paranormal investigation Archives - Diamond State Ghost Investigators

The Samuel Miller Mansion of Columbia, PA

By Christy Mannering March 5, 2024 March 5, 2024 Haunted Hotels, Inns & Mansions

This past Friday night, the Diamond State Ghost Investigators joined forces with the guys of My Haunted Manor USA and Interstate Paranormal Research to investigate the Samuel Miller Mansion in Columbia, PA. There were a lot of people and one spunky, spooky cat, so at times it was difficult to capture concrete evidence. Difficult, but not impossible, and paranormal investigators are not known to shy away from a challenge. When you put a lot of trained investigators in one place, you’re bound to learn something new, experience something chilling and create lasting friendships. The meatballs didn’t hurt either 😉

Group photo of folks in the parlor at Samuel Miller Mansion — *Photo Credit: Andy Lendway*

My Haunted Manor USA

The Samuel Miller Mansion is the new home for My Haunted Manor USA. This is an extremely exciting endeavor because it will be a year-long investigation that includes the public. The crew behind this is Daryl Martson, Trey Bader and Jeff Bader, and they are pouring their hearts and souls into My Haunted Manor USA. They have been working on the location to ensure it is safe for the public, while also setting up IR lights and cameras in every rooms to ensure night filming is successful.

But they also want investigations to be authentic, which is the best part about all of this. We can all watch amazing paranormal shows on YouTube or TV and get enthralled by the stories and captured activity. But at the end of the day, we’re watching 45 minutes of sometimes a 72-hour experience. How so we know what was cut up and put together? How can we trust what we’re watching?

With My Haunted Manor USA, the public is leading the experience. Each time a new group enters the property and stays for the night, a new group will validate what trained investigators have been claiming for decades. An once they reach the end of a year, imagine all that will have been collected and explored? It’s just incredible.

The Location

Aerial photo of Columbia, PA — *^{Photo Credit: Matt O’Neil}*

One interesting thing to note about this property is that it is about a 10 to 15-minute walk from the Clyde W Kraft Funeral Home and two cemeteries. When you look at a map of this location, you’ll see many churches, too. When researching the location, I was inundated with obituaries. I couldn’t figure out why, but realizing the location is truly triangular, when looking at a map, with the funeral home and cemeteries made sense. Say what you will, but if the Samuel Miller Mansion is as haunted as we think, it would make sense for the mansion to be at the tippy top of a supernatural hub.

The Samuel Miller Mansion is also very close to the Susquehanna River. Many paranormal investigators have found that supernatural activity seems heightened or increased when near bodies of water. There has even been research stating that thunderstorms can cause an increase in activity.

Looking beyond things I can’t prove, like triangles I draw on maps and proximity to water, I realized my research job would be tricky because the Samuel Miller Mansion has an extremely uncharted history. Usually, I can look through historical archives and old newspapers and at least find mentions of places, even if they are in job listings or advertisements, but not this place.

The History of the Town

Wright's Ferry Bridge — *^{Photo Credit: Matt O’Neil}*

I spoke with tour guide, historian, and paranormal enthusiast extraordinaire Megan Hansen-Bisignaro. Megan graciously let me know that the town of Columbia was initially called Wrights Ferry. That knowledge helped me better understand the naming convention of other things around 131 Locust Street, like the present-day Columbia-Wrightsville bridge known as the Wright’s Ferry Bridge and the Wright’s Ferry Mansion. I also stumbled upon another ghost story.

In the 1800s, several ferries ran on the river. According to legend, one ferry was operated by a father and son. One morning, the ferry had an accident, and the son was thrown into the water. An unusually strong current pulled the boy underwater and drowned him. The father later died while searching for his son’s body. Perhaps a story to further research another time.

In 1788, Samuel Wright, the grandson of Wright’s Ferry founder John Wright, laid out 160 lots in what is now the central section of the Borough. Samuel called the town Columbia, naming it after Christopher Columbus. The growing importance of Columbia became evident in 1789 when the town narrowly missed being selected as the nation’s capital. Columbia became an incorporated borough in 1814.

