HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
On May 30, 1806, Mary Barclay was hanged from a white oak on Washington's main street — the first white woman executed in Georgia — while her alleged accomplice escaped punishment entirely
Robert Toombs Ave, Washington, GA 30673
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public street; no admission
Access
Wheelchair OK
Public sidewalk and street; flat terrain
Equipment
Photos OK
May 30, 1806 — Execution of Mary 'Polly' Barclay · First white woman executed in the state of Georgia · Convicted as accessory in her husband's murder; alleged co-conspirator fled and was never punished · Located on what is now Robert Toombs Avenue, formerly Main Street, Washington GA
The execution of Mary 'Polly' Barclay on May 30, 1806, was a singular event in Georgia legal history. Court records and historical accounts identify Barclay as an accessory in the murder of her husband, with the prosecution's theory holding that she conspired with a lover to arrange the killing. The lover, whose identity is documented in the case record but who fled the jurisdiction before he could be apprehended, was never tried and never punished.
Barclay was convicted on the accessory charge and sentenced to death. Her execution by hanging, conducted on a white oak tree on the north side of Washington's main street — subsequently renamed Robert Toombs Avenue after the Confederate statesman — made her the first white woman executed in the state of Georgia. The distinction carried legal and social significance in the early republic, where gender and race shaped who was subjected to capital punishment and how.
The executed today documentation of the 1806 case draws on 19th-century newspaper accounts and Georgia court records. The site itself — the north side of what is now Robert Toombs Avenue in Washington — retains no physical marker as of available sources, but the general location is documented in historical accounts of Washington's antebellum street geography. Washington is one of the earliest incorporated towns in Georgia and maintains much of its original grid layout.
Sources
The legend attached to the Polly Barclay hanging site is one of the older in Georgia paranormal tradition, rooted in a documented 1806 execution that contained the elements needed for long-term folkloric survival: a woman executed for a crime whose principal perpetrator was never held accountable, a public setting on Washington's main commercial street, and a historical record specific enough to verify the core facts.
The ghost tradition, as preserved in oral accounts and covered by WRDW in 2025, characterizes Barclay's presence as that of a woman seeking redress — haunting the town not from malice but from the structural injustice of being the only party punished in a conspiracy. Whether this framing reflects the actual 1806 public response to the case (there was contemporary debate about the fairness of prosecuting Barclay while her lover went free) or is a later folkloric addition is not established in available sources.
No specific paranormal phenomena tied to the oak tree location are documented in the available sources beyond the general Washington ghost tradition. The site's significance is primarily historical and is best understood in the context of Washington's other dark-history locations — the Fitzpatrick Hotel and Robert Toombs House — which together make Robert Toombs Avenue one of the denser accumulations of documented dark history in rural Georgia.
Notable Entities
Robert Toombs Avenue, Washington's main street (formerly called Main Street), passes through the area where Mary 'Polly' Barclay was executed on May 30, 1806. The execution took place from a white oak on the north side of the street. Washington retains its 19th-century street grid and several historical markers. The site is a short walk from the Fitzpatrick Hotel and Robert Toombs House.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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