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| True North Carolina Ghost Stories
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The Hammock House
Beaufort, North Carolina
Dating back to the 1700s, The Hammock House is the oldest and most haunted house in Beaufort, North Carolina. The house was originally built on a hammock, or high ground, on the shore of an inlet leading to the Atlantic Ocean so passing ships could see it from a distance and served as a shipping landmark until the late eighteenth century. Robert Turner was one of the first to occupy the house, and was the person who had the town of Beaufort plotted in 1713. In 1711 a trap door added as a means to escape during the war with the Indians. The most famous house dweller was Edward Teach, aka, Blackbeard the Pirate. He and his crew used the house as a resting point and a place to plot their pirating. The paranormal activity at The Hammock House is believed to have started with Blackbeard. He is believed to have killed one of his many wives, an eighteen year old girl, during one of his many visits to the house. He was so angry with her that he hung her from an oak tree at the rear of the house and then buried her under that same tree. To this day her screams can be heard around the house. The next story surrounding the ghostly activity is one of betrayal. A woman living in the house was engaged to be married to a British Navy Captain. When he returned to the house he began to hear rumours about his wife to be. He was told that she was cheating with another man. The Captain became enraged with anger and hurried up to the house where he found his fiancée inside with another man. Irate, the Captain slaughtered the man only to find out later that the man was actually the woman’s brother. People have reported hearing loud piercing screams in that location of the house. It is believed to be the man that was brutally murdered by the captain. Richard Russell Jr. owned the house in 1747. Returning home from one of his sea voyages he became angry with one of his slaves. He brought the slave up to the attic room, intending to punish him, but the slave turned on him and shoved him down the stairs. When he reached the bottom his neck had been broken and he was dead. People have reported feeling like they are being shoved at the top of those stairs. Others have reported a thumping sound on the stairs, as if something (or someone) was falling down. In 1862 the Union Forces claimed control of Beaufort. They came upon The Hammock House and believed it would be a good outpost. Three soldiers were sent to investigate the house but they vanished and were never heard from again until nearly forty years later when human bones were discovered near the back of the house. The bones are believed to be those of the three soldiers. The sounds of heavy boots tramping around the house are believed to be caused by the ghost of these three soldiers.
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