The Location

The White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has been the home of every American president and his family since the John Adams administration in 1800. Homes in the US don't get much more historic, and few are reported to be more crowded with undead souls.

The Legend

According to legend, the first First Lady to take residence in the mansion liked it so much that her spirit remains there today. Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, can reportedly be seen hanging laundry in the East Room from time to time.

Adams probably doesn't get much chance to be lonely, as Dolley Madison, wife of James Madison, has also been spotted hanging out in spirit form in the Rose Garden. Madison, who designed the garden during her husband's administration, allegedly returned to stop work on the garden's removal years later.

That's far from all of the haunting in this landmark. In the Rose Room, also known as the Queen's Bedroom, President Andrew Jackson has been seen and heard laughing and swearing. Finally, many visitors and residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue claim to have seen Abraham Lincoln's ghost walking the grounds. First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Grace Coolidge told of spotting Lincoln's ghost in the appropriately-titled Lincoln bedroom. As well, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands claimed that, while spending the night at the White House, she heard Lincoln knocking at her bedroom door. (I'm sure it was perfectly innocent...)

But Is It True?

Most ghost stories seem to indicate that great traumas or intense emotions are what spark a haunting. Ghosts don't want to hang out just ANYWHERE. They occupy those locations where significant events went down. And it's hard to think of a more significant place where more dramatic decisions have been made than at the White House.

Still, with so many people walking through the White House every day, it seems an odd place for ghosts to be mucking about unseen. And a lot of the stories about White House hauntings are patently absurd, such as when Winston Churchill claimed to have been taking a bath in the White House, only to emerge nude and find himself face-to-face with Lincoln's ghost.