The Most Haunted Places in Delaware
Delaware has 28 documented haunted locations in the HauntBound index.
Top 5 identified after source-level analysis of the 12 strongest Delaware candidates.
By the numbers
- Total documented
- 28
- Museum / Historical Site
- 7
- Haunted House / Historic Home
- 4
- Outdoor / Natural Site
- 4
- Family-friendly
- 28
- Bookable
- 8
- Oldest documented site
- Ryves Holt House (1665)
- Most-reported phenomenon
- apparitions
Ranked
- 1. Cape Henlopen State Park (Fort Miles) HauntBound identified seven distinct published accounts at this military site, across three kinds of published source. Two later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include apparitions and electrical anomalies. 7 original accounts · documented across 20 decades, 1600-2024 · retold in 2 later publications
- 2. Rockwood Mansion Rockwood Mansion was completed in 1854 as the retirement home of Wilmington banker Joseph Shipley, modeled on his English country estate, and now operates as a county-run park and museum on 72 acres. In 2020 it hosted the series finale of Ghost Hunters after eleven seasons. Staff and visitors report footsteps on the upper floors, knocking on closed doors, whistling, and conversation overheard in rooms with no one in them. 3 original accounts · documented across 4 decades, 1800-2016 · retold in 1 later publication
- 3. Cannonball House (Lewes Historical Society) The Cannonball House in Lewes dates to the mid-1700s and takes its name from a British cannonball, still lodged in its foundation, fired during the 1813 bombardment of the town. It now operates as the Lewes Historical Society's maritime museum. Staff describe the site's ghost as a woman named Susan, said to have died after her dress caught fire at the hearth, and a door that will not stay shut and tools found moved overnight. 3 original accounts · documented across 2 decades, 1917-1960 · retold in 2 later publications
- 4. Lums Pond State Park HauntBound identified two distinct published accounts at this outdoor site, across four kinds of published source. Two later publications retell those accounts. Reported phenomena include cold spots and disembodied voices. 2 original accounts · documented across 4 decades, 1815-1970 · retold in 2 later publications
- 5. Fort Delaware Fort Delaware, completed in 1859 on Pea Patch Island, was built for coastal defense and served as a Civil War prison camp holding roughly 33,000 Confederate soldiers, about 2,500 of whom died of disease and exposure, before it was decommissioned after World War II and became a state park in 1951. During a 2008 television investigation, visitors and investigators reported audible cannon fire with no living source, along with cold spots and unexplained conversation logged across the fort's rooms and upper ramparts. 2 original accounts · documented across 5 decades, 1815-2018 · retold in 1 later publication
By city
- New Castle: 5 documented sites
- Lewes: 5 documented sites
- Dover: 4 documented sites
- Wilmington: 3 documented sites
- Smyrna: 2 documented sites
- Newark: 2 documented sites
- Delaware City: 2 documented sites
- Bethany Beach: 1 documented site
- Frankford: 1 documented site
- Frederica: 1 documented site
- 2 more across the rest of Delaware
Press images
- Cape Henlopen State Park (Fort Miles) Flickr user Lee Cannon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:12_inch_M1895_gun_Fort_Miles_right_front_view_Flickr_6723737873.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/delaware/cape-henlopen-state-park-fort-miles/hero.jpg
- Rockwood Mansion Smallbones hauntbound.com/images/locations/delaware/rockwood-mansion/hero.jpg
- Cannonball House (Lewes Historical Society) Lee Cannon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via https://www.flickr.com/photos/leecannon/7554189000/ hauntbound.com/images/locations/delaware/cannonball-house/hero.jpg
- Fort Delaware WorldIslandInfo.com, CC BY 2.0, via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Delaware_05.jpg hauntbound.com/images/locations/delaware/fort-delaware/hero.jpg
Images listed here may be republished with the credit shown; all other HauntBound images are not offered for press use.
Superlatives
- Oldest documented site: Ryves Holt House Documented since 1665.
- Most documented: Cape Henlopen State Park (Fort Miles) 7 distinct published accounts.
- Top haunted stay: Addy-Sea Inn Overnight stays bookable.
- Most family-friendly: Smyrna Museum (The Barracks) Family Comfort rating: High.
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.
This is a documentation ranking, not a visitation guide; sites not open to visitors are marked on their entries.