Haunted Natchez, MS: 10 Haunted Places In and Around the City
The oldest town on the Mississippi has an outlaws’ landing under the bluff, a tavern at the end of the Trace, an unfinished octagon and a stone angel that seems to turn as you drive by. These are the haunted places in and around Natchez, with what is history, what is legend and how to visit.
Natchez sat at the end of the Natchez Trace and grew rich on cotton grown by enslaved people; before the Civil War its slave market at the Forks of the Road was one of the largest in the Deep South. That history sits beside the mansions that the town’s Pilgrimage tours have shown since the 1930s, and almost every old house has a ghost story. We checked each place below against current sources: which are open, which run evening ghost tours, which you can only see from the street and which stories have no record behind them. Three of the town’s haunted inns let you stay the night.
Where to look The upstairs rooms, the old fireplace wall and the mirrors
Reported ghosts Madeline, a crying baby, an outlaw's shadow
Visiting Closed and for sale; exterior only from the street
Ghost hunting Closed building: no visits or ghost hunts
Often called the oldest building in Natchez, King’s Tavern was built of ship timbers and flatboat boards, probably in the 1790s, though its marker claims 1769. Richard King ran it as an inn, tavern and mail stop at the end of the Natchez Trace from 1789. It was a family home for about 150 years, then a restaurant on and off until about 2022. It has been closed since and is listed for sale.
The famous ghost is Madeline, said to be King’s mistress and murdered by his wife. In the 1930s, the remains of two men and a woman were reportedly found sealed in the wall behind a fireplace, with a jeweled dagger. Staff over the years reported a baby crying in empty rooms, faces in mirrors, warm empty beds and hair being pulled. None of the names can be proved.
Haunted Rooms tip: It is closed and for sale, so admire the old timber front from Jefferson Street and pair it with a Natchez walking ghost tour.
Address 140 Lower Woodville Road, Natchez, MS 39120
Where to look The grand staircase, the unfinished upper floors and the family cemetery
Reported ghosts Haller and Julia Nutt and their children
Visiting House museum of the Pilgrimage Garden Club; guided tours
Tours Daily house tours; Echoes of Longwood ghost tour Thursday to Saturday at 7 PM, mid September to October 31
Tickets Ghost tour $25
Ghost hunting Lantern ghost tours; no public ghost hunts
Cotton planter Haller Nutt hired Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan in 1859 for a six-story octagonal villa with an onion dome, the largest octagonal house in America. Sloan’s Northern workmen left when the Civil War began in 1861, and only the nine basement rooms were finished, by local workers and enslaved people. Nutt died in 1864, and Julia raised their children in the basement until 1897.
Nutt descendants owned it until 1968; the Pilgrimage Garden Club now runs it as a museum and National Historic Landmark. Guides and visitors say the Nutts never left: Julia is seen on the staircase, Haller in the garden or the bare upper floors he never saw finished, and children’s laughter is heard after dark. The fall Echoes of Longwood tour is lantern-lit.
What investigators report
Longwood’s historian told WLOX that investigators using a device to pick up spirit voices in the children’s playroom reported capturing voices, and that their instruments were found dead the next morning.
Where to look The Turning Angel, Florence Irene Ford's grave and Louise the Unfortunate
Reported ghosts The Turning Angel, little Irene Ford during storms
Visiting City cemetery, open daily
Tours Self-guided tour CDs; Angels on the Bluff costumed tours each November
Hours and season 7 AM to dusk
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting; gates lock at dusk
Natchez moved its dead to this bluff above the Mississippi in 1822 and has buried them here ever since: about 10,000 marked graves, iron fences, marble by Edwin Lyon and Robert Rawes, and sections first laid out by faith and race. The Turning Angel stands over five young women killed when the Natchez Drug Company exploded on March 14, 1908; headlights on Cemetery Road make her seem to turn.
Ten-year-old Florence Irene Ford died of yellow fever in 1871. Afraid of storms, she had a mother who built steps down to a window at the head of her coffin so she could sit with her; the window was walled up in the 1950s. Stories say Irene is heard in thunderstorms. Louise the Unfortunate, buried under that name alone, is the other legend.
What investigators report
Members of a Mississippi paranormal group have held EVP sessions sitting on the steps dug beside Florence Irene Ford’s grave, which were built for her grieving mother.
