Haunted Places in Arkansas: 23 Places You Can Visit or See
A cancer quack’s hotel on a mountaintop, a hanging judge’s courtroom, a light that walks the railroad tracks and a sealed bedroom in Monticello. Here is what is true about Arkansas’s ghosts, and where you can actually go.
Arkansas packs a lot of ghost stories into a small state. Eureka Springs has built a tourist trade on its haunted Victorian hotels, Fort Smith keeps the courtroom and gallows of the Hanging Judge, Little Rock has a capitol where a legislator was knifed on the floor, and two railroad towns have their own ghost lights. We have checked every place on our older list against current sources, kept the ones you can visit or at least see from a public road, and added more. Each card says what the records show, how solid the ghost story is, and how to visit.
Several places on older lists are private homes, schools or closed hotels, and they are in the off-limits section at the end. For a night of ghost hunting rather than sightseeing, Haunted Rooms runs events at the King Opera House in Van Buren, next to Fort Smith; see the event page for dates.
Open to the publicGhost toursParanormal investigations allowed
Address 75 Prospect Avenue, Eureka Springs, AR 72632
Where to look Room 218, Room 419, the basement morgue, the Crystal Dining Room and the third floor
Reported ghosts Michael the stonemason, Theodora, Norman Baker and a nurse with a gurney
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay, or visit the public areas
Tours The hotel runs its own nightly ghost tours, which end in the basement morgue from Norman Baker’s era
Ghost hunting The hotel runs its own paranormal investigation weekends
The Crescent opened in 1886 as a luxury resort on a mountaintop above Eureka Springs, then spent decades as a college for young women before Norman Baker, a radio huckster with no medical training, turned it into a cancer “hospital” in 1937. Baker went to federal prison for mail fraud in 1940, and the basement morgue from his era is still part of the hotel’s nightly ghost tour.
No hotel in the South talks about its ghosts more openly. Staff say they have heard thousands of guest reports. Room 218 belongs to Michael, said to be an Irish stonemason who fell during construction; Room 419 to Theodora, linked to Baker’s clinic. Guests also describe a nurse pushing a gurney, Baker himself in the lobby and Victorian dancers in the Crystal Dining Room.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the ghost tour that ends in the morgue for your first evening, then ask for Room 218 or 419 when you reserve; both go fast in October.
Open to the publicGhost toursParanormal investigations allowed
Address 12 Spring Street, Eureka Springs, AR 72632
Where to look The third and fourth floors, the stairwells, the Barefoot Ballroom and the lower levels cut into the bluff
Reported ghosts A tall cowboy, a giggling little girl and a woman in Victorian dress
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay, or visit the public areas
Tours The hotel runs a guided paranormal investigation most nights from the Barefoot Ballroom
Ghost hunting Guided investigations run by the hotel
The Basin Park opened on July 1, 1905, on the site of the Perry House, Eureka Springs’ first big hotel, beside the town’s famous Basin Spring. It is built straight up against a limestone bluff, so several floors open onto ground level, and its sixth-floor Barefoot Ballroom hosted the Barefoot Ball from 1948 for more than thirty years. Marty and Elise Roenigk bought it in 1997, the same year they bought the Crescent.
Its ghost stories are told by guests and the town’s tour guides: a tall man in cowboy boots and a wide hat in the third- and fourth-floor halls, a little girl giggling in empty stairwells, and a woman in Victorian dress at the edge of the ballroom floor. The hotel runs its own 90-minute paranormal investigation, which ends in an underground speakeasy cave.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the hotel’s paranormal investigation, then walk up the hill to the Crescent for its morgue tour; together they make the best haunted weekend in Arkansas.
Staff and visitors have reported a woman in a white dress on the staircase landing, footsteps on the empty top floor, a shadowy figure and the sound of boxes being dragged. Some tie the haunting to David O. Dodd, the 17-year-old hanged as a spy nearby in 1864. In 2026 the director told KATV he has seen nothing himself, though some staff have. The museum hosts an annual paranormal expo in October.
Haunted Rooms tip: Visit during the October paranormal expo, when investigators share what they have recorded in the tower.
