Fort Mifflin

Pennsylvania · United States · Fort

The screaming woman screams loudly enough for the police to be called, and the blacksmith Jacob still argues with his commander.

Fort Mifflin on the Delaware River in Philadelphia came into use in 1771 and is counted among the most haunted places in Pennsylvania. In the autumn of 1777 a small garrison of 400 freezing, starving American soldiers held out against 250 British warships for six brutal weeks.

The most chilling spirit is the screaming woman. Witnesses have heard her let out a scream so blood curdling that the police were called. According to the legend she is loudly mourning the men who fell during the siege of Fort Mifflin, and she is increasingly associated with the officers' quarters. The first reported supernatural event, the screaming woman herself, took place as early as 1778, only a year after the war ended.

Among the fort's other spirits are the faceless man, the lamplighter, children and dogs, and a blacksmith by the name of Jacob. He often argued with his commanding officer and demanded that doors and windows be kept open, an argument said to continue to this day, as witnesses describe doors and windows opening and closing by themselves in the old smithy.

For centuries visitors have reported eerie encounters and unexplained phenomena at Fort Mifflin: phantom footsteps, whispers from unseen figures and a constant sense that the soldiers of the past never quite left their posts.

Source: ghostcitytours.com + phillyghosts.com + Atlas Obscura + fortmifflin.us

FAQ

Where is Fort Mifflin located?

Fort Mifflin is in Pennsylvania, United States.

Image: w:Seth Eastman · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons