1785 plantation-era home, the oldest house in Raleigh on its original foundation, reportedly haunted by long-time matriarch Mary Willis Mordecai Turk.
1 Mimosa Street, Raleigh, NC 27604
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Guided tours of the Mordecai House are offered by the City of Raleigh through Mordecai Historic Park. Check raleighnc.gov for current ticket pricing, hours, and seasonal Haunted Mordecai programming.
Access
Limited Access
Mixed — paved walkways through the park; the historic house has steps and narrow doorways typical of late-18th-century construction
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1785 · Oldest house in Raleigh on its original foundation · Center of one of Wake County's largest antebellum plantations · Site of enslaved labor (over 200 people across the antebellum period) · National Register of Historic Places · Five generations of single-family occupancy (1785-1967)
The oldest portion of the Mordecai House was built in 1785 by Joel Lane — frequently called the 'Father of Raleigh' — for his son Henry. After Henry's death the property passed through marriage to Moses Mordecai, a prominent Raleigh attorney, and the house took on the family's name. The home and surrounding land formed the core of one of the largest plantations in Wake County, eventually encompassing roughly 5,000 acres.
Like other plantations of the antebellum Piedmont, the Mordecai operation was sustained by the forced labor of enslaved African Americans. Historical research compiled by the City of Raleigh, Wikipedia, and North Carolina Public History sources indicates that more than 200 enslaved people lived on the Mordecai property between the Revolutionary era and the Civil War, working both the surrounding fields — primarily cotton and corn — and inside the household. The site's modern interpretive programming now centers these stories alongside the family's.
The house was expanded in 1826 by William Nichols, who designed the front portico and the columned south facade. Five generations of Mordecai descendants occupied the home until it was willed to the City of Raleigh in 1967 (some sources record 1964 or 1972 for related preservation events). The City eventually established Mordecai Historic Park around the house in the 1970s, incorporating other relocated structures including the Andrew Johnson Birthplace, an early-19th-century kitchen, a chapel, and a law office.
Today the house operates as a museum within Mordecai Historic Park, managed by the City of Raleigh's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is widely recognized as Raleigh's most significant antebellum residence.
Sources
According to long-standing local reporting from WRAL and the regional folklore site North Carolina Ghosts, visitors and museum staff have repeatedly described a quiet female figure in a long black skirt, white blouse, and black tie drifting through the hallways and standing on the upper balcony of the Mordecai House. The figure is widely identified by docents and tour operators as Mary Willis Mordecai Turk (1858-1937), who in life lived in the home longer than any other family member and was known for her social gatherings and piano playing.
A second cluster of reports centers on the antique parlor piano. Per WRAL and North Carolina Ghosts, staff and visitors have described hearing a somber melody play from the parlor when the room was empty, sometimes accompanied by a fine gray mist or orb-like haze hovering near the keys. The phenomenon is widely interpreted as a continuation of Mary Willis Mordecai Turk's known love of the instrument.
The Mordecai House was featured on a nationally televised episode of Syfy's Ghost Hunters and is a recurring stop on Raleigh's seasonal ghost-tour routes, as referenced by VisitRaleigh's official ghost-tour itinerary and by UNC's NC Miscellany blog. Mordecai Historic Park also runs seasonal Haunted Mordecai programming each October that incorporates these stories alongside its interpretive history.
The site's pre-Civil War history as a working plantation worked by more than 200 enslaved people is a separate and serious dimension of its past; modern interpretive staff frame this history through documented archives rather than as paranormal lore.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Docent-led tour of the Mordecai House and the surrounding historic park, covering the home's construction in 1785, its evolution into the center of a 5,000-acre plantation worked by enslaved laborers, and the five generations of the Mordecai family who lived here. Seasonal Haunted Mordecai programming explores the home's paranormal reputation in October.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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