THE STORY
Reported Haunting
The Harding Home has been linked to reports of unexplained footsteps, apparitions, and mysterious activity associated with the former presidential residence.
President Warren G. Harding’s Home, open to the public as a museum, is known for its Death Clock and Finch of Doom. The Death Clock, a wedding gift to the Hardings, hangs on the wall above the staircase. On August 2, 1973, at 7:30 p.m., the clock inexplicably stopped. The time was exactly 50 years after Harding’s death. One week later, it started to run again. The Finch of Doom was Mrs. Harding’s pet finch Petey, but Mrs. Harding wasn’t fond of him — she had named him after an ex-husband. Petey never sang at night, except one time, and Mrs. Harding thought it a bad omen. Mr. Harding died shortly after, but Petey outlived both President Harding and Mrs. Harding. Petey is now stuffed under a glass jar.