Where to look Backstage, the shadows of the auditorium and the lights
Reported ghosts Actor Charles Tolson in a top hat and cape, and a woman in white
Visiting Working theater; see a show or join our ghost hunt
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms runs public ghost hunts here
The building on Van Buren’s Main Street opened in 1891 as the Wallace Block and became Colonel Henry King’s opera house in 1901. It survived a 1914 fire, became a movie house named for hometown comedian Bob Burns, closed in 1974, and was bought and restored by the city. Today it hosts plays, concerts and community events.
Its ghost is said to be Charles Tolson, a touring actor shot by Dr. William Parchman after he learned his teenage daughter planned to leave town with Tolson’s company; Parchman was acquitted. Former staff describe a young man in a top hat and cape who vanishes when approached, footsteps and lights that switch on overnight. A 2023 documentary also tells of a woman in white. Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts here.
Haunted Rooms tip: See the event page for our next ghost hunt night, or catch a show to see the auditorium.
Address 705 North Main Street, Monticello, AR 71655
Where to look The master bedroom where Ladell Allen died, the attic, the dining room
Reported ghosts Ladell Allen, a shadow man and a crying baby
Visiting A private home; book a guided tour by appointment
Tours Private tours by appointment, plus an October Midnight Hour tour of the ghost stories
Tickets Private tour $90 for up to six people, $15 per extra guest (2026)
Ghost hunting Investigations are by the owners’ invitation only
Joe Lee Allen built this turreted Queen Anne mansion on North Main Street in 1905 to 1906, to a design by Sylvester Hotchkiss. On Christmas night in 1948 his daughter Ladell Allen Bonner swallowed mercury cyanide in her upstairs bedroom after an affair with a married man ended; she died on January 2, 1949. Her mother sealed the room for decades, and the house later became apartments.
Tenants have reported footsteps, moans and a presence since the 1950s. Owners Mark and Rebecca Spencer, who moved in in 2007, found Ladell’s love letters under the attic floor and describe a shadowy man, a crying baby and things moving. The house has been on Ghost Hunters and several other TV shows. It is the Spencers’ home, open only for booked private tours.
Haunted Rooms tip: Text ahead to book a private tour; never walk up to the house unannounced, as a family lives here.
Where to look Judge Parker's courtroom, the basement jail known as Hell on the Border, and the gallows
Reported ghosts A bearded man in a dark suit before the bench, and a man crying in the empty jail
Visiting Visitor center in the old barracks, courthouse and jail; grounds open daily
Hours and season Visitor center 9 AM to 5 PM daily; gallows 9:15 AM to 4:45 PM; grounds from 30 minutes before sunrise to 11 PM
Tickets Free entry
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting; a National Park Service site
Two frontier forts stood here on the Arkansas River, the first from 1817. The 1851 barracks later held the federal court of Judge Isaac C. Parker, who presided from 1875 to 1896 over a district that reached deep into Indian Territory. His court tried more than 13,000 cases, and 79 men went to the gallows under his sentences. The courtroom, two jails and a reconstructed gallows are open to visitors.
The stories center on Parker and the condemned. A cleaner described a heavyset, bearded man in a dark suit sitting before the judge’s bench late at night, and visitors speak of footsteps, cigar smoke and a feeling of weight near the gallows. A ranger who worked here for 14 years told a podcast he heard a man crying in the empty lower cell block. These are personal accounts; the park itself does not promote ghost stories.
Haunted Rooms tip: Go late in the afternoon, finish at the gallows, and walk the riverside Trail of Tears exhibits as the light fades.
Visiting a haunted place by day is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through a historic building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and vigils, and gives you time to explore on your own. These are the nearest ones we run.
Address 514 North 6th Street, Fort Smith, AR 72901
Where to look Mr. Clayton's study, the second-floor bedroom and the upstairs landing
Reported ghosts A woman in a brown skirt, an angry man in black and unseen footsteps
Visiting Guided tours of the house museum
Hours and season Tuesday to Saturday noon to 4 PM, Sunday 1 to 4 PM; closed Mondays
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts; the house is a museum and event venue
The house began as the Sutton home in 1852, was used as a hospital during the Civil War, and about 1882 became the home of William Henry Harrison Clayton, the federal prosecutor in Judge Isaac Parker’s court. He doubled it in size and raised six daughters and a son here. It later spent decades as a boarding house, was saved from demolition in 1969, restored over seven years and opened as a museum in 1977.
