Hamilton House

The Victorian Hamilton House is one of Whitewater’s most enduring haunted homes, with a ghost story tied to the Posey family who lived there briefly in the late 1800s. Oliver and Sarah Posey made the house their home before moving to California in search of greater opportunity, but both eventually returned to Whitewater after death. Their oldest son, Oliver William Posey, died in California around 1920 in his mid-30s and was buried in Hillside Cemetery. Sarah followed six years later, also returning to the city she reportedly loved most. According to local legend, neither of them ever truly left Hamilton House. Sarah had taught art from the home and decorated it with hand-painted tiles, including a portrait of her son set into the fireplace. When that portrait mysteriously disappeared by the 1950s, reports of paranormal activity began to spread.

During the 1960s and 1970s, when Hamilton House served as a UW-Whitewater fraternity, students repeatedly reported encounters with the ghost of a young boy who appeared at the foot of their beds in the middle of the night. Rather than frightening witnesses outright, he was often described as an attention-seeking child, lingering in what had once been Sarah Posey’s bedroom. Others claimed to see a woman in a white nightgown standing in the East Garden, believed to be Sarah herself.

Later owners, who operated a doll museum inside the mansion, reported finding dolls mysteriously moved, seated in chairs, or scattered across the floor, which they believed was the work of the playful boy. During later renovations, the missing fireplace tile depicting Oliver William Posey was unexpectedly discovered buried in the East Garden at the very spot where Sarah’s apparition had so often been seen. After the portrait was restored to the fireplace, the hauntings reportedly stopped, bringing one of Whitewater’s best-known ghost stories to a quiet end.

Local tradition also ties Hamilton House to actor and comedian John Belushi‘s time at UW-Whitewater. The story goes that Belushi rode a motorcycle up the mansion’s staircase while it served as a fraternity, an escapade said to have inspired the famous motorcycle scene in the film National Lampoon’s Animal House. Some even claim the staircase bore tire marks for years afterward.

Reported Paranormal Activity

• Ghost of a young boy appearing at the foot of beds
• Child spirit reportedly favored what had once been Sarah Posey’s bedroom
• Apparition of a woman in a white nightgown seen standing in the East Garden
• Dolls in the former doll museum reportedly moved on their own, appeared in different locations, or were found lying on the floor
• The missing portrait tile of Oliver William Posey was discovered in the East Garden where Sarah’s ghost was frequently seen
• Paranormal activity was said to cease after the portrait tile was returned to the fireplace