Haunted Portsmouth
New Hampshire

We'll be adding more pages to this section, as time permits. Check back regularly for new Portsmouth haunts.

Ghosts of Portsmouth, NH

Strawbery Banke, Marcy Street, Portsmouth, NH. Phone 603-422-7514 (Museum Shop)

Strawbery Banke (yes, that's how it's spelled) is a wonderful historical museum featuring many restored homes representing Portsmouth's early years. It's also wonderfully haunted. These are just a few of its ghosts.

Sherburne House is probably the most haunted building at Strawbery Banke. The only documented 17th-century house at the museum, it also has a ghostly history.

Captain John Sherburne built the home in 1695, and died just a few years later (in 1698 or 1702... records seem to conflict), before the home was truly complete.

There are notes that Mary and Fernando Huff (Hough) lived in the house in 1681, and took care of the late Henry Sherburne's mute daughter after his death. The daughter--possibly Rebecca, one of eight children--lived a happy life in that home, and some speculate that she is the "woman in grey" who haunts and protects that house.

The Museum Shop at Dunaway Store looks like an old building, but it was actually constructed in 1967 on the site of an older building. It's probably the older building that is haunted. People have reported seeing a man in minister's garb strolling outside the home at dusk, or looking out a window from indoors. Then, he vanishes.

The Visitors' Center isn't haunted, but the land just south of it seems to be. Whenever work--building or archaeology--is done nearby, there are reports of a white figure hovering nervously just outside.

Chase House has an odd relationship with ghosts. At least one former volunteer at Chase House reported "something eerie" there at closing time each night in the mid-1990s, and refused to be left alone in the house. Other staff insist that the house isn't the same Chase House that's truly haunted.

Strawbery Banke is generally open seven days a week. Call them or check their website for more information.

Portsmouth Public Library, 8 Islington Street, Portsmouth, NH. Phone 603.427.1540.

There are at least three ghosts in Portsmouth's downtown library.

One looks over the balcony from the upper floor. This may be the ghost of a child. If you're standing downstairs at the Reference Room and look up, you'll just catch a glimpse of curly, light brown hair moving quickly away from the railing. The child tends to run around the upper floor, so he or she can appear anywhere, watching from above.

Sometimes, when you're upstairs, you'll hear light footsteps or soft shuffling noises in the aisle next to where you are. When you look, you may see a brief shadow on the floor, but no figure to explain it.

A second ghost likes to whisper "hush" very quietly in the Special Collections room housing their genealogy and history references. In and around that room, you'll sense the ghost more than hear him. But, when he's being cranky and stern, you can usually hear the very faint "shhh" sound not far from your ear.

During the lunch hour, a third ghost wanders from across Islington Street, where the health food store is, to the Reference Room. He walks through walls and closed doors, but his clothing generally looks modern-day. That's baffling. He may be from the very late 19th century, but no earlier.

The library is usually open every day except Sundays. For more information about the library, visit their website.

More Portsmouth Ghosts:

• Sise Inn's ghosts include a prankster (and perhaps his society wife) who likes to raid the ice machine and leave trails of ice cubes along the floor at night. We researched the building and found no tragedies to account for these "Topper-style" ghosts. They may have wandered in from a nearby house where a murder was committed many years ago.

  Another friendly ghost lingers near the fireplace, keeping watch over the guests. He wants to be sure that everyone's comfortable.

  The Sise Inn is at 40 Court Street, just a short walk from the Portsmouth public library, listed above. Visit their website for more information.

• South Cemetery is delightfully haunted and a pleasant place to walk on a warm summer evening. Fireflies can interfere with ghost photos, but we've taken some of our best pictures in this cemetery. When Fiona taught ghost photography in Portsmouth, this is where she and her students took pictures. The best results are about 20 feet inside the South Street entrance, on the left side of the main path as you walk in.

  Be sure to check the graves that are outside the cemetery wall, just east of the cemetery towards Clough Drive, but be watchful as well; sometimes homeless people camp in that area.

  You may feel a chill if you enter the cemetery from the path near the corner of Sagamore Avenue and Little Harbor Road. The eerie sensation of fingers pulling at you is most noticeable around dusk, but you'll still sense something odd there, even in broad daylight.

• Wentworth Hotel, Wentworth-by-the-Sea - Hollow Hill reader J.S. sent us an update about this grand Victorian-style hotel just north of Portsmouth. Restored and reopened, the ghosts are back as well.
• Newcastle - According to a 1698 story published in London, England, Newcastle (near Portsmouth) has been haunted by a poltergeist named Lithobolia.
  (Source: Portsmouth Herald, 25 Oct 2003.)
• Portsmouth's most haunted private residence?
  A 19th-century house is haunted by several ghosts, producing poltergeist phenomena and translucent ghosts in the kitchen. For a first-person account, visit Portsmouth, NH's Most Haunted House?.