Harby Junior High
This place is teeming with weird things. During the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, some bodies were buried where the school was built. Teachers have reported seeing the faces of people in windows. Also showers in the locker rooms will turn on without anyone in the locker room.
Brazoria County Historical Museum
Lavinia Perry, wife of William Joel Bryan (for whom the town of Bryan, Texas is named), is haunting her old home. Footsteps and bangs are heard in her room. Her furniture rearranges itself, and a portrait of her changes expression.
TJ's
A ghost is causing strange sounds and lights that turn on and off. The ghost is either left from the building's days as a doctor's office or when it was a soda shop.
Bailey's Prairie (Brazoria County)
Bailey's Prairie
The prairie is on State Highway 35 and Farm Road 521 between Angleton and West Columbia in southwest Brazoria County. This is a small town named after a guy named James Britton Bailey in 1818, hence the name Bailey's Prairie. I remember reading about it in a book. The town is about a couple hours out of Houston. Where the man is buried is nothing more than a rest stop. There is a marker as to where he is buried. The story goes is that he wanted to be buried standing up so that he could walk his land, buried with his dog at his feet, and with two jugs of whiskey. Every seven years he is supposed to haunt the area more so than normal.
Old man Bailey can be seen walking late at night holding a lantern. A drunk driver supposedly killed him. He haunts the roads looking for the fatal driver.
During the 1800s, Brit Bailey died a natural death. His widow arranged his burial according to her wishes and left out a few of his requests, namely burying him with his jug of moonshine. He is said to return every seven years in the form of a large fireball, searching for his jug. He is even said to have caused a gas well blowout when they drilled too close to his actual grave. His resting place is a little off State 35 between West Columbia and Angleton. This is and remains a very old haunting, as this area is quite active in the paranormal sense.
Fort McKavett
In the early 1900s a westbound family stopped here with their sick daughter. The child died during the night, and the family pressed on without her. Her spirit is still sensed here. Also found here is the ghostly voice of a First Sergeant. He has been heard on the parade ground shouting at his troops.
Mission San Clemente
A grisly Indian attack has been replayed here, as if it was a movie and the mission was the screen.
Rheem Air Conditioning
This site used to be a saloon where a man named Isaiah was gunned down. He now moves things, walks around, and once, before Rheem was there, he slapped a customer who voiced a doubt about his existence.
Texas Grill
Ghostly footsteps and strange apparitions have been reported here.
Cemetery
[See also entry for Moss Hill]
There are busted open graves from the late 1700s early 1800s. Wrought iron fences are all mangled up around the old tombstones. If you try to mess with the graves weird things will happen like ants crawling all over you coming out from nowhere.
Premiere Cinema 11
On the night shift, you will start getting an eerie feeling that somebody is watching you. In the ticket box, sometimes the computers will go crazy, and start printing tickets out. In the projectionist room (1-7) when you are threading the last movies before you go home, you can hear people talking and feel somebody walking behind you. They have even had the little windows open by themselves as well as had movies start and stop by themselves mysteriously without any reason. CD ROMs open and speakers turn up by themselves with no reasonable explanation. And sometimes after all the breakers are shut off in projection, you can hear someone talking to you.
Unknown specters like to play with the electronic equipment.
Highway 36
A steam locomotive emerges from a fog near here and pulls a string of freight cars across the highway. But there is no crossing gate, warning lights, or even tracks. The ghost train was first witnessed by Thomas Phillips of Pasadena, Texas, on January 10, 1960.
Forrest Lawn Memorial Cemetery
There is a haunt called The Kissing Statues. If you go to the cemetery at night and find the statue of a young man and women, take the driveway that goes behind them and shine your bright lights on them and they will turn around and start kissing. You can see the girls face moving and the guy's arms moving all over her back.
Saratoga Road/Bragg Road
[See also entry for Saratoga]
Hundreds of people have witnessed a ghostly light that appears and hovers, then zooms past and even has sat on the hoods of cars. This story is so amazing because so many people have witnessed it and it can be viewed with almost a 100% probability of appearance.
Lamar University
Sigma Phi Epsilon House: A farmer built the house. They say it was his dream house. After he passed, it supposedly became a whorehouse. The fraternity bought it in the late 1980s. The house sits on old farmland. There is the main house in the front and also a house in the back (just a structure with two bathrooms and a small bar). Everyone that lived in the house knows about Chester (that's what they call him). He likes to knock on the guys' doors when no one else is home. He likes opening and closing doors, and walking on the stairs. This ghost is very friendly with the guys and protects them from strangers.
Old Ambassador College
A negative presence is felt around isolated parts of the campus especially around the library and the men's dorms. Anybody that stays reports in the first couple nights they've had the feeling like somebody is grabbing at their throat and brushing up against them.
Bethel Baptist Church
Vigilantes severed the leg of a rapist who struggled into the church and died of blood loss in the sanctuary. The sounds of his step-drag can still be heard if you put your ear to the door.
The Hanging Tree
Two men were found hanged at this spot. It is said that you cannot ride past it in a car, a carriage, or on horseback.
Mansion
This house was never occupied by its original builder; his bride-to-be died before she arrived from Tennessee, and he was killed in the Civil War. The doors of the house would open constantly. It eventually fell into ruin, and may be long gone by now.
Rural County Area
Lily Brown was the daughter of a white man and black woman, who lived as man and wife (it was illegal for them to formally marry at that time). She and her trademark Palomino pony disappeared. Nobody suspected foul play until her specter was spotted riding through rural Brazoria County.
Brazosport Little Theater
A female specter who has been possibly identified as Tallulah Bankhead walks the theater searching for Ruth.
Marshall Hwy 2792
On 2792, take a right, and a little ways down the road there is an old broken down house with bushes and weeds overgrown. The story behind the house is in the mid 1980s a young woman lived there with her husband and newborn daughter. On Halloween night her brother came to her for money (possibly for drugs) she told him no. He was already messed up he turned violent when she told him no. He picked her up and slammed her on the hot stove then shot her. It was rumored that he even broke the gun and stabbed her with it, but after she was already dead he drowned her in the bathtub. The police found him wandering the streets, all bloody. The child was unharmed. There are now reports of strange feelings and not being able to breathe. People have seen a light come on in the attic and a white figure in the window and some have said they have even seen her face in the hallway of the house.
Slaton Cemetery
This cemetery is also known as the Blue Light Cemetery. A young couple went to the cemetery to make out one night, and they were found several days later, laid against a tombstone with their faces frozen in fear. It is said that if you go into the cemetery after dark, you will see a blue light floating around the cemetery. If you go in the middle of summer, there will be places in the cemetery that are ice-cold. There are bushes where it is reported that if you stand in front of them on a still day, one side of the bush will be moving as though being struck by a tornado. One report is of a man in his car actually being pulled inside the cemetery with his car refusing to move into any gear except drive, while something outside was calling his name repeatedly. It is a matter of belief, but I have been both during the day and at night, and I wouldn't recommend doing so unless you are a person of faith, and a strong believer of paranormal activities.
The Hanging Tree
A black man lynched before his trial is said to still reside in the tree from which he was hanged. Several attempts have been made to cut down the now-dead tree, but it has somehow survived all attempts. The tree is said to scream when anyone attempts to touch it with a blade.
Center High School
The old high school (which was two-stories) burnt down in the 1960s after a pair of students, playing with firecrackers, accidentally caught the place on fire. Two other students were killed in the inferno that ensued. There are now reports of apparitions appearing. One person, who visited the site of the now one-story school, reported that he found a staircase leading to the non-existent second floor, and visited it. His descriptions matched exactly the descriptions given by old students of the school.
Read an article from Texas Escapes about this bizarre, time-warped high school.
Texas A & M University
Hubbell Hall: This male residence hall is haunted on the third floor. An older ghostly woman has been seen numerous times in the northwest lobby of the third floor. The ghost is believed to be Julia B. Hubbell, the woman for whom the dorm is named. Hubbell Hall was once a female dormitory when it was East Texas State College.
Huntsman Chemical Plant
Witnesses have heard doors slamming, voices, footsteps, and have seen an apparition of a tall pale man. They also report a strong feeling that they're being followed or watched as they patrol through the company's training building, which was used as a makeshift hospital during a plant emergency about four years ago after two people lost their lives in an explosion.
Black Hope Cemetery
This haunted neighborhood has been written about in the novel The Black Hope Horror. The neighborhood was constructed over an old slave cemetery. When the subdivision was built, many of the residents were terrorized by the angry spirits that dwelled below. No one had a clue as to what was causing it until a couple started digging a swimming pool and unearthed the remains of two people who had been buried in their backyard. It is a story that is very similar to the movie Poltergeist, but it is frighteningly real. Most of the activity is centered at the east end of Poppets Way and the side street that connects at the east end. According to the book, people would rent a house on the street and abruptly leave within a month, and this was a very regular occurrence.
This is a true story that is similar to the movie Poltergeist. Residents reported self-flushing toilets, flickering lights, family pets that literally go mad, household items that seem to have a life of their own, friends and relatives who are stricken with fatal diseases, freakish storms that hover over the house, flocks of crows that attack, and many more Hollywood-type phenomena, except it's too frighteningly real. According to the book that was written about the case, many people moved into this lovely neighborhood, but left suddenly within a month. Later it was learned the neighborhood was built over an old slave cemetery, but the bodies had not been moved, so the residents were being haunted by spirits who were angry at having their final resting place desecrated.
An entire neighborhood experienced extremely frightening activity on this old Negro Cemetery known as the Black Hope Cemetery. No solutions have been found. The Williams house is a private residence on Hilltop Drive in the Newport area of Lake Houston.
Built on top of a "potter's field" type cemetery, residents of this subdivision have reported apparitions, poltergeist activity, and a general impression that whatever was there was evil. The phenomena was the subject of the book The Black Hope Horror and the movie Grave Secrets.
The fine line between documentary and dream is almost eradicated in this true haunted-house tale set in the Deep South. Ben and Jean Williams have uneasy feelings about their new Texas home the moment they discover ants invading their dishwasher. Soon, their toilets self-flush, knickknacks dance, freakish storms' hover over them, flocks of crows attack, pet cats and gerbils go mad, and friends and relatives are stricken with fatal diseases.
When Jean and Ken Williams moved into their new house in 1983, they were curious about strange markings on the oak tree in their front yard. Soon, they started hearing unexplainable footsteps and voices in the house. Moving shadows roamed the house and a black substance oozed from the walls of the master bedroom. They discovered that their house was built on top of an old Negro graveyard called the Black Hope Cemetery. Neighbors confirmed the sightings of ghosts and some experienced phenomena in their own homes. Before the Williams family moved out in 1987, five members had died under mysterious circumstances. The Williamses sued the developer and wrote a book about their experiences, called The Black Hope Horror.
The horrible ordeal the Williams family faced was well documented in 1987 with articles in the Houston Chronicle newspaper and in other U.S. newspapers as well. I remember this because I lived in Houston for many years. "Shag" and Jean Williams moved into their pristine, new dream home when they were in their fifties. Ben was a rank-and-file worker at a local industrial plant. They sank a lot of their savings into the home thinking they would retire there. Shortly after settling in, the toilets began flushing themselves, ants overflowed from the dishwasher, pets began to die mysteriously, and freakish storms brewed up, centered only over their home and a few others near them. Snakes began appearing out of nowhere, and at night they would hear barely audible voices and see shadows. These and many other disturbances culminated in the unexpected deaths of several people close to them. The Williamses were not the only ones to experience these horrifying phenomena. Neighbors living around them also suffered similar fates. The reason became clear when a contractor began breaking ground for a neighbor's new pool and dug up two bodies. What ensues is truly a nightmare for this unsuspecting couple and their neighbors as all try to hold onto their sanity long enough to recoup their money from the title company. Prospective buyers were nonexistent due to publicity and a law that required the owners to divulge that the houses were built over a cemetery. This story was made into a TV movie in 1992 titled Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive, starring Patty Duke and David Selby. The Newport hauntings have also been included in several documentaries on the supernatural. Some seem to question the veracity of this story. What can't be dismissed is the fact that something caused many residents to abandon their new homes, allowing the banks to foreclose on their entire investment, that many people on the street suffered emotional and familial breakdowns, that several unexplained illnesses and deaths occurred, etc.