The Wrightsville Bridge, connecting Columbia and Wrightsville, had significant historical importance during the American Civil War. In June 1863, the Confederate Army invaded Pennsylvania. The rebels planned to take the state capital, Harrisburg, but to get there, they would need to cross the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville. To prevent Confederate troops from advancing across the river from Wrightsville, Union forces decided to orchestrate the burning of the bridge.

Wrightsvillbe Bridge on fire — ^{Click the image above to read the Harper’s Weekly, July 18, 1863 article about the bridge fire.}

Knowing that such profound historical moments happened in this area really sets the tone for what one might experience when doing a paranormal investigation in Columbia, Pennsylvania. This place has been through a lot, and they’ve been on the right side of history which greatly impacted the very making of our country. As our fearless leader Gina always says, there is no paranormal without the history.

The History of the Samuel Miller Mansion

Exterior photo of the Samuel Miller Mansion — *^{Photo Credit: Matt O’Neil}*

I read that Samuel Miller built this house in 1804 for his family at 131 Locust Street in Columbia, Pennsylvania. According to Chris Vera, president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society, the building was bought in 1811 by the Columbia Bank & Bridge Company and used by the company as an office until 1872. It makes me wonder why the family only lived there for seven years. Though I did find where the family moved, their next house wasn’t built until 1815. Known as the Eagle Tavern, it was built first as a house for Samuel Miller and his wife, Anna in 1815, as noted in a date stone centered on the western
gable.

I’ve read that after the bridge company left in 1872, Breneman’s Feed Mill built the carriage and mill building. However, I cannot find any additional information about Breneman’s Feed Mill. Perhaps they went by another name at one point? They don’t appear in any of the historical news databases I use for research. Though I did find a Breneman’s Feed Mill that existed at this time in Virginia.

In the 1920s, the Baker Toy Company occupied residence, where many patented products were designed and manufactured over the following six decades. After that, S & G Printing operated out of the building until 2017, when Art Printing, owned and operated by Chris Raudabaugh, moved there from Lancaster.

Additionally, this location has been home to Rivertown Theatre Productions, LLC, founded and owned by local Columbian Sara Mimnall. They did murder mysteries like “Murder at the Miller Mansion” and various plays in the space, as we all as a Columbia’s Haunted Lantern Tour. In their recent Facebook post, they shared their excitement for My Haunted Manor USA.

Awakenings Energy Healing Reiki Master Chicks also works out of this property. Their Facebook page says that they offer humans and animals Reiki Energy Healing & Chakra Balancing and intuitive spiritual advising.

There have been and continue to be various people moving in and out of this property. Is it possible that some of those people never left and their spirits remain behind? Or could some spirits pass through this area because of the energy it stores?

As always, if anyone has additional history or sources, they’d like to share them so we can better understand the location. We’re already happy to listen and learn 🙂

The Underground Railroad

In addition to constructing bridges, the Bank and Bridge Company also familiarized themselves with the navigation of tunnels, as a participant and safe haven of the Underground Railroad. One of those tunnels emerges from the brick walls of the hand-dug basement below this building.

In the basement of this building, the floor is all dirt, and the walls are brick and mortar. An archway appears to be the entrance to a tunnel leading under the street. Local historians believe that the tunnel is one of a network of tunnels under Columbia once used to hide and transport slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. Columbia stands out as the western endpoint of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, founded in 1834 as the nation’s second operational railroad. Research shows that by 1838, freight cars on this railway were adapted with concealed compartments to transport escaped slaves to Philadelphia and other destinations. During our investigation, we could hear and feel the trains rumbling by from where we stood in the mansion. For me, the presence of the trains was a reminder that bold, courageous people once lived in the borough of Columbia, and they worked to help those escaping slavery.

