HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
Hannah Caldwell, shot through a window by a British soldier in June 1780, is said to haunt the courthouse rotunda and the fifth-floor courtroom where her husband's portrait hangs — the claim was investigated by Ghost Hunters in 2009.
2 Broad Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07201
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Active public courthouse; public areas are accessible during business hours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Public government building with elevator access.
Equipment
No Photos
Located in Elizabeth, one of New Jersey's oldest cities and first state capital · Associated with Hannah Caldwell, killed by British forces June 7, 1780 · Contains portrait of Reverend James Caldwell, Continental Army chaplain
Elizabeth — originally Elizatown, established in 1664 — was among the first English settlements in New Jersey and served as the state's first capital. The Union County Courthouse at 2 Broad Street reflects the city's long role as an administrative and judicial center.
The figure most associated with the site's paranormal history is Hannah Caldwell, wife of Reverend James Caldwell. James Caldwell was a Presbyterian minister at the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth who served as a Continental Army chaplain during the American Revolution — his aggressive support for the Patriot cause earned him the nickname 'the Fighting Parson' and made him a target of Loyalist and British hostility.
On June 7, 1780, British and Hessian forces raided Connecticut Farms (now Union, New Jersey). Hannah Caldwell was inside her home with her children when she was shot through a window and killed. She had nine children at the time. Her death drew immediate outrage in the Patriot press and was widely characterized as a deliberate act by British forces rather than an accident of battle. James Caldwell himself was killed less than a year later, on November 24, 1781, shot by an American sentry at Elizabethtown Point in what was ruled an act of treason by the sentry.
A portrait of James Caldwell is displayed in the courthouse. The building has been cited in paranormal accounts as the location of Hannah Caldwell's apparition, most frequently in the rotunda and in the fifth-floor courtroom near her husband's portrait.
Sources
The paranormal accounts at Union County Courthouse center on Hannah Caldwell. Staff and custodians have described encounters — cold spots, a sense of presence, and in some cases a figure in period dress — concentrated in two locations: the rotunda of the main courthouse and the fifth-floor courtroom where a portrait of Reverend James Caldwell hangs.
The specific attribution of these accounts to Hannah Caldwell is consistent with her historical connection to the site's patriotic memory. Her death in 1780, documented in contemporary newspapers and Continental Army records, transformed her into a symbol of British excess in New Jersey; the courthouse's judicial history and its Caldwell memorabilia make it a natural locus for that memory.
The Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters (TAPS) conducted a filmed investigation at the courthouse in 2009. The episode documented the team's examination of the rotunda and upper floors, and captured unexplained audio anomalies and temperature fluctuations that the investigators could not attribute to mechanical or environmental causes. The investigation represents the most publicly documented formal paranormal inquiry at the site.
The courthouse is an active government building, and access for paranormal investigation purposes would require formal authorization from Union County.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
The Union County Courthouse is an active government building. Public areas including the lobby and rotunda may be viewed during business hours. Courtrooms are not open for casual tourism.
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