Former director Martha Siler told 5NEWS she saw the apparition of a woman in Mr. Clayton’s study, and staff and visitors describe boots stomping, doors slamming and music in empty rooms, with a second-floor bedroom that unsettles people most. A local group, Paranormal Investigation and Research of Western Arkansas, has investigated many times and reports voices on its recordings. These are staff and visitor accounts, not documented events.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask your guide which bedroom upsets people, then walk four blocks to Miss Laura’s on B Street.
Address Old railroad line north of Gurdon, near Highway 53, Clark County
Where to look The abandoned rail line in the woods north of town
Reported ghosts Murdered foreman Will McClain and his lantern
Visiting No official site; people walk in along the disused rail line from where it crossed Highway 53
Ghost hunting No organized access; this is not a park, so respect private land
Arkansas’s most famous ghost light floats above an old railroad line in the woods north of Gurdon. Witnesses describe a round light, white, blue or orange, that bobs a few feet above the ground and never lets you get close. It has been reported since the 1930s, years before Interstate 30 was built a couple of miles away, and it was on Unsolved Mysteries in December 1994.
The legend ties it to a real crime. In December 1931 Missouri Pacific section foreman Will McClain was beaten to death with a shovel and spike maul by a worker, Louis McBride, who confessed and was executed in 1932. The story says McClain still walks the line with his lantern. Historians say several explanations are plausible and none can be proven.
Haunted Rooms tip: The rail line is no longer in use; go with someone who knows the walk, bring a flashlight and respect any posted land.
Address 1200 South Broadway Street, Little Rock, AR 72202
Where to look The gates and the old statuary at dusk
Reported ghosts Confederate soldiers, Native American figures and flute music before dawn
Visiting Historic cemetery; visit respectfully by day
Tours Tales of the Crypt, a free October evening of costumed graveside scenes by Parkview High students
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting; this is a cemetery
Little Rock’s oldest cemetery opened in 1843 and is called the Westminster Abbey of Arkansas. Governors, senators, Arkansas Gazette founder William Woodruff, poet John Gould Fletcher and the Confederate teenager David O. Dodd, hanged as a spy in 1864, are buried here among angels and carved busts. It is on the National Register.
Local stories tell of Confederate soldiers and Native American figures walking the grounds, statues that seem to move at the edge of sight, graves that appear to shift, and flute music heard before sunrise. These are folklore rather than recorded events. The best way to meet the residents is Tales of the Crypt, the free October evening where Parkview High drama students portray people buried here.
Haunted Rooms tip: Go to Tales of the Crypt in October, and visit by daylight the rest of the year.
Where to look Room 824, Room 443 (the Capone Suite), the seventh floor near Room 723, the bathhouse and the Magnolia and Venetian rooms
Reported ghosts A woman in a white gown on the seventh floor, cigar smoke in Capone's suite and a soldier in the bathhouse
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay, or visit the public areas
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts by Haunted Rooms; stay the night instead
The twin-towered Arlington has looked down Central Avenue since November 1924, the third Arlington; the first opened in 1875 across Fountain Street and its 1893 successor burned in 1923. Architect George R. Mann, who also designed the Arkansas State Capitol, drew the current building. Al Capone was a regular and is said to have taken the whole fourth floor, with Room 443 his favorite. A long, multi-million-dollar restoration began under new owners in 2023, and the hotel has stayed open while work goes on.
Staff now talk openly about the stories. In 2020 the hotel’s director of operations told the Sentinel-Record about guest reports from Room 824, where the sink runs and the bathroom steams up around 3 to 4 am, cigar smoke in Room 443, the Capone Suite, a woman in a white gown on the seventh floor, and a soldier-like figure in the men’s bathhouse.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask about the restoration before you book so you know which wings are finished, and walk Bathhouse Row across the street after dark.
Address 300 West Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72201
Where to look The old House of Representatives chamber and the upstairs halls
Reported ghosts Rep. J. J. Anthony, killed in the chamber in 1837, and Joseph Brooks
Visiting Free state museum
Hours and season Tuesday to Saturday 9 AM to 5 PM, Sunday 1 to 5 PM
Tickets Free
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
Arkansas’s first capitol, a white Greek Revival building on Markham Street, was begun in 1833 and served the state until 1912. On December 4, 1837, House Speaker John Wilson killed Representative Joseph J. Anthony in a knife fight on the House floor. The building saw the 1861 secession votes, Union occupation and the Brooks-Baxter War, and later housed a medical school. It became a museum in 1947 and is a National Historic Landmark.
