Entry No. 14 — the Raleigh file — filed under: haunted
Spring Hill House
Home to the oldest marked grave in Wake County (Colonel Theophilus Hunter, Sr., d. 1798), this 1820 plantation house is famous for triggering security motion sensors on its stairwell late at night when completely empty.
The story
Tucked into the perimeter of NC State’s Centennial Campus at 705 Barbour Drive sits an 1820 plantation house that spent two centuries absorbing local history before the university repurposed it as administrative space for the NC Japan Center. Long before modern tech buildings or state offices claimed the soil, this land was controlled by Colonel Theophilus Hunter, Sr., an 18th-century figure whose estate shaped early Wake County.
Walk around the grounds and you will find Hunter himself lying beneath a weathered slab marked 1798—officially recognized as the oldest marked grave in Wake County. Over the generations, the acreage shifted from private plantation hands to state ownership, eventually merging into the surrounding Dorothea Dix Hospital property before landing under NC State's care.
The real quirk here happens after business hours. Night-shift security guards patrolling Centennial Campus have long dealt with interior motion sensors firing off along the empty house's central stairwell. Alarms trip, campus officers arrive to sweep a locked, vacant 19th-century building, and find absolutely nothing—just modern infrared detectors persistently registering movement on a phantom staircase. You didn't hear it from us, but officers dispatched to the 705 Barbour Drive address late at night know the routine all too well.
What it's like
Arriving at the site feels slightly surreal: a preserved 1820 manor marooned among modern university facilities and former hospital grounds. Because the house serves as working university offices, you cannot freely roam the interior stairwell. Instead, plan a trip at dusk. Park nearby, take a quiet walk around the exterior to locate Colonel Hunter's 1798 headstone, and glance up at the stairwell windows once the staff has gone home for the evening.
The move: Take a stroll around the historic grounds on Centennial Campus at dusk to see the ancient 1798 headstone and peer up at the stairwell windows where security guards have long reported phantom activity.
- 📍 NCSU Centennial Campus
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 705 Barbour Dr, Raleigh, NC 27606
Hours: Added 2026-07-21 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Dorothea Dix Hospital Cemetery — Located just 0.3 miles away on the adjacent park grounds, this cemetery holds over 900 patient graves from the former psychiatric hospital.
- Thomas Dambo's Trolls at Dorothea Dix Park — Trade 18th-century grave markers for huge, hidden recycled-wood troll sculptures tucked into the nearby woods of Dix Park.
- Heck-Andrews House — Compare Spring Hill's 1820 antebellum architecture with this grand 1870 Second Empire Victorian mansion in downtown Raleigh.
- Mordecai Historic Park — Continue exploring Wake County's earliest history at Raleigh's oldest house on its original foundation, which carries its own thick portfolio of ghost stories.
Good to know
Where is Spring Hill House located?
It is located at 705 Barbour Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606, on NC State University's Centennial Campus near Dorothea Dix Park.
Can you go inside the house?
Interior access is restricted because the house operates as administrative quarters for the NC Japan Center. However, visitors can walk the surrounding grounds during daylight and dusk.
Why is the grave on the property significant?
The site contains the tombstone of Colonel Theophilus Hunter, Sr., who died in 1798. It holds the record as the oldest marked grave in Wake County.
What is the ghost lore associated with the property?
Security personnel and campus police have routinely reported motion alarms tripping along the empty house's interior stairwell late at night when no one is inside.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: japan.ncsu.edu · wral.com · greatraleightrolley.com · Wikipedia · bricklayers.history.ncsu.edu · thinkanddo.ncsu.edu
last checked: 2026-07-21