Crybaby Creek
It is said that on a clear night you can drive to a bridge outside this small town and hear the screams of an infant. The story states that a mother and her baby had a horrible accident there and the infant drowned in near freezing waters. This child's ghost still haunts there.
This creek is haunted by the cries of a baby who drowned there.
Opera House
An unknown spirit has been seen walking on the south end of the square.
The Diboll House
Owners of the house would have coinciding nightmares, and would report smelling bad odors that seemed to come from no where. They also reported feelings of being watched, strange banging noises, apparitions, and reports of being physically attacked (smacked or thrown).
Read a first hand account of the Diboll house haunting from one of the one-time residents.
East Columbia (Brazoria County)
Sweeney House
A woman dressed in gray taffeta wanders the grounds where the Sweeney house once stood. She was murdered there by her husband and dumped into the cistern. Soon after the Sweeneys moved in, they found her body. The house has since burned to the ground, but some say she can still be seen in the rubble.
Crooked Creek
Going back to 1958, there are reports of a woman in white walking the road at night. She has accepted rides saying she is going home. She gets out at this house that has been deserted for sixty years and goes in. No lights go on or anything, and she isn't seen again accept on rare times. Everything about her is white they say. The ghost of Edgewood seems to be harmless and she doesn't appear often. But after reading about other ghosts, this seems to be normal.
The Mary Ann
A ship called the Mary Ann has been known to guide hapless boats caught in storms into safe harbor. The problem is that the Mary Ann sank decades ago.
Ashton Villa
On Broadway (I-45 South becomes Broadway) the ghost of one of the Brown daughters, Bettie, supposedly visits the Gold Room and the second floor landing. I have personally been there, and even if I didn't see a ghost, it is a beautiful old home.
This Italianate mansion was built in 1859 by James Moreau Brown. His lovely daughter, Bettie Ashton Brown, is said to haunt her old home to this day. Bettie was a free spirit even when alive. She traveled alone throughout the world, smoked in public, and never married, though she picked her escorts from a long list of admiring suitors. Until Bettie's death in 1920, Ashton Villa was the scene of many parties and gala dinners. Today, her presence is sensed most strongly on the center stairway and in the hallway on the second-floor landing. In the Gold Room and near an alcove in the living room, furniture moves and clocks stop for no apparent reason. An employee saw Bettie's ghost on the landing in 1991. She was wearing a turquoise evening gown and carrying an ornate Victorian fan in one hand. According to Ashton Villa's manager Lucie Testa the ghostly activity intensifies on February 18, Bettie's birthday.
This is an old house that survived the 1900 storm and is visited by the last person to live in it, Betty Brown. It is said that it's one of the most haunted houses in America.
The Ashton Villa doesn't have a particularly sad or tragic background, but it is one of the houses that survived the hurricane of 1900. There are reports of apparitions, male and female, dressed in old style clothing. Visitors also report feelings of not being alone, strange noises, and movement when no one else is around.
Furniture moves and clocks stop in the presence of this spirit believed to be that of Bettie Ashton Brown.
The Bishop's Palace
My friends and I went on a trip to Galveston Island for spring break. While there we decided to go into what's called the Bishop's Palace. It's a manor where a family lived until the Catholic Church bought it for a bishop's family to live. They say it's still haunted by the family that was forced to give it up. We didn't have any money for the tour so we decided to go in through the back when we thought no one was looking. We went in through the door (fortunately it was unlocked) and found ourselves in a room that was closed to the public. We couldn't get into the main tour area through the other door in the room, which was locked. We turned around to go back and saw a young girl, about our age, standing by the back door. She just stared at us. She was dressed in Victorian-style clothing, which would have been current during the time in which the house was used as a home. No sooner had we tried to turn and run than she vanished. The room suddenly went ice cold. Needless to say, we found the nearest exit and went screaming towards the shore. When we got there, we told someone what had happened and they told us that there's a legend that says when the people were forced to leave, the girl hid because she didn't want to go, and they couldn't find her. A week later, they found her body in a corner. She was dead. They didn't know how she died though. She was only 16 or 17. It's sad, but she's still there. I think she thought that we would get locked in there like she did and she was just trying to help us get out. We were still terrified though.
Boarding House
This house is on Avenue K and 23rd. Several people have died of natural causes in this house, and now visitors report poltergeist activity. The current owner appears to be proud that the house is one of the Island's most haunted.
Bolivar Lighthouse
A young man killed his parents in the lighthouse. His ghost has been seen through the windows, and he has been known to chase visitors away.
Fire Station #6
This fire station is on Broadway. Captain Jack returns, even though the building is no longer a fire station. There are reports of ghostly smells, noises and occasional activity.
Flying Dutchman
The most famous ghost ship in the world was sighted in Galveston Bay twice in 1892. Legend says the captain of the Flying Dutchman, Bernard Fokke, made a pact with the devil to reach the Indies in ninety days. His maniacal form is sometimes seen at the helm.
Menard House
An apparition of a woman has appeared in the entry hall, where Clara Menard died from a broken neck when she fell down the stairs.
Old Skinner House
This house is on the 1300 block of Sealy. Apparitions and strange noises have been experienced. An antique cane bearing the inscription "J.D. Skinner, Nov. 6, 1895" mysteriously showed up in the attic.
Queen Anne B & B
Ghostly feet walk up the stairs, a shadow hovers over a computer, and strange figures are seen in the butler's pantry.
Samuel May Williams Home
This house is at 3601 Bernardo de Galvez, Galveston. Williams still walks the third floor balcony, 140 years after his death.
Samuel May Williams was Governor Stephen Austin's secretary, and he used his influence to buy up land and ships during the Texas War for Independence. After the war, he became the state's first banker and gained a reputation for being a ruthless businessman. In fact, some historians have described Williams as the "most hated man in Texas." The man refused to give up his ill-gotten gains even after his death in 1858. Within weeks of his demise, his former slaves reported seeing him sitting in his rocking chair on the L-shaped front porch. Tourists and employees have sensed his dark spirit in his upstairs bedroom, and neighbors report seeing a light in the window late at night or a mysterious figure walking on the narrow balcony that surrounds the third floor observation room.
Once the home of "the most hated man in Texas," this house is still home to the ghost of Samuel May Williams. He can still be seen lurking around the grounds and building.
The Stacia-Leigh
A former owner claims to have met the ghost of Benito Mussolini's mistress on board.
Stewart Beach
An unidentified specter of a man has been seen running across the beach after dark. Is he a victim of the storm? Perhaps.
The Oaks
The spirit of a girl who died after falling down the stairs has been reported in this house.
Trinity Bay
Jean Lafitte, the notorious pirate, has been accused of attacking treasure hunters. They've had an apparition resembling Lafitte choking them in the middle of the night.
University of Texas Medical Branch
See rare photos of the face at Ewing Hall!
Ewing Hall: A demonic face appeared on the side of one of these buildings long ago, and has survived every attempt to remove it (even sandblasting). The building is off limits to the public, but we're told the face is clearly visible from the harbor. Note: before the 1920s, that "land" was in the water. The face has nothing to do with the storm of 1900. It was filled in the late 1920s. The building always belonged to the State of Texas (through UTMB). People have died trying to see this. It's not worth your life—don't risk it! It is state property and access is restricted. You can be arrested.
Ewing Hall: One of the buildings here, known as Big Red, has a face that sometimes appears on its side. So well known is the story, that it appears on local postcards.
Ewing Hall: The side of one of the buildings on the UTMB campus, Big Red, has been rumored to be haunted for years. People have made so many claims regarding seeing a face on the side of this building, which was on the Island before the 1900 storm, that it is considered local tradition, and the story is found on the back of postcards.
Ewing Hall: Sometimes you'll do anything to get a look. Such was the case with the infamous face at UTMB. Halloween wasn't the only reason I had for wanting to see the face that has emerged on the side of the building at the University of Texas Medical Branch building. It was the legend. In 1993, I was new to Galveston and a weird death had brought the legend of "The Face" to the forefront of the collective community mind again. During that year, a nursing student and a friend stopped along what was then called Port Industrial Boulevard to look at the evil sinister image that appears on the side of one of the UTMB buildings. The car they were sitting in slipped into gear and fell into the water. The nursing student died. Officials tried to take the face off. Some say sandblasting occurred through the years. Following the death, they tried to take it off again. Well, that was about the time that we heard that the face hadn't disappear. So on one dark and stormy night, as they say, four friends and I who were studying at UTMB decided that I needed to see this ominous site. Once we parked our car (making sure we did not face the same fate as the nursing student) we began a sleuthing, careful trek to the fence area that surrounded the infamous site. Alas, the wired presence did not allow our entry. But, never discouraged, I wiggled my way under the fence and the gang agreed we should prevail. Once inside, we continued our undetected and daunting mission and moved to the side of the building. I was a bit frustrated. I saw nothing except concrete. Then, the great "Aha!" arrives. "I see it," said one of my buddies. "Back here." Excitement filled my bones and I rushed to the center of the yard where my friend was and looked up. There, in all its wonder, was a clear, haunting, very distinct face. It almost speaks to you, like it is saying, "I know you know I am here." Then, an unexpected breeze whizzed by us and we decided it was time to leave. We weren't scared or frightened. We were just satisfied. We'd seen the face and we lived to talk about it. I asked around afterwards about who he was. Some say he's Jean Lafitte. I don't believe that. I tend to believe the other story, which is one of big industry trampling on the little man. Some say UTMB evicted a homeless sea captain that once lived on the site. He had all his belongings in a little shack and UTMB executives decided they wanted to build over his home. So, they razed everything, even his memorabilia. He swore vengeance and the face appeared after his death. Maybe he's reminding us we always have to face what we do.
Ewing Hall: The building is fairly modern, with a grid type pattern on one side. It is constructed of concrete with a sandstone-like finish. The old man's face appeared on one of the grids (there were nine total) the face is a lot like a shadow picture but is quite clearly visible. The story is that the grid where the face appeared was sandblasted to remove the face, but only a few days later the face reappeared in a different grid. It is possible that the sandblasting was repeated at least one time with the face appearing yet again in a different spot. The building is quite close to the bay edge of the island and the site is very difficult to see without being on the actual grounds of the building. Someone might be able to see it from the water.
Virginia Point Inn
Ghostly footsteps and poltergeist activity have been attributed to the original owner of the building, Sarah Hawley.
Wal-Mart
There are rumors that a cemetery may be beneath the foundation. Full trash bags have been found dangling from the rafters, neatly zoned aisles will be trashed within moments, and an 18-wheeler was mysteriously unloaded and stocked when no one was on duty. Another possible cause for the haunting may be that the site is supposed to be where an orphanage run by nuns was destroyed during the storm. The nuns had tied themselves and the children together to keep from being separated, but they ended up drowning together.
Witwer-Mott House
This house is at 1121 Tremont. Captain Mott has said in Ouija sessions that he will continue to haunt the house until the bodies of murdered girls buried on the property are found.
Built in 1884 by Captain Marcus Mott, this house has been in the Witwer family for the last forty years. Neal Witwer, born in the house in 1947, blames a ghost in the attic for destroying his first marriage. It all started when a new tenant moved in. The man strongly resembled the captain's son, who was rumored to have murdered his father. For whatever reason, the boarder's arrival coincided with the emergence of a ghost. Every night at 3:00 AM, loud voices and banging sounds came from the attic. Then, the ghost of a bearded man started to appear to Witwer's wife and call out to her in the middle of the night. For two weeks, regular séances were held to try to placate what was assumed to be Mott's spirit. Instead, another presence emerged, a female ghost who focused her attention on the new boarder. Before long, neither the boarder nor Witwer's wife could stand to live in the house. Neal Witwer's wife divorced him, and his tenant moved away. Strangely, the ghosts moved on as well.
