Built c. 1760 by Charles Washington as his home; tavern operator John Frazer died here in 1793 and, by most staff accounts, never quite left
1304 Caroline St, Fredericksburg, VA 22401
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Adults $10; youth 6-18 $5; under 6 free. Discounts for AAA, senior, military, trolley pass.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic building with some uneven floor surfaces; call ahead for accessibility details
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1760 · National Historic Landmark (1964) · National Register of Historic Places (1966) · Washington Heritage Museums
Charles Washington built the structure around 1760 while residing in Fredericksburg. The frame building served as his private home for roughly three decades before commercial use began. The property was purchased and operated as a tavern starting in 1792, when John Frazer — a veteran of the Continental Army and a descendant of the Clan Fraser of Lovat — took over management, renting from Colonel Gustav Wallace.
Frazer ran the establishment alongside his wife, Elizabeth Fox Frazer, for just over a year. On November 28, 1793, he went upstairs to rest and died there. The cause is not recorded in surviving documents. The tavern continued operating under subsequent tenants and names for several decades before residential and other uses took over.
Preservation Virginia (then the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) acquired the property in 1907. It has operated as a public museum since then, restored to represent the colonial tavern-era interior. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, it is now one of three Washington Heritage Museums properties in Fredericksburg alongside Kenmore and the Mary Washington House.
Sources
John Frazer died upstairs on November 28, 1793, and the building's staff have attributed a running catalog of small disturbances to him for decades. Guides report sockets being unplugged with no one near them, tricorn hats stacked neatly at closing found scattered on the floor the following morning, and postcards from display racks repositioned without explanation. Several staff members have described the sensation of something tugging at their skirts or dress hems while leading tours.
Frazer's reputation at the tavern is that of a prankster rather than a threatening presence. The museum's John Frazer Night programming — held seasonally — brings in findings from Culpeper Paranormal Investigations, whose EVP recordings from sessions in the building have been presented publicly. The Fredericksburg tourism bureau and local media have covered the tavern's ghost programming over multiple years.
The Fredericksburg Ghost Tour circuit includes the Rising Sun Tavern as a standard stop, and multiple independent ghost tour operators reference the Frazer accounts in their itineraries. The museum itself markets the ghost programming as one component of its broader interpretive mission.
Notable Entities
Guides in period costume lead guests through the restored tavern rooms, explaining daily life for travelers and tavern-keepers in colonial Fredericksburg. Standard admission includes this tour; groups arrive and tours begin as guests come in.
Seasonal candlelight tours incorporate findings from the Culpeper Paranormal Investigations team and focus on the ghost of John Frazer, who died upstairs on November 28, 1793. Check the Washington Heritage Museums website for scheduled dates.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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