Haunted hotel guide · Natchez, Mississippi
The Haunted Linden Bed and Breakfast, Natchez: The Phantom Carriage
One of the oldest houses in Natchez, still lived in by the sixth generation of the same family, where guests say a horse-drawn carriage still pulls up to the front door.
Linden sits at the end of a drive lined with old cedars on the edge of Natchez, a white Federal house with a 98-foot front gallery held up by ten hand-hewn columns. Its central section dates to about 1785, which makes it one of the oldest houses in a city famous for its antebellum mansions. Its carved front doorway is often said to have inspired the doorway of Tara in Gone With the Wind.
It is also a working bed and breakfast run by the sixth generation of the family who bought it in 1849, with breakfast in the formal dining room and house tours through the year. And it has a set of ghost stories to match its age: a phantom carriage in the drive, a man in a top hat in the bedrooms, the tap of a cane and a woman who leaps from the roof and vanishes before she lands.
Linden at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 1 Conner Circle, Natchez, MS 39120
- Built Central section about 1785; enlarged by Thomas B. Reed (1818) and Dr. John Ker (1829); in the Conner family since 1849
- Most haunted spots The front drive and entrance, the bedrooms and the roof line
- Best-known ghosts A phantom horse-drawn carriage, a man in a top hat and a woman on the roof
- Booking the haunted room No room is named as haunted; the stories cover the house and grounds
- Good to know Run by the family; breakfast in the formal dining room; house tours and Christmas and spring pilgrimage tours
The ghosts of Linden
The phantom carriage
The best-known story at Linden is of a horse-drawn carriage, or buggy, that comes up the drive to the front entrance and is gone when anyone goes to meet it. Guests have described seeing it arrive between the cedars, the way visitors would have arrived for two hundred years. Vicksburg’s visitor bureau and OnlyInYourState both include it in their round-ups of Mississippi’s haunted places.
The man in the top hat
A man has been reported in the bedrooms, and the Haunted Places directory specifies a man in a top hat seen in a child’s bedroom. Nobody has given him a name, and with six generations of one family and three earlier owners to choose from, guesses are all anyone has. He is said to appear and then simply not be there.
The woman on the roof
The most startling report is of a woman in the east wing who jumps from the edge of the roof and disappears into thin air before she reaches the ground. No story of a fall or a death at Linden is attached to her in any source we found, so she is a mystery even by the standards of Natchez ghost lore.
The tapping cane
Guests have also heard the steady tap of a cane, usually placed in the west gallery, as if someone is walking slowly along it when no one is there. Along with the carriage, it is one of the most often repeated details. The family who run the inn do not mention ghosts on their own website, so these stories come from guests and published round-ups.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The front drive and entrance: Where the phantom carriage is seen arriving.
- The bedrooms: Where a man in a top hat has been reported, most often in a child’s bedroom.
- The east wing roof line: Where a woman is seen jumping and vanishing in midair.
- The west gallery: The tap of a cane with nobody there.
History of Linden Bed and Breakfast
Linden began as a two-story house called Oaklands. Its central section is usually dated to about 1785, and records of the property go back to 1790, which is the date the family uses. Its first owner, Alexander Moore, passed it to his son James.
In 1818 the house was bought by Thomas Buck Reed, who later served two short terms as a US senator for Mississippi. He renamed it Reedland, added the east wing and the carved frontispiece around the front door, the doorway that would later be linked to Tara. In 1829 the house was bought by Dr. John Ker, and that November Reed died before he could take his seat in Washington. Ker named the house Linden, added the living room wing and built the 98-foot gallery with its ten hand-hewn Doric columns, giving the front of the house the look it has today.
In 1849 Jane Gustine Conner, a wealthy widow, bought Linden for herself and her ten children so they could be closer to town. She planted the cedars that line the front, added a west wing with a kitchen and laundry, and built a two-story brick wing with a schoolroom for her children. Her family has owned the house ever since.
Inside are family heirlooms including a painting by John James Audubon. Linden was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 1, 1978. The current owner, Marjorie Feltus Hawkins, the sixth generation of the family, and her husband David have run the house as a bed and breakfast since 1975, and in Newsweek’s 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards it was ranked sixth among the best historic bed and breakfasts in America. It sits on about seven acres, a mile and a half from downtown.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Take the house tour; the family history is the heart of Linden.
- Ask your hosts about the carriage in the drive over breakfast.
- Walk out to the front of the house at dusk and look back up the cedar drive.
- Visit during the Natchez spring pilgrimage or the Christmas tours, when the house is open and decorated.
- For groups, ask about the guest house, which has three bedrooms and two baths.
- Pair your stay with dinner or a tour at Monmouth or Dunleith, two more haunted Natchez inns.
Want to investigate, not just sleep?
Sleeping in a haunted hotel is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through the building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and lets you explore on your own during free roam.
- Thomas House Hotel Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Red Boiling Springs, TN: Investigate a haunted hotel all night, then sleep in it.
- Old Moore County Jail and Old Lynchburg Funeral Home Ghost Hunt, Lynchburg, TN: A jail and a funeral home in one night, in southern Tennessee.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Monmouth Historic Inn, Natchez: General Quitman’s 1818 mansion, where he is said to check on guests
- Dunleith Historic Inn, Natchez: a columned mansion where a woman is heard playing the harp
- Cedar Grove Mansion Inn, Vicksburg: an 1840 mansion with a cannonball in the parlor wall
- Haunted hotels in Mississippi
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is Linden in Natchez haunted?
Guests report a phantom horse-drawn carriage at the front entrance, a man in a top hat in a child’s bedroom, a woman seen jumping from the roof of the east wing and the tapping of a cane in the west gallery.
How old is Linden?
Its central section dates to about 1785, making it one of the oldest houses in Natchez. It was enlarged in 1818 and 1829.
Did Linden inspire Tara in Gone With the Wind?
Its carved front doorway is often said to have inspired Tara’s front door in the film.
Who owns Linden?
The Conner family has owned it since 1849. The current owner is the sixth generation, and the family runs it as a bed and breakfast.
Can you tour Linden without staying?
Yes. Linden offers house tours through the year, including Christmas tours and the Natchez spring pilgrimage.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Linden Historic Bed and Breakfast: official site
- Wikipedia: Linden (Natchez, Mississippi)
- Visit Vicksburg: Haunted hotels and B&Bs in Mississippi
- Haunted Places: Linden Bed and Breakfast
- OnlyInYourState: Natchez ghost stories
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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 hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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