Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga has been absorbing violent history since 1755, with thousands of French, British, and American soldiers dying on its grounds across three wars. The most reported ghost is Nancy Coats, the mistress of General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, who drowned herself in Lake Champlain and now waits at the fort's gate. Ghost Hunters investigated for Season 6, Episode 2.

Nancy Coats drowned herself in Lake Champlain when she found out General Anthony Wayne had left her for another woman. Her ghost has been seen at the fort's gate ever since, waiting for a man who isn't coming back.

Fort Ticonderoga sits on a bluff overlooking the southern end of Lake Champlain, and it has been soaking up violent history since the French started building it in 1755. Originally called Fort Carillon, the site saw one of the most lopsided battles of the French and Indian War in 1758, when 4,000 French soldiers under General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm held off 16,000 British troops. The British came back in 1759 and took it. Then the Americans took it from the British in 1775 when Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold captured the fort in a surprise raid one month after the Revolutionary War started.

Thousands of soldiers from three different nations fought and died on these grounds across three wars. The fort was abandoned, fell into ruin, and was privately purchased by the Pell family in 1820. The Pells spent the next century restoring it, and it opened as a museum in 1909.

The ghosts reflect the fort's layered history. Nancy Coats is the most frequently reported. She was the mistress of "Mad" Anthony Wayne, the Revolutionary War general known for his aggressive tactics. When Wayne moved on, Coats walked into Lake Champlain. Visitors have reported seeing her on the pathways leading to the fort and standing at the main gate. Some have described a figure floating on the lake. Others have heard a woman sobbing near the walls after dark.

The second well-known spirit is an unnamed young Native American woman from the 1750s who, according to the legend, jumped from one of the fort's high walls rather than submit to a man she didn't love. Her ghost has been spotted walking along the top of the fortification walls.

Sarah Pell, from the family that restored the fort, has been seen looking out from a window above the King's Garden in the Pavilion. She spent decades of her life devoted to the restoration, and some staff believe she never really left.

Then there are the soldiers. Employees and visitors have reported figures in colonial-era military uniforms walking through the barracks and along the ramparts. Footsteps echo through empty halls. Horse hooves on the grounds when no horses are present. Red glowing orbs have been seen floating through rooms in the Eastern and Western Barracks.

The TV show Ghost Hunters investigated Fort Ticonderoga for Season 6, Episode 2. The TAPS team reported intelligent interactions with spirits in the Eastern Barracks. The most dramatic moment came when an unseen presence appeared to light up a room at the end of the attic, visible to team members standing across the yard in the West Barracks. Some of the noises captured during the investigation were eventually explained by natural causes. Others were not.

The fort runs Garrison Ghost Tours in October, evening events that take visitors through the buildings after dark. The tours sell out. People come for the history and stay for whatever is walking the barracks after closing time.

Fort Ticonderoga is one of the most historically significant military sites in America. It changed hands between three nations, saw battles that shaped two wars, and watched thousands of soldiers die on its grounds. If any place in New York has earned the right to be haunted, it's this one.