The Haunted Sandford House

Posted: 04.04.2025 | Updated: 04.04.2025

Located at 225 Dick Street in the center of Fayetteville’s historic Heritage Square, the Sandford House is a grand home built at the dawn of the 19th century. As a house that survived the Civil War, it’s seen its fair share of death and tragedy, and there are ghosts who haunt the house that prove this fact. A mysterious ghostly woman, phantom hands, and other paranormal phenomena are just some of the hauntings reported at Sandford House.

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Who Haunts The Sandford House?

The resident ghost at the Sandford House is known simply as the Lady In Black. This shadowy specter has been seen standing on the main staircase with an anxious look on her face, almost as if she is waiting for someone to return. Although no one is sure who the Lady In Black is, the lore behind her haunting has become legendary in Fayetteville.

Mishaps with electronics, feelings of being touched by an unseen force, and catching glimpses of someone (or something) out of the corner of one’s eye are just some of the ghostly activity reported at the Sandford House.

History of The Sandford House

The story of the Sandford House begins in 1797 when builders first broke ground on the massive home. Duncan McLeran was the original owner of the lavish two-story Federal-style house and moved into it in 1800. 

In 1820, the home saw massive renovations as it was transformed into the Bank of the United States, which happened to be the first federal bank in the state of North Carolina. In 1832, it was purchased by John Sandford for his wife Margaret and their seven children.

As the Civil War approached its end, General William Tecumseh Sherman’s march to the sea made its way to Fayetteville. The city was a stronghold for the Confederacy, and it was crucial that Sherman not take it over. 

However, in March 1865, Sherman burned Fayetteville and destroyed its arsenal of ammunition and weapons. He also seized Sandford House and turned it into barracks for the Union Army. After the war, the Sandfords decided to sell the home, but their name would be tied to it forever.

Following the Civil War and the departure of the Sandford Family, the house was purchased by Captain John E.P. Dangerfield, who lived there with his wife and four children until 1897. After that, the house changed hands several times and fell into disrepair. It was saved in 1945 by the Woman’s Club of Fayetteville. 

The club’s mission is restoring and maintaining historic homes, and they decided to make the house their headquarters. They also had its name officially changed to the Sandford House and had it placed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Today, Sandford House is open for tours by appointment and is one of three historic buildings in beautiful Heritage Square.

Hauntings The Sandford House

An array of paranormal phenomena have been reported at the Sandford House. Visitors have noted indentations on sofas and chairs as if an unseen entity is sitting down. Electronics will malfunction, such as a television changing channels on its own. It’s rather amusing to think that the ghosts of Sandford House are simply trying to relax and watch TV.

On a creepier note, visitors have felt a cold hand gently touch their shoulder. Paranormal investigators have also captured electronic voice phenomena (EVP) at the house. One visitor even claimed to have spoken with the spirits of enslaved people who lived on the property in the 1800s.

The Lady In Black

Sightings of the Lady In Black started somewhere around 1900. Thirty-five years after the Civil War, residents noticed a woman standing on the main staircase of Sandford House wearing traditional Victorian mourning clothes. 

There are multiple theories as to who this woman is and how she became a ghost. In all instances, they are deeply tragic tales.

Some say that a friend of the Sandford daughters fell in love with a young Confederate soldier stationed in Fayetteville. As General Sherman won the Battle of Monroe’s Crossroads and Union troops closed in on Fayetteville, the young soldier joined his battalion to protect the bridge over Cape Fear River. 

As it turned out, the soldier died in battle, and the family friend mourned deeply, wearing a black dress and jewelry afterward. It’s thought that her heartbroken spirit still haunts Sandford House, waiting for her love to return.

More versions of the ghostly tale

The story doesn’t end there, though. In another version, the couple said their goodbyes in a secret tunnel that led from Sandford House to Cape Fear River. As a result of the intense battle taking place above ground, the tunnel either collapsed or exploded, killing the young lovers. Some maintain that their unexpected deaths resulted in the haunting.

Finally, there is a great deal of speculation that the young woman was not a family friend at all, but Margaret Sandford, the first wife of John Sandford. Margaret died, and John remarried, but it seems she never fully left her husband and seven children. If this is the case, it would make sense that she would haunt the place she once called home.

Members of the Woman’s Club of Fayetteville consider it a rite of passage to be touched by the Lady In Black. New members sometimes feel a hand gently brush against their face, which makes them turn their heads in surprise. They believe this is the Lady In Black trying to get a better look at her new guests.

Haunted Charlotte

Although some mysteries of the Sandford House may never be fully solved, the spirits who reside there aren’t afraid to make themselves known. Over a hundred years after her first sighting, the forlorn Lady In Black still walks up and down the staircase, either waiting for her lost love or protecting the place she called home centuries ago.

Take a step back in time and learn about the hauntings of Charlotte by booking a ghost tour with Queen City Ghosts today! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and keep reading our blog for more real North Carolina hauntings.

Sources:

• https://www.upandcomingweekly.com/local-news-briefs/10938-the-lady-in-black-paranormal-tales-of-the-sandford-house
• http://americashauntedroadtrip.com/tag/sandford-house/
• https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=70374