Haunted Places in Lewes, Delaware: 9 Ghostly Stops by the Bay
Delaware’s first town has been burying sailors, pilots and shipwreck victims since 1631. Its shingled houses, lighthouse and old ferry beach have the ghost stories to match.
Lewes sits where Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic, at the mouth of a river crossing that has wrecked ships for four centuries. The Dutch founded Zwaanendael here in 1631, the British shelled the town in 1813, and for generations its families were bay and river pilots. The Lewes Historical Society calls the Cannonball House one of Delaware’s most haunted sites and runs Lewes Legends walking tours and paranormal nights, and a boat company runs Spooky Lighthouse trips out to the breakwater. These are the places in and around Lewes with real ghost stories, what is history and what is legend, and how to visit.
Hours and season April 1 to October 1, Wednesday to Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM
Tickets No fee; $5 donation welcomed
Ghost hunting Yes: the society’s occasional Haunted Histories paranormal investigations with First State Paranormal Investigations
This cedar-shingled house on Front Street dates to the mid-1700s and is the only building in Lewes that survives with damage from the British bombardment of April 1813, when the Royal Navy fired on the town for about 22 hours; a cannonball is still lodged in its foundation. It has been a home, a bank, a print shop, a laundromat and a taxi stand, and Historic Lewes has run it as a maritime museum since 1963.
The Lewes Historical Society itself calls it one of Delaware’s most haunted sites. The best-known story is of a young woman who died after her skirts caught fire at the hearth; she is usually called Susan Rowland, though one TV report gives the name Sarah Rolan, and one tour dates her death to 1917. Staff and visitors report footsteps upstairs, a door that will not stay shut and tools moved overnight.
What investigators report
A Delmarva Historic Haunts team reported a long yes/no session on a Ghost Meter Pro after placing a candle in the long-unused fireplace and using a flashlight to mimic firelight. An EMF word device reportedly also gave readings during the session.
Where to look The old stairs and the ground-floor rooms
Reported ghosts A more forceful presence than the Cannonball House, linked by tour guides to an old murder mystery
Visiting Free museum and shop run by Historic Lewes
Tours Stop on the Lewes Legends evening walking tour
Hours and season April to October, Wednesday to Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM; November to mid-December, Thursday to Saturday; closed late December to March
Tickets No fee; $5 donation welcomed
Ghost hunting No public investigations here
The Ryves Holt House is a strong candidate for the oldest house in Delaware: tree-ring dating puts its timbers at about 1680, and Historic Lewes dates it to about 1686. Philip and Sarah Russell ran it as an ordinary, a simple inn. Ryves Holt, later Chief Justice of Delaware, bought it in 1723, and it is now a museum and shop run by Historic Lewes and part of First State National Historical Park.
The Lewes Legends walking tour stops here for its ghost stories, and visitors are told of a ‘murder hole’ and stairs tied to a murder mystery around two centuries old. Older ghost lists describe the spirit here as more aggressive than the one next door at the Cannonball House. We found no named witness or record behind the murder story, so take it as tour lore.
Haunted Rooms tip: Pick up the Lewes Legends tour here on a fall evening, and visit the free museum by day.
Address Delaware Breakwater, off Cape Henlopen; boat tours from 43 Cape Henlopen Drive, Lewes, DE 19958
Where to look The keeper's quarters and the stairs to the lantern
Reported ghosts William Landrey of the schooner Mary Rogers, who died here in 1892; former keepers
Visiting Offshore: reachable only on a boat tour
Tours Daytime lighthouse tours and evening Spooky Lighthouse Tours with Cape Water Tours
Hours and season Seasonal tours, mostly summer and fall
Tickets Spooky Lighthouse Tour from about $50 per person (ages 8 and up)
Ghost hunting No regular public investigations
The East End Lighthouse is a 49-foot cast iron ‘sparkplug’ tower on the end of the Delaware Breakwater, lit in October 1885 to mark the harbor of refuge inside Cape Henlopen. It was retired as a working light in 1996, the state took ownership in 1999, and a full restoration was finished in December 2020. There is no public access except by boat tour.
Delaware’s state information office tells its best-known story: on January 19, 1892, the schooner Mary Rogers was wrecked against the breakwater in a storm, and her sailing master, William Landrey, hesitated to cross to safety, was hurt in the water and died at the lighthouse. Visitors and tour staff describe footsteps, moved belongings and windows that open by themselves. Cape Water Tours runs evening Spooky Lighthouse trips with costumed storytellers.
What investigators report
Guests on the lighthouse paranormal tour use voice recorders, EMF meters, a spirit box, an Ovilus, dowsing rods and a pendulum, working up floor by floor to the top floor and observation deck. One attendee reported getting answers to questions through the equipment.
