Haunted Mobile, AL: 12 Haunted Places In and Around the City
A hanged man’s oak, a battleship on the bay, a lady in white on a hotel veranda and mansions where the family never left. These are the haunted places in and around Mobile, with what is history, what is legend and how to visit.
Mobile is more than 300 years old, and its ghost stories cluster in the oldest parts of town: Church Street Graveyard and the Boyington Oak, the De Tonti Square houses, the Oakleigh Garden District and the downtown inns. We have added the big haunted sites around the bay too: the USS Alabama, the twin Civil War forts at the mouth of Mobile Bay and the ghost town battlefield at Blakeley. Every place below was checked against current sources, and we say plainly where a story has no record behind it. Several are hotels, so you can sleep where the stories are set.
Address Mobile Point, end of State Highway 180 (110 Highway 180), Gulf Shores, AL 36542
Where to look The old barracks, the casemates and the room where a Civil War shell exploded
Reported ghosts A prisoner who hanged himself in 1917, a young woman searching for her attacker, screaming soldiers
Visiting State historic site open to the public; admission charged
Tours Occasional after-dark ghost tours run by outside groups
Tickets Adults $7, seniors and students $5, children 6 to 12 $4
Ghost hunting Only on organized paranormal events
This brick pentagonal fort on Mobile Point, designed by Napoleon’s former engineer Simon Bernard, guarded the mouth of Mobile Bay from 1834. Admiral Farragut’s fleet ran past its guns on August 5, 1864 at the Battle of Mobile Bay, and after a two-week siege its 581 defenders surrendered on August 23. The Army used it again through both world wars, and it has been a National Historic Landmark since 1960.
Alabama Living and the Alabama Tourism Department both repeat the fort’s best-known stories: a prisoner said to have hanged himself in the barracks in 1917, screams from men killed when a shell exploded in a casemate, and a young woman attacked in the 1800s who still searches the fort for her attacker. A longtime interpreter calls it hallowed ground, and outside groups have run after-dark ghost tours.
Haunted Rooms tip: Arrive in the late afternoon, walk the casemates and the barracks before closing, and stay for sunset over the Gulf from the ramparts.
Hours and season Daily 8 AM to 5 PM (last tickets 4 PM), closed Christmas Day
Tickets Admission charged
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
The battleship was commissioned in August 1942, served first with the British Home Fleet on Arctic convoys and then across the Pacific, and came home to Mobile Bay in September 1964 after a statewide campaign raised the money to save her. She opened as a museum on January 9, 1965, became a National Historic Landmark in 1986 and survived a list to port in Hurricane Katrina.
She lost no men to enemy fire, but on February 21, 1944 one of her own 5-inch mounts fired into another, killing five sailors and wounding eleven. Visitors and docents tell of footsteps coming toward them on empty decks, hatches slamming, voices below deck and the feeling of being watched in the berthing spaces. The museum itself does not promote ghost stories.
Haunted Rooms tip: Go late in the day, follow the tour route below deck through the crew berths and galley, then come back out to see the ship floodlit over the bay.
Where to look The Crystal Ballroom, the fifth floor and Room 552, the domed lobby
Reported ghosts A lady in red in the Crystal Ballroom, Henry Butler on the fifth floor, a grey-suited man in wedding photos
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay the night
Ghost hunting No public investigations; you can stay the night as a guest
The first Battle House opened in 1852 on the site of Andrew Jackson’s War of 1812 headquarters and hosted Henry Clay, Jefferson Davis and Stephen Douglas. It burned in 1905, was rebuilt in 1908, closed in 1974 and stood empty for some 30 years before a restoration reopened it in May 2007 as a Renaissance hotel beside the RSA Battle House Tower.
The best-known story is a lady in red, said to be a bride abandoned around 1910, seen in the Crystal Ballroom with flickering lights and cold spots. Mobile lore also places former Mardi Gras king Henry Butler, beaten to death in Room 552 in the 1930s, on the fifth floor. During restoration, workers said their tools went missing and finished work was undone overnight.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for a fifth-floor room, then walk through the lobby to see the Crystal Ballroom doors in the evening.
Where to look The veranda outside Room 007, the lobby chandelier and the hidden bunker under the stairs
Reported ghosts A lady in white on the Room 007 veranda, a swinging chandelier, soldiers in guests' dreams
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay the night
Ghost hunting No public investigations; you can stay the night as a guest
The Malaga Inn is a family-run hotel made from two 1862 townhouses in downtown Mobile, joined together in the 1960s; the lobby was once the yard between them. It opened as an inn in 1968, and USA Today readers voted it the sixth-best haunted hotel in America in 2022. A maintenance worker found a hidden bunker beneath the stairs in the 1990s.
Guests talk about a lady in white pacing the veranda outside Room 007, the inn’s only odd-numbered room. The owner’s family has suggested she may be Maime Sinclair, the grandmother who helped open the inn and loved James Bond. Others report the lobby chandelier swinging, televisions switching on, devices unplugged overnight, clocks reset while they slept and dreams about soldiers.
Haunted Rooms tip: Request Room 007 directly with the inn; it is the room on the veranda where the lady in white is seen.
Where to look The live oak outside the northwest wall on Bayou Street
Reported ghosts Charles Boyington, heard whispering and protesting his innocence
Visiting The oak is on a public sidewalk; the city-owned graveyard is open in daylight
Tours Included on downtown Mobile ghost walks
Ghost hunting No ghost hunting in the graveyard
Church Street Graveyard opened in 1819 behind what is now the Mobile Public Library, and its four walled acres hold yellow fever victims, Mardi Gras founder Joe Cain and General Edmund Gaines. In May 1834 printer Charles R. S. Boyington was seen walking toward it with his roommate Nathaniel Frost, who was later found stabbed and robbed nearby. Boyington was hanged on February 20, 1835, insisting he was innocent.
Legend says he swore a mighty oak would grow from his heart to prove it, and a live oak did rise over his grave in the potter’s field. When the wall was moved after 1900 the tree ended up just outside it, beside a marker that calls him unjustly hanged. Passersby say they hear whispering and sobbing in the branches. Whether he was innocent is not on record.
Haunted Rooms tip: See the oak and its historical marker from the sidewalk any time, then visit the graveyard itself in daylight when the gates are open.
Address 51 Bienville Boulevard, Dauphin Island, AL 36528
Where to look The brick parapets facing the bay
Reported ghosts A woman in a hoop skirt walking the parapets, soldiers who follow visitors to the gate
Visiting Historic site open to the public; admission charged
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
Work on Fort Gaines began around 1819 at the eastern tip of Dauphin Island, but storms and budget trouble meant it took decades to finish. With Fort Morgan it guarded the mouth of Mobile Bay, and after the Battle of Mobile