^{_{Click the image above for the complete Special Resource Study of the Underground Railroad, published by the United States Department of the Interior • National Park Service • Denver Service Center}}

The Underground Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania will open just down the street from the Samuel Miller Mansion at 331 Locust Street in a couple of years. I’d love to visit it when it is complete!

When I think about investigating a space that once brought people to safety, I wonder what those spirits must think. Are they scared? I imagine when they were hiding and trying to escape through tunnels they probably listened for every little sound and tried to be a quiet as possible. Then we go in and ask for entities to answer us.

It makes me pause and wonder, when we come in with all our equipment, how can we explain our purpose to spirits unfamiliar with what we’re doing and very likely terrified of being found.

Our investigation

I went into the investigation without having any of the information I just shared. I was unfamiliar with the area, so it was nice to walk around seeing what I saw and feeling what I felt without any bias or presumptions..

The sub-team I walked around with included Kyle, Melissa, Andy, Matt, and me. We were paired with two fabulous investigators from Interstate Paranormal: Sierra and Brian.

We started off in the basement.

As the first group in the basement for the night, we didn’t know what to expect. It was cold and extremely dusty. The basement having been hand dug and still sitting atop dirt without anything else placed down as flooring, meant that we were all covered in dirt by the time our 35-40 minutes were up. It was just in the air. I mean, that’s definitely a spot where you need to place equipment down and then sit and stop moving.

The trip wire went off a lot, but almost in a glitchy way. Only once did it really seem to react communicatively as if something was responding to us, asking, can you come out here? A REM post set in a back nook area went off regularly, even though no one was there. The electricity had been turned off, but with the infrastructure so close to the street, it’s possible there was some EMF interference in at least the corner closest to the alley.

The water above the basement runs frequently whether someone is flushing a toilet or not. It often collects and releases water as if something isn’t sealed right somewhere in the plumbing. But let’s face it, the building is 220 years old. I say all this because it impacts what we can consider paranormal evidence when we review our video or audio recordings. Plus, it will help future investigators know where they should strategically place equipment for less contamination.

At one point, Andy was looking up while standing close to the far wall in the basement, parallel to the street outside. He could see into the room above us as there wasn’t any insulation between the floors. He saw a shadow pass over as if someone was leaving the room. Thanks to Sierra’s walkie-talkie direct line to the command center, we knew no one was above us, and we didn’t hear footsteps. But the event that stands out the most to me is when we heard the sound of something heavy dragging across the ceiling above us. When Melissa and I were near the back nook area in the corner of the basement catty-corner from the tunnel, it sounded like a heavy piece of machinery was being dragged across concrete.

The second floor of rooms.

Melissa and I camped out with Sierra and Brian in a room representing a child’s room. As our investigation continued, I watched the temperature drop five degrees on our equipment within a 20-minute span of time. At one point, I had to walk around into other rooms because my feet were so freaking cold.

2nd floor child's room — *Photo Credit: Adam Stinson*

In the child’s room, Sierra set up “Twinkle Twinkle, ” a REM pod lantern that plays nursery rhyme songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Super excited about this gadget friends, it was awesome. The music played four times, without any of us touching the lantern. Looking for a fifth interaction, we asked, “Can you please play the music again?” We all heard a distinct yet eerie, breathy voice say, “Noooooo.” I really hope someone picked that up on audio or camera because it was audible to all five of us without equipment.

Melissa asked many questions to learn more about the spirit interacting with us. We believe the spirit was a young boy. He very much enjoyed turning the flashlights on and off to answer questions. Often times the flashlights would turn on as if in direct response to Melissa. She would ask, “If a child is here with us, can you turn on the torch?” Right away the flashlight turned on and it happened that way each time.

Interestingly enough, Melissa’s husband Kyle also had a direct response experience while one floor above us in the attic area. He felt as though a spirit touched his right arm. He asked if it could touch him again and he felt the same type of touch on the same arm.

The printing rooms are alive.