Luigi's Italian Food
This restaurant is located at 2328 Strand, Galveston. Northern Italian cuisine is served in this converted 1895 bank building. The muted sienna walls, fruitwood-paneled bar, and mural-size replicas of classical Italian artists create a warm atmosphere, making it so inviting that some guests have never left. Many workers have seen the figure of a lady who is softly crying and walking down the stairs.
Workers have seen the figure of the lady and have heard her whimpers as she walks down the stairs.
The Hotel Galvez
This hotel is on Seawall Boulevard and is the oldest hotel on the island. Room 505 is supposed to be haunted and most people who stay in that room do not stay overnight. Most just feel incredibly uncomfortable there. You can also smell gardenias in and around the room at times. There are two other ghosts there but no one seems to know much about them.
Julia Ideson Building
The sounds of footsteps and a dog's toenails on the floor have been heard. The building is on McKinney Street in downtown Galveston.
Cherokee Chase
At different locations fog will rise up on the road. The fog is thick enough that you have to slow down. Barely seen though the thick fog, a woman and several small children have been seen crossing the road.
Patriot's Hill
Patriot's Hill is located on the border of Louisiana and Texas. Patriots from the Civil War set up camp there, fearing that the enemy would come across Sabine Lake and fight there. The patriots stayed there and guarded their posts until the end of the Civil War. Some of the men perished from starvation and sickness. You can hear voices on the hill and see men in Civil War attire standing guard in the woods.
Rebel Ridge
On the banks of the Sabine River, the Confederate army had a fort. Many of the soldiers died of disease, and some are rumored to still be hanging around.
Liendo Plantation Ranch
The gasping sounds of a child fighting for air can be heard in the white guesthouse next to the main house.
The plantation is located four miles northeast of Hempstead on Whiting Chapel Road. The ghost of Arthur Ney has reportedly been occupying the guesthouse where he spent his final days.
Jose Liendo received the original Spanish grant for this land, but then sold it in 1849. In the early 1870s, it was owned by Elizabeth Ney, a renowned German sculptress. She, her husband, and the ashes of their only son, Arthur, are buried in a family plot on the ranch. When little Arthur died of diphtheria, his parents cremated him in the living room fireplace and placed his ashes in an urn on the mantel. Ever since, the boy's gasping ghost has been seen in the white guesthouse next to the ranch house. It was there the child lay quarantined, struggling for a deep breath, his lonely cries filling the crisp night air.
Howard Dickinson House
The house is three stories, two above ground and a basement. A lady is seen walking out onto the balcony at midnight. She is seen often, but the alarms never sound.
The former owner of this building has appeared to employees and visitors. The house is located on South Main Street.
This three-story brick house was erected in 1851 by James Howard. Shortly after restoration in 1968, the ghost of his wife was seen floating over the stairway to the upper floors. The ghost paused and looked directly at one of the curators, as if thanking her for saving the Howard home from the wrecking ball.
One of the Howard brothers was killed when a gun went off accidentally in the basement. His blood still stains the second floor flooring where he died. Lights turn themselves on in the basement, and two female apparitions have been seen in the house.
Schultz Middle School
A girl hanged herself in the bathroom and it is now said to be haunted by her ghost.
Ale House Pub
This English-style pub, located at 2425 West Alabama, may have two spirits: a mild-mannered maid who is fond of light switches and a less-congenial sea captain who likes to break glasses and throw lighted candles. The current owner has indicated that the source of their activity may be the former madam (the structure is a former speakeasy/house of ill repute). Update: On June 3, 2001, the Ale House Pub and Eatery was torn down to make way for a new bookstore.
There have been numerous sightings and mischief here. Beer mugs go sailing across the room; food plates are flipped up for no apparent reason. There are also reports of customers getting hit with things, one so bad that he filed a lawsuit against the pub stating they were responsible for his injuries (of course it was thrown out).
Alief Cemetery
This cemetery can be found at the southwest corner of Bellaire Boulevard and Dairy Ashford. Having grown up in Alief, this is one that I am familiar with (I always thought that there was something about that cemetery). A little background: Alief is a former farm community that was incorporated into Houston in the 1970s. In some areas it has managed to retain that farm-community feel. The cemetery is about a century old and is bordered on one side by Bellaire Blvd, on another by Dairy Ashford, and by an apartment complex on the remaining two sides. In the 1980s there was a plan to widen Dairy Ashford at that point, but the plan had to be abandoned when it was discovered that the cemetery extended beyond the marked boundaries. A white cross in front of the entrance marks the location where a previously unmarked grave was discovered. The point is, nobody knows just what the true boundaries of the cemetery are, and the apartment complex has units that are directly outside of the fence. My husband's best friend dated a girl who lived in one of those units, and she experienced nightly poltergeist phenomena, and her neighbors complained of similar problems. A note to ghost hunters: due to the extremely busy nature of Bellaire Boulevard, even at 3:00 AM, this may not be a very good location for a ghost hunt.
Alley Theater
This theater is located at 615 Texas Ave. It is believed that the spirit of managing director Iris Siff has never left the site where she was murdered.
Barnard Street
This street is in the Montrose area. The former owner, Mr. Cowen, was murdered by a friend. New owners have reported cold-spots, strange animal behavior, and "Old Hag" experiences.
Battleship Texas – San Jacinto State Park
The ghost of an unidentified sailor has been spotted on the second deck.
Blue Light Cemetery
There are nearly half a dozen cemeteries in the Houston area that have been identified as the "Blue Light Cemetery," and all of them are old and suffering from vandalism. One explanation for the blue light that emanates from the tombstones is that the material used in making the markers has phosphorescent properties, causing the stones to glow in the dark.
Esperson Building
The building has two sides: Neils and Mellie. Mellie has come back to check out her building. The elevator has been known to malfunction, and employees report feeling watched.
First Pagan Church of Houston
This church is at 903 Welch Street. For years this lovely house was reputed to be the scene of animal sacrifices. In 1974 the cult inhabiting it was evicted. During the subsequent renovation, an unseen force struck one worker, another had strange recurring nightmares, and others walked off the job because they were spooked. Note: The cult mentioned above was not connected in any way to any known religion, polytheistic or otherwise, to the best of our knowledge. The reputed activities mentioned have no place in Wicca or any other pagan faith. The primary rule of Wicca (the Wiccan Rede) is, "An ye harm none, do as thou wilt," meaning you cannot cause harm to anything—person, animal, plant, Earth.
Jefferson Davis Hospital
This unused hospital building was built on top of an old Confederate graveyard. During the excavation for the basement (the morgue), several human bones were unearthed. It is rumored to be haunted by angry Confederate soldiers, doctors, nurses and patients. The building is the property of the Harris County Hospital District and is off-limits.
Old Jefferson Davis Hospital off Elder Street in downtown is haunted. My buddies and I went there about two months ago after clubbing. It was around 2:30 AM or so. We went inside with a group of ten people or so and ended up getting detoured inside the building. We ended up in one room with a bunch of shelves and things started breaking and falling. It was scary so we just got out of there.
Jefferson Davis Hospital is an old hospital built on a burial ground that is known to be haunted. My name is Shauna. I am 17 years old and some friends and I have visited the hospital a few times. The first time I visited Jefferson Davis was about June 2003. I noticed that there were absolutely no doors, windows or an elevator remaining. My boyfriend, three of my friends and I journeyed up the stairs to check out the attic, which was a small area where the thing that makes the elevator work was located. We looked into the attic, which had no windows and saw a small baby crib rocking by itself. We also managed to continue behind where the, I guess, crematory is located, where we noticed the shape of a face in one of the top windows. We were on our way out when the boys decided it would be fun to go into the basement. There were dark red stains on one of the walls but I am not sure if it was blood. Remember how I said there were no doors? Well, somehow one slammed and that is when we decided it was time to go. I took a second trip to Jefferson Davis in August 2003 with quite a few friends, guys mostly. As we entered onto the property, which is hard to do, having to crawl under a fence, we started to go inside and my friend screamed. She said she noticed something pass in one of the rooms and quickly went toward the stairs and fainted; none of us believed her. As we began walking toward the stairs, dust and dirt started falling from the empty elevator shaft, we ran out in fright. As we were leaving my friend and I looked up into one of the windows and saw a figure but who or whatever was up there never spoke a word and slowly disappeared. We left. About a week ago, October 2003, we stopped by the abandoned hospital but did not get out of the car because before we could, we noticed a pure black cat climbing up the front steps. Now I am not sure how much of this anyone would believe but I know what I saw and plan to go again to see if I can uncover any more phenomena in the old hospital.
The hospital has spirits such as nurses, doctors, and patients that still roam its halls. Many have gone into this establishment and have had their own personal experiences such as being watched, seeing shadows, and smelling sterilization solutions in certain spots. The spirits are restless and have been agitated from all of the visitors they've been receiving. It was built upon a site of about 3,000 graves of Civil War and yellow fever victims, from when it was a cemetery in the 1800s. It is now patrolled fairly heavily by the local fire department, which is right next door. Explorers and ghost hunters suggest that it not be visited unless you are with a fairly large group that can respect their domain.
Houston Public Library
This library is at 500 McKinney Street. A ghostly janitor plays music after-hours. One of his favorite rooms is the "Texas Room."
This old building is said to be haunted by a violin-playing ghost.
Ghostly music has been heard drifting through this building at night. Many believe the building is haunted by a former janitor who loved to play his violin when he was alone in the building.
This building is said to have a ghost that plays a violin in the dead of night. Some say it's the sprit of one of the old maintenance man that worked there in the 1920s and 30s.
KLOL
The former site of one Jones family (as in Jones Hall) residence, the reports of phenomena include apparitions, telephones jumping off the hooks, stuffed animals moving of their own accord, anomalous shadows, and elevator malfunctions.
La Carafe
The former bartender has been spotted on several occasions.
The restaurant is located at 813 Congress. Located in the oldest building in Houston in Historical Market Square, La Carafe is plagued by footsteps and the sound of heavy objects being dragged across the floor. Also, some have seen the spirit of a large man standing in the window after closing time.
La Carafe is located in a pre-Civil War building on Houston's historical Market Square. The second floor seems to be the seat of the haunting. Employees have reported hearing footsteps and the sound of heavy objects being dragged across the unoccupied second floor. The figure of a large black man has also been seen standing in the second floor window after closing time.
My husband and I were on the second floor having drinks with some close friends, when I looked over to the far wall at the stairs. Just then a tall black man appeared dressed in old torn clothes. He just vanished. Later that night on our way back up the narrow stairs I got this feeling that somebody was right behind me. There was no one there. Since then I have heard that there were slaves sold in the building years ago. I don't know how much truth there is in that but I am sure of what I saw and the feeling that I had all night. I can't wait to go back.
Rice University
Lovett Hall: Ghostly voices and typewriters have been heard at night. In one reported incident, an apparition hurled a chair at a janitor—twice!
Milby High School
A ghostly janitor walks the second floor and slams doors. A ghostly librarian still visits the library.
Some report the spirit of a janitor roaming the second floor hall. You can hear his footsteps and a door slamming shut. Also, the ghost of a librarian has been spotted in the library.
People report they have seen a janitor walking in the second floor hall. Students hear footsteps down the hall and doors slamming shut. In the library, people claim to see a ghostly figure of a librarian
Neiman Marcus
There are unconfirmed reports that merchandise falls from the shelves, and cold spots have been found. The store is located in the Town and Country Mall.
Office Building 1011
Ghostly footsteps, elevators that operate on their own, disembodied voices and items that move on their own have been reported. One possible cause is a man who worked there and committed suicide in the early-to-mid-1990s. Suite 217 had a hard time keeping tenants, and is now used for storage (with the suite number removed). One employee reports that the first-floor ladies' room has a stall on the far end from the door that slams open and shut violently (violently enough to send her to the second-floor ladies' room instead).
