12. Cliveden Manor near Germantown, Pennsylvania
In 1777, the British Army moved to occupy Philadelphia and George Washington attacked them at Germantown. The house known as the Benjamin Chew House offered the British a fortress-like shelter as they retreated before Washington’s thrust, and rather than leave the house contained by a small force and continuing his assault, American troops attempted to reduce the British position. When they failed to do so they were forced to discontinue the attack on the British lines and withdraw. The house, known as Cliveden Manor, absorbed battle damage but remained standing, as well as the rest of the estate, which included several outbuildings. In 1961 the house became a National Historic Landmark and is today a museum with tours in the spring and summer months.
The property is also reported to be haunted by the ghosts of several of the Continental Army soldiers who died there during the ill-fated attack in 1777. Also reported seen on the property is the shade of an elderly woman, wandering about seeking her missing head. Legend has it that one of the soldiers whose ghost is also haunting the property was responsible for its removal, another version of the tale has her being decapitated by a cannon ball. Cliveden Manor was owned for most of its existence by the Chew family which built it in the 1760s, with none of the successive generations reporting ghostly activity. The tales of its haunting apparently sprung up spontaneously in local lore.