Some employees have described noises in empty rooms and chills, and stories name Anthony, Wilson or the ousted would-be governor Joseph Brooks as the ghosts. Museum staff have also dismissed the idea, and KARK’s 2022 visit with paranormal investigators turned up only faint recordings. Admission is free.
Haunted Rooms tip: Stand in the restored House chamber where Anthony died, then walk two blocks west to the Capital Hotel.
Address 500 Woodlane Street, Little Rock, AR 72201
Where to look The basement, the stairs and the elevator where Ira Gurley died
Reported ghosts Ira Gurley, crushed in an elevator in 1932, and voices in the basement
Visiting Working capitol, open to visitors with security screening
Hours and season Weekdays 8 AM to 5 PM; weekends and holidays 10 AM to 3 PM
Tickets Free
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting in a government building
The domed Capitol stands on the site of the state penitentiary, which ran from 1841 to 1899. Convict crews leveled the old prison and helped build the new Capitol, living on the grounds as late as 1910. State Historian David Ware told KARK that prisoners who died were buried on the grounds, and that remains were moved, probably not completely, before construction. The building was finished in 1915.
Night-shift Capitol police and custodians have long swapped stories of voices in the basement, and the elevator is linked to Ira Gurley, a Game and Fish Commission secretary crushed in its doorway in June 1932. Ware says the old officers swore they saw things, though he never has. The Capitol is a working government building, free to visit.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask at the first-floor visitor desk about the building’s history, then look at the old elevators.
Reported ghosts A woman in a white gown, laughter, cigar smoke and a phantom piano
Visiting Free guided tours of the museum (ages 16 and up)
Tours Free guided tours; the Fort Smith Museum of History’s October trolley tour passes by
Tickets Free
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
Built in 1896 as the Riverfront Commercial Hotel, this green Victorian house near the river was bought in 1898 by Laura Ziegler, who reopened it in 1903 as the finest of the seven brothels on Fort Smith’s Row. Bertha Dean ran it from 1911 until her death in 1948. Saved from demolition in 1963, it became the only former brothel on the National Register in 1973 and was the city’s visitor center from 1992 to 2024. It is now a museum.
Ghost stories told about the house include cold spots, the smell of cigars and brandy in the parlor, laughter, a woman in a white gown upstairs and a piano heard playing. They come from local ghost lore and tour stories rather than any record. Fort Smith’s Halloween trolley tour has long passed the house.
Haunted Rooms tip: Tours are free for ages 16 and up; pair it with the Fort Smith National Historic Site three blocks away.
Address 2120 South Louisiana Street, Little Rock, AR 72206
Where to look The stairs, the upstairs hall and the old maid's closet
Reported ghosts A maid, a dapper older man on the stairs, a lady in pink and a sea captain
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay, or visit the public areas
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts by Haunted Rooms; stay the night instead
The Empress is the Hornibrook Mansion, a Gothic Queen Anne showpiece built in 1888 for businessman James Hornibrook in the Quapaw Quarter. Today it is a nine-room boutique inn with a two-MICHELIN-Key rating. Antonio Figueroa and Keith Sandridge bought it in 2019 from Sharon Welch-Blair and Bob Blair, who had run it for about 25 years.
Ghost lore attached to the house names four presences: a maid seen near her old closet, a well-dressed older man on the stairs, a lady in pink in the hall outside the guest rooms, and an old sea captain in several bedrooms. Former owner Bob Blair told THV11 he saw a dapper older man watching him from the staircase during the restoration. The current inn does not market itself as haunted.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for a room on the main guest floor near the staircase, and take a slow evening walk around the Quapaw Quarter’s Victorian streets.
Address 465 Arkansas Avenue, Fayetteville, AR 72701
Where to look Guest room beds and the upper corridors
Reported ghosts Ella Carnall, said to appear as a woman in a ball gown
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay, or visit the public areas
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts by Haunted Rooms; stay the night instead
Carnall Hall was the University of Arkansas’s first women’s residence hall, completed in 1906 and named for Ella Carnall, an early alumna and associate professor of English and modern languages who died in 1894, aged 32. It housed women until 1967, then a fraternity, offices and classrooms. By 1991 it was closed and slated for removal, but a campaign saved it and it reopened in 2003 as a hotel with a restaurant named for Ella.