Where to look Captain James Drew's tomb and the oldest stones near the church
Reported ghosts Captain James Drew of HMS DeBraak, said to leave the churchyard on moonless nights
Visiting An active church; the churchyard is open to respectful visitors in daylight
Tours The state’s Zwaanendael Museum has led free tombstone walks here; no ghost tours of the churchyard
Hours and season Daylight hours
Tickets Free
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting in an active churchyard
St. Peter’s congregation fenced part of a four-acre grant as a burial ground by 1681, and its oldest stone, for Margaret Huling, dates to 1707. Here are Ryves Holt, members of the Rodney family and Captain James Drew of the British warship DeBraak, which capsized off Cape Henlopen in May 1798. One stone gives Elizabeth Cullen a birthday of February 30, 1760, a date that never existed.
Delaware’s own state information office has retold the legend: the DeBraak was said to have been lured onto the shoals by a phantom light, and Captain Drew’s ghost leaves the churchyard on moonless nights, searching for his lost crew. A screaming ‘Sea Witch’ was said to guard the wreck until it was found in 1986. These are sailors’ legends, and nobody has recorded a modern sighting at the grave.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask at the church for its printed guide to noteworthy graves, and pair a daytime walk here with the DeBraak exhibit at the Zwaanendael Museum.
Open to the publicGhost toursParanormal investigations allowed
Address 65 Lake Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
Where to look The Bewitched house (children) and the BEDazzled house (adults, at night)
Reported ghosts A girl the innkeepers call Eleanor Sigsbee, three other children and adult figures at night
Visiting A working bed and breakfast: book a room to stay
Tours Ghost hunting package run with Delmarva Historic Haunts
Ghost hunting Yes: the inn’s own ghost hunting package
Bewitched & BEDazzled is a two-house bed and breakfast on Lake Avenue, a short walk from the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk, run by Inez Conover since 2002. It embraces its ghosts and has offered a ghost hunting package with Delmarva Historic Haunts, which investigated the houses over two nights in 2012.
Staff told the Cape Gazette in 2013 that beds are found rumpled minutes after being made, doors open on their own and furniture moves. Innkeeper Aquilla Harris described seeing a full apparition of a girl in a hallway; investigators linked her sketch to Eleanor Sigsbee, said to be a daughter of Captain Charles Sigsbee of the USS Maine. We could not confirm from the captain’s records that he had a daughter of that name who died here.
What investigators report
Delmarva Historic Haunts ran a two-night investigation with ghost meters and recorders, reporting a ghost meter conversation and hearing “shut the door”. The owner says child spirits are linked to the Bewitched building and its stairs, while adult spirits are mostly heard at night in the BEDazzled house.
Address 99 Ocean View Parkway, Bethany Beach, DE 19930
Where to look Room 1 and its copper tub, Room 6, Room 11, the halls and the roof
Reported ghosts A former handyman linked to Room 11; a member of the Addy family said to have fallen from the roof
Visiting A working inn: book a room to stay the night
Ghost hunting No ghost hunts; stay the night instead
The Addy Sea was built in the early 1900s (1902 or 1904, depending on the source) as a summer home for John Addy, one of Bethany Beach’s founding families, and it is now an adults-only inn of about 16 rooms right on the sand, with original woodwork and brass fixtures. It is a Select Registry member and one of the town’s best-known landmarks.
Three rooms carry its ghost stories. Guests say the copper bathtub in Room 1 has shaken on its own, organ music has been heard from Room 6 though there is no organ, and Room 11 is linked to a former handyman. Others describe a figure running the halls at night, perfume in the air and footsteps on the roof. The inn itself does not market its ghosts.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book directly and ask for Room 1, 6 or 11 by number; summer weekends fill early.
Visiting a haunted place by day is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through a historic building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and vigils, and gives you time to explore on your own. These are the nearest ones we run.
Address 15099 Cape Henlopen Drive, Lewes, DE 19958
Where to look The dune bunker behind Tower 12 near the campground bike trail, and Battery 519
Reported ghosts A phantom soldier still on duty behind Tower 12
Visiting State park open daily; the museum is inside the park
Tours Fort Miles Museum tours of Battery 519
Hours and season Park open daily, morning to sunset; museum hours vary by season
Tickets State park entrance fee; museum admission separate
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting; the park closes at sunset
Fort Miles was built from 1938 to defend Delaware Bay in World War II, with big guns hidden in the dunes, an underwater minefield and a line of concrete fire control towers along the beaches. The German submarine U-858 surrendered here in May 1945. The land became Cape Henlopen State Park in 1964, and today the Fort Miles Museum fills Battery 519, an underground gun battery with a restored 12-inch gun.
The legend is of a phantom soldier still on duty behind Tower 12. People who walk too close to his bunker, under a dune by the campground bike trail, say they have heard growling or been shouted at by a voice with no body, and his face is said to appear in photos and video. The story is told in the Cape Gazette and on Lewes ghost tours; nobody has put a name to the soldier.
Haunted Rooms tip: Climb the open fire control tower and tour the museum in Battery 519 by day, then cycle the campground trail past Tower 12 before the park closes at sunset.