The building is located on South Highway 6. Stay late here and you're bound to hear something. Workers have reported the sound of footsteps, items moving about and elevators that open as you pass them.
Workers staying late at the office building often hear footsteps, see the elevators open as you pass them and find that things move, disappear and reappear in strange places.
Peck's Bar
This bar is located at 2395 Highway 6 South, in the West Oaks area. Ava and Mad Dog make lights flicker, dishes fly, televisions turn on and off, etc., after closing. Update: per the general manager, the activity is experienced day and night, and has been going on since before the death of Mad Dog (a customer who was killed in a motorcycle accident).
Rice Hotel
The room in which John F. Kennedy spent his last night on Earth has been home to cold spots, rattling doors and beds as well as balls of light. Perhaps the ghost of the late president is making himself known. Ghost dancers have been seen in the ballroom, and one person saw a lady in white pacing where the balcony used to be. The Rice is an apartment building now, but Sambuca, the restaurant, is open to the public. Update: JFK may or may not have spent his last night at the Rice. There are two different stories, but they both agree that he was there shortly prior to his assassination in Dallas.
Southpoint Cinema 5
This theater is rumored to have ghosts of three former patrons that have died there. One is a little girl who was murdered in a robbery, and the other two are patrons who died of heart attacks in the same theater, same row, and the same seat, but in different years. Cast members of the Rocky Horror Picture Show report hearing odd noises in the prop room and feeling like they're being watched.
Spaghetti Warehouse
The Spaghetti Warehouse is located in downtown Houston on Commerce. This old pharmaceutical warehouse was originally a cotton warehouse. Reportedly the owner of the pharmaceutical operation died in the elevator. Reported paranormal incidents include equipment turning itself off and on, the apparition of a white lady (supposedly his wife), utensils and dishes being thrown around the kitchen, and a general feeling of being watched.
I live in Houston and know the legend of the Spaghetti Warehouse. I heard a story about a waitress who went downstairs to grab some beverage napkins for a party she was setting up. She was gone all of two minutes and when she got back, all of the tables were against one wall, and the chairs against the other. All of the menus and silverware were piled in the middle of the floor. It is said that when elevator operators were still common that one worked there and died one night on his shift. The spirit haunting the place is that of his wife who, every night, turns up the tables and moves things around looking for him.
The Spaghetti Warehouse downtown is haunted in the cellar or basement and waitresses are scared to death to go down to store things alone.
This building does not have a basement. The upstairs seating area is the area that is supposed to be haunted.
There are reports of salt and peppershakers being moved, and even visions of full or disembodied apparitions, strange feelings of not being alone, and photos of orbs and mists throughout the building.
Theater Suburbia
Gurden McKay has been known to put in an appearance from time to time
The Vatican/The Abyss
Footsteps and slamming doors are heard coming from the old projection room on the second floor of this near-downtown club.
Treebeard's
Phantom footsteps and cold spots are reported everywhere.
University of Houston
Cullen Library: Aside from feeling as though they are being watched, visitors experience dimming lights, whispers, and movement out of the corners of their eyes. One student felt as though she was touched on the shoulder on the 5th floor of the Brown Wing. Some say that books have been known to spontaneously fall off the shelves, as well. The activity seems to occur around midnight and closing time.
Erie City Iron Works
Erie City Iron Works dates back to 1906 and used to be a warehouse where metal was delivered by railroad and stored until it was sold to builders. The metal used to build Houston came through here first. The warehouse has been converted into lofts. Some artists live there, using their places as studios to showcase their work. The other tenants are up-and-coming businesses like eTime Solutions. A woman has been spotted several times in the downstairs area on a Web cam that monitors the area. She has been described as tall, with long hair and a dress draped to the ankles.
Hogg Middle School
The spirit of a gangster haunts this school.
In the mid-1930s or 1940s a famous gangster of the Heights Area was dug up and hung on the flagpole as a practical joke. Janitors and late night librarians have seen and heard his shadows and footsteps.
Woman Hollering Creek
Located off of Interstate 10 between San Antonio and Houston, this forest-surrounded creek is said to be haunted by the spirit of a woman who drowned her two children in the creek, and now walks along the bank searching for them. Many have claimed to hear and see her, and it is said that if you get too close to the creek, her hand will reach out and pull you in.
Austin High School
Most of the time when students are walking alone they feel the presence of someone following them, but only on the third floor. Many students have said they have seen a young girl running down the halls.
Episcopal High School
People have claimed to hear a female walk across the hallways and slam doors shut, sometimes even locking them. Some of the school faculty will not stay after 10:00 so they will not run into her either.
Episcopal High has expanded greatly in its 20-year existence; however, many other schools have stood in its place before. The convent, the oldest building on the campus, has four stories, but students are only allowed on the first three because one of the nuns living in the convent almost a century ago hung herself on the fourth floor. The Catholic Church would not perform a service for her funeral, and out of respect, no classes of Episcopal High School are held on the floor where she supposedly still resides.
C.E. King High School
It is said that a woman roams the halls looking for her love who was said to have killed her.
Christman Road
There are reports of an apparition of a girl dressed in a purple dress.
Cinemark Tinseltown 17
Ghostly figures are reported. A little boy and man both died in a trailer park. One was murdered, and the other burned to death when the whole thing went up in flames. There are reports of doors opening, voices, and lights turning on by themselves.
Edison Middle School
There are reports of hearing screaming in the girls' locker room.
Federal Court Building
This building is located at 515 Rusk. The 10th floor is believed to be haunted by the spirit of U.S. District Judge Woodrow Seals, who died after surgery in October 1990. The judge's former chambers are said to always be colder than the rest of the floor and the smell of smoke from his cigars still lingers in the air late at night. Janitors and security guards report being touched and hearing voices and doors rattling when no one else is around.
Fiesta Elementary School
An old teacher who was accused of abusing children was reported to have killed herself in the bathroom of this school. At night, janitors and teachers have seen the bathroom door open and close on its own and report hearing someone walk the halls and messing with the bulletin boards.
Gilleys
Gilleys is an old indoor rodeo that burnt to the ground many years ago. Supposedly a few people died. You get an eerie feeling that someone is watching you and you hear footsteps from the catwalk. A spooky owl flies around as if to tell you to stay away.
H.E.B.
This haunted grocery store is located on Harrisburg. Many people have seen an image of a little girl walking in the back warehouse where she was kidnapped and killed before the store was bought by H.E.B.
Jackson Middle School
It is said that two girls drowned in the pool and now haunt the place.
Kingate Village
A girl was killed because she caught her boyfriend cheating on her. He killed her and threw her body in the bayou on Halloween. They say she came back to get revenge on him. She spotted him and killed him because of what he did.
In Building 1501 there is the spirit of a girl that wanders around in the rooms. Some people who lived there said that they spotted her in the dark wandering as if she were lost. When they call out to her, she disappears.
It is said that on the stroke of midnight, a soldier with an amputated arm and a twisted neck can be seen walking. As he passes the homes they say he breaks all the windows as if shooting a gun, but when morning comes, everything is back to normal.
Klein Collins High School
Klein Collins is a brand new school that was built in the middle of the woods. It was actually built over a burial ground. Most students have mentioned how they hear and sometimes see two five-year-olds holding hands and running down the hallways.
Mendel Elementary School
The school is said to be built on top of an old graveyard. Footsteps and whispers can be heard in the halls, and in the restroom, faucets turn on and off and stall doors open and shut on their own.
Northshore High School
Many witnesses working late at night have seen a girl wearing high school gym clothes who mysteriously vanishes in the hallway leading to the girls' locker room.
Old Greenhouse Road
The ghost of an old woman who died in a car wreck appears here. If you turn off your headlights and drive around the corner to the bridge very slowly, a mist forms over the bridge and comes together to form the shape of a person. They say if you stick around long enough, the apparition will begin to approach the car. My friends and I have seen this ghost appear on even the clearest of nights. The ghost seems to prefer warm or cold clear nights or nights just after it has rained.
Old Park
A little girl wanders at night saying, "Where's my mommy?" She has a white dress, and looks around behind trees. You can she her behind a tree or walking.
Patterson Road
Patterson Road is located between Highway 6 and Eldridge in Houston. This place is rumored to be the site of a Civil War battle and the bridge closest to Eldridge is haunted. If you park in the center of the bridge and turn your car off there will begin to be tapping noises all over your car. They aren't just the sounds of your car settling. They are mostly on the sides and the back of the car. It is said to be the spirits of the soldiers who died. Be careful; this road is absolutely pitch black at night. However, you can see cars coming from either direction at quite a distance.
While driving down the narrow road slowly, black objects start to chase you. Handprints start to appear on windows and cold spots are felt in the car. Sometimes, the black object runs right next to the passenger side of the car.
Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School
An old custodian who worked there in the 1980s died in his sleep. He was an older man who loved his job. On many occasions, he has been heard and felt by the staff. He often opens and closes closet doors and will sometimes call out in a whisper using the person's name.
Fort Sam Houston
A playful spirit entertains itself with typewriters and by playing ping-pong by itself. It is so common a phenomenon that the spirit has been named Harvey. The building is open to enlisted military personnel only.
Service Club Number Two at this Army training center is haunted by a playful ghost. Since 1960, employees and guests have heard the mysterious presence clearing its throat and watched as it opened and closed windows. The ghost tampers with unmanned typewriters and plays solitary ping-pong.
Unexplained noises and musical sounds similar to a flute have been reported. The ghost is such a regular part of activities here that patrons have named it Harvey. In 1951, a young trainee committed suicide by hanging himself in a small storage room in the building, but there is nothing to connect him to the manifestations that occur in the clubhouse.
Largent Cemetery
Many reports of paranormal activity revolve around this cemetery and its surroundings. It is also rumored that the ghost of Robert Faigen goes from house to house looking for his family. He is reported to be a rather mischievous ghost.
East 1960 Overpass
The East 1960 overpass is now built over what was once a cemetery. The overpass was built to cross a set of train tracks. Workers dug up the cemetery and moved it to the woods beside the new overpass. Now it is an extremely evil area. Several businesses along the tracks have reported violent disturbances. There was a putt-putt golf course along the tracks in the area that became a church. When the church closed at night, demonic screams could be heard from inside. The woods are very active as well. There are images seen floating through the woods as well as red lights. The woods are believed to be a gateway into pure evil.
There was a Golf & Games in this area. There is now a church in its place, but the church was abandoned and has been for years, and became a haven to cults and ghosts. The ghosts here are the result of being disturbed by a man moving their graves. Most sightings in this area are of ghosts appearing as rotting corpses. There's a bench just outside the building, where every night, a white figure appears on the far side of the bench. The figure is that of a human. The corpse-like ghosts can also be seen in the woods across from the building, wandering through the turned-over gravestones and fallen church. If you attempt to go into this area, please use extreme caution. There have been murders and bodies uncovered in the woods.
An old dollar theater is located in an area believed to be haunted by demons and demonic forces. It is part of the 1960 overpass haunting. Theater workers reported being attacked by an evil entity. The entity would throw things at them, and corner them with shadows. The theater was once blessed with holy water and a cross was put in the projection booth, but every day the cross was moved from one booth to another without explanation. Some mornings, the person who was opening would hear voices from the projection rooms, and footsteps outside the hall. There was one morning when the projectionist went in and found the word "SATAN" carved in the wall of projection booth two. This booth was where most of the bangs and violent attacks occurred.
Cactus Moon
The ghost of a woman sits on patron's laps according to reports. Additional reports indicate that the spirit is actually that of a man who enjoys playing pool, moving chairs, and shaking the beer cooler cage.
Bowden Road (Demon's Road)
There are reports of handprints being left on witnesses' vehicles, apparitions, and a strange creature with no face.
