LIBERTY HALL

Frankfort, Kentucky

This historic mansion in Frankfort, Kentucky, which is located between Louisville and Lexington in the central part of the state, is said to be haunted by at least three different ghosts. The mansion was built in 1796 and up until 1937, it was in the family of John Brown, one of the first senators from Kentucky. The story of the most famous ghost here, "The Gray Lady", is connected to the Brown family. She is said to be Mrs. Margaret Varick, an aunt of the family, who came there to stay around in 1817. It seemed that a daughter in the Brown family passed away and Mrs. Varick journeyed over 800 miles from New York to come and comfort them. This was a rough and dangerous journey, especially at sixty-five years of age, but she managed to make it. Ironically, she died of a heart attack three days after her arrival. She was buried in the garden and although her body was later to cemetery, she doesn't seem to have left Liberty Hall. Over the years, the prim and proper apparition of an older woman in a gray dress has been reported dozens and dozens of times. She also makes her presence known by opening and closing doors, through cold chills and eerie lights. She may be the official ghost of the mansion...but she isn't the only one. Another spirit is said to be a Spanish opera singer who came from New Orleans in 1805 to give a concert at a neighboring home. Afterwards, she came to a party at Liberty Hall, wandered out in the garden and was never seen again. Some believe that she may have been taken by Indians. The other ghost here is thought to be a soldier from the War of 1812 who had fallen in love with a young cousin who was visiting the Brown family. The legends say that he makes his appearance at an outside window of the house, peers inside and then, rather sadly, walks away. Frankfort, Kentucky is located between Louisville and Lexington along Interstate 64. Liberty Hall is a museum that is open to the public and is located on Wilkinson Street in Frankfort.