Fayetteville’s own visitor bureau tells the ghost story: Ella’s spirit is said to appear inside the building as a woman in a ball gown without a head or feet. Guests and staff also describe someone seeming to sit on an empty bed, lights switching themselves on and off, and objects moving.
Haunted Rooms tip: Eat at Ella’s Table, the restaurant named for the ghost, then walk the Old Main lawn after dark.
Where to look The third floor, the basement and the second-floor Parker furniture
Reported ghosts A child heard running and playing, and a gavel striking
Visiting History museum downtown
Tours Murder and Mayhem haunted trolley tour in October, starting at the museum
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
The oldest working museum in Arkansas fills the 1906 Atkinson-Williams Warehouse, a four-story brick building across from the national historic site. Its collections cover the city’s frontier, court and railroad past, and some of Judge Parker’s furniture is on display on the second floor.
A former executive director has described hearing a child running and playing on the third floor, the voice moving from corner to corner with nobody there. Investigators report sudden chills in the basement and a gavel heard on the second floor. The museum leans into the stories each October, when its Murder and Mayhem haunted trolley tour starts here with actors playing Judge and Mrs. Parker.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the October trolley tour early; it starts with a look at the museum’s haunted areas.
Address 111 West Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72201
Where to look The fourth floor, especially Room 444
Reported ghosts A young woman who fell to her death and a quiet laborer
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay, or visit the public areas
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts by Haunted Rooms; stay the night instead
The Capital Hotel is Little Rock’s grand old hotel, a four-story brick building with an ornate cast-iron Victorian front on West Markham Street, a block from the Old State House. Built in 1872 as the Denckla Block, it opened as a hotel in January 1877 after the city’s leading hotel burned, was listed on the National Register in 1974 and is a member of Historic Hotels of America.
The ghost stories are low-key and mostly from former staff. Two spirits are named most often: a laborer who keeps to himself and a young woman said to have fallen to her death, heard wailing and blamed for moving guests’ luggage. A former employee wrote online that housekeepers would not clean Room 444 alone, citing lights, a radio switching itself on and big band music from a floor that does not exist.
Haunted Rooms tip: Have a drink in the Capital Bar and walk to the Old State House next door; treat the ghost talk as staff lore, not hotel marketing.
Address Chaffee Crossing, 7020 Taylor Avenue, Fort Smith, AR 72916
Where to look The World War II barracks blocks
Reported ghosts Footsteps, whispers and cold spots in the old barracks
Visiting Public streets through the historic district; most buildings are private or in use
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts; do not enter buildings without permission
Camp Chaffee was carved out of 15,000 acres east of Fort Smith in 1941 and trained armored troops through World War II. Elvis Presley got his first Army haircut here in 1958, and the post later processed more than 50,000 Vietnamese refugees in 1975 and 25,000 Cubans after the 1980 Mariel boatlift, when a riot broke out. A block of 44 wartime barracks is on the National Register, inside the Chaffee Crossing redevelopment.
Ghost Adventures filmed at Fort Chaffee for a November 2010 episode, and stories from the old post tell of footsteps, whispers and cold spots in empty buildings. Most of the old buildings are private or in use, so treat this as a drive through history rather than a place to go inside.
Haunted Rooms tip: Drive the historic district streets by day; do not enter empty buildings.
Address 63 Spring Street, Eureka Springs, AR 72632
Where to look The guest floors above the lobby and the four-story staircase
Reported ghosts Nineteenth-century travelers said to linger, and an unseen guest at the foot of the bed
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay, or visit the public areas
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts by Haunted Rooms; stay the night instead
The New Orleans Hotel opened in 1892 as the Wadsworth, a 50-room hotel with steam heat and electric lights on the curve of Spring Street. It became the Hotel Allred in 1915, was later the Springs Hotel and has carried its French Quarter name since 1954. Built into the hillside, it stands four stories at the front and six at the back, with wrought-iron balconies, a four-story staircase and a bar, The Quarter on Spring, below the lobby.
The hotel itself says nothing about ghosts, but it is a stop on the downtown ghost walk, where guides say weary travelers from the nineteenth century still roam its halls. One guest’s published account describes being woken at 2 a.m. by the weight of someone sitting on the end of the bed in Room 106 while a friend heard the bathroom tap run. These are guest stories, not records, so it rates as a lightly haunted stay.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for a room with a Spring Street balcony; you can watch the evening ghost walks pass below, and the Basin Park and Crescent are a short walk and shuttle ride away.
