1839 Greek Revival home of Theodore Roosevelt's mother, where a backyard well still draws reports of sobbing
180 Bulloch Ave, Roswell, GA 30075
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Adults $8, Seniors $7, Children $6; guided tours available
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat historic grounds; main floor accessible
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1839 · Childhood home of Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt · Wedding site of Theodore Roosevelt Sr. and Martha Bulloch (December 1853) · National Register of Historic Places (ref. 71000276) · Founding-era Roswell structure
Major James Stephens Bulloch arrived in north Georgia in the 1830s as part of the group of entrepreneurs from coastal Georgia who established Roswell as a planned mill town. He built the Greek Revival mansion at 180 Bulloch Ave in 1839, and it remained in family hands through the antebellum period. The house is architecturally significant as an early and intact example of the temple-front Greek Revival style in Georgia, with a full-width pedimented portico supported by four columns.
The house's most prominent historical connection is to the Roosevelt family. Martha Stewart Bulloch—called Mittie—was born at the plantation and grew up at Bulloch Hall. On December 22, 1853, she married Theodore Roosevelt Sr. in the mansion's double parlors. Their son Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th President of the United States; Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt also became the grandmother of Eleanor Roosevelt through a different family line.
During the Civil War, Union forces under General Sherman passed through Roswell in July 1864. The Bulloch women had departed before the troops arrived. Union soldiers occupied the house briefly before the focus shifted to the mill district. The mansion survived intact through the war and Reconstruction, unlike many comparable properties in the region.
The City of Roswell has operated Bulloch Hall as a historic house museum since 1975. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (reference #71000276). Guided tours cover the family history, the Roosevelt connection, and the architectural features of the building. The backyard well, now boarded over, is among the features guides discuss during tours.
Sources
The central paranormal account at Bulloch Hall involves a young enslaved woman who drowned in the backyard well in the mid-nineteenth century. According to accounts documented by local historians and tour guides, she was approximately fourteen years old and held responsibility for maintaining the lighting in the house—tending oil lamps and candles. She fell into the well while drawing water and drowned.
Sobbing was reportedly heard from the well in the days and weeks after her death. The well has since been boarded over, but visitors and guides continue to report sounds that they describe as crying or soft weeping emanating from the sealed well area. The apparition of a young girl has also been reported in the yard near the well, described as appearing in period clothing.
The reported phenomena also include lights behaving unusually inside the house—flickering without obvious cause or extinguishing in ways that guides connect to the woman's historical role maintaining the lighting. These accounts have circulated through the Roswell Ghost Tour, which begins at Bulloch Hall and which has been documented in local press since at least the 2000s.
It should be noted that, consistent with Hauntbound's editorial standards: the enslaved woman is not named in the historical record. The accounts here represent a documented oral tradition, not verified historical fact beyond the well's existence and the general pattern of enslaved domestic labor at the property. The well survives as a physical artifact.
Ninety-minute guided tour of the 1839 Greek Revival mansion, covering the Bulloch family's founding role in Roswell, the December 1853 wedding of Theodore Roosevelt's parents in the double parlors, and the Civil War period when Union soldiers occupied the property. Tickets purchased at the museum shop.
The Roswell Ghost Tour begins at Bulloch Hall and proceeds through the historic district, including the Roswell Mill ruins. Tour guides cover the well legend and reported phenomena at the mansion grounds.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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