Haunted Places in Little Rock, AR: 7 Places You Can Visit
A legislator knifed on the House floor, a capitol built on a prison, an arsenal where a general was born and a teenage spy was hanged nearby. Little Rock’s ghosts are tied to real history, and most of it is free to see.
Little Rock’s haunted places cluster around downtown and the old Quapaw Quarter, and nearly all of them are public buildings you can walk into. Two are hotels where you can stay the night. We have checked the history behind every story and say plainly where a ghost story has no record behind it, which in a few cases is most of it.
The city’s visitor bureau publishes a self-guided route of haunted stops starting at the Old State House, and local walking tours run through the same streets. In October, the MacArthur Museum hosts a paranormal expo and Mount Holly Cemetery holds Tales of the Crypt, a free evening of graveside history performed by high school drama students.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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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 Little Rock?
The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, in the 1840 Tower Building of the old arsenal, has the most reports: a woman in white on the stairs, footsteps on the empty top floor and voices recorded by investigators. The Old State House, where a legislator was killed in 1837, is the most famous story.
Is the Old State House haunted?
Some employees have described noises and chills, and stories name Rep. J. J. Anthony, killed on the House floor in 1837. Other staff dismiss the idea. The museum is free and open Tuesday to Sunday.
Is the Arkansas State Capitol haunted?
Capitol police and custodians have long told stories of voices in the basement, and the elevator is linked to Ira Gurley, crushed in its doorway in 1932. The Capitol stands on the site of the old state penitentiary, which ran until 1899.
Can you visit Mount Holly Cemetery?
Yes. It is Little Rock’s oldest cemetery, open to respectful visitors by day. In October, Tales of the Crypt brings costumed students to the graves of famous Arkansans.
Are there ghost tours in Little Rock?
Yes. Local walking tours visit the Old State House, the MacArthur Museum, Mount Holly and the Empress, and the visitor bureau publishes a self-guided haunted route.
Where can I stay in a haunted hotel in Little Rock?
The Capital Hotel on Markham Street and the Empress of Little Rock, a Victorian bed and breakfast, both have ghost stories and their own guides on our site.
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.
