As a site of history for over 360 years, it is not surprising that the spot now called Fort Monroe should be host to a who's who of ghostly guests. The fort has sheltered some of the most famous names in American history and now seems to be haunted by the most distinguished collection of spirits in the country. A visitor can choose among the prominent specters who passed through this spot while they lived, beginning with Captain John Smith, who commented on it as a fine site for a castle. Lafayette, Lincoln, U.S. Grant, and Jefferson Davis are a few of the famous departed who are said to visit the fort in their after-life. It is especially fitting that the master of the super-natural tale, Edgar Allan Poe spent four months at Fort Monroe and is called its most famous enlisted man. Since October 2, 1609 when Fort Algernourne was constructed on the Old Point Comfort site, it has been occupied almost continuously and has been garrisoned longer than any other army post in the United States. The first soldiers were Englishmen and everyone has heard of the ghosts of England. The English people believe in spirits and who is to say they did not bring them to the new world to drift around in that world between worlds that spirits seem to inhabit? The mysterious never-never land of men and women who are not content alive-or dead.

VIP ghosts of Old Quarters Number One -- Varina Davis and the vibrating window -- The lovers' tryst in ghost alley -- A playful and photogenic apparition -- Sergeant Austin's blaze of glory -- The pet and the pendulum -- Things that go bump in the night -- The elegant visitor of the post commander's quarters -- A lovely melody -- The weary wayfarer -- The return of the moat monster -- Untidy spirit -- Rate this GP -- Watch on the ramparts, part I -- Watch on the ramparts, part II.