Poplar Grove Historic House & Museum, north of downtown Wilmington in the Scotts Hill area, is not simply another stop on a city ghost walk. It is a preserved historic site with a documented history of plantation agriculture, enslavement, emancipation, tenant farming, and Gullah Geechee culture. A small number of paranormal programs are layered onto that history during the year.
That distinction matters. If you are considering a Poplar Grove paranormal ghost tour, the most useful question is not whether the property is “really haunted.” It is what kind of experience the museum offers, what history sits behind the stories, and whether an investigation-style evening is a better fit for you than a downtown storytelling tour.
What is Poplar Grove?
Poplar Grove is a historic house museum and former plantation site on U.S. Highway 17. The property sits within the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, which the National Park Service describes as a region shaped by the lives and cultural traditions of descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans along the southeastern coast.
The current manor house dates to about 1850. Poplar Grove’s own archival work notes that enslaved men and women connected to the Foy family, along with enslaved artisans from neighboring planter families, supplied much of the skilled labor used to construct and maintain the house. An 1853 fire-insurance record describes the new house as a large wood structure with a brick basement, multiple chimneys and fireplaces, and a separate kitchen nearby.
That documented history is more significant than any ghost story attached to the property. It gives the paranormal programs a setting with real human stories rather than a generic “haunted plantation” theme.
The history behind the setting
Poplar Grove’s history reaches well beyond the Foy family. The museum has spent years expanding its interpretation of the enslaved people, formerly enslaved families, and tenant farmers who lived and worked on the property.
Its research pages document the purchase and ownership of enslaved men, women, and children by Joseph Mumford Foy and identify specific people by name where surviving records allow. The museum also interprets agricultural knowledge associated with Gullah Geechee communities, including peanut and sweet-potato cultivation, basketry, blacksmithing, and other skilled work.
The story continued after emancipation. Formerly enslaved families and their descendants remained connected to the land as tenant farmers and workers. One surviving tenant house is associated with Nimrod Nixon, a World War II veteran who lived on the property into the mid-twentieth century. The museum’s permanent From Civil War to Civil Rights exhibit extends the interpretation into later African American history.
Even the Foy family’s Civil War politics were complicated. Joseph Mumford Foy wrote “Union forever” in 1860, yet the family’s wealth and plantation economy depended on enslaved labor. That tension is a more meaningful part of Poplar Grove’s story than a simple “old house with ghosts” label.
So why does Poplar Grove offer paranormal tours?
Poplar Grove presents its paranormal events as limited, separate programs rather than as the core interpretation of the museum. On selected full- and new-moon dates, staff lead visitors through parts of the site while sharing history and stories associated with people who lived there.
The museum’s official paranormal-tour information is unusually clear on one important point: ghost activity is not guaranteed. That is a useful standard to keep in mind. The experience is built around storytelling, observation, and paranormal-investigation entertainment, not a promise that something supernatural will happen.
What the Full/New Moon paranormal tour is actually like
The museum currently describes its Full/New Moon tours as approximately 1.5 hours. Attendance is limited to 16 people, advance reservation is required, and guests are asked to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start time.
Instead of walking several downtown blocks from landmark to landmark, participants stay on the historic property and focus on rooms or areas associated with Poplar Grove stories. Guests receive what the museum calls a “Scroll of the Dead,” and cameras and other permitted paranormal equipment may be used.
This makes the experience fundamentally different from a conventional Wilmington ghost walk. A downtown tour is usually guide-led storytelling while moving through public streets. Poplar Grove gives more time to a single historic site and includes an investigative component where guests are encouraged to watch, listen, photograph, or use their own equipment.
What not to expect
Do not book this expecting a haunted-house attraction with actors, jump scares, elaborate effects, or a guaranteed paranormal encounter. It is also not the same as a normal daytime museum tour.
The paranormal evening uses real historic spaces and stories, but some of the material belongs to oral tradition and reported experiences rather than the documentary record. A useful way to approach the tour is to keep two categories separate:
Documented history includes names, property records, census material, slave deeds, family papers, oral histories, agricultural records, and the physical buildings preserved on the site.
Paranormal lore includes reported presences, unexplained sounds, impressions, app responses, photographs, or other experiences interpreted as possible ghost activity. Those reports may be part of the evening, but they should not be treated as historical proof.
2026 schedule: check the date carefully
As of September 6, 2026, Poplar Grove’s official events calendar lists remaining staff-led paranormal tours on September 26, October 10, and October 31. October sessions are listed at 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM, while the standard non-October tour time is 7:00 PM.
There is one detail worth knowing before planning a trip: Poplar Grove’s main paranormal-tour page currently shows September 27, while the site’s event calendar shows September 26. Because the museum’s own pages disagree by one day, verify the live event calendar before making travel plans. This is exactly the kind of seasonal information that can change after an article is published.
