The Most Haunted Places in New Jersey
162 documented locations, ranked by depth of evidence. Updated September 2026.
What makes this ranking different
- Evidence-ranked. Ordered by how many independent published reports we found, how far back they go, and how well they hold up, not by how often a story is retold. A place with more recent accounts can rank below one with a longer record. See methodology.
- Family-rated. A family-suitability rating on every site, so you know before you go.
- Logistics-checked. Each entry says how you can visit, book, or stay, as far as we could confirm it; where we could not, the page says so.
New Jersey has 162 documented haunted locations in the HauntBound index.
- Total documented
- 162
- Museum / Historical Site
- 36
- Outdoor / Natural Site
- 21
- Cemetery / Burial Ground
- 20
- Family-friendly
- 154
- Bookable
- 44
- Oldest documented site
- Old Bergen Church Cemetery (1660)
- Most-reported phenomenon
- apparitions
- Stays
- Top 10 you can sleep in
- Tours
- Top 6 ghost tours
- Investigations
- Top 6 overnight investigations
- Eat & Drink
- Top 10 bars & restaurants
- This October
- 40 experiences running this October
The upset
New Jersey's most famous haunted site, Leeds Point (Jersey Devil Birthplace), ranks 2nd on the evidence; the winner is The Southern Mansion in Cape May. Leeds Point (Jersey Devil Birthplace) · The Southern Mansion
Ranked
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HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this working hotel, across five kinds of published source. Five later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and disembodied voices.
4 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1876-2009 · retold in 5 later publications
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HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this outdoor site, across four kinds of published source. Two later publications retell those accounts.
4 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1735-1909 · retold in 2 later publications
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HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this outdoor site, across five kinds of published source. Eight later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include electrical anomalies.
4 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1939-1988 · retold in 8 later publications
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HauntBound identified seven distinct published accounts at this museum site. One later publication retells those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and cold spots.
7 original accounts · documented across 3 decades, 1983-2019 · retold in 1 later publication
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HauntBound identified four distinct published accounts at this museum site, across five kinds of published source. Two later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and cold spots.
4 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1970-2009 · retold in 2 later publications
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Architect Robert Mills built this fireproof county jail in 1811; when it closed in 1965 it was the oldest operating prison in the country. The third-floor wing held prisoners awaiting execution, including Joel Clough, hanged there in 1833 for murder. The basement and women's wing produce reports of a woman crying, the smell of perfume, and footsteps near the kitchen, while equipment malfunctions have been reported in the old punishment cells.
2 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1833-1990 · retold in 3 later publications
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7. Old Bernardsville Public Library (Vealtown Tavern) Bernardsville · Museum / Historical Site · Family Comfort: High Exterior viewing onlyHauntBound identified three distinct published accounts at this museum site, across four kinds of published source. Two later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and disembodied voices.
3 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1974-2001 · retold in 2 later publications
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HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this historic home, across four kinds of published source. Reported phenomena include cold spots and disembodied voices.
2 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1980-2019
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HauntBound identified three distinct published accounts at this museum site. Reported phenomena include a sensed presence and apparitions.
3 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1939-1975
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HauntBound identified three distinct published accounts at this operating restaurant and bar, across three kinds of published source. Two later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include objects moving.
3 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 2011-2021 · retold in 2 later publications
Superlatives
Most documented counts published accounts. The ranking also weighs how many decades those accounts span and how independent they are, so the place with the most accounts is not always the place ranked first.
Methodology
For purposes of the HauntBound Index, "most haunted" means the location with the strongest documented record of reported haunting phenomena. We evaluate the quantity, independence, persistence, and documentary quality of published reports. We do not attempt to determine whether paranormal phenomena are real, and we never count a source that only establishes a building's history as evidence of haunting claims. Repetitive coverage is subject to diminishing returns, so a story retold many times does not outrank a story independently documented. Rankings never consider commercial relationships.
The 2026 Index reflects sources identified and classified as of September 15, 2026.
Updated September 29, 2026: documented totals now exclude the private homes, operating hospitals and venues with nothing left to visit that were withdrawn on September 25 and 26. The ranked ten are unchanged.
Corrected October 15, 2026: the ClinCon Research Farmhouse in Chester was withdrawn because it is a private office, so the count for the rest of New Jersey is now 102. New Jersey's documented total stays at 162 until the November update.
Updated October 19, 2026: listings that could not be sourced, or that are private or have no public access, were withdrawn after an October review, so some of the state's town counts are lower. The documented total stays as published until the November update.
Updated October 23, 2026: more listings were withdrawn after a dignity and sourcing review, so some of the state's town counts are lower. The documented total stays as published until the November update.
This is a documentation ranking, not a visitation guide; sites not open to visitors are marked on their entries.