Oakwood Cemetery
This is the cemetery where General Sam Houston is buried, and also where the statue college kids call "Black Jesus" is located. It's a bronze statue on the far north edge of the cemetery, kind of in the middle. It is in a gorgeous spot with palms and it is recessed into the woods a bit, with benches and such. All the graves in the cemetery are laid out with the feet facing east. This family's graves are the only ones where the feet face west. A family erected the statue when their five-year-old son died, and the bronze soon weathered to a black color that could not be cleaned. The Jesus is a classic pose with the hands out stretched and palms up, except sometime when you go out at night the hands are turned down.
Sam Houston Memorial Museum
When you're in the loft of The Woodland Home at the Sam Houston Memorial Museum, you can hear people walking around underneath you, and see their footprints in the gravel leading up to the house. You can also see things fall off of Sam Houston's law office desk.
Texas State Penitentiary
Walls Unit: Ghosts and unexplained noises are reported on the original death row (first floor of the south building, not used since the 1950s), the east building, and the catwalk connecting the two. One Halloween a correctional supervisor put a voice-activated tape recorder on the now abandoned old death row. When he played it back later for several correctional officers, they heard the clanging of cell doors and at the very end an unidentified voice saying, "Hey captain! Hey captain!"
Walls Unit: The Walls Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is the oldest prison in Texas, built in 1848. Many apparitions have been reported here; apparently all are former inmates.
Sam Houston State University
The old music building (now classrooms and offices) has a ghostly audience that once interrupted a class by breaking out in applause. Some of the residence halls also have reports of apparitions and televisions that turn on by themselves. The park across the street also has a ghost of a little girl that leaves handprints on windows in the steamboat house. Belvin-Buchanan Cafeteria has two ghosts. One haunts the old RHD's apartment (not the one by the elevator) and the other haunts the garden floor.
Jacksonville (Cherokee County)
Lon Morris College
Craven-Wilson Dorm: a female ghost supposedly haunts the dorm. Each year she chooses a resident to live with. Sources say the ghost is apparently the former dorm director Ms. Brown who died of cancer before her term as director was completed. Sources say her spirit feels the need to complete her stay as the dorm director. Harmless activities are noticed by residents in the chosen room such as things being moved on shelves, drawers being opened, electronics turning on and off, radio stations changing on their own, noises being heard from rooms while the occupants were away for the weekend, clothes moving in closet, dishes being re-arranged, items jumping off shelves as if pushed from behind, unexplained steaming water from the cold water pipes, and the shower curtain would be pushed in with great force towards the occupant while showering.
Jacksonville City Cemetery
There is a statue by the name of Mother Templeton. It is said that during full moons she changes her positions. Some have seen her holding one hand over her heart and her left hand down by her side, some have seen her holding a bible in the palms of her hands, and some have seen her holding flowers in her hands.
Killough Monument
The history of Killough Monument involved the Killough Family who settled there and built a home. Eventually Indians came along who wanted to take over their land. They massacred the family, and destroyed their home. The monument was supposedly built in the same place the house was located, with the graves of the family members surrounding it. The monument itself is a brick pyramid formation on a concrete foundation. The foundation is approximately four feet tall and the pyramid is about 15 to 18 feet from the ground to the top. On top of the foundation there is four or five inches from the edge to where the bricks begin. On the south side of the monument, the second layer of bricks from the top, which was three bricks side-by-side, with bricks surrounding the top and bottom, the center brick is missing. Since this monument is the same formation on four sides, I am not sure if it is hollow or not, but I believe it to be nearly impossible for any human to remove that brick.
The Killough Monument is off Hwy 19 (I think) between Athens and Palestine. It was built as a memorial to the last victims of the Caddo Indians. According to the story, the Caddo Indians massacred the Killough family and the locals buried the family where they found them. The baby was buried in its baby bed (the rusty rails of the baby bed are still visible above ground). It is way off the highway, miles from anyone. When we were there, it was the middle of the day and we were still scared.
According to the legend, this is the last family killed by the Caddo Indians, before the authorities herded them onto the reservation. It is reported that the family was working in the fields when the Indians appeared unexpectedly. Being unarmed, the ranchers did not have a chance. Some fled, but most were killed. They were later found and buried where they lay. The story, as told to us was that there was a baby there (why were children in the fields?) who was buried in his baby bed and the rails were still visible, above ground. This may be true, but we could not find them after walking every inch on the area. We met a local family who was also there visiting the graves. They admitted that this was the creepiest place they had ever been in, and that there are rumors of the fateful night being played over and over again. They claimed the screams could be heard for miles around, both the terrifying war cries of the Indians and the terrified screams of the women and children who were brutally murdered that long ago day. According to the historical marker on the site, it claims that three families were buried there in 1838, but the dates on the tombstones do not correspond with the plaque. Perhaps the markers from the original graves, as well as the rails from the baby bed, have rotted with age. We took lots of pictures but did not get anything.
From Jacksonville, drive North on Highway 69 to Mt. Selman. The first large road sign you will come to in Mt. Selman is for Highway 855. You will turn left on 855, across from the Texaco station. Take 855 2.7 miles to County Road 3405. There will be a sign pointing left to Killough Monument. Turn left on CR 3405 and go exactly .5 mile. You will see County Road 3411 to the right. Take CR 3411 exactly one mile. On the left, you will see two very large iron ore rocks flanking two green gates, which will be open. Turn through the gates and continue on that road to the very end and to Killough Monument.
People say there is a ghost. It's an Indian chief on a white horse standing by one of the trees. One of my friend's friends went out there one night. He was in his car listing to music on the east side of the gate when he fell asleep. Then when he awoke he was on the north side on one of the head stones.
Reports are that you can see a Native American in full headdress on a white horse. He will look at you and ride away.
Bishop Family House
Several apparitions, including one female, have been spotted near the house.
Maund House
Ghost voices, ghost steps and odd manifestations are blamed on Lacy Merritt, even though the house she committed suicide in has been demolished. Witnesses say that the new house is haunted, too.
Mill House
Bloodstains mark the spot of a 1974 murder, and they keep showing up in the tile. Mysterious mourning sounds and voices, and a female apparition wearing a dress from the 1920s are also reported.
Excelsior House
The Excelsior House will welcome you as it has welcomed travelers since the late 1850s. Famous people registered at the Excelsior House include Ulysses S. Grant, Oscar Wilde, Rutherford B. Hayes and Lady Bird Johnson to name a few. The house is haunted by a headless man on the second floor and a woman in black who is often seen carrying a baby.
The Excelsior House is an old hotel haunted by a headless man on the second floor, and a woman in black who has a baby. The woman has appeared and frightened many guests, including the famous film director Steven Spielberg. They are possibly the spirits of guests or former employees.
Many ghostly encounters have been reported in this hotel. One encounter caused Steven Spielberg to gather up his group of location scouts and drag them to the nearest Holiday Inn at 2:00 AM.
The Grove
The Grove is definitely the hot spot for ghosts but the ghosts aren't friendly; they're evil. Many people were murdered there and buried in the yard. A group of friends and I visited The Grove about a week ago. It was around 11:00 PM and there was no moon but a clear sky full of bright stars. No fog in the air, I might add. Well, I was standing on the front porch when all the sudden something lifted me onto my tiptoes and held me there. Gently it let me back down after a short while but almost every time we took a picture of someone you couldn't see him or her due to the apparition covering him or her up completely. It's a great ghost-hunting place to go to but watch out. Some people come close to death when they visit.
Hotel Jefferson
Opened in 1895, this hotel symbolized a dream for the man who was one of Richmond's most modest, colorful and wealthiest citizens, Lewis Ginter. Inhabited by quite a few spirits, the most notorious seems to be haunting Room 19. Voices can be heard when the room is unoccupied and many guests refuse to stay there.
A maid has claimed to hear voices coming out of Room 19 when it was not occupied. Some occupants would not stay in Room 19 due to the feeling of being watched.
Room 19 is considered uninhabitable. Room 12 contains a warm, benevolent female ghost. A security guard became involved in a tug-of-war with an unseen force in Room 2. Most of the staff has reported ghostly footsteps and a feeling of being watched.
Inn of Jefferson.
Many people that have been to the Inn of Jefferson overnight say that mysterious figures were seen roaming through the halls and about the inn. A friend of mine said, "My mother and I were staying in Room 17 at the inn. During the night, I got up for my usual midnight snack. I walked to the kitchen, after adjusting the heat, (it was very cold), and stopped when I heard a faint whisper. I then noticed that all of our belongings were on the floor." Other stories include windows being opened when they were locked minutes before, doors flying open, carvings on the walls, and writing on the walls, which was scripted in something unknown. The writing was red, thicker then pen, and darker then red paint. I'm guessing blood.
The Claiborne House
The house is said to be haunted by an unidentified, well-dressed man. The apparition was seen by several of the residents and their guests.
The Galley Restaurant
Items turn up missing, waitresses bump into invisible objects and hear their names called, doors slam, and bills disappear at this haunted restaurant. A former constable in the area may have hanged an innocent African-American man in the building, and the owner thinks that's who's haunting the place.
Grove Restaurant
An unidentified male ghost and a dog haunt this restaurant (which is now closed). The property sits on or near several reported murder sites, and the property itself is reported to contain several unmarked graves.
Hale House
A young girl's apparition has been seen near the staircase.
Lamache's Italian Restaurant
This restaurant is next-door to the Hotel Jefferson, and connected by a couple of doors. Hotel and restaurant employees have heard the sounds of big band music coming from the restaurant. Restaurant employees have heard knockings on the connecting doors. Guests in the hotel, with rooms above the restaurant, complain of noises when the restaurant is empty. Candles flicker, wine glasses clink and the electrical system goes haywire on a regular basis.
Living Room Theater
Footsteps on the stairs and items rearranging themselves have been attributed to the ghost of a 12-year-old slave girl named Mary who was traded with the land to get the building put up.
Maison-Bayou Waterfront B & B
Ghosts have slapped a plumber, there is an AC current in the ground that MIT could not explain, and guests experience strange lights and apparitions at this bed and breakfast. All of this is attributed to the ghost of "Diamond Bessie," a woman murdered in the late 1800s.
McKay House
Aside from the footsteps and rattling cookware, a smoke alarm once went off in the house while the owner was standing under it with the batteries in his hand. Then his wife noticed a female apparition behind him, watching them. An African-American female apparition has also offered cherry pie to guests in the middle of the night.
Oakwood Cemetery
An apparition seen in the cemetery has been attributed to a former prostitute named "Diamond Bessie" who was probably murdered by her husband in 1877.
Twin Oaks Country Inn
After a pre-Civil War cistern was uncovered, sounds of music and fleeting shadows have been experienced. The cistern is now under a wishing well.
White Oak Manor
Apparitions and moving quilts are attributed to the spirit of a young blonde-haired girl who may have died of pneumonia in the house.
Pirtle Cemetery
There is a little boy buried in the cemetery who, while he was alive, was afraid of the dark. His mother sat at his grave every night for a year holding a lantern. Then she died, and every night the light would still appear. From time to time the lantern still appears in the far corner of the cemetery.
Kilgore College
Several years ago, a girl committed suicide on the eighth floor of Stark Hall, which was the girls' dorm at that time. The college closed that floor for several years after the fact because people complained about strange noises, footprints on their bed, extremely cold spots, and the feeling of being watched. The floor has been reopened ever since the dorm was remodeled. The residents of the eighth floor still complain however of strange happenings, such as knocking and scratching on the walls, along with cold spots.
Residents of floor eight of Stark Hall complain of late-night tapping and scratching, and cold spots. When it was the girls' dorm before the remodeling, it was the site of a suicide.
The spirit of a young girl who killed herself haunts Stark Hall. The eighth floor was once closed down because of numerous reports of cold spots, noises, footprints on the bed and a general uneasy feeling being experienced by all who lived there. After remodeling, the floor was reopened but reports of cold spots and rapping and scratching on walls has still been reported.
Danville Cemetery
During the 1980s a woman was killed by radiation while working at a power plant in Oklahoma. She is buried in the cemetery and it is said that her grave glows green at night.
