Rackliffe House

Located near Assateague Island, the Rackliffe House is home to what paranormal investigators call the "haunted trifecta" - a murder, an accidental death, and a suicide all occurred here, creating optimal conditions for hauntings.

Standing on the shores of Sinepuxent Bay near Assateague Island, Rackliffe House has earned a chilling reputation as what author Tom Patton, a Rackliffe family descendant, called "the most haunted house in the country." Built around 1742 by Captain Charles Rackliffe, this elegant Flemish bond brick plantation house possesses what paranormal investigators term the "haunted trifecta" - a documented murder, a tragic accident, and a suicide all occurred within its walls, creating what many believe are optimal conditions for supernatural activity.

The most verified tragedy involves John Rackliffe, who inherited the plantation and by 1790 owned ten enslaved people, nine horses, 220 cattle, and 28,000 pounds of tobacco. Court records confirm that John was a notoriously cruel slave owner whose brutality eventually led to his demise. One night, as he returned to the plantation, enslaved workers ambushed and killed him. Some accounts suggest his wife was murdered shortly afterward, while others claim she met her end differently - falling down the houses long, turned stairway and dying from her injuries. The identity of the woman on the stairs remains disputed, with some believing it was Sara Rackliffe dressed for a ball.

The third death in the trifecta occurred during the War of 1812, when a widow living at Rackliffe House with her only son fell into despair after British forces recruited him into military service. Unable to bear the loneliness and fear for her son, she hanged herself in the third-floor attic.

The house stood through marauding Spanish galleons, Barbary pirate ships, and English men-of-war. It witnessed the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. Local folklore suggests the upper floors may have been burned during a Revolutionary War attack. A devastating fire in 1928 destroyed the interior and roof, and the house was later divided into apartments before standing vacant for decades.

Paranormal activity at Rackliffe centers predominantly on mysterious sounds. Residents and visitors report babies crying, pianos playing by themselves, gunshots, and glass shattering - often with some people hearing the sounds while others in the same room hear nothing. Former resident Denise Milko, who lived there in the 1960s when a 20-gable barn and outbuildings still stood, recalls the horses becoming agitated before paranormal events occurred. She would sleep through nights while family members reported hearing stomping and banging from her upstairs bedroom - sounds she never made.

Milko experienced numerous unexplained phenomena: a piano playing softly by itself, footsteps in empty rooms, and expensive-smelling perfume wafting through the house. One particularly frightening incident occurred while she was studying alone - she heard the unmistakable sound of a window shattering followed by a gunshot, yet found no evidence of either when she investigated.

During a dinner party, when a skeptical guest denied the existence of ghosts, all the house lights suddenly extinguished. Candles flared mysteriously before the lights returned on their own. Another guest reported hearing "a noise so loud it sounded like a piano crashing through the floors." Multiple visitors have fled the house in broad daylight, disturbed by unexplained sounds.

The haunted legacy is compounded by the houses ancient location - built atop an Assateague Indian hunting camp where archaeologists have recovered artifacts dating back 10,000 years. Several paranormal investigation teams have documented a wide range of activity, and Tom Patton dedicated an entire chapter to the ghost stories in his book "Listen to the Voices, Follow the Trail."

Restored by the Rackliffe House Trust beginning in 2004 and opened to the public in 2011, docents and board members privately acknowledge unexplained events continue to occur - described as pleasant rather than frightening, but definitely present. The spirits of Rackliffe House, it seems, have no intention of leaving the beautiful bayshore plantation they called home.