Catman's Grave, Delaware

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At the end of an old dirt road in Frankfort, Delaware, there sits an old cemetery, with burials dating back to the early 1800s. If you're lucky enough to find this elusive spot, you've found the site of Catman's Grave.

Urban legend states that the cemetery was once looked after by a caretaker with strange, cat-like features known as Catman. Catman lived in a nearby home and didn't take too kindly to the local teenagers who would come to the secluded spot, spending much of his time running them off. When he died, he was interred in an above-ground crypt in the cemetery....and apparently kept up with his caretaking duties, even in death!

According to one commentator on the StrangeUSA site, the tomb in which he was said to be interred was torn down in 1994 at the request of the family (due to threats of vandalism), and the four people who claimed it as their final resting spot were given regular in-ground burials. However, those who claim to have seen the crypt before it was taken down claim that the inside was marked by strange scratches....like the kind made by a cat's claws.

Although the crypt is no more, Catman still makes his presence known in the cemetery. There is apparently the remains of a brick wall towards the back of the cemetery. It is believed that those who knock on this wall three times will summon Catman, who, in retaliation, will cause the visitor's car to stall, fail to start, or a host of similar problems.

If you choose to visit this location, please do so respectfully...and gain permission if you wish to actively investigate. This cemetery, while known in ghost hunting circles as Catman's Grave, is actually the Colonel Armwell Long Cemetery. Armwell Long served with George Washington in the Revolutionary War. When he died in 1834, he joined his wife, a son, and several other relatives in their small, family plot. However, plans were soon made to turn the burial ground, as well as the surrounding lands owned by the Layton family, into a large, public cemetery in Armwell's memory, with him being cited as the new cemetery's first official burial. Today, the cemetery sits off of a private road, which is interestly just off Route 401,  known locally as Catman's Road. It is unclear whether or not the road was named that before or after the legends of Catman took root, lol.

Sources:
StrangeUSA
Haunted Places
Find-a-Grave

Delaware's Haunted Addy-Sea Inn

Today, the Addy-Sea Inn is a thriving bed and breakfast on Delaware's Bethany Beach.  Built in 1902 by Pittsburg plumber John Addy, the Addy-Sea was originally meant to be the family homestead.  However, a string of circumstances ensured that the house would eventually become a vacation destination.

In the 1920s, the Addy-Sea had to be relocated twice to different lots due to the threat of storm surge damage associated with its beachfront location.  Then, it the 1930s, the Depression was hitting the whole country hard.  To make ends meet, the Addy family began renting out rooms to church groups.  From there, it grew into a bed and breakfast, with the Gravattes taking over the home and the business in the 1970s.

I absolutely love to hear about haunted bed and breakfasts, and this one is definitely not short on its ghost stories.  There are three main guest rooms that are said to be haunted, in addition to all the other crazy paranormal things that happen throughout the inn.

Room 1--Room 1 is one of the most interesting of the haunted rooms.  Its private bath contains the original copper tub that John Addy brought with him from Pittsburg.  Bathers have been more than startled to find the tub start violently shaking with them in it!

Room 6--This room has hauntingly beautiful organ music playing in it.  However, there are no organs in this room!

Room 11--If you're looking for a more visual ghostly experience, Room 11 is the one for you.  This is the room haunted by Paul Dulaney, a former handyman for the Addy's and local swim star.  Although Paul died out of state on a construction job, his spirit has found its way back to the Addy-Sea.  His apparition has been seen sitting on the bed or standing by it.

Even if you don't get to book a haunted room, you still have the opportunity to experience the paranormal activity of the Addy-Sea Inn.  The Addy's wild son, Kurtz, died in a tragic accident when he fell off the roof of the home.  Footsteps emanating from the roof are said to be his, and he also makes his presence known by running through the halls in the evenings.  Kurtz also makes his presence known by materializing his obituary out of nowhere, throughout the inn.

Other activity runs the entire gamut of haunting criteria:  strange sounds and music, lights flickering on and off, mechanical issues, including an answering machine that turns itself on, and people getting locked in their own closets.