Haunted Rooms tip: Pick up the self-guided tour at the office, drive slowly past the Turning Angel at dusk, and see Angels on the Bluff in early November.
Address 1358 John A. Quitman Boulevard, Natchez, MS 39120
Where to look The main house halls, the attic stairs and the gardens
Reported ghosts General John A. Quitman
Visiting A working inn; book a room to stay the night
Ghost hunting No public investigations; you can stay the night as a guest
Monmouth was built about 1818 by John and Sarah Hankinson and bought in 1826 by John A. Quitman, later governor of Mississippi and a Mexican War general, who died here in 1858. Restored from 1978 and now a National Historic Landmark, it is a 30-room inn with Restaurant 1818 and a lounge full of Quitman’s belongings.
The ghost is the general. Guests say they have been woken by a man in military uniform checking on them in their rooms, and he is seen walking the halls and gardens. Owners during the restoration described heavy footsteps moving through the house.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for the Quitman Room in the main house, and take the daily mansion tour.
Where to look The front rooms and halls shown on the evening tour
Reported ghosts Union soldiers and members of the Fleming family
Visiting Private house museum open for scheduled tours
Tours Pilgrimage and candlelight tours; evening paranormal tours in season (601-446-6890)
Ghost hunting Owner-led paranormal tours; no independent ghost hunts
The Towers is often called the best Italianate house in Natchez, an older house dating to 1798 that was enlarged in the mid 1800s with its two square towers. During the Civil War it was headquarters for Fort McPherson, and Union troops lived here alongside the Fleming family until the family was evicted in 1864. Owners Ginger and James Hyland restored it and show it during Pilgrimage.
The Hylands run an evening tour called A Haunting of The Towers. James shares his own sighting, and guests have reported slamming doors, lights going out and bright spots of light that show only in photographs. The ghosts are said to be Union soldiers and the Flemings.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the 7 PM paranormal tour in spring or fall; it is for ages 15 and up.
Visiting A working inn; book a room to stay the night
Ghost hunting No public investigations; you can stay the night as a guest
Dunleith replaced Routhland, the Routh family home, which lightning burned in 1855. Charles Dahlgren rebuilt it as a columned Greek Revival mansion, and Alfred Vidal Davis, who bought it in 1858, named it Dunleith. A National Historic Landmark since 1974 and run by The J Collection since 2019, it is now an inn with 22 rooms and the Castle restaurant and pub.
The ghost story is gentle: guests report the sound of a harp and a woman seen playing it. Some say she is a daughter of the house who died young, but nobody can say who she is.
What investigators report
A local paranormal society reports EVPs caught around the house and near the old magnolia tree, along with higher EMF readings where there was no known electrical source.
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.
McRaven House Ghost Hunt, Vicksburg: an after-dark ghost hunt in the house that calls itself Mississippi’s most haunted, a Civil War field hospital built in three stages from 1797.
Where to look A downstairs bedroom, the roof line and the front drive
Reported ghosts A man in a top hat, a woman on the roof and a phantom carriage
Visiting A working inn; book a room to stay the night
Ghost hunting No public investigations; you can stay the night as a guest
Linden’s central section dates to about 1785, making it one of the oldest houses in Natchez, and the current owner is the sixth generation of the Conner family to live here. Its carved front doorway is said to have inspired Tara’s in Gone With the Wind. It runs as a bed and breakfast with house tours.
Vicksburg’s visitor bureau lists Linden among Mississippi’s haunted stays. Guests report a phantom horse-drawn carriage at the front entrance, a cane tapping in the west gallery, a man in a top hat in a child’s bedroom and a woman who jumps from the roof and vanishes before she reaches the ground.
Haunted Rooms tip: Take the house tour and ask the family about the carriage in the drive.
Address Highway 552 near Alcorn State University, Claiborne County, MS
Where to look The columns and the site of the front doorway
Reported ghosts A Union soldier, the builder, the sound of a party
Visiting State historic site, open daily
Hours and season Dawn to dusk
Tickets Free
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting; no visitor facilities on site
Smith Coffee Daniell II built Windsor in 1859 to 1861 at the center of a 2,600-acre cotton plantation. Enslaved people, about 500 on the plantation, made the bricks and built the house, and a plaque marks the site of their quarters. Daniell died weeks after it was finished. Union troops used it as a hospital after the Battle of Port Gibson in 1863. A fire in 1890 left only the columns.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History owns the site and finished stabilizing the 23 full columns in 2024, adding a trail and signs about both the owners and the enslaved people. The ghost stories are folklore: a Union soldier in the old doorway, a man in period dress who fades away, and the sound of a long-ago party.
