The Most Haunted Places In Plymouth

The New England town of Plymouth teems with spirit activity. Peculiar specters invade its homes, hotels, and various spaces, filling them with otherworldly energies. One only needs to look at the region’s harrowing past to understand why. 

The first colony of Plymouth endured a bitter existence. Indigenous people and settlers alike were blighted by disease and brutal conditions, leaving many a restless soul to wander. In a settlement built atop bones, odd occurrences are bound to seep into the structures above, blemishing its buildings with the echoes of bygone years. 

Interested in learning more about the phantom figures who have haunted Plymouth for centuries? Book one of our Plymouth ghost tours to journey into the strange and surreal history of America’s Hometown.

What Are the Most Haunted Places in Plymouth?

Plymouth contains within its limits many ghost-infested locations, from museums and mansions to some of America’s oldest burial grounds, such as that found near Plymouth Rock. 

Among Plymouth’s many haunted travel destinations, some of the darkest include: 

• Burial Hill — A cemetery in which Mayflower passengers and countless children were buried 
• The Taylor House — A home plagued by unearthly activity throughout its many rooms
• Cole’s Hill — The site of the Pilgrims’ first burial ground, where unnatural voices flow from the earth

Cole’s Hill

Just across the street from the more visited Plymouth Rock lies a little-known site called Cole’s Hill. Here, the bodies of indigenous people and Europeans commingle, buried together despite their differing beliefs. 

After their arrival in the New World, Cole’s Hill was where the first settlers buried the remains of the Pawtuxet people, who had been devastated by disease. Yet the colonists would soon follow them into the darkness. The winter of their first year was especially deadly, with members of the new colony dying daily. 

Today, the site is marred by unsettling murmurs and curious voices arising from the ground. Others hear whispers and laughter drifting through the salty air. Although their names may be long forgotten, it seems these souls refuse to be erased from history. 

Trask Museum

Although the phantom said to haunt this historic home-turned-museum isn’t malicious, his behavior is nonetheless unsettling. Built in 1829 for the Spooner family, this Plymouth mansion is haunted by the spirit of its former resident, Nathaniel Spooner.

Lamenting groans are heard from his old bedroom, where this previous tenant spent his last days before succumbing to a painful infection following amputation. In addition, pictures are flung from the walls, and strange lights are discovered in photographs. 

So haunted as to be featured on the Travel Channel’s Portals to Hell, the activity in this museum has only seemed to increase over the years, often brought on by modifications made to the property. 

Taylor House

Right beside the Trask Museum sits another Plymouth haunted house. Constructed in the 1700s, the Taylor House has seen an influx of ghostly phenomena over the years, increasing substantially after a well was filled in down in the home’s basement. 

Many members of the Taylor family are believed to linger in this uneasy house, but the most temperamental is the Captain. Rumored to shove people into corners and kiss unsuspecting ladies, his presence hangs thickly in the house. 

What skulks in the cellar is even worse. Here, a malevolent entity lurks with an aggressive temperament. Those who venture below hear strange sounds and experience bone-chilling cold spots. The voice of a man has been recorded as well, telling other spirits to be silent. 

Spooner House

Within the Spooner House Museum, a more playful spirit named Abigail dwells. This child spirit occasionally appears in the windows, wearing a white dress, before vanishing. She has startled tour groups and workmen alike visiting the Spooner House, disappearing suddenly.

Believed to have been a child cared for by the Spooner family, Abigail’s fate seems to be a tragic one. According to accounts, she died of an infected tooth. Still, others suggest foul play may have been to blame for her early passing. 

Winslow-Warren House

Constructed by British Major-General John Winslow in 1726, the Winslow-Warren house stands at nearly 300 years old. Given this, it’s almost surprising it doesn’t have more spirits inside. 

The businesses that occupy the Winslow-Warren House might come and go, but the spirit of John Winslow remains a permanent fixture. Some shop owners have been scared off by this colonial apparition, while others have come to accept his presence.

For the most part, this old-timey specter simply likes to observe the living, inspecting the trappings of our modern era. He’s been spied by a few sporting a white powdered wig, while others sense his presence in cold spots. If you enter one such business on a sweltering summer day and find yourself engulfed in icy air, it’s likely this curious ghost.

Captain Thompson Phillips House

Many of Plymouth’s haunted homes may have ghosts, but few have such a lengthy history of hauntings as this particular house. The odd activity within the Thompson Phillips House dates back to the 1700s, with accounts of those renting it out declaring strange occurrences to make conditions unbearable. 