The functional printing area is perhaps where we had the most consistent activity. Some of it we debunked as Spooky, the very real, live and breathing kitty cat, but most of it we can only hope we captured on camera. We saw shadow figures and heard plenty of noises, only some of which were Jeff dropping something. (We love you, Jeff!) The REM pods and EMF detectors blipped with noise and lights. We could ask for a spirit to interact and engage without the equipment; sure enough, it would light up or make noise.

Laser grid set up in printing area of 131 Locust Street — *Photo Credit: Andy Lendway*

I wonder if the spirits linger in that area because they know it is where people are during the day. Maybe they once worked in that space. Maybe they don’t realize they are no longer living, so they go through their routine and work hard as if they are on the clock getting the job done. I always wonder if the spirits we talk to understand that they are gone. Depending on their state of being, it makes sense that they don’t always know what to do or how to respond.

The amount of energy it takes

It takes A LOT of energy for any spirit to interact with our equipment and respond to our questions. Whatever is staying behind at the Samuel Miller Mansion or perhaps floating through between the river and the cemeteries, there was a lot of energy. I do not doubt that other groups who stay and investigate will also experience something while they are there. I’d like to think that this year-long investigation for My Haunted Manor USA will help to authenticate what we felt, heard and saw.

If you are interested in spending time at the Samuel Miller Mansion, please visit their website to learn more about booking a night. Daryl, Trey and Jeff are ready to help capture your experiences, whether as paranormal evidence or something they can debunk. Their grand opening investigation is coming up this month on Friday, March 22. You don’t want to miss it!

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15th anniversary of Paranormal Adventure Tours at Fort Delaware

By Christy Mannering October 31, 2023 October 31, 2023 Fort Delaware

Our team has completed another season of Paranormal Adventure Tours at Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island with Delaware State Park staff. This amounts to over 60 hours of time on the island or the Delafort ferry heading to the island. We’re so grateful to have completed another season, and especially so given that this was our 15th year! You can find 15th-anniversary DSGI merch in our online store.

If you’d like more of the history on the Fort, I do include some in a past post where I talk about my experience with the ghost cat Bill. I definitely talk about Bill the cat during most of the tours I lead, it was after all my very first paranormal experience at the Fort.

For two of our tours, we had the pleasure of including Daryl Martson. He is a co-lead investigator of A&E’s Ghost Hunter TV show and an author. Daryl has been a part of over 400 investigations all over the country but his home base is Middletown, Delaware. Daryl’s most recent book The Horrors of the House of Wills: A True Story of a Paranormal Investigator’s Most Terrifying Case, tells the tale of an experience he had at the House of Wills in Ohio, but it leads by acknowledging that his first paranormal encounter was at Fort Delaware when he was much younger.

Nearly 3,000 people died at Fort Delaware

Contrary to past publications or urban legends, there were not any dungeons at Fort Delaware. They did not starve prisoners, they received two meals a day. Granted the prisoners were fed bread and water, which is certainly not a five-course meal.

Prisoners of War at Fort Delaware — Prisoners Of War In Fort Delaware, May, 1864
Source Name: Miller, Francis T., The Photographic History of the Civil War Volume 7

Many of the prisoners who lived at Fort Delaware were from other places in the country. They came from multiple battlegrounds as far as Ohio, but also from Vicksburg and Gettysburg, by steamboat. So knowing this information, knowing the facts as we’ve researched them, is all very important when we conduct our paranormal investigations. It helps to know how old people were, where they came from, and what they possibly endured during their time at war.

We know there were a handful of violent deaths on the island, but the majority of people who died there died from sickness. I’ve read letters written by Sergeant Bishop Crumrine while he was stationed at the Fort thanks to Fort staff, Edward Binasiewicz, who shared the letters with me. Bishop wrote a lot about the rebels who were brought to the camp and how quickly they would die. Sometimes they would die within a day or two and were immediately taken to Delaware City and buried. In one letter he wrote to his brother that the rebel bodies were “planted” and that by spring there would be a forest. Yikes. We know that many Union officers who died were sent across the river to be buried at Finn’s Point National Cemetery.

