Haunted places guide · Orrville, Alabama

Old Cahawba: Alabama's Ghost Town Capital and the Specter in the Maze

Alabama’s first permanent capital rose and fell twice where two rivers meet. Today its streets run through woods and fields, its cemeteries outnumber its buildings, and a glowing ball of light is said to drift through a garden that disappeared long ago.

By The Haunted Rooms Team · Updated November 2026 · How we rate places

3.8/5Haunted Rooms Score
1820Becomes the state capital
853 acresProtected as a state park

Our nearest ghost hunt: Lynchburg Jail, TNMeet the ghosts

Old Cahawba lies in the Black Belt southwest of Selma, at the point where the Cahaba River flows into the Alabama. It was chosen as the state capital in 1820, lost that title in 1826, boomed again as a cotton port, held thousands of Union prisoners in the Civil War and then emptied almost completely. By the early 1900s most of its buildings had been pulled down for their materials.

The Alabama Historical Commission now runs the site as Old Cahawba Archaeological Park, a place of grassy street grids, brick columns, churches moved in from elsewhere and quiet graveyards. It is also home to one of Alabama’s most famous ghost stories, retold by Kathryn Tucker Windham in 1969 and filmed for public television in 2026.

Old Cahawba at a glance

3.8/5
Haunted Rooms Score
Haunted reputation4
History5
Ghost hunter access2
Open to the public
  • Address 9518 Cahaba Road, Orrville, AL 36767 (about 14 miles from Selma)
  • History State capital 1820 to 1826; Castle Morgan prison 1863 to 1865; abandoned by about 1903; National Register 1973
  • Most haunted spots The site of the Pegues garden maze, the New Cemetery and the old town streets
  • Reported ghosts Pegues’ Ghost, a floating ball of light; children laughing in the graveyard
  • Visiting Grounds open daily 9 AM to 5 PM; welcome center Thursday to Monday
  • Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts; daytime visits

Our nearest ghost hunt: Lynchburg Jail, TN Visit / tours

History of Old Cahawba

When Alabama became a state in 1819, its leaders picked a new town at the meeting of the Cahaba and Alabama rivers as the permanent capital. Cahawba was laid out in 1820 on a grid of streets beside the water. But the site was low and flooded often, and in 1826 the legislature moved the capital to Tuscaloosa. Many thought the town would die then.

Instead it revived as a river port for the cotton plantations of the Black Belt, built on the labor of enslaved people, and in the 1850s it was a prosperous county seat with grand houses and churches. Its population was 1,920 in 1860.

In 1863 the Confederacy turned an unfinished brick cotton warehouse on the riverbank into a prison for captured Union soldiers, known as Castle Morgan or Cahaba Federal Prison. About 9,000 men passed through. When Andersonville filled up it held around 3,000, far more than its few hundred bunks, and that crowding came as a major flood swamped the town in February 1865. Contaminated water, poor food and disease killed 142 to 147 men, a death rate under two percent, far lower than most prisons of the war.

After the war the county seat moved to Selma in 1866, and businesses and families followed. By 1870 only 431 people remained, most of them freed African Americans, who farmed the empty town blocks before they too moved away. A freedman bought much of the town site for $500 and sold the buildings for their bricks and timber. By 1903 most structures were gone, and only a handful survived past 1930.

The site was listed on the National Register in 1973 and is now protected as an 853-acre park. Archaeologists from the Alabama Historical Commission continue to study it, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, designed by Richard Upjohn, has been moved back to the town and is being restored.

The ghosts of Old Cahawba

Pegues' Ghost, the Specter in the Maze

Colonel C. C. Pegues led the Cahaba Rifles of the Fifth Alabama Regiment. His house was the social center of the town, set in gardens of cedars, magnolias and fountains, with a maze of clipped cedars and circular walks behind it. In June 1862 he was mortally wounded at Gaines’ Mill in Virginia and died two weeks later.

