The Spirits of the Treasury Annex

Posted: 04.30.2025 | Updated: 04.30.2025

Around every street corner in Washington, D.C., lies a history that spans centuries. Like so many other locations across America, some of it’s good, some bad. The rest is downright tragic to where it’s left something behind on this mortal coil. It carries on the wind through its towering structures and monuments, bringing forth with it spirits from the other side. 

On the corner of Pennsylvania Place and Madison Avenue, sits The Treasury Annex: an addition to the Treasury Department of the United States. It’s simple, yet elegant Greek-styled architecture meant to capture the awe of anyone visiting the nation’s capital. 

A gruesome past saturates the ground on which it stands, however. Behind its columns and within its walls, the spirits of the dead restlessly search for peace. 

From the Hay-Adams Hotel to the White House, Washington, D.C., is filled with phantoms, ghosts, and everything spooky in between. Get a unique look at our nation’s haunted capital with D.C Ghosts! Visit our site today while spots are still open. We may even offer a ghost tour near you. Be sure to also check our blog for more blood-chilling stories from its most haunted locations.

Is the Treasury Annex Haunted?

The Treasury Annex in Washington, D.C., is filled with a turbulent history dating back to the Civil War. Which is why it’s believed to hold a lot more than just currency within its walls: restless spirits who met a tragic end in America’s bloodiest war. 

History of the Treasury Annex

Located in Washington, D.C., Lafayette Square once painted a different picture compared to today. The western, northern, and southern sides of the park were filled with extravagant houses owned by society’s most prominent. Among them was a five-story house that stood on the corner of Madison Place and Pennsylvania Avenue.

It was owned by Dr. James Gunnell until the Civil War started, and the government seized the house for military use. With hindsight, it marked the start of a new chapter for the property. 

Real estate prices rose after the war. Some of the houses on the square were repurposed as office spaces or rental properties. Gunnell’s home, on the other hand, was demolished. 

Freedman’s Savings Bank was constructed in its place in 1869. As its name suggests, the bank was established by Congress as a savings depository for recently emancipated slaves. The bank’s success wouldn’t last long.

Mismanagement and fraud, topped off with the panic of 1873, forced the bank to shut its doors for good. Approximately 61,114 African Americans lost their life savings, totalling to today’s equivalent of over $75 million. 

The bank was demolished in 1899, but a new need for the vacant lot did not arise until World War I, when the Treasury Department required additional office space. Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo could think of no one better to lead such a project than fellow friend and architect, Cass Gilbert. Construction was completed in April 1919, when the towering, classical-Greek designed Treasury Annex that still stands today was completed. 

One more change was made to the Treasury Annex in 2015. In preparation for the 150th anniversary of the Freedman’s Savings Bank’s charter, the building was renamed as the Freedman’s Bank Building — a way to recognize the site’s historical significance to African Americans.

Hauntings at the Treasury Annex

The site on which the Treasury Annex now sits is drenched with history, filled with ambiguity. It’s impossible to specifically know what took place on the property for a little more than a century.

However, just the fact alone that it was smack dab in the middle of the bloodiest war of American history, along with the fact that so many emancipated slaves lost their life savings here, is enough tragedy to make this place as haunted as it’s rumored to be. 

Employees working late in the Treasury Annex have supposedly seen the ghostly apparition of a woman in white roaming the second floor. This frightening sight, along with disembodied footsteps and voices, has been heard. Even a toilet flushing sound has been reported.

It’s impossible to know who this feminine phantom is, or what she’s in search of. Better yet, who do the sounds belong to? They may very well belong to the same person. But a closer look at another disturbing spirit known to linger on the property may hold some clues. 

An Innocent Casualty

The house that once stood on the site of the Treasury Annex was used as a hospital during the Civil War. Screams and groans of agony could be heard emanating from its windows.  Soldiers and civilians alike underwent surgery without anesthesia, while many more awaited the angel of death. 

What makes this scene truly horrific is that one of the war’s victims, believed to have died on the property, was a little girl. Her ghost is now believed to have been seen wandering the halls of the Treasury Annex. 

She is often heard crying or crying out for her mother. Staff members have also reported feeling a cold breeze. It’s also believed that the inexplicable footsteps heard belong to none other than the little girl. 

The basement level of the Treasury Annex is one place where no one wants to be, especially at night. The little girl’s ghost is known to be extremely active in this particular area, considering this is where she spent her final moments. 

Haunted Washington, D.C.

It’s hard to imagine that our nation’s capital may be filled with countless lingering spirits from centuries past. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true, however, and the Treasury Annex is proof of such stories. 

From a home where countless Civil War Victims met their end, to a bank that would ultimately be demolished, along with the hopes and dreams of so many who had faced the horrors of slavery. The monumental Treasury Annex now stands in its place. Its Greek-style architecture is a symbol of America’s governing system. One might also say it’s an official headstone for those who died on its grounds. 

There’s a different, more grim side to America’s capital. One filled with the restless spirits of the dead calling out on the night air. Feel daring enough to encounter one of them for yourself? Look no further.  Visit our website today, and join D.C Ghosts for a ghost tour through some of Washington D.C’s most haunted locations around. Make sure to also stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for updates and more!

Sources:

• https://historicsites.dcpreservation.org/items/show/602
• https://www.occ.treas.gov/about/who-we-are/history/1863-1865/1863-1865-freedmans-savings-bank.html
• https://historicsites.dcpreservation.org/items/show/602
• https://www.hauntedplaces.org/item/treasury-annex/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hP7y6FuV2c