There has also been research done regarding prisoner escapes. When you consider that there were more prisoners than soldiers, and the prisoners stayed outside of Fort walls, it’s no surprise that this could have been the case. “At one point, there were only 300 Union soldiers to guard nearly 12,000 prisoners.”

Throughout, the season each of us on the team had numerous experiences in various areas of the Fort. I had the opportunity to lead tours in areas portrayed as the officers’ kitchen, the laundry, Battery Torbert, the ordinance, the mess hall, and the officers’ quarters. I really enjoy hearing the history from the Fort staff and I use that when I’m investigating. Being able to tell people the names of those who were stationed on the island, I think really amplifies the investigation. It is more real when you can say Captain Clark, are you here with us at the ordinance?

Is there anyone here with us?

Torching and spirit box sessions were the most successful modes of investigating for me this year. Setting up maglites, which we call torches while investigating spirits who would not know what a flashlight is, and then using these lights to communicate is always pretty spooky. The idea is that the ghost can turn the flashlight on and off to answer yes or no questions. A spirit box is a device used in paranormal research to communicate with spirits or ghosts by detecting EVPs (electronic voice phenomena). It is a small handheld device that scans through radio frequencies, creating white noise, and spirits can use these waves to communicate with us.

When you ask a question like “Is there anyone here with us,” and a flashlight sitting five feet away turns on by itself while you’re sitting in the dark, it’s just a really cool feeling. However, when you ask the question and the flashlight turns on while you’re also hearing a distinct “hello” come through the spirit box, that is a whole other level of awesome. If this goes back and forth long enough it really feels like something is communicating with you. Especially when combined with the fact that there are other times when nothing turns on or makes noise at all.

When it comes to Fort Delaware, we hear a lot of the same things. It’s clear to me that there is residual energy left behind. You have an old military fort that was home to a lot of young officers and prisoners for a long period of time. There was a war happening outside of those walls on the mainland. Within the Fort there was a lot of tension, sickness, and a constant state of questioning what’s going on and what are we doing here. The Fort never saw a battle, so when I think of these young men I have to wonder if they almost felt guilty that they weren’t out in the frontline. Is that why there is so much repetition, so much of the same sounds and movements because their structured routine is how they got through the day? As an aside, I’m grateful to everyone who has served and continues to serve in our military. No matter your station or your role, please know you matter.

The public reactions

When you’re part of a team and you’re investigating a place, you’re very familiar with, like Fort Delaware, sometimes the best part of the night is seeing the reactions of the public. We know Fort Delaware is haunted, there is no doubt about that. Even during nights when it feels dead, pun totally intended, we know there are spirits on that island.

When people come out to investigate, we can only hope they will experience something paranormal, or at least something that makes them question. We’re not hiding in the dark and jumping out of places. We’re not putting things in areas to force interactions or to make it seem extra spooky. Our team is actually more likely to debunk the rattle of a window or the sound of water drops than we are to feed into it. So, when someone is using dowsing rods or a KII meter and they see the lights turn up or the rods cross, it’s awesome to see their reaction. I love those “Oh shit, did you just see that!?” moments when it’s like, yes, exactly, this is what we’ve been telling you!

The public reactions truly help to validate the stories and occurrences we talk about happening at Fort Delaware. For those of you who attended and it was literally just a lot of dust, darkness and looking at historical artifacts, that happens, too. These spirits aren’t using Signup Genius and lettings us know when or where to find them. You can spend hours investigating a space but end up with zero evidence. That’s part of being a paranormal investigator.

The 5-hour extended tour

First of all, it was the night of the full moon. The Fort was lit by the light, bathed in the flow of a gorgeous blood moon. Depending on your faith, you may or may not know how strong the pull of the moon can be during that time. Especially, since we were surrounded by water. During the extended tour we can explore additional places around the Fort which is always exciting.