Haunted Rooms tip: Read the new signs on the trail, including the plaque for the enslaved people who built Windsor, and leave before dusk on the rural roads.
Where to look The parlor by the piano and the upstairs bedrooms
Reported ghosts Thomas Henderson, and a woman near the piano
Visiting House museum of the Natchez Garden Club; tours
Tours House tours, especially during Pilgrimage
Ghost hunting Occasional ticketed paranormal evenings run with the club
Merchant and cotton broker Thomas Henderson built this Greek Revival mansion in 1858, the last great house finished in Natchez before the Civil War. The family story is that a shell from the Union gunboat Essex hit the soup tureen in the kitchen during the bombardment of the town. The Natchez Garden Club restored it and shows antiques downstairs and a costume collection upstairs.
Local legend says Henderson never left, and a woman is felt near the piano. A former guide told the Natchez Democrat about footsteps, shadows, flickering lights and a dent in a bedroom pillow when Turner South filmed here in 2005, and the Garden Club has hosted paranormal evenings called Is That You, Mr. Henderson?
What investigators report
A local team that investigated overnight with cameras, thermal equipment and Mel meters focused on a female spirit reported near the piano and on the legend of the former owner.
Where to look The upstairs Mark Twain Guest House, Room No. 1
Reported ghosts A murdered woman upstairs; outlaws' laughter on Silver Street
Visiting Working bar with live music; open to the public
Ghost hunting No investigations; walking ghost tours of Natchez stop nearby
Natchez Under-the-Hill, the landing below the bluffs, was once the rowdiest river port in America, a strip of saloons, brothels and gambling dens for flatboatmen. An 1816 traveler called it the most licentious spot he ever saw. This saloon, about 200 years old and once a brothel, is the last survivor, with the Mark Twain Guest House upstairs, where Twain is said to have stayed as a river pilot.
The legend upstairs is of a woman whose jealous husband cut her throat and threw her from a window. Co-owner Andre Farish told the Natchez Democrat in 2015 that guests and musicians reported moved objects, a dent on a bed, a mirror flying off the wall and a locked door opening by itself. Silver Street lore adds the laughter of outlaw Joseph Thompson Hare.
Haunted Rooms tip: Grab a drink on the porch at sunset and ask the bartender about Room No. 1.
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.
Glenburnie and the Goat Castle site, Natchez
In August 1932 Jennie Merrill was shot at Glenburnie, her home, in the Goat Castle murder that made national headlines. Her eccentric neighbors at Glenwood, nicknamed Goat Castle, were arrested but never tried; Emily Burns, an innocent Black woman, was the only person punished, serving eight years at Parchman. Glenburnie is a restored private home and Goat Castle was torn down in 1955, so there is nothing to visit; the stories of Jennie’s ghost are legend.
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 Natchez haunted?
Natchez has more ghost stories than almost any town in the South, from Madeline at King’s Tavern and General Quitman at Monmouth to the Turning Angel in the city cemetery and the Nutt family at Longwood. They are local legends and guest reports rather than records.
What is the most haunted place in Natchez?
King’s Tavern, the town’s oldest building, is the most famous, but it is closed and for sale. Of the places you can visit, the Natchez City Cemetery, Longwood and The Towers are the best known, and Monmouth and Linden are the most haunted places to stay.
Are there ghost tours in Natchez?
Yes. Longwood runs lantern-lit Echoes of Longwood tours on fall evenings, The Towers’ owners lead evening paranormal tours in spring and fall, and the city cemetery holds costumed Angels on the Bluff tours each November.
Why is it called the Turning Angel?
The angel stands over five young women killed in the Natchez Drug Company explosion of March 14, 1908. As car headlights sweep across her on Cemetery Road, she appears to turn her head, which historians put down to the angle of the road.
Can you stay in a haunted house in Natchez?
Yes. Monmouth Historic Inn, Dunleith Historic Inn and Linden Bed and Breakfast are all historic houses with ghost stories that take overnight guests.
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. Each place shows how many independent sources we checked it against; our own Haunted Rooms pages are not counted.
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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.