The staff-led Full/New Moon tour is currently listed at $25 per person plus taxes and fees. Poplar Grove also advertises longer third-party paranormal investigations on selected nights, but those are separate events with a different format and price.
Is the Poplar Grove paranormal tour good for children?
Poplar Grove says the paranormal tour is not necessarily appropriate for children under 12 and leaves the final decision to parents. That makes sense: even without theatrical scares, the setting, darkness, stories of death, and paranormal-investigation theme can be intense for younger children.
Families primarily interested in the history of the site may get more value from a daytime visit, when the focus is on the manor house, exhibits, Gullah Geechee interpretation, agricultural history, and surviving outbuildings.
Who will probably enjoy this tour most?
Choose Poplar Grove if you:
- want an investigation-style evening rather than a standard walking tour;
- prefer spending time inside and around one historic property instead of covering downtown streets;
- enjoy ghost lore but still want the setting to have substantial documented history;
- want a smaller group experience;
- like bringing a camera or paranormal equipment and participating rather than only listening.
Consider a different Wilmington tour if you:
- want a broad introduction to downtown Wilmington;
- prefer several landmarks and stories in one evening;
- are traveling without a car and want an experience centered in the historic district;
- want pure history without paranormal investigation;
- expect a theatrical haunted attraction.
Poplar Grove vs. a downtown Wilmington ghost walk
The choice is mostly about format rather than which experience is “scarier.” Downtown ghost walks use the city itself as the stage: streets, cemeteries, theaters, old homes, and local legends are connected through a guided route. Poplar Grove is more concentrated and participatory.
If this is your first night in Wilmington and you want to understand the historic district, a downtown walking tour is usually the broader introduction. If you have already explored downtown and want something quieter, more focused, and more investigation-oriented, Poplar Grove offers a genuinely different experience.
Is Poplar Grove worth visiting without the paranormal tour?
Yes. In fact, visitors interested in history may find the daytime museum more valuable than the ghost event.
The site interprets the manor house, surviving tenant house, agricultural history, Gullah Geechee heritage, and the lives of enslaved and later tenant families. Poplar Grove’s public-research project is particularly useful because it does not stop at broad statements about slavery; it works through names, wills, slave deeds, census records, family trees, oral histories, and descendant connections.
That ongoing research gives the site a depth that is easy to miss if you encounter Poplar Grove only through a paranormal-tour listing.
A note on the word “haints”
Poplar Grove’s paranormal-tour page uses the Southern term “haints.” The word has a long history in Southern folklore, including traditions within Gullah Geechee communities, but it should not be used as shorthand to turn Gullah Geechee culture into a ghost-tour theme. The broader cultural history includes language, foodways, crafts, agriculture, religion, family traditions, and the experiences of communities shaped by slavery and freedom.
For that reason, this guide treats the paranormal program as one modern interpretation layered onto a much larger history—not as the defining story of the people who lived at Poplar Grove.
Practical planning
Address: 10200 US Highway 17, Wilmington, NC 28411.
Paranormal tour length: about 1.5 hours for the museum’s Full/New Moon program.
Current staff-led tour price: $25 per person plus taxes and fees, subject to change.
Group size: 16 spots per session according to the museum’s current tour page.
Arrival: at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start.
Equipment: cameras and permitted paranormal equipment are allowed.
Children: parental discretion; the museum says the tour may not be suitable for children under 12.
Best planning advice: check Poplar Grove’s live event calendar shortly before your visit, especially because dates and seasonal hours can change.
Final verdict
Poplar Grove’s paranormal tour is most interesting when the ghost stories are treated as an entry point rather than the whole story. The property has enough documented history—enslavement, skilled craftsmanship, agriculture, Unionist politics, emancipation, tenant farming, Gullah Geechee heritage, and twentieth-century life—that it does not need exaggerated paranormal claims to feel significant.
If you want a small-group, investigation-style evening at one historic site, Poplar Grove is one of the more distinctive paranormal options near Wilmington. If your priority is a broad city tour, a traditional downtown ghost walk is the better fit. Either way, the strongest reason to pay attention to Poplar Grove is the history that can actually be documented.
Sources & Further Reading
- Poplar Grove Historic House & Museum — official site and historical overview
- Poplar Grove — Paranormal Ghost Tours
- Poplar Grove — official events calendar
- Poplar Grove — Gullah Geechee Corridor research
- Poplar Grove — Slavery & Emancipation research
- Poplar Grove — Public Research and oral-history project
- National Park Service — Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor
Research checked September 6, 2026. Seasonal dates, prices, and tour availability can change; current event details should be verified before travel.