Richmond holds two of Virginia's ten most haunted places

With Halloween approaching, two Richmond landmarks, Virginia Executive Mansion and William H. Grant House (exterior viewing only), rank among Virginia's ten most haunted places in HauntBound's 2026 index. The index ranks 163 Virginia sites by separate published accounts and how far back they go, not by fame or search popularity.

Virginia Executive Mansion ranks #2. Completed in 1813, it is the oldest continuously occupied governor's mansion in the country. Its ghost, the Gray Lady, is said to have first appeared to Governor Philip McKinney in the 1890s, a young woman who local legend says died when her carriage overturned as she left the mansion; governors' families, staff and a Capitol Police officer have told stories of her since. Three separate published accounts describe activity there, the earliest dated to 1890.

William H. Grant House ranks #8. Richmond tobacco merchant William H. Grant built the Italianate townhouse in 1857; from 1892 to 1965 it served as the Sheltering Arms Hospital, which offered free care. Two separate published accounts describe activity there, the earliest dated to 2007. VCU staff have described heavy footsteps on the empty third floor, hallway paintings that kept tilting until one employee asked them to stop, and a bump against something unseen in the kitchenette.

Statewide, St Albans Sanatorium in Radford ranks #1.

"We rank by evidence, not legend: independent published accounts, documented history, and how far back the reports go. We don't claim ghosts are real, or that they aren't. We document where the reports concentrate, and we show our work," said Ben Fineman, editor of HauntBound. The ranking shows each site's documented record.

Visiting:Virginia Executive Mansion, on Capitol Square, offers free public tours Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with no reservation needed for groups under 20 and security screening at the gate; the grounds are visible from outside the security perimeter.William H. Grant House (exterior viewing only), 1008 E. Clay St., is a VCU office building viewable from the sidewalk. Please do not trespass.

For media:The full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/virginia/The fact sheet, with Richmond numbers and cleared images: https://hauntbound.com/press/fact-sheets/virginia/Photos: Virginia Executive Mansion and William H. Grant House, on the fact sheet.Venue contact: executivemansion.virginia.govA short version follows.

HauntBound (hauntbound.com) is a family-friendly field guide to more than 6,000 documented haunted and historic places across the United States, ranked by published evidence rather than legend. No venue pays to be listed or ranked.

Media contact: Ben Fineman, Editor, HauntBound, editor@hauntbound.com

###