Date: August 2008
Time: 6:00 p.m. to dusk
Conditions: Clear and bright, full moon

Background: The Seabrook Wilson House, known to New Jersey locals as the Spy House Museum, is located by the shore in Port Monmouth, NJ. The Spy House is also well-known to locals as being a haunted location; the former home is allegedly occupied by upwards of 30 ghosts. Unfortunately, the museum has been closed for several years; however, they are currently undergoing renovations with the expectation of opening the ground floor to public access in 2009. As you can see in the above photos, there is a gate around the perimeter of the building, so it is not possible to get close to it.

It is of little wonder that the house has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The oldest part of the house was built in the early 1700s. Subsequent owners built several additions to the house during the 1700's and 1800's. The Spy House is officially documented as having "ties to the area's early settlement and maritime history." This may be quite an understatement. Local stories - or should we say "legends" - are far more interesting and always include mentions of Revolutionary War spies and use of the house by pirates. Where fact and legend meet, however, regarding this house remains to be seen. One hopes that there will be a more definitive (and extensive) account of the house available once it reopens.

The former Spy House Museum (or Seabrook Wilson House) will be known as the Bayshore Waterfront Park Visitor Center once renovations are complete and the building reopens. According to the brief information sheet available at the site (as of this writing), the house will be primarily used as a site for programs and events produced by the Park System. As previously mentioned, the first floor will be committed to use for public programs and exhibits. The second floor will be allocated to offices for Park Rangers.

Investigation Notes: During the course of the evening, we visited three primary locations around the gate: The north-east corner; the east (ocean) side; and the southern, wooded area.

• North-east corner: We were at this location twice during our short visit. No evidence found.
• East side: We had some activity on the K-II meter, including what appeared to be direct responses to questions. Two of the team experienced smelling an unusual odor, which would reappear when asked. Whether this can be attributed to paranormal or ghost activity is impossible to say, particularly as the investigation was outside.
• Southern side: One of the team members is a Level 2 Reiki practitioner and she felt responses of names (Amy and Susan) during EVP sessions. (Note: we do not include this as evidence, but is mentioned as a matter of interest.) Two investigators saw what appeared to be movements behind a second floor window. It was noted that were no passing vehicles at the time.
• North-east picnic table: Although not a location where we were preparing to do EVP work, two digital voice recorders were recording as the team was sitting at the picnic table. We were simply chatting when, during a pause in the conversation, the sound of someone saying "Yeah" is heard. It wasn't anyone in the group and there weren't any other people around. It is picked up on both recorders, although it's clearer - and louder - on the one that was sitting on the southern-most end of the table (the end closest to the museum); the other recorder was in the middle of the table (closer to the shore).

Evidence:

EVP - "Yeah"
Click to hear the EVP in WAV format. It will open in a new window and you're going to have to turn up the sound. Note that there was other ambient noise, including some very loud crickets.

Summary: There wasn't enough evidence to support a ghost haunting, but it's remarkable that we got anything at all given that we were, at a minimum, 100 feet away from the building. We would love to try again inside the Spy House sometime!

We've noticed that we get a lot of visits to this page in particular, so we thought our visitors might like to see updated photos of the Spy House Museum (a.k.a. Seabrook-Wilson House). It is apparent that renovations are complete on the house, but as of August 2009, the Park Service has not yet moved in. We could not resist a peek in the windows and all we could see were empty rooms with the exception of a folding table and chair in one of the rooms. And for those that care about such things (like us), it looks like they did a really great job on the interiors and the hardwood floors looked beautiful.