Decatur House - Washington, D.C.
N 38° 54.007 W 077° 02.286
18S E 323261 N 4307666
The Decatur House is one of the oldest surviving homes in Washington, D.C. It's reported to be haunted by the ghost of Stephen Decatur.
Waymark Code: WMBX30
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 06/29/2011
Views: 10
"Decatur House (748 Jackson Place NW) is allegedly haunted by the ghost of Stephen Decatur. In 1820, Commodore James Barron challenged Commodore Decatur to a duel over comments Decatur had made regarding Barron's conduct in the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair of 1807. The two men dueled on March 20, and Decatur was mortally wounded in the stomach. Decatur was rushed back to his home, and died there on March 22. A year after Decatur's death, his ghost reportedly began appearing at the house—standing in a second floor window looking out at H Street NW or leaving the back door of the house with a box of dueling pistols. So many witnesses saw the spectre of Decatur that the window was walled up. Some people have also claimed that they can hear his widow, who became hysterical at his death, weeping in the house."
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"When Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr., and his wife, Susan, moved to the new federal city in 1816, they purchased land on the northwest corner of the President’s Park (today Lafayette Square) with the prize money Decatur was awarded for his naval conquests in the War of 1812. The Decaturs commissioned Benjamin Henry Latrobe, America's first professional architect and engineer, to design a home "fit for entertaining." In Washington, Latrobe also designed St. John's Episcopal Church (better known as the President's Parish) and parts of the White House.
Built in 1818, Decatur’s home was the first private residence in the White House neighborhood. Thereafter known as Decatur House, it was a nearly square three-story town house constructed with red brick in the austere Federal fashion of the day. In 1819, the Decaturs moved in with high expectations for the Capital as well as their own social position. Already a celebrity from his conquests in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812, Stephen Decatur became one of Washington’s most celebrated figures, and the couple advanced their position by throwing a number of lavish parties in their new house. Unfortunately, the couple only occupied the house for a mere 14 months as Stephen was mortally wounded in a duel against Commodore James Barron on March 22, 1820."
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