Address 135 Spring Street, Eureka Springs, AR 72632
Where to look Room 5 and the upstairs hall in local lore, and the bath house below the hotel
Reported ghosts A brothel madame, a murdered working woman and a child, all from local lore
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay, or visit the public areas
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts by Haunted Rooms; stay the night instead
The Palace is the limestone castle on Spring Street, finished in 1901 with electric lights, steam heat in every room and an elevator, and it is still the only one of Eureka Springs’ old bath houses in business. The baths sit three floors below the hotel, cut into the hillside, and the eight Victorian suites upstairs have whirlpool tubs for two. Its vertical neon sign, said to date from the 1940s, is one of the most photographed in town.
The Palace does not promote ghosts, and its stories are thin but persistent. Local lore says the building was once a brothel. One guest account tells of a loud bang on a couple’s door with nobody outside, blamed on the old madame; a 2025 reader comment on a travel blog claims a working woman was murdered in Room 5 and that a child is the most active spirit in the building. No record backs these up, so treat them as town legend.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book a soak in the bath house for the evening you arrive, then join the walking ghost tour that starts at the Basin Park Hotel a few doors down Spring Street.
Address 400 South Walton Boulevard, Bentonville, AR 72712
Where to look The upstairs room once kept locked, and the parlor
Reported ghosts A crying little girl, and a story of Peel's daughter at the piano
Visiting Free self-guided or guided museum tours
Hours and season Tuesday to Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM
Tickets Free
Ghost hunting No ghost hunts; a working museum
Samuel West Peel, a Confederate colonel who served in Congress from 1883 to 1893, built this Italianate mansion with its central three-story tower in 1875. Later owners included the English family in the 1920s. Walmart bought the house in 1991 and gave it to a foundation, which restored it as a museum with gardens; it is listed on the National Register.
The best-recorded story comes from the 1920s, when young Margery English nearly died after surgery on a kitchen table in the house. Later owner Lee Allen kept that room locked and said a little girl’s crying haunted it, and the story was staged at the museum’s own Halloween history nights. Online lists also say Peel’s daughter Minnie Belle plays the piano; we found no older source for that.
Haunted Rooms tip: Tours are free; ask about the English family and the room that was kept locked for years.
Address 615 East Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72202
Where to look The front rooms of the house
Reported ghosts Mary Starbuck Walters, the bride who died before it was finished
Visiting Visitor information center in the historic house
Hours and season Monday to Saturday 9 AM to 5 PM, Sunday 1 to 5 PM
Tickets Free
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting
Colonel Ebenezer Walters began this Greek Revival house in 1842 as a gift for his bride, Mary Starbuck, but she died before it was finished and he sold it without living here. Lawyer James Curran bought it in 1849, and the Woodruff and Tate families held it until the 1990s. Saved by the city, it opened in 2002 as Little Rock’s visitor information center.
Its ghost story is small and recent. Linda Howell, who leads Haunted Tours of Little Rock, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that her interest in ghosts began here, after a guest said Mary’s spirit was following her. There is no older record behind the story, but it is a free, easy stop near the MacArthur Museum.
Haunted Rooms tip: Pick up maps here, then walk three blocks to the MacArthur Museum.
Address Old railroad bed outside Crossett, Ashley County
Where to look The old Missouri Pacific rail bed outside town, on dark, misty nights
Reported ghosts A beheaded railroad worker searching with his lantern
Visiting No site to visit; people watch from public roads near the old rail bed
Ghost hunting No organized access; respect private land and posted signs
People around Crossett have reported a floating light along the old Missouri Pacific railroad line since the early 1900s. It hovers two or three feet off the ground, drifts side to side or rises into the trees, changes color from yellow to orange to blue, and vanishes when you walk toward it. The legend says it is the lantern of a railroad worker who lost his head in an accident and is still looking for it.
Skeptics blame headlights or swamp gas, but the Encyclopedia of Arkansas points out the light was reported before cars were common, and a local history site says Yale forestry students failed to tie it to traffic. The tracks were pulled up in the early 1980s, and sightings are rarer now. Sites mentioned include the crossing near Ashley Roads 425 and 16.
