The Haunted Commonwealth

Haunted mansions are quite common in ghostly folklore and horror movies but the truth is, most older mansions do tend to have some sort of tragedy or ghost story associated with them.  The Sutherlin Mansion is no different.  The house was built in 1859 and was considered a mansion in that time period.  As you can tell by the picture, the house today would be considered moderate in size.

According to the visit Danville website "the Sutherlin Mansion was home to Major William T. Sutherlin, a wartime quartermaster for Danville and among its most prominent citizens."  Sutherlin, who was part of the confederacy, opened up his home to President Jefferson Davis during the final week of the Civil War.  It is here that Davis drafted his final Proclamation to the Confederacy on April 4th 1865.  After spending a week at this mansion, the Confederacy was dissolved and the war was finished.

According to some of the staff and visitors of this mansion, there are some ghostly occurrences at this home.  There have been reports of a man standing looking out of the Davis Bedroom window during the day even when there's nobody in the house.  Cigar smoke has been smelled inside the residence during normal museum hours, even though there is a no smoking policy in the state of Virginia.  At night, people have heard a girl moan from the upstairs bedroom.  Finally, there have been sounds of footsteps and random noises coming from the house.

Today, the home has been converted into a historical museum.  The operational hours are from 9 am to 5 pm during the week and from 2 pm to 5 pm on weekends.  Tours are available to anybody who requests them.

Official Website: http://www.danvillemuseum.org/