Adam and I were paired together for the five-hour tour. He’s a great person to investigate with because he uses humor to put people at ease. We know there are people who call in requesting him as their tour guide. He has a lot of paranormal equipment he brings to the table, so I was excited to hear the rem pods and music box go off in spaces. Sadly, we didn’t hear the music box at all that night. We did have rem pod activity, especially in the officers’ quarters and in Battery Torbert. There were times when the lights and the high-pitched noise just would not shut up. This prompted me to reset and move it each time, because clearly it was faulty. Hahahaha. However, it still caught interactions even after being moved. We had constant torching activity and a couple members of our group hung on to the dowsing rods most of the night, because they were getting definitive interactions.

Black and white photo with a cannon facing battery torbert at Fort Delaware

It wasn’t our blue group, though, that experienced the paranormal wow-factor. Christina and Ken’s group experienced something that none of our team or the fort staff have ever witnessed on the island. I won’t give details that I don’t know, because I wasn’t there, but I will say that I have complete trust and faith in my team and I believe what they saw. It happened in Battery Torbert, and unless there was some kind of mass hysteria or illusion, they witnessed a rem pod levitate a foot off the picnic table at the end of the hall. When I think about the strength it must have taken for a spirit to hold the device, lift it and move it like that, I’m just amazed.

Once the public left, we all went to the location to see what we would find. We didn’t see anything levitating, but we did hear footsteps and something moving above the location. To me, it sounded like something heavy being dragged. Andy said it sounded like a deep humming. We all felt a different energy there. It makes me wonder, was something brought to the island that night? Our team knows the Fort, but we did not know this type of activity at the Fort. It’s hard to wrap my head around, but I do believe that people can bring energy and attachments to places. I’ve seen it in my own life. I think that might have been what happened during the extended.

For those who are still non-believers

Good. I mean it, seriously, don’t ever let anyone try to talk you into something you don’t believe. That’s not what this is all about for us. There is a reason why no one has been able to offer 100% unrefutable proof that ghosts exist. We all experience interactions with the spirit world in different ways. Some of us feel goosebumps, some of us hear a whisper or a tapping on the wall, some of us see shadow figures or mist in a room. Depending on the experience it is perfectly normal to explain it away as a fluke, and in many cases you can’t replicate what happened.

So, I get it, I get how hard it can be to open yourself up to believing in something you may never be able to prove. I can’t prove anything that happens after someone dies, aside from their physical body decomposing. But their physical body isn’t their spirit and many people believe that spirits go to heaven or hell or some other place, right? You can’t prove that either.

Sometimes people will ask us, “why is the ghost here, why haven’t they moved on?” To that I say, what makes you think they haven’t moved on? Do I think some spirits are sort of trapped in a space due to unfinished business? Sure. But I also think there are some spirits who travel freely. Maybe you smell oranges out of nowhere and then believe your great-grandmother is nearby checking in on you. Or you sense someone walking behind you when you’re in your favorite garden or on your favorite hiking trail and you know it’s a lost family or friend. It’s my belief that spirits aren’t locked in anywhere. I think spirits can check in with their loved ones.

Until we meet again

We’ll return to Fort Delaware again, and again and again. We’ll be there for our team overnight in the summer and we’ll return for the paranormal tours in October 2024. We hope to see all our readers out there, too. And we encourage you to consider visiting the Fort during the daytime. History feeds the paranormal. You’ll have a better understanding of what might be haunting the island if you know what it was like when it was a functional base.

Thank you again to everyone who came out this season. We couldn’t do this without you!

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Bellevue (Hall) Mansion in Wilmington, Delaware

By Christy Mannering August 26, 2023 August 26, 2023 Haunted Hotels, Inns & Mansions

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.”

Before (Woolton Hall) and After (Bellevue Mansion) the Bellevue Property (slide back and forth)

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!