Ghosts of the 1700s: Are They STILL in Colonial Williamsburg? Part Two | The Grave Talks
Real Ghost Stories Online
Real Ghost Stories Online | Paranormal, Supernatural & Horror Radio
4.2 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
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Summary
Few places in the United States hold as much history — or as many lingering echoes — as Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1632 as Middle Plantation and later renamed in 1699, the city grew into one of the most important colonies in early America. Today, Colonial Williamsburg spans more than 300 acres of preserved 18th- and 19th-century streets, homes, taverns, and original buildings. By day, it’s a living museum of American history. By night… some say the past walks freely.
In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Kelly M. Brennan — historian, researcher, and former creative lead for “Haunted Williamsburg.” Her work dives deep into the topics most people avoid: sex, death, magic, “insanity,” crime, punishment… and the ghosts believed to linger among the historic structures.
Dr. Brennan doesn’t just study the supernatural folklore of Colonial Williamsburg — she teaches it. As a professor at the College of William and Mary, she explores how America has commodified the paranormal, and why certain stories survive for centuries while others refuse to die. This is Part Two of our conversation.
You can get more information at colonialwilliamsburg.org.
#colonialwilliamsburg #hauntedwilliamsburg #ghoststories #paranormal #historyandhauntings #realghoststories #historicghosts #virginiaparanormal #ghosttour #hauntedamerica #supernaturalhistory
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today on the Grave Talks, we continue our conversation about Colonial Williamsburg, |
| 0:05.2 | the history, and the hauntings with the historian of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Kelly Brennan. |
| 0:14.3 | Today we'll talk about the haunted taverns in Colonial Williamsburg, including one of the best |
| 0:20.7 | ghost stories I have ever heard. |
| 0:23.2 | If you haven't listened to the first part of our conversation, make sure you do. |
| 0:27.6 | I'm Carol Hughes, and on this episode of The Grave Talks, we'll continue our conversation |
| 0:33.1 | about the history and hauntings of Colonial Williamsburg with Kelly Brennan, historian of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. |
| 0:41.8 | Now, you can't have any sort of a city without taverns, especially at that time. |
| 0:48.1 | You know, a tavern would have been a community meeting place. |
| 0:51.5 | Travelers come through. |
| 0:53.2 | There's some different taverns. One of the things I will say, |
| 0:56.0 | and I really like that you pointed out, it was a community space, but it's really a community space for men. |
| 1:00.7 | Oh, that, yes. But during this time period, it's still sort of a bastion of just men. And I forget how |
| 1:07.4 | long Williamsburg has been there. |
| 1:11.5 | Right? |
| 1:12.3 | Right. |
| 1:16.3 | So it would have been men and probably men travelers as well. |
| 1:21.8 | Maybe if they were traveling with a woman, they might, but I can't even see a woman being able to go in and get a room. Well, usually what happens if they can find a way that there are, there are buildings for women who travel. |
| 1:26.4 | They basically take short-term borders and the women will usually stay in spaces like that. |
| 1:31.9 | Or what happens very often is everybody's related to everybody else. |
| 1:35.2 | You may just stay with a family member. |
| 1:37.4 | The couple might stay with a family member. |
... |
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