NATHANAEL GREENE
HOMESTEAD
Coventry, Rhode Island
SPELL HALL
Built by Nathanael Greene around 1770 and known as Spell Hall, the homestead was part of the Greene family’s extensive ironworking operation along the Pawtuxet River. Greene lived there during the years leading into the American Revolution, organized the Kentish Guards, and later became one of George Washington’s most important Continental Army commanders. During the Revolution, the house was reportedly also used as a convalescent hospital for officers recovering from smallpox vaccination.
The property remained in the Greene family until 1899 and was restored by the Nathanael Greene Homestead Association beginning in 1919. It is now a museum and National Historic Landmark.
THE CASE
The paranormal reputation of Spell Hall centers on a variety of reported experiences rather than documented proof of a haunting. Caretakers and visitors have described footsteps, rattling door latches, unexplained voices and sounds, and the smell of freshly baked bread coming from the unused kitchen. There are also reports of an older woman briefly appearing in a bedroom mirror and of children crying from an area of the grounds associated with an unmarked cemetery.
One particularly unusual account involves the sound of cannon fire and screaming, which some visitors have interpreted through the property’s connection to Greene and the Revolutionary War.
RISEUP was given a unique opportunity to spend multiple evenings investigating the iconic Colonial-era home. The activity was varied, but in many cases it was impeccable. The combination of documentation and personal experience certainly suggests that at least a percentage of claims there are valid.
