Nestled in the heart of Wilmington, Delaware, Bellevue Mansion is a historic mansion located in Wilmington, Delaware. The mansion was built in 1855 for Hanson Robinson and his wife, Anne Poultney. It was originally meant to be a Gothic Revival-style castle and was named Woolton Hall because Robinson was a wool merchant. Wasn’t he clever?
However, the mansion was owned by several wealthy families, including shipping magnate C.R Griggs and then the DuPont family. William DuPont (1855–1928) acquired the property in 1893. His son William DuPont, Jr. (1896–1965) inherited the estate from his father upon his death in 1928. He eventually remodeled the Gothic castle into the Neo-Classical Bellevue Mansion seen today, becoming an almost identical copy of his home in Montpelier, Virginia. The name “Bellevue” has a French origin and means “beautiful view.”
William Jr. and Margaret
William DuPont, Jr., was born at Loseley Park in Surrey, England, and grew up at the historic Montpelier in Virginia. He had four children with his first wife, Jean, but they lived at Liseter Hall Farm (also known as Foxcatcher Farm) and were not affiliated with Bellevue. After divorcing his first wife, Jean, he moved into permanent residency at Bellevue.
DuPont surrounded his home at Bellevue with various facilities such as tennis courts, equestrian stables, gardens, and a picturesque pond. He lived at this residence with his second wife, Margaret Osborne DuPont, a world-renowned American female tennis player. They married in 1947 and divorced in 1964. During their marriage, they had one child together, William III.
William DuPont, Jr. died in 1965, and his heirs expressed no interest in taking over Bellevue Hall.
After their divorce, Margaret Osborne partnered with former tennis player Margaret Varner Bloss to raise racehorses at the DuPont-Bloss Stables near El Paso, Texas. They lived together and remained business partners until she died in 2012. There are rumors that the Margarets’ were in love and that William DuPont knew of their affair. There is a tunnel from the house to the tennis court. Paranormal investigators have picked up quite a bit of activity in that space and some have speculated that voices heard during EVP sessions may be the voices of these women.
The mansion’s role in the community
The State of Delaware purchased this land in 1976. The park is named after Bellevue Hall or Bellevue Mansion because William DuPont, Jr., originally built so many of the facilities. As a state park, the area offers a variety of recreational, historical, natural, and artistic opportunities to the community. The mansion is part of Bellevue State Park, a 328-acre park overlooking the Delaware River. Today, the mansion is owned by the Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation and is used as a wedding venue and event space, including paranormal investigations.
The spirits of Bellevue Mansion
Staff have reported hearing screams and laughter in the home; the lights in the mansion flicker randomly; chairs and objects move on their own. Some of this can be explained, I’m sure, by power surges and the fact that the property is over a century old. The power of persuasion is most definitely a real thing.
The Diamond State Ghost Investigators have had opportunities to investigate Bellevue alone and lead tours with the public. We have a private team group on Facebook where we share photos and evidence back and forth with each other to find out if another team member can see or hear something spooky. After a Bellevue investigation, I know without a doubt that our group page is going to blow up. Usually, Adam posts a video recording of him sharing an audio recording. 😀
We have had a lot of fun at this location because there does seem to be something paranormal going on, but it does not feel threatening or overbearing. At least, I’m comfortable saying that I have not felt anything at Bellevue wished me harm.
Normally, I like to dive through old newspapers and historic archives to discover why a place might be haunted and what happened there. My searches have been mostly fruitless, and I have taken great strides not to toss my laptop aside and give up. I know the DuPont family carried and continues to carry great clout in Delaware. It makes sense that verified, sourceable content might be more difficult to obtain.
When you get a good group
The last time I helped to lead a public tour of the mansion, I teamed up with Adam. We got lucky because we had a great group who truly did want to investigate. Sometimes, people drag friends along on these types of tours without there being a true interest. We can feel that when it happens and it does impact the investigation because while being cynical is good, it’s also important to be open-minded.
We had a few interesting occurrences that night, one of which involved cat toys! There are little cat toys, shaped as balls, that light up when touched. They are tiny and inexpensive, and we can easily set them up in rooms without worrying about them. The great thing about these toys is that they glow bright when they light up. On this night, we put a cat ball in the middle of an upstairs room on the third floor, which houses bedrooms and servants’ quarters.
Can you do that again?
Adam had a conversation with a spirit that lasted for quite some time. He would ask questions, and the ball would light up. The group and I stood in a circle, watching this interaction. At one point, I walked closer to the toys and stomped on the floor to see how easily they would light up. My stomp did nothing, but Adam asking a spirit in the room if they could make the ball light up again; well, that made the the toy light up like the 4th of July.
In a separate location, a trophy room with many historic artifacts showcasing William duPont, Jr.’s love for steeplechase horse racing, we had another occurrence where a door closed forcefully on its own. To ensure another person in the building wasn’t being foolish, I went to the door and opened it wide. Our group then asked if whoever was with us could close it again. Sure enough, after a moment passed, the door closed again. It was a heavy door, and I could see it possibly swinging slightly on its own, especially if other people were moving through the house. However, no one else was in the area, and the door didn’t just sway; it fully closed.
The burden of proof
Do I believe that Bellevue Mansion in Wilmington, Delaware, is haunted? Yes, I do.
During this investigation, a member of the group shared a creepy photo with our team. It had been taken in the basement while we were doing an EVP session. At first glance, it looked like a spirit was caught on camera standing next to a guest from the public tour. I so desperately wanted this to be irrefutable evidence! Sadly, it was not. Another investigator was able to zoom in on the image and adjust the contrast to show that the image was actually someone holding a phone up with their screen aglow. The end result was that someone next to them looked almost transparent because the room around us was so dark. A spirit captured on photo!? Debunked.
It is always difficult to know what evidence we collect is truly paranormal, especially when many people simultaneously investigate a property. I wish I could guarantee that what we experienced was paranormal, but I can’t.
I can say that I wasn’t able to replicate the cat ball and trophy room door-closing scenarios on my own. Were there spirits interacting with us? It seemed like it to me. We do have evidence in our vault from Bellevue, two EVP recordings where a voice is heard in the recording that was not heard by investigators at the time.
The Diamond State Ghost Investigators will lead a tour at Bellevue Mansion again this fall. We hope to see you there!