Haunted Rooms tip: Go on a dark, moonless night, stay on public roads, and never block a road or cross private land to chase the light.
These places appear in older lists of haunted spots. We keep them here so you know the facts before you go, but you cannot (or should not) visit them.
Jacksonville High School, Jacksonville
Older lists, ours included, told of the Mumbling Man, a male voice heard muttering in the school auditorium and footsteps on the catwalk above the stage. The story appears only in online lists; we found no newspaper or historical record behind it. Whatever its truth, it is set inside a public school, which is not open to visitors, so we have taken it off the list.
The Park Hotel, Hot Springs
The seven-story Spanish Revival hotel on Fountain Street opened in 1930 and is on the National Register. Guests used to describe being brushed past and touched in the halls. It closed around 2020 for a long renovation and is not taking guests. Stay at the Arlington around the corner instead.
Magnolia Hill, Helena
This Victorian home in Helena once ran as a bed and breakfast with a reputation for voices and unexplained noises. It stopped operating as a B&B by 2020 and is a private home.
Haunted places by city
Haunted places in Little Rock: the Old State House, the MacArthur Museum, Mount Holly Cemetery, the State Capitol, Curran Hall and two haunted hotels
Haunted places in Fort Smith: Judge Parker’s court and gallows, the Clayton House, Miss Laura’s, the Museum of History, Fort Chaffee and the King Opera House in Van Buren
To spend the night somewhere haunted, see our guide to haunted hotels in Arkansas. Eureka Springs runs nightly ghost tours: the Crescent Hotel’s tours end in Norman Baker’s old morgue, the Basin Park Hotel runs guided investigations, and a walking tour climbs Spring Street to the town’s old underground passages. For our own events, see Arkansas ghost hunts or all Haunted Rooms ghost hunts.
Changed from our older guide: we moved Jacksonville High School to the off-limits list because it is a school and we found no record behind its story. On the Peel Mansion, the older story of Minnie Belle Peel playing the piano has no source we could find, so we lead with the 1920s Margery English story, which the museum itself has staged; the older claim of twice-weekly ghost walks there is not current. The Allen House is a private home open only for booked tours. We corrected the Clayton House restoration dates (1970 to 1977), dropped the Crossett Light’s street address, and added the Gurdon Light, Fort Smith National Historic Site, the Old State House, the MacArthur Museum, Mount Holly Cemetery, the State Capitol, Curran Hall, Miss Laura’s, the Fort Smith Museum of History, Fort Chaffee, the King Opera House and six more haunted hotels.
Visited one of these places? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from visitors and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your visit. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most haunted place in Arkansas?
The 1886 Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs is the best known. It was a luxury resort, a women’s college and, from 1937, Norman Baker’s fraudulent cancer hospital, and staff say they have collected thousands of guest reports. The Allen House in Monticello is the most famous haunted private home.
Can you visit the Allen House in Monticello?
Yes, but only on a booked private tour. It is the owners’ home; they offer tours by appointment and Midnight Hour ghost story tours in October.
Where can you see the Gurdon Light?
Along an old railroad line in the woods north of Gurdon, Clark County, reached on foot from where the tracks crossed Highway 53. There is no official site, so respect private land.
Are there ghost tours in Arkansas?
Yes. Eureka Springs has nightly tours at the Crescent Hotel and the Basin Park Hotel and a downtown walking tour. Fort Smith’s Museum of History runs a haunted trolley tour each October, and Little Rock’s Mount Holly Cemetery hosts Tales of the Crypt.
Is Fort Smith's gallows haunted?
Visitors describe a heavy feeling near the reconstructed gallows at Fort Smith National Historic Site, where 79 men were hanged under Judge Parker, and staff stories tell of a bearded man in the courtroom. The site is free to visit.
Where can I go ghost hunting in Arkansas?
Haunted Rooms runs public ghost hunts at the King Opera House in Van Buren. The Crescent Hotel and Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs also run their own paranormal investigations.
Sources and how we research
Every place in this guide is checked against its official website, historic register listings and news coverage, and we confirm whether it is open, closed, private or gone before we list it. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and local historians tell them; we say so where records contradict a story.
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every place in our guides using official sites, historic registers, local archives and news coverage, and we report ghost stories as the stories they are. We review each guide regularly so you are not sent to a place that has closed, changed hands or banned visitors. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
