Capitol hauntings and Civil War ghosts in the City of Oaks. Raleigh's 13 haunted stops. 3 free, self-guided.
Raleigh's ghosts go back to 1769, when plantation owner Joel Lane built the house that became the birthplace of North Carolina's capital — on land worked by enslaved people whose names were never recorded. The Mordecai House, standing since 1785, is the oldest home on its original foundation in the city, and its spirits don't rest quietly. Oakwood Cemetery holds over 20,000 graves, including Confederate soldiers buried in mass trenches. Dorothea Dix Hospital confined psychiatric patients from 1856 to 2012 — some involuntarily, some never leaving. This self-guided tour walks you through 13 free stops across Raleigh's plantation estates, abandoned asylums, and Civil War burial grounds.
The Mordecai House is the oldest house on its original foundation in Raleigh, built around 1785 for Joel Lane's son Henry and later expanded by the Mo...
You climb the steps of the North Carolina State Capitol, a Greek Revival masterpiece completed in 1840. The building has witnessed secession debates, ...
You walk through Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh's oldest and largest burial ground, established in 1869. The cemetery holds over 20,000 graves: Confederate...
You enter Tucker House, a Federal-style mansion built in 1810 by Raleigh merchant John Haywood. The house passed through several prominent families be...
You stand before Haywood Hall, Raleigh's oldest house still on its original foundation, built in 1799 by John Haywood, North Carolina's state treasure...
You walk through the rose garden at Raleigh Little Theatre, a 5-acre park that was once the site of a Confederate prison camp. During the Civil War, U...
You enter the building that once housed Casso's Inn, a boarding house and tavern that operated in downtown Raleigh from the 1850s through the early 19...
You stand before the Joel Lane House, built in 1769 and known as the birthplace of Raleigh. Joel Lane was a plantation owner, politician, and slave tr...
You enter the building that housed the Pine State Creamery, a dairy processing plant that operated from the 1920s through the 1960s. The creamery empl...
You stand before the North Carolina Executive Mansion, completed in 1891 and home to every governor since. The Queen Anne-style building is elegant, i...
You approach the abandoned campus of Dorothea Dix Hospital, a psychiatric institution that operated from 1856 until 2012. At its peak, Dix housed over...
You enter the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, built in 1932 as a tribute to North Carolina's war dead. The building is beautiful, solemn, and strange. St...
The Raleigh ghost tour includes 13 documented haunted locations.
The first 3 stops are completely free — no account required. To unlock all 13 stops, a History Nearby premium subscription is $4.99/month or $49.99/year.
No. This is a self-guided walking tour. Each stop includes the address, a map pin, and the full haunting story. Walk at your own pace, start anytime, and take any route you like.
Plan for approximately 2.5 hours. This accounts for walking between stops and reading each haunting story. You can also split it across multiple evenings.
The most visited stop on our Raleigh tour is Mordecai House at 1 Mimosa Street, dating back to 1785.
3 stops free in Raleigh. No guide, no schedule — walk at your own pace after dark.
Last updated February 22, 2026. Researched by the History Nearby editorial team.