Sabine River
In the 1800s an old lady named Annie lived deep in the woods off the riverbank. She was accused of being a witch. A group of men went to her small shack one night to kill her. They dragged her outside, chained her to a tree and beat her to death. If you can find the remains of the old shack, you can hear chains dragging across the floor, screaming, and the sounds of whips.
Tywhiskey Creek
In the bottoms of the creek there is said to be a chicken man. Many sightings occurred during the late 1960s and 1970s. If you go into the bottoms at night you can hear loud sounds as if whole trees are snapping in half and loud strange sounds deep in the woods.
La Marque High School
When you go up to the catwalk, you can hear voices when you are with one other person. It is said that someone was climbing the ladder, fell straight down, and was killed instantly. If you go further down, there is what used to be an elevator shaft. People say the line broke and the elevator fell while people were in it.
Weller Home
Ghostly noises, poltergeist activity and apparitions have been attributed to the ghost of 15-year-old Elvie Weller.
Battleship Texas
A sailor named Red supposedly haunts this ship. My students encountered a wispy form, which wandered across a hallway behind a locked screen door.
Lake Jackson (Brazoria County)
Jackson Plantation
One night the two Jackson brothers had a fight. One ended up decapitating the other and throwing the head into the lake. The head was never found and the body had to be buried without it. To this day residents say that you can hear the sounds of someone wading into the lake and asking, "Where is my head?"
The lake for which the town was named is a slave-built structure with a strange history. The lake was made to serve the Jackson Plantation, owned by two brothers. During a particularly ugly spat, one of the Jackson brothers murdered the other and threw his head into the nearby lake. From that day, apparitions have appeared as well as sounds of the headless brother searching for his head. The plantation was moved decades later to make way for a new subdivision. People who live in the now-called Lake Jackson Farms have reported apparitions outside their homes, strange noises, and in at least a few cases, full hauntings. All that remains on the site of the original plantation house is the fireplace, made of mud brick.
League City (Galveston County)
Clear Creek High School
On several occasions, people have witnessed spectral forms sitting in a small gazebo outside the band hall and auditorium. The gazebo was set there along with a stone commemorating students that have died while attending school there.
Nasa Road 1
This part of Nasa Road 1 was completed within the last couple of years, and runs through two sets of neighborhoods. On the new road, witnesses have seen several shadow forms crouching at the edge of the trees, seen more shadows crossing the road and felt presences watching them. At the end of Nasa Road 1, there is a neighborhood that has been there for several years. Within that neighborhood is a large tree that radiates a dark presence. There is house next to it that is almost constantly lit, but that tree remains dark. A cemetery near by is reported to have demonic looking creatures roaming it.
Hardin House/Seven Pines
The house is haunted by the son of the builders, Christy, who died at the age of 24.
Refinery
Sometimes a man is seen standing on a pressure vessel. Is he the victim of the explosion, or one of the victims of the gas leak? Also people are sometimes seen walking around or sitting at desks, even though the plant has been shut down for years since the second toxic gas leak.
Old Caddo Indian Museum
This museum off Loop 1845 has been closed down for many years. The museum displayed artifacts that were found in burial sites in East Texas. Several people have seen a little ghost girl standing beside the road or in front of the museum during the night and strange sounds can sometimes be heard while driving down the street in front of the museum late in the evening. The ghost girl is said to be that of a little Indian girl that was killed from a head injury. Her skeleton was on display in a glass case for many years.
Marshall Pottery
A patron of the business reports seeing the apparition of a head. It was looking up towards the ceiling, and had long curly black hair, pale face, no expression at all, and at second glance it was gone. Strange cold and warm spots are felt as well.
When they were building the new plant, they apparently found one of the workers dead by a tree. That tree was located what is now the center of the warehouse. The cause of death is unknown. The second story is that the plan was built on ancient sacred Indian grounds. It may be both. Workers will very clearly hear their name called, even with the roaring of machinery.
Stagecoach Road
There are reports of a spectral stagecoach and apparitions of men carrying a coffin.
Maplecroft
Maplecroft is haunted by the unidentified ghost of a young female.
Beckham Hotel
An apparition spotted descending the staircase has been identified as Elizabeth, a woman who died in the end of the 19th century when she fell down the stairs.
Crybaby Bridge
The story goes that when the American Indians roamed the hills of East Texas, the white man was massacring them. The chief learned of a planned attack and had separated the women and children from his men. The white man planned for the split and killed the chief and his men by the huge trees by the bridge. The women and children were slaughtered right by the bridge. There are a couple of trees that are still there and with the leaves and branches are shaped like a chief's headgear with the shape of a face. If you go to the bridge at night, turn your engine off right on top of the bridge, and roll your windows down, you can still hear the cries of the women and children that were massacred.
Montgomery (Montgomery County)
Community Building
The community building is where the town used to hold all their meetings, including trials. There are two cages located in front of the building were they used to hold prisoners. It is said if you walk inside the doors of the cages at night you can hear moaning and other sounds of pain.
Cemetery
[See also entry for Batson]
There are busted open graves from the late 1700s early 1800s. Wrought iron fences are all mangled up around the old tombstones. If you try to mess with the graves weird things will happen like ants crawling all over you coming out from nowhere.
Nacogdoches (Nacogdoches County)
Stephen F. Austin State University
Griffith Hall: A female resident assistant jumped out of a third story window after playing with a Ouija board. Her spirit is said to haunt the floor. The lights in the community shower flicker at the same time every night, which is said to be the time she died. Residents have reported seeing a girl at the end of the hall in tattered clothes and when they look back she is gone. Also, around 2:00 AM, people on the south wing hear footsteps running. One resident has reported looking out the peephole and seeing no one, but feeling a gust of air rush under her door as if someone had ran past.
Mays Hall 11: Before the building was a dormitory, it was a hospital, with a morgue in the basement. On the other end of the building is a deep, ruined bomb shelter from the early 1940s or 1950s. In the basement is a very negative feeling, very hard to describe. It is usually locked, but occasionally residents break in and wander around. It is mild there though. The bomb shelter has been locked for years but last year was broken into. Recently we discovered what appears to be a false wall in there, because the lining on the wall ends (no one noticed before because of the lighting and the junk all over the floor). The negative feeling from the basement is present in the bomb shelter too, but grows as you near the false wall. We (dorm residents) are curious to explore but don't want to get caught. No one knows any specific stories, but we all speculate it would have to deal with someone dying in one of the hospital rooms (which we live in now). No ideas about what's behind the false wall, though.
The Theater: It has been said that in the construction of the theater a worker died and has been haunting the place since. The spirit killed a professor there.
Turner Fine Arts Auditorium: A ghost called Chester haunts the theater building on the Stephen F. Austin University campus. He is reputed to be the ghost of the architect who died before the building's completion. Some think the blueprints were misinterpreted and the building was erected backwards. Other people believe that Chester is the ghost of a former drama student. He has been seen as a face on a stage curtain and even once appeared onstage as an extra ghost in a play in the 1960s. Students have reported cold spots and strange noises in the halls of the building.
Turner Fine Arts Auditorium: Chester was the architect of the building. When learning his plans were set backwards, he killed himself in disgrace. Chester was seen originally in a photo of the original theatre cast of Hamlet. When the actor playing the ghost in Hamlet became sick, the director found the only person who knew the lines. When the cast picture was taken that night, only a faint glow comes from where the ghost portraying the character was standing. Members were dumbfounded. Also, a spiritual team has done readings within the building and found a mediocre feeling within the halls but a strong feeling within the theatre itself.
Turner Fine Arts Auditorium: Some think Chester is the ghost of the architect of the fine arts building, or a former student. Research indicates that neither of these is likely, but he may be the ghost of a foreman who died, a combatant in the Texas Revolution, the Civil War, or any number of battles the Caddo Indians fought on the site. Regardless, he haunts the theater building and has been known to show up as a ghostly extra during plays. He has also been blamed for odd noises, cold spots, and a weird face that showed up on a stage curtain.
Turner Fine Arts Auditorium: Some say he is the ghost of an architect who helped build the theater, others think he may be a former drama student, but Chester, as he is called, haunts the fine arts auditorium either way. His face can sometimes be seen in the stage curtain and was rumored to have appeared once as an extra ghost in a school play back in the 1960s.
Wilson Hall Building 13: There are reports of stereos that turn themselves on, speakers that increase in volume until they blow, chairs that move themselves, books that rearrange themselves, and apparitions.
Sterne-Hoya House
A former housekeeper reports feeling a gentle pressure on every inch of her body and suddenly felt like the room was spinning. She could feel a happy presence. It went away as she descended the stairs but she seldom entered the attic after that and didn't clean the house much longer. This is possibly caused by the children of the house. But in the cellar the feeling was more negative.
La Hacienda Restaurant
The building is reportedly haunted by the ghost of a little girl who died of smallpox. Odd things happen in the kitchen, and people trip over unseen obstacles. The location is now closed.
Tol Barret House
Footsteps and knocking on the front door, along with an apparition of a woman in a gold dress walking past the front windows have been reported.
Ghost Riders
The ghost riders started haunting the Texas plains in the 1870s, when a cattleman driving his herd to market came across a new homestead blocking his normal route. It was a time of intense hatred between ranchers and farmers, and the cowboy was so angry that he stampeded his cattle right through the farmhouse, crushing everyone inside. Their screams are still heard whenever the phantom longhorns are sighted above the dusty plains. The legend inspired the popular song, "Ghost Riders in the Sky."
Nederland House
Joe Lee shakes beds, has shattered a glass chimney, and makes ghostly footsteps. He has also been known to materialize.
Walker Cabin
Ghostly fiddles, coughs, screams, drums and marchers have been reported here.
Oak Ridge (Nacogdoches County)
Older Neighborhood
There are reports of apparitions (one is recognized as a former owner), shadows, being touched and slapped, and noises heard.
Palestine Courthouse
There is a legend of a baby who fell out of its mother's arms and died. At night or anytime when you are alone in the courthouse you can hear a baby crying. Some times you can hear footsteps of a baby.
It's said at one time a baby was dropped by its mother and died here. You can hear the sound of the baby crying and small footsteps can also be heard.
Sounds of a baby crying have been heard here.
Wiffletree Inn
A vacuum putting itself up, a tirade of door banging that lasted more than twenty minutes, and wispy apparitions were reported during renovations. Recently guests have reported feeling as if someone sat down next to them in bed at night.
Old Plantation Home
This house is located off FM 195. Scores of people report seeing a small boy crying in the corner of his supposed room of this very large house. The house resembles an evil watcher of its woods, standing upright looking out over the moon. Some claim to see wheelchairs creeping across rooms. Contains large amount of missing boards.
This house can be found in Slate Shoals. Most people get a bad feeling just looking at this house because of the way that it seems to just stare at you. When you see it, you feel like someone is watching you. People report seeing a woman in the attic and hearing strange sounds. It has also been reported that you can see a wheelchair move across the room. If you look down into the well on the corner of the kitchen in the front of the house, you can see a reflection and this may be the son of the slave master. Out back there are eleven cabins. On one side there are six and on the other there are five. If you go to the middle cabin on the side with five cabins, known as cabin number five, you may hear screams. Cabin number five is where it is believed that some of the slave girls were raped and killed.
Deepwater Junior High
There have been rumors that a girl drowned in the swimming pool when the school was built and now she haunts the girls' locker room by opening lockers and turning on the showers
First Line Apartments
Residents report hearing strange noises during the day and night, including footsteps coming upstairs and the sound of keys in the door. When they would look to see who had arrived, no one would be there. Also there are reports of an apparition of a woman coming from one of the bedrooms, walking past the small hallway and continuing to the next room and then disappearing. While the ghost was walking down the hallway, she would pause for a short time and turn and stare into the living room as if looking for someone.
Pasadena High School
It is said that a janitor who was fixing the light in the catwalk fell to his death in auditorium. He fell in about the sixth row and if you sit there during a production you will get chills. If you walk up the stairs to the sound room, there is a door to the roof and sometimes you can hear it slam. Also there is a girl their who hanged herself because she did not get the lead role in a play and she is said to play tricks on the students putting on a production.
