A state historical marker in Lincoln notes the reported encounter, and the event itself remains a matter of belief.

Can you visit the haunted places in New Hampshire on your own?

Many of them, yes. The Mount Washington Resort, Wentworth by the Sea, Strawbery Banke, and the 1875 Inn welcome visitors, and the Hill marker is on a public road. The Henniker house and the Plymouth State residence hall are not open to the public, and a few inns may have changed hours, so always confirm first.

Is it legal to explore abandoned haunted places in New Hampshire?

Not without permission. Entering a closed building or private land without the owner's consent is trespassing, and that includes private homes tied to local legends. The legal ways to see these sites are official tours, museum hours, and public visiting hours, which also give you better history than a flashlight and a dare.