Where to look The terminal offices after hours, the food court and the patio behind the terminal
Reported ghosts A man who looks into the office, white figures after closing, cigar smoke, shipwrecked sailors
Visiting Public ferry terminal open during ferry hours
Tours Starting point for Cape Water Tours’ Spooky Lighthouse Tour
Hours and season Ferry operating hours
Tickets Free to enter; ferry fares apply
Ghost hunting Past ghost hunts were special events run with the Lewes Historical Society
The Lewes terminal of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry stands near Cape Henlopen on a stretch of beach where bodies from shipwrecks washed ashore for centuries. A marker on the dock honors the hundreds of sailors ‘whose unidentified bodies were here cast ashore’, and local accounts put the number buried in the sand at 600 to 800. The old Lewes quarantine station for sick sailors and immigrants stood nearby.
A longtime ferry employee told WMDT in 2014 that it was nearly impossible to keep overnight staff, that one woman quit after a few nights, and that his own family saw a man look into his office when nobody else was on duty. The Lewes Historical Society has run ghost hunts in the terminal, where participants reported white figures after hours, footsteps and the smell of cigar smoke.
What investigators report
A public ghost hunt with Intuitive Investigations reported spirit box and K-II meter responses in the food court, the walkway to the ferry loading area and the outdoor courtyard behind the terminal. One spirit box reply to where a traveler was going was reportedly “to the university”.
Haunted Rooms tip: Arrive early for an evening ferry or the Spooky Lighthouse Tour, read the sailors’ marker on the dock and watch the sun set over the bay.
Where to look The captain's quarters and the crew's quarters
Reported ghosts Footsteps, banging and a female voice reported by an overnight investigation team
Visiting Museum ship open for tours in season
Tours Guided tours of the ship
Hours and season Seasonal; check the foundation’s site
Tickets Tour fee or donation
Ghost hunting Investigations have been by private arrangement only
The Overfalls (LV-118) was built in Maine in 1938, the last lightship built for the U.S. Lighthouse Service. She served off Connecticut, Massachusetts and Boston until 1972, and the Coast Guard gave her to the Lewes Historical Society in 1973, when she was renamed for the old Overfalls station at the mouth of Delaware Bay. She is a National Historic Landmark, moored on the Lewes canal and run by the Overfalls Foundation.
Her ghost story is recent. In November 2022 a team called the Phantom Detectives spent a night aboard and said they recorded footsteps, banging and a female voice in the captain’s and crew’s quarters, and one of them called it among the most haunted places he had investigated. The foundation’s president told local TV he knows of nobody who died aboard, though the hair on his neck sometimes stands up when he is alone on the ship.
What investigators report
Investigators walking the ship at night reported unusually high EMF meter readings, along with footsteps and voices in the crew quarters. The lead investigator advised speaking to the spirits respectfully, as you would a friend or neighbor.
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We collect first-hand accounts from visitors and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your visit. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lewes, Delaware haunted?
Lewes has more ghost stories than any other town in Delaware. The Lewes Historical Society calls the Cannonball House one of the state’s most haunted sites, and the town’s lighthouse, lightship, churchyard and ferry terminal all have stories told by staff and visitors.
Are there ghost tours in Lewes?
Yes. The Lewes Historical Society runs the 90-minute Lewes Legends evening walking tour, which visits the Ryves Holt House and the Cannonball House, and holds occasional Haunted Histories paranormal investigations. Cape Water Tours runs Spooky Lighthouse boat trips to the East End Lighthouse from the ferry terminal.
Who haunts the Cannonball House?
A young woman, usually called Susan Rowland, who is said to have died after her skirts caught fire at the hearth. Staff and visitors report footsteps upstairs, a door that will not stay shut and tools moved overnight.
Can you go inside the East End Lighthouse?
Only on a boat tour. Cape Water Tours runs daytime trips and evening Spooky Lighthouse Tours, from about $50, which include time inside the 1885 tower.
Where can I stay in a haunted place near Lewes?
Bewitched & BEDazzled in Rehoboth Beach, about five miles south, embraces its ghosts and has offered a ghost hunting package. The Addy Sea in Bethany Beach is about 17 miles south. See our haunted hotels in Delaware.
Is the Lewes ferry terminal haunted?
Staff and ghost hunt groups say so. The terminal stands on a beach where hundreds of unidentified sailors washed ashore and were buried, and a longtime employee told WMDT it was hard to keep overnight staff.
Sources and how we research
Every place in this guide is checked against its official website, historic register listings and news coverage, and we confirm whether it is open, closed, private or gone before we list it. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and local historians tell them; we say so where records contradict a story. Each place shows how many independent sources we checked it against; our own Haunted Rooms pages are not counted.
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every place in our guides using official sites, historic registers, local archives and news coverage, and we report ghost stories as the stories they are. We review each guide regularly so you are not sent to a place that has closed, changed hands or banned visitors. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