Doors and cabinets were flung open and closed, moans echoed throughout the halls, and the townspeople declared that unnatural blue lights manifested on the property. Consequently, the house quickly became deemed unlivable. 

Some believed these occurrences to be the spirits of the former owners, Captain Phillips and his wife, Hannah. Others claimed it to be the devil himself. After the tenants stopped paying rent, the landlord took them to court. 

However, trying to disprove the existence of spirits is a difficult thing to do, and the courts decided otherwise. Few wanted anything to do with the property after that. 

Burial Hill

As one of the oldest cemeteries in the US, Burial Hill contains the remains of those from a vast span of our history, with gravestones dating from 1680 to 1957. Inside its boundaries lay the bones of pilgrims as well as those from the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. 

Upon these grounds, the ghosts of restless soldiers are said to roam while spirit children, lost to sickness, amble and frolic. Shadows creep along the ground, and ethereal figures have been witnessed floating in the air.

Most disturbing of all are the small creatures said to ramble amidst the tombstones, beckoning visitors to come and play. Might these be just ghostly children, or could something far stranger be trying to lure passersby in?

King Philip’s Memorial Plaque

The King Philip Memorial Plaque commemorates Wampanoag chief Metacomet, who adopted the English name King Philip in the 1600s. Although this monument acknowledges his role in battling against colonial encroachment on Native American lands and recognizes his brutal death, the early colonists were not so kind. 

After Metacomet’s murder, his head was displayed at the entrance of Plymouth as a warning to other Native tribes, while his body was hung from nearby trees. This all happened nearby this monument, which is likely why his angry spirit has been seen roaming the area — most often between Main Street and Burial Hill. 

Metacomet’s dishonored spirit lingers around the staircase leading up to Burial Hill, around the place where his body was desecrated. Here, witnesses have reported hands driving them down the steps, and some have described sightings of a long-haired man outfitted in Native attire despite the cold winter months. 

Old Plymouth Courthouse

A lot has occurred in the Old Plymouth Court House over its 270-year-long history, but perhaps the most bizarre of all happened in the winter of 1778. After the General Arnold ran aground off the Plymouth shore during a blizzard, many of the crew froze to death. By the time the townsfolk of Plymouth were able to get to the ship, 70 members of the crew were dead.

These 70 frozen bodies were stored within the Plymouth Courthouse until it was decided what should be done with them. Although they’d eventually be laid to rest in a mass grave in Burial Hill, some of their spirits appear to have stayed here — probably preferring to remain inside after their ordeal under the elements. 

Now known as the 1749 Court House Museum, the majority of the activity seems centered in the lower portion of the building, where the bodies of the crew were once stored. Now, a public restroom, those who enter have heard the sickening sounds of something being dragged across the floor directly above them, in addition to taps turning on and off despite the lack of hands below them. 

John Carver Inn & Spa

Although the John Carver Inn & Spa might drip with modern conveniences and comforts today, it lies atop old grounds. Believed to be built over the land where a Revolutionary War hospital once stood, a variety of inexplicable incidents plague the third floor.

Much of the activity seems to center around room 309, in which a Lady in White has appeared to startle guests. Having been so haunted as to be the site of Plymouth’s ParaCon event, several paranormal investigations have occurred in this hotel, revealing a variety of ghosts tied to the building. 

Haunted Plymouth

As one of this country’s first settlements, Plymouth, Massachusetts, contains a plenitude of otherworldly activity. To plunge further into the eerie history of one of America’s oldest towns, book one of our Plymouth haunted tours with Plymouth Ghosts.

To dig up even more of America’s most chilling destinations and other weird subjects, keep reading on our blog or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.

Sources:

• https://seeplymouth.com/listing/coles-hill/ 
• https://wbsm.com/plymouth-haunted-museum-paranormal-portals-hell/ 
• https://plymouth-attorney.com/winslow-warren-house/ 
• https://newenglandfolklore.blogspot.com/2021/11/plymouth-1734-haunted-mansion-and-court.html 
• https://www.nsrwa.org/listing/burial-hill/ 
• http://www.masshistory.com/king-philips-ghost 
• https://historicaldigression.com/2011/10/25/the-grim-fate-of-the-privateer-general-arnold/ 
• https://seeplymouth.com/listing/1749-court-house-museum/ 
• https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/old-colony-memorial/2018/10/01/a-ghostly-weekend/9739930007/
• https://plymouthparacon.com/