16. Kansas: Hollenberg Pony Express Station
> Town: Hanover
> Year built: 1860
The Pony Express, had a brief, but storied, history for 19 months starting in April 1860. Horseback riders, traveling the Missouri to California circuit, reduced the time for mail to reach the West. The Hollenberg Pony Express Station in Hanover is now a museum that details the travails of the riders who traveled the often-dangerous route. Visitors at museum have reported hearing thundering hooves and viewing an apparition suffering from wounds from multiple arrows still stuck in his body.
17. Kentucky: Belle of Louisville
> Town: Louisville
> Year built: 1914
In the engine room of the steamboat Belle of Louisville (still transporting passengers after 104 years of service), people have reported hearing someone whistling. Some people believe this is the spirit of a deckhand named Floyd who was crushed to death by an arm that controls the boat’s paddle wheel. Crew members claim to have seen the main wheel in the boat’s pilothouse moving on its own even though the pilothouse’s door was locked.
18. Louisiana: The Sultan’s Palace
> Town: New Orleans
> Year built: 1839
The Sultan’s Palace in New Orleans has a grim, if fantastical backstory. According to a legend with many versions, the mansion was inhabited by the brother of a Turkish sultan, who filled his home with a harem and drugs — until one day the home’s residents were all found butchered except for the brother. He was found buried alive with one hand sticking out of the ground, according to the tale. Some say the Turkish man still haunts the house.
19. Maine: Wood Island Lighthouse
> Town: Saco Bay
> Year built: 1839
The lighthouse’s tragic history dates from 1896. That year a squatter or a renter in the area shot and killed a man, then took his own life at the site. Keepers at the lighthouse have reported hearing gunshots and moaning and seeing shadows as well as locked doors flying open.
20. Maryland: Samuel Mudd House
> Town: Waldorf
> Year built: 1859
Mysterious phenomena have been reported at the home of Samuel Mudd, the doctor who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. Over the years, people have claimed to have heard unexplained voices, and to have witnessed, during a Civil War reenactment, electric candles going on and off in the house. Visitors also say they have seen an impression left on a bed in a room where Booth stayed.
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