The story, as Old Cahawba’s own history pages and Windham tell it, is that one moonlit night in the spring of 1862 a party strolling in the Pegues garden saw a large white glowing ball floating a few feet above the ground. It darted from side to side, came close enough to touch, vanished into the shrubbery and reappeared beside them. When a gentleman tried to grab it, it disappeared. Others later saw it too, and it became known as Pegues’ Ghost.

An omen, or marsh light?

Tellers have read the light as an omen of the colonel’s death, or of the town’s. The park’s own history offers a plainer explanation: a will-o’-the-wisp, the faint glowing light sometimes seen over wet, marshy ground, which Cahawba has plenty of. Hunters and fishermen still say they see a glowing sphere where the cedar maze used to be, Selma’s newspaper reported in 2004.

Children in the graveyard

Visitors have also reported children’s laughter in the cemeteries, and a paranormal group told the Selma Times-Journal it recorded a hissing sound that seemed to say “yes”. Alabama Public Television’s Jeffrey’s Southern Ghosts filmed The Specter in the Maze on location here in 2026. These are stories and impressions, not records, but few places in Alabama feel as haunted as these empty streets at dusk.

Where to look

  • The Pegues site: where the cedar maze once grew and the ball of light is said to drift.
  • The Crocheron columns: tall brick columns standing alone among the trees, the remains of a mansion.
  • The New Cemetery and the Old Cemetery: where visitors report children’s laughter.
  • The Castle Morgan site: on the riverbank, where Union prisoners were held.

Visiting Old Cahawba

Old Cahawba Archaeological Park is at 9518 Cahaba Road near Orrville. From Selma, take Highway 22 west for about 9 miles, turn left on County Road 9 for 5 miles, then left on County Road 2. The grounds are open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM and the welcome center from Thursday to Monday, 10 AM to 5 PM; the park closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Admission is a few dollars ($2 for adults, $1 for children), and the welcome center offers walking tours, bus tours and wagon tours for a small extra fee. The site is big and open, with grass and gravel paths, and there are no evening hours or public ghost hunts.

  • Visiting State historic park; grounds open daily
  • Hours and season Grounds daily 9 AM to 5 PM; welcome center Thursday to Monday 10 AM to 5 PM
  • Tickets Adults $2, children $1; walking and wagon tours extra
  • Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts; daytime visits only

Tips for your visit

  • Start at the welcome center for a map, then walk the street grid to the Pegues site.
  • Ask about the wagon tours, the easiest way to cover the whole town.
  • Bring water, sunscreen and insect repellent; summers are hot and the ground is low and wet.
  • Combine the visit with Sturdivant Hall and the St. James Hotel in Selma.
  • Watch Jeffrey’s Southern Ghosts: The Specter in the Maze on PBS before you go.

Go ghost hunting nearby

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.

See all Haunted Rooms ghost hunts

More haunted places nearby

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

Is Old Cahawba haunted?

It is famous for Pegues’ Ghost, a glowing ball of light said to float through the garden maze of Colonel C. C. Pegues, and for children’s laughter heard in the cemeteries. These are stories told since the 1860s, not documented events.

Why was Cahawba abandoned?

Floods cost it the state capital in 1826. It recovered as a cotton port, but after the Civil War the county seat moved to Selma in 1866 and people and businesses followed. By 1903 most buildings had been dismantled.

What was Castle Morgan?

A Confederate prison for Union soldiers in a brick cotton warehouse on the riverbank, used from 1863 to 1865. About 9,000 men were held there, and 142 to 147 died.

Can you visit Old Cahawba at night?

No. The grounds are open from 9 AM to 5 PM, and there are no evening ghost tours.

How much does it cost to visit Old Cahawba?

Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children, with small extra fees for walking, bus and wagon tours.

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

Get new haunted places guides by email

New guides, haunted places to visit and ghost hunt dates near you. No spam, unsubscribe any time.

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.