Est. 1790 · Federal Period Architecture · 1862 Fall of New Bern · Union Field Hospital Use · New Bern Historical Society Headquarters
The Attmore-Oliver House occupies a corner lot on Broad Street in New Bern's historic district. The home's earliest portion dates to approximately 1790 and was built for Samuel Chapman, a retired officer in the Continental Army who served as clerk of the Craven County Supreme Court. The Federal-period original structure was substantially enlarged around 1834 to 1835, producing the current configuration with side-gabled main block, dormers, and an elaborated front entrance.
The house passed to the Attmore family through the 19th century and ultimately to Hannah Attmore Oliver, who inherited the property shortly before the Civil War. Her husband William Oliver served as a Confederate quartermaster. Several of Hannah's Attmore brothers served in Confederate units; her brother Isaac Attmore of the Beaufort Rifles was killed at Spotsylvania Court House on May 12, 1864, after surviving Gettysburg and other engagements.
New Bern fell to Union forces under Major General Ambrose Burnside on March 14, 1862, in the early phase of the North Carolina coastal campaign. The city remained under Union occupation through September 1865, making it one of the longest continuously occupied Confederate cities. The Attmore-Oliver House was almost certainly used as a Union facility during this period: a 1962 archaeological investigation of the basement recovered medical supplies and related artifacts strongly suggesting use as a Union field hospital.
The house passed out of the Attmore-Oliver family in the early 20th century. The New Bern Historical Society acquired the property and uses it as the organization's administrative headquarters and primary public museum. The society returned its offices to the building in the summer of 2011 following a period of relocation. The home contains the Civil War exhibit, an extensive map collection, period furnishings, and rotating displays interpreting New Bern's colonial and Civil War history.
The Attmore-Oliver House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing structure within the New Bern Historic District.
Sources
- https://newbernhistorical.org/attmore-oliver-house-self-guided-tour/
- https://visitnewbern.com/things-to-do/history/attmore-oliver-house/
- https://theclio.com/entry/22325
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=76993
Phantom footstepsCold spotsPhantom voicesResidual haunting
The Attmore-Oliver House is not a major destination on regional paranormal-tourism itineraries, and the New Bern Historical Society does not foreground a haunted reputation in its interpretive materials. The local accounts that do circulate are modest in scope and consistent with the building's documented use as a Civil War medical facility.
Staff and volunteers have reported phantom footsteps on the upper floor of the house, sometimes occurring during opening hours when no other person is on the second story. The basement — where the 1962 archaeological investigation recovered medical supplies suggesting Union field-hospital use — has been the subject of occasional reports of cold spots and the sound of indistinct voices. These accounts are gentle rather than alarming and are typically discussed only when visitors ask.
The Civil War exhibit room has accumulated a small body of visitor reports describing the sense of being watched while examining the displayed map and medical artifacts. Some visitors have reported brief unexplained discomfort or the sensation of a presence near specific exhibit cases — most often the cases displaying objects associated with named Confederate soldiers including Isaac Attmore, who was killed at Spotsylvania in 1864.
No formal paranormal investigation appears in the major published American paranormal literature for the Attmore-Oliver House. The building's reputation, such as it exists, is local and confined to New Bern's ghost-walk circuit. Visitors arriving with paranormal expectation typically find a careful 18th-century house museum with thoughtful Civil War interpretation and a quiet emotional weight associated with the documented hospital use of the basement.
