Cape May, New Jersey Ghost Stories | Inside the Most Haunted Town in America

Is Cape May, New Jersey the Most Haunted Town in America? Ghost Stories, Haunted Hotels, and the Paranormal History of America's Oldest Seaside Resort

Cape May, New Jersey is widely considered the most haunted seaside town in America, and with nearly every building in this Victorian resort town carrying a documented ghost story, that reputation is hard to argue with. As the oldest seaside resort destination in the United States, Cape May has been drawing visitors since the 1700s, and according to paranormal researchers and guests alike, some of those visitors never left.

In this episode of You Two Scare Me, we take a deep dive into the haunted history of Cape May. It starts, as so many ghost stories do, with fire. On November 9th, 1878, a fire tore through the heart of town, consuming more than 40 acres of hotels, mansions, and boarding houses in a single night. The cause was suspected to be arson, though the accused man was ultimately found innocent. What rose from the ashes was the stunning Victorian architecture Cape May is famous for today, most of it built between 1879 and 1895. And apparently, some of the people who loved those buildings most decided to stay in them permanently.

The Hotel Macomber and the Lady in Room 10

The Hotel Macomber on Beach Avenue has been a Cape May institution since 1916. Its most famous permanent guest is Irene Wright, a woman who spent every summer in Room 10 from June through November, always arriving with a large steamer trunk. Irene died, but the reports from Room 10 have never stopped. Guests describe furniture rearranging itself, drawers opening and closing on their own, and late at night, the unmistakable sound of a heavy trunk being dragged and bumped up the stairs when no one is moving any luggage. The door to Room 10 opens. Then silence. Paranormal researcher and medium Craig McManus, who has written five books on Cape May's ghosts, set up a recorder in the empty room and captured an EVP of a woman's voice saying two words: "Still here." When he played it back inside Room 10, the chandeliers began to flicker.

The Macomber's original owner, Sarah Davis, is also said to haunt the building she gave everything to build. After her young daughter died from encephalitis, Davis told the town the hotel was open for business, went for a swim in the ocean, returned to the hotel, and took her own life. Staff and guests today describe seeing her on the staircase, a protective presence watching over the building she never truly left.

Congress Hall: Three Versions, One Set of Ghosts

Congress Hall has burned to the ground twice and been rebuilt three times since 1816. The third version, constructed entirely of brick so nervous guests could see with their own eyes it would not burn again, is still standing today. Visitors report knocking on doors in the middle of the night with no one in the hallway, the sounds of children laughing and running when no children are present, phantom footsteps, radios and televisions turning on without explanation, and full apparitions including a woman in 18th century dress carrying a parasol. The current owner, when asked what the history of Congress Hall means to him, said simply: "The hauntedness of the place." He said it just has a feeling he cannot explain.

The Southern Mansion and the Ghost Who Approves of the Renovations

Built in 1863 by wealthy Philadelphia businessman George Allen, the Southern Mansion served as a summer estate for three generations of the Allen family. George Allen's niece Esther adored the mansion, grew up there, and later ran it with her husband, hosting lavish parties and operating a speakeasy during Prohibition. Esther died in the house in the mid-1940s. The mansion changed hands, fell into disrepair, and was purchased in 1994 by its current owners, who undertook a full, meticulous restoration and turned it into a stunning bed and breakfast. That is apparently when Esther came back. Staff, guests, and paranormal investigators consistently describe her as a warm and happy presence, someone who seems genuinely pleased with what has been done to her family's home. The scent of gardenia perfume, which Esther always wore, drifts through the hallways. The rustle of her petticoats has been heard moving through rooms. She has been seen dancing in the parlor and in the gardens, and sometimes simply checking in on the staff.

The Emlen Physick Estate: Cape May's Most Haunted Building

If Cape May is the most haunted town in America, the Emlen Physick Estate at 1048 Washington Street is arguably its most haunted address. Built in 1879 by Dr. Emlyn Physick Jr. and designed by celebrated Victorian architect Frank Furness, the 18-room mansion was home to Dr. Physick, his widowed mother Frances, and her two sisters, Emily and Isabella. Isabella, an invalid, spent most of her shortened life confined within the house and died young inside its walls. Emily, the socialite, filled the rooms with her personality. Frances was the anchor who held them all together. None of them, it seems, has fully left.

The second floor hallway is the most active area in the building. Staff and visitors on tours consistently report seeing a woman near the stairs, looking into a mirror. Investigators believe it is Aunt Emily, caught in a residual loop of preparing for one of her parties. Frances's presence is felt strongly in her bedroom, where people describe the unmistakable sensation of walking into a room that is already occupied. Isabella is sensed quietly throughout the interior. And Dr. Physick's dogs, all 14 of them, reportedly still roam the halls. Guests hear the sounds of dogs running and feel the sensation of something brushing against their legs when nothing is there.

Cape May MAC, the organization that manages the estate, has been conducting active paranormal research for over a decade, building a full body of audio and visual evidence and offering a tour called Voices from Beyond, where visitors listen to actual recordings captured inside the house.

Somebody Told Me: The Wedding Dress and the Voice in the Dark

This episode also features a remarkable story sent to us by Danica, a Key West local and several-generations-deep Conch. In September 2023, Danica traveled to Pennsylvania to retrieve her belongings after her divorce, including her wedding dress. She had planned to burn it as a ritual of release and moving forward. On her last night at her friend's farm, she finally found the courage to open the garment bag, hold the dress one last time, and say goodbye to the 24-year-old version of herself who had worn it. Then they took it outside and burned it in the dark. She captured it on video. When she reviewed the footage later, she heard something she had not heard with her own ears at the time: a clear male voice responding to her friend's comment, "Too late now, that shit's done closed." The male voice replied: "Yep." There were only two women present. Nobody else was anywhere near that farm. We played the clip in the episode. You can hear it for yourself. Check out our YouTube episode or our TikTok page (link at top of this page) for the video clip of this EVP!

If you liked this episode…

The ghosts of Cape May aren't the vengeful kind. They're the ones who loved a place too much to go, which is a theme we've explored before in our episode Cursed Love: Ghostly Brides, Phantom Lovers, and the Eternal Attachment That Haunts Us All. And if the idea of a haunted Southern mansion with a violent history and spirits that refuse to leave sounds like familiar territory, we covered that too in our episode on the Sorrel-Weed House in Savannah, Georgia, one of the most documented hauntings in the American South.

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You Two Scare Me is a paranormal podcast hosted by two spooky friends in Key West, Florida. New episodes drop every Tuesday and cover hauntings, cryptids, unexplained phenomena, and listener-submitted stories from all over the world. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find us at youtwoscaremepodcast.com. Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook and send your own strange stories to youtwoscaremepodcast@gmail.com.