Soldiers National Museum

Originally the National Homestead at Gettysburg, this building opened in 1866 as an orphanage for children of Civil War soldiers. Under headmistress Rosa Carmichael's brutal reign from 1868-1877, children were chained to walls and confined to a dungeon in the basement.

The National Homestead at Gettysburg opened in October 1866 as an orphanage for children of Civil War soldiers killed in battle, created by Dr. John F. Bourns after the identification of Amos Humiston's children from a photograph found clutched in his hand at Gettysburg. The facility began prosperously but took a dark turn when Rosa J. Carmichael became headmistress. This cruel woman created a dungeon in the basement where children were shackled as punishment, subjecting traumatized orphans to horrific abuse.

The building later became the Soldiers National Museum, once owned by actor Cliff Arquette who narrated tours emphasizing the dungeon. The museum closed in November 2014 but its paranormal reputation remains legendary. Ghost Adventures conducted a lockdown investigation in 2011, attempting to communicate with Carmichael's ghost in the basement. The Travel Channel's "Most Terrifying Places" featured the location in 2019, and YouTubers Sam and Colby investigated in August 2024.

Paranormal investigators report this as one of Gettysburg's most active locations, with the spirits of abused orphan children and Civil War casualties lingering in the building. The combination of the Battle of Gettysburg's 50,000 casualties and the subsequent abuse of war orphans has created what many consider the most concentrated haunting in a town already famous for its ghosts.