Old Hospital Building
This building has been renovated, and is now a municipal building. People report hearing a woman screaming and a baby crying. Figures are seen in the windows and going through the front doors when no one is present, and the elevators operate by themselves.
Graveyard
Just off Highway 69 in between Emory and Lone Oak there is an old graveyard where a witch was hanged and burned. If you go to the very far back right of the cemetery around 1:00 to 2:30 AM and stand with your back to the tree, you will see a dark apparition of a man in a suit on the hill. Witnesses also report hearing footsteps all around them.
Port Neches (Jefferson County)
Sarah Jane Road
Sarah Jane was reportedly a Union sympathizer during the Civil War. She was betrayed, and drove her wagon off the bridge into the water, trying to escape from Confederate soldiers. She was shot by a soldier while trying to save her baby, who was in the wagon with her. While standing on the bridge at night, people have reported hearing Sarah Jane and also the baby crying.
A woman left her abusive husband, so to get back at her, the man took their five-year-old girl and jumped off the side of a bridge. The woman searched for the girl for years, and finally got so distraught that she hanged herself off the side of the same bridge that her daughter and husband jumped from. It is said that at midnight, if you drive across the bridge, you can see the noose on the side on the railing and you hear a woman's voice saying, "Sarah Jane! Sarah Jane! Where are you my Sarah Jane?"
Sarah Jane, a Union sympathizer, drove her wagon off the bridge trying to escape Confederate troops. She was shot as she tried to save her baby from drowning. Now you hear can her and the baby crying.
The Old Jailhouse
This old jailhouse is located on Preston Street and is currently the local police department. It used to be a killing place for slaves and is now said to be haunted. Police working the late night shift have seen ghosts.
Police officers now housed there have reported seeing ghosts thought to be those of slaves killed on the location.
San Bernard River
The ghostly sounds of a fiddle can be heard playing the same tune over and over again.
Bragg Road
[See also entry for Beaumont]
Witnesses report a ghost of a headless man with a lantern.
This is a road near Saratoga where a mysterious light hovers, speeds away from or toward drivers or even follows drivers. Some say it is the light from a lantern that belongs to the ghost of a railroad man who was accidentally killed on nearby railroad tracks.
The Bragg Road Light, also known as the Big Thicket Light, has mystified observers for nearly fifty years. The light seems to swayback and forth, as if someone were carrying a gas lantern. It begins as a flickering yellow light in the distance and changes to a brilliant white as it approaches. Then it turns bright red and disappears. Bragg Road was once the gravel bed for Santa Fe railroad tracks that ran through the town of Bragg, which was served by railroad workers and their families in 1901. The town was torn down and tracks dismantled in 1934, after the railroad discontinued the route. Legends explaining the light are plentiful. Some say the light is the ghost of Jake Murphy, a brakeman beheaded when he fell underneath a train here. Others tell of four Mexican laborers killed by a foreman who wanted their money. Or perhaps the light is a lantern carried by the phantom of a hunter lost long ago in the bogs. Whatever the explanation, the phenomenon has been observed by hundreds of witnesses.
It is reported that on certain nights a person can drive down the Saratoga light road and see lights floating and following people. It is said that an engineer is haunting the place where he was killed. There are several stories as to what actually happened there.
The image of a lantern's light has been seen. It changes colors as it gets nearer, swinging as if carried by a person. When it gets close, it disappears. Hundreds have witnessed this phenomenon. Bragg Road is an eight-mile-long dirt pathway, which was once a railroad bed. From Saratoga, follow Highway 770 west for two miles to Highway 787. Turn north on Highway 787 and travel just over three miles to Bragg Road.
This road features ghost lights thought to be brought about by either a railroad engineer or railroad worker. The stretch of road in question is Farm Road 1293 from Bragg to Saratoga.
This road is home to another spook light, which has been witnessed by many. It appears, hovers and has even been known to perch on the hoods of cars.
Hundreds of people have witnessed a ghostly light that appears and hovers, then zooms past and even has sat on the hoods of cars. This story is so amazing because so many people have witnessed it and it can be viewed with almost a 100% probability of appearance.
Read the article on the Big Thicket Light from the Handbook of Texas Online.
Read the article on the Saratoga Ghost Light from Texas Escapes
Scottsville Cemetery
This cemetery dates from before Texas was a state. The haunting actually on the grounds bordering the west side of the cemetery and church. There is a covered springhouse at the foot of a hill just outside the fenced off area leading to the cemetery parking lot. Stairs lead up the hill from the springhouse to the top, where a large, two story house once stood. This house burned in the 1950s, but was reputed to be haunted. Old-timers told of standing outside in their youth and listening to voices and furniture being moved in the empty rooms inside. Youths of today say that if you stand at the top of the stairs, you can hear a woman weeping several hundred feet away, down at the springhouse.
This cemetery has been around since long before Texas was a state. On the grounds bordering the west side there is a springhouse at the foot of a hill. Stairs leading up that hill once led to a house that burned down over fifty years ago. If you stand at the top of these stairs you can sometimes hear the sound of a woman weeping coming from the bottom of the hill by the springhouse.
My younger sister and I had been invited to stay in Marshall with our older sister for a week or so and we decided to go. Since we have a fascination with the paranormal, we all were talking about places we had heard about that had things happen in them that couldn't be explained. My older sister told us about a cemetery she had been to in Scottsville, which is like a ten-minute trip from Marshall. She told us that she and some friends had been up there because rumor had it there was an angel in the cemetery that moved around. They wanted to see if this was true, so they went one night and were looking around. When they decided it was time to leave, they got in their car and it wouldn't start. Whatever was out there decided it didn't want them to leave. You can see the angel from where you pull in the driveway since she stands adult-sized on a huge monument. She wasn't there, and the car wouldn't start. When it did, it would only go a few feet and then die. They were terrified, and after fifteen minutes or so, they got the car started and left. It scared her so much she hadn't gone back. We all decided we would go and take a look since I really love doing creepy stuff like that. We took flashlights and drove to the cemetery, which is creepy enough even without all the stories behind it. It just gives off an eerie vibe. We got out and started looking at all the historical headstones and monuments, and after a while of looking and not getting scared, we decided to leave. We walked back towards the church to leave through the gate, but the angel that had been there was gone. You would not be able to lose something like that off a huge monument. She was really gone. There were six of us there, and we all saw the same thing. We took the flashlights and looked up in the sky and all around as we huddled together to make sure she couldn't sneak up on us. She had either taken flight or walked away, and I don't know for sure which one scared me more. But one thing for sure, she was not where she was supposed to be. We finally made a mad dash for the car and left. I was truly grateful she let us leave.
I moved to Marshall a few months ago, and recently went to the cemetery during the day. The angel is still there and this time she didn't move. Maybe it only happens at night. But I still got that feeling I did a few years before when I walked through the screeching gate. I've been told that there are several other things besides the angel that are supposed to happen there. I've only experienced the angel, but I do believe in the rest. There's supposed to be a spot that is haunted outside the cemetery. A bridge inside the cemetery is somehow supposed to make you die before the age of 21 if you walk across it backwards three times. My sister has told me that she had a friend do that and he did die before the age of 21 but that is another story in itself. Could it be coincidence or a legend that came true? I don't know, but he did do it, and he is now dead. Both can be proven. I plan on exploring some of the things said, like the haunting. I get a kick out of being scared, but I would like to know if it is true. I don't have a death wish, so I'm not going to try the bridge out even though I'm 24 now and I'm not sure if it would even work. I'm still not going to push my luck.
I grew up in the area...actually one mile from Scottsville cemetary. A few friends of mine and I are quite into ghost stories and there are a lot more to tell if you are interested. I don't ever recall seeing the angel in the cemetary just up and leaving, but i do remember vividly one incident that did happen a few years back. My ex-husband and I, along with a couple friends, were sitting around talking about the cemetary one night and decided to go have a look. We walked the entire cemetary with no problems...nothing scary at all. We were quite dissappointed until we were leaving. We stood there talking about all the things that other people had said happened to them there and all of a sudden we all heard what sounded like a girl or woman crying for help. It was faint but it was there. We looked around trying to figure out where it was coming from and saw a headstone in the main part of the cemetery glowing a funny color that I wouldnt even know how to describe. We all jumped in the car and left as quickly as we could. We had issues with our car and almost didn't get to leave. It tried to die on us several times, which was rather weird since it was a brand new car.
Camp Casa Mare
Camp Casa Mare was formerly a privately owned mansion, and is now Girl Scout Camp Casa Mare. A young woman who lived in the home with her father near the shore is said to be very distraught over the loss of a lover. She waited, watching for him to return from the sea from her balcony every night until she met her untimely death and collided with the ground below. The mansion has since been torn down, and a mess hall built where it once stood. Some say if you stand in a circle around the spot where she died (it remains uncovered by buildings, but now lies under a tile mural of a star), she will pull at you from the center of the circle, so that everyone leans inward. Two campers supposedly died after falling in a well and being trapped. It has since been covered, but many report they still hear them screaming and clawing to get cut. Also, the dorm nearest to the shore is supposedly haunted (the dorm for those campers taking sailing). There are three showers, and when the first two are turned on, the third mysteriously turns on. Lights turn on and off and campers report hearing things.
Toddville Mansion/List Mansion
The former Toddville Mansion, on Toddville Road, has recently been torn down. The property was turned into apartments or condos. There are reports of a strange creature roaming the grounds, noises, feelings of being watched, and shadowy figures.
The List Mansion is on Toddville Road. Mr. List was in the habit of taking in young runaway boys and taking advantage of them. Eventually some of his young wards had had enough and ambushed him when he came home. They spent the evening ransacking the house and left. For a while it was a popular place for teenagers to go to play truth or dare, and I have heard reports that some experienced some paranormal activity. The mansion has been demolished, but perhaps Mr. List is still hanging around.
NEW: Read a chilling account of the goings-on at the List Mansion.
Sealy High School
At Sealy High School you can hear the sound of footsteps, doors opening and closing on the second floor, and experience an elevator that operates by itself.
A senior track star was coming home from a track meet. He fell asleep behind the wheel and somehow cut himself. When they found him he had bled to death. It is said that if you go to the track at midnight you can see him running around the track.
Sealy Junior HighThere were twin cheerleaders. The head cheerleader broke up with one of the football players. The guy hanged himself in one of the upstairs rooms. The sisters got into a big fight because of it, in the same room where the boyfriend killed himself. One sister pushed the head cheerleader sister down the stairs, half killing her. So the first sister picked up the other sister, and dragged her back up to the top of the stairs by her feet so that her head would bang against the stairs, killing her. If you go there on Halloween night, you can hear the screams of the one sister and her head dragging along the stairs. The sister who lived always said she never wanted to kill her sister; she just wanted to make her mad. But she ended up dying anyway.
Shirley's Cat House
Supposedly a girl of about 12 was playing in the loft when she fell. She died from complications and is said to now walk the loft.
A young girl fell to her death from the loft here and supposedly haunts it now.
The building is a barn that originally belonged to Judge Doering. According to legend, a friend of the Doering children, Sarah, was playing in the loft when she fell and broke her leg. She later died of complications from that injury. The current tenants have heard the sound of children running in the loft when no one was up there. Psychic Lorraine Ross read the building, and although she didn't detect a child who died by accident, she detected the spirit of a young woman who was murdered in the building. Perhaps it is this woman that they hear, as she tries to run from her assailant.
The Wunsche Bros Café
Spring is really a portion of Houston on its north side. The building has served many purposes including rail station, brothel and restaurant. Many have seen an apparition of "Old Man Wunsche" on the upstairs balcony. Several waitresses claimed to have seen him.
The Wunsche Brothers, railroad men themselves, built the Wunsche Bros. Hotel and Saloon to accommodate railroad employees overnight. In 1923, Houston and Great Northern (now called Missouri Pacific) moved the Spring rail yard to Houston. By 1926 most of the town's wood buildings were salvaged for barn construction and firewood. The Wunsche Bros. Cafe and Saloon was the first two-story building erected in Spring and remains today the oldest survivor of the past. It is said to be haunted by old man Wunsche himself.
The building is in its original location and is over 100 years old. It was built by the Wunsche Brothers to cater to railroad workers. The tracks run right across the street. It was a saloon/restaurant/boardinghouse in its early days. Charlie Wunsche fell in love with a young woman who didn't love him in return. She jilted him and he ended up a rather crusty old man, who in turn has become a crusty old ghost. The restaurant was recently remodeled to add extra dining space and we are told that Charlie has been on a rampage on the second floor. The current manager prefers not to discuss Charlie as he has done some nasty and uncalled for things to her and other workers, such as lock them out of the building. Shortly after Charlie's death a young artist stayed in the room where he died. The man awoke in the middle of the night to see an old man staring at him from across the room. The artist drew a charcoal sketch of the old man and asked the owner of the building who it was he had drawn (wanting to identify the man who had interrupted his sleep). The old man was immediately identified as Uncle Charlie Wunsche.
Blue Light Cemetery
There are reports of a blue light and blue fog all over the cemetery, accompanied by voices and footsteps and the feeling that you are being chased.
The Hanging Tree
In the 1940s, a young black man crossed the tracks to the white part of town at night. A group of drunken rednecks, thinking to teach him a lesson, decided to stage a fake hanging. Something went terribly wrong and the young man was actually hanged and died. When the rednecks backed their Ford pickup up underneath the tree, they backed up too far and too fast. Their license plate became embedded in the trunk of the tree where it remained for decades until what was outside the bark finally rusted off about 10 years ago. You can still see part of the plate embedded in the tree. The nearby businesses and fire station have reported apparitions and other ghostly occurrences and attribute them to the ghost of that young man.
Old Bank Building
The former bank building is just down the street from Wunsche Bros. and you can't mistake it for anything else. The architecture is distinctively that of a 19th century bank. Legend has it that Bonnie and Clyde once robbed it. During one attempted robbery, the would-be robber fled across the street and tried to take shelter behind a tree. The teller still managed to shoot him dead, and from time to time his spirit has been reported in the area of that tree. The marks where the bullets scored the facade can still be seen in the masonry today.
Puffabelly's
This old train depot was imported in two pieces from Lovelady, Texas. During its early days, a signalman was killed when he went out to the tracks to warn an oncoming train of another train on the same tracks headed the opposite direction. He slipped, fell on to the tracks, and was decapitated. For years, his lantern was seen running down the tracks in Lovelady. Now it seems he has accompanied the depot to Spring. There is even a police report on file regarding one sighting of his spirit lying on the tracks that run by Puffabelly's and Wunsche Brothers. After the restaurant burned down in 1999 (being approximately the umpteenth building to burn on that lot), the owners began rebuilding it. Puffabelly's is back in business, though most (if not all) of the original building has been lost to the fire. The food is still as good as it was before the blaze, highly recommended.
Rose's Café
There is a rocking chair placed up against a wall in one of the dining rooms. Why? It rocks on its own and scares the dickens out of patrons. If you sit in the chair and place your hands under the arms (just about an inch below), you can usually feel a temperature difference. A friend of the owner passed away in this chair, and he saved it from destruction, restored it, and kept it in his house for a while. While we were there, we entered the building from the outside twice, and both times the owner had to go around back and unlock the front door from the inside because both times his resident spirit had locked the keyless deadbolt (it can only be locked by someone on the inside). There was no one in the building during our absence. The owner turns off all the lights and shuts all the doors before he leaves, and frequently has to go back in and turn the lights off and shut the doors again.
Thyme Square
In the back of Thyme Square there is a Civil War Museum that contains several artifacts. When re-enactments are done nearby, the square becomes very active. During an investigation Lorraine Ross detected the displaced spirit of a veteran who was missing a leg.
Zwink House
This old house is not being used at the moment and is sitting on the same lot as Puffabelly's, between the restaurant and some shops. The house was brought from a few miles away and is an old farmhouse. You can look at the house, but you cannot enter. The story is that for one reason or another a man shot and killed his wife on the front porch. Lorraine Ross did a reading on the house and did detect a murder on the porch, but not of a woman. She detected that a man stumbled onto an illicit affair between his wife and a college student, and shot the student on the porch. She also detected the death of a child from snakebite. A subsequent investigation has revealed several spirits active in the house. Infrared footage has caught several orbs moving about the house, still photos have caught orbs in motion on the side of the house, and several members of the team witnessed two shadow apparitions in an upstairs window. One apparition was a child and the other was an adult. The structure was damaged in the 1999 fire that destroyed Puffabelly's, but the owners are making progress on restoring the first floor and modifying the second.
Hampton House
I know of a place in Sugarland called the Hampton House. I've been there and seen lights flash on and off when there is no electricity at all. My stepsister has been inside and by the pool there are bloodstains. The story goes that a man figured out his pregnant wife had cheated on him so he killed his wife and afterwards, killed himself. Several years later a man moved in and disappeared on the second day of living there. The house is restricted but many people go there to try to catch a glimpse of a ghost. I've just been on the outside of the house but you can feel the dark energy coming from it. On Halloween, I'm going back, but this time I'm going to go inside.
Sulphur Springs (Hopkins County)
Dead Mans Run
Word has it that around 1890, a man was working on the railroad tracks that were being laid through town. About two miles off of 19 on Highway 11 to the right on a little black top road is a desolate patch of railroad tracks. Now this man who was working on the railroad was having a bad time with his wife. So one night he took her out for what he said was a romantic interlude. Instead he beat her badly and tied her to the tracks. Thinking she was unconscious he sat down beside her to rest and without his knowledge, she tied his bootlaces to the track. He felt so guilty as he sat there on the tracks that he didn't move until he saw a train barreling down on him. When the train was almost upon him, he got up to move and couldn't. He looked down to see his wife grinning up at him and his laces tied in multiple knots. He tried to untie his laces, but to no avail. He was killed with his wife on the tracks. Now if you go to those tracks on November 12 at about 2:00 to 3:00 AM, you can sit on the tracks and you will witness the entire scene. You can hear the man screaming and the woman laughing.
Terrell State Mental Hospital
Terrell State Mental Hospital burned down around the turn of the century. The going story is that no one was killed; however, this would have been in the day when some patients were tied to beds, etc. Some fellow nursing students had experiences there (sightings of ghosts, noises, etc). I recently went to the hospital grounds with them and there is one building there with burn marks still on it. It has a very bad feeling around it and all the trees grow away from it. No animals or bugs can be seen on or around it. The cemetery for patients is further back in the complex and it has the same ominous feeling. There are a lot of very strange goings-on. I am going to attempt to go back onto the site with a camera soon. Unfortunately, because it is a mental hospital, the public can't visit it. Our connections through school got us back onto the campus, as it will in the future, but I wonder if anyone knows what the deal is with that place. I believe that children and adults both were killed in the fire. It's a weird site. We heard screams and many times saw things that were unexplainable. It is like time stands still there...literally.
Spring Lake Park
This is "the town that dreaded sundown." A couple was in the park making out and they were murdered. Rumor is that the girl was tied to a tree and stabbed to death, and if you stand by that tree, you feel rope being tied around you.
Cinemark Movies 12
All the employees of this theatre are scared to death to go into one of the auditoriums alone. Most workers have had some kind of an encounter with the ghost that haunts this particular auditorium. It makes some people feel as if they are freezing. Others become very hot. One employee said that every time she went in the theater, her knees would become very weak, but when she left the room, she was fine. Some employees have even seen this spirit.
The theater is located at 10000 Emmett F. Lowry Expressway. One theater here is said to be plagued by both hot and cold spots. Many employees are afraid to enter this auditorium and some even claim to have seen the spirit.
Spring Creek Park
In the Civil War era, a munitions factory existed in what is now the back portion of the park. It was destroyed when something touched off an explosion, which killed approximately 200 men. If you visit the sight today, even on a hot day, you will get chills.
An explosion at a munitions dump during the Civil War killed three men. Now, the area has cold spots, even on hot days.
Tomball Cemetery
EVP has been captured here of a spirit named Mike speaking his name.
Parker House B & B
Doors open and close, ghostly voices are heard, and the apparition of Mary Ashley Parker has been spotted here.
Beaird House
This modern ranch house, built in the 1950s, was the site of mind-boggling poltergeist-like activity from 1965 to 1968. In July 1965, hordes of giant June bugs repeatedly attacked the Beaird family while they slept in their beds. The attacks stopped as soon as the lights were turned on. Hundreds of bugs littered the floors, but most of the bugs were already dead and dried up. Small objects floated in midair, and unidentifiable, high-pitched voices were heard in the house. Then the voices of seven dead people, all known to the family, began resonating from inside the walls. An invisible force pulled covers off beds in the middle of the night, punched holes in walls, and unscrewed plugs on gas lines in the house. Police investigated the house on several occasions but could find no cause for the phenomena. The family was finally forced to move out of the house, and subsequent owners reported nothing unusual.
West Columbia (Brazoria County)
Palmetto Thickets
The woods and palmetto thickets in and around West Columbia and the old settlement of East Columbia abound in ghost tales. There is the lady in the gray taffeta dress, and the ghost hounds of Orozimbo Plantation where Santa Anna was detained, who still wait for the return of the deceased owner of the plantation. They were reported to have been seen recently. Many other stories also float like wisps in the wind. This is one of the oldest parts on Texas to be settled, originally a part of Austin's Colony, so these are old haunts.
Orozimbo Plantation
The original owner of the plantation had three very good hounds. He was killed at the Goliad Massacre during the Texas Revolution. After Santa Anna was captured, Texas President Burnet ordered that the prisoner be moved around before his return to Mexico. During his stay at Orozimbo, his supporters managed to break him out, but nearby Texas troops were alerted to his escape by the three dogs. After Santa Anna was re-captured, the dogs could not be found. It is said that because their master did not order them back to the kennel, they must roam and prowl the area for all time. They have been known to appear and suddenly vanish without a trace. Correction: the owner of Orozimbo Plantation was a Dr. Phelps, who was not killed at Goliad. He did keep Santa Anna after his capture, and prevented Santa Anna from committing suicide by poison. Mrs. Phelps stopped a hoard of bloodthirsty Texans from killing him by throwing herself between him and the mob.
Shiloh School
There is an old school that was built for and by the black community in the early 1900s. The KKK burned down the school and several black children died. The remains of the school are still standing, and there is a historical marker in front of it. At night you can hear voices and cries, and the air gets cold.
Bascom Road
At night you can see a woman dressed in white crossing the Bascom Cemetery road with a knife in her hand. She is possibly the ghost of a woman who stabbed her husband then stabbed herself. He lived for a while after that, but she died. She is said to be searching for him to finish what she started.
Oaklea Mansion and Manor House
Mr. Shelton is heard to pace the floor in the Angel Room, and open the bedroom door.
The Woodlands (Montgomery County)
Walgreen's
This Walgreen's is at 485 Sawdust Rd. The ghost of John Cedars haunts the store. He was a manager who was killed execution style during a robbery in 1996. Though it wasn't at the time, the location is now open 24 hours and employees say that at night, Mr. Cedars can be heard walking the store or playing jokes (he likes to knock over the stacks of diapers like he did when he was alive). Several people have reported incidents while alone in the stockroom at night, such as toys turning themselves on and off. Occasionally things have been known to fly off shelves and break without anyone nearby. The activity calmed after the convictions of the perpetrators in 1998, but he is still a presence in the store.
Foster Hill
A male ghost haunts this hill and the sounds of Indian drums can be heard echoing in the distance. Footsteps are also heard. At the end of the road, shadowy figures can be seen.
Old Cemetery
This cemetery is located outside of Woodville. Noises are heard, and the apparition of a man in a black suit is seen only to disappear moments later.
Site updated August 12, 2005