Hauntings Of Harry Lee Hall
by U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Braydon Rogers
November 1, 2025

Perched on “Rising Hill” stands Harry Lee Hall, an old red brick building that looms over MCB Quantico. Today, it stands as a landmark steeped in history, one that holds historic value to the Marine Corps.

However, there is another side to Harry Lee Hall. It seems the Hall is home to something more mysterious-paranormal activity in the dimly lit hallways that is only revealed to the Marines and civilians who work there. No one knows this better than U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Herman Arambula, the current building manager.

“I am the last to close up this building and I am the very first person to open the building,” Cpl. Arambula stated as he showed us the building.

Named in honor of U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Harry Lee, a former commandant of Marine Corps Schools, the building was constructed in 1953. The stones that compose the buildings outer layer were carefully carved out of a nearby quarry by the Engineers from the 10th Marine Regiment.

“It served as the officers club for about [44 years]” said Arambula.

During that time, the halls of Harry Lee were a place for officers and their families to gather and share thoughts, professional opinions, or celebrate meaningful occasions.

“Then it went into a refurbishment in 1997. 1998 was when it first became promotion branch head and house,” said Arambula.

The decision was made by the commandant at the time, Gen. Charles Krulak, to preserve Harry Lee for future generations of Marines. The building now had a new purpose.

“All boards around the Marine Corps are held here,” Arambula explained. “Anything from promotion boards to slates. All the way up to four stars come down to select the most highly qualified Marine to be promoted.”

Harry Lee Hall made its mark in history as the first site to host the Secretaries Conference, an event that brought together the Secretaries of Defense, the Army, Navy, Air Force, 120 civilian and military leaders, as well as the guest of Honor, the President of the United States, earning a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. While Arambula knows the history of Harry Lee Hall well, he also knows other stories that are unlikely to make it into the archives ... the ones that start with a blue metal chair.

“This specific chair,” he says sitting in a blue metal chair in the middle of the third-floor attic. “Right before I close-up the building, I’ll grab it and I’ll take it down first deck, I’ll take it down to second deck, I’ll leave it in random locations. I’ve even left it in a locked room before.”

As he recounts his attempts to move the chair only to find it missing the next morning and searching the building to locate it, Arambula sits in it and leans back continuing the story.

“I come up to the attic and it’s … right here, in this exact spot I’m sitting.”

Arambula grew up with ghosts and ghost stories. When he learned about Harry Lee Hall, he didn’t think anything would faze him. Paranormal activity wasn’t an unusual occurrence for him … except for one thing.

“I won’t touch that doll. That’s the only thing I’m not touching up here.”

The doll in question stands no taller than eight inches. Its once-blonde hair is now a tangled mess, and its mechanical eyelids, meant to close and conceal blue eyes when tilted forward, only work half the time. It wears an old-fashioned checkered dress, the kind that looks straight out of the 1970s.

No one knows where the doll came from, but they do know to stay away from it.

“That doll is just … it’s just bad,” Arambula said, with a hint of wariness in his voice. “[There are] Instances of people having nightmares and night terrors of a little girl just … haunting their dreams.”

When asked ‘where should [someone] not go’ if they wanted to avoid being haunted, Arambula gestured at the chair he was sitting in, neatly placed in the middle of the attic and not far from where the doll now lay.

“Where I am right now,” he said with a laugh.

For Arambula, the strange and the ordinary have learned to coexist. The ghosts, the whispers, the things that move on their own, they’re all just part of the building’s character now. After all, Harry Lee Hall has stood through war, weather, and time itself. A few restless spirits aren’t likely to scare it, or its current caretaker, away.

For visitors who may be uneasy about the tales surrounding the old hall, Arambula offers a few words of advice:

“Don’t want to be haunted? Don’t sit in this chair. Don’t touch that doll. Don’t anger anybody on third deck, the attic, the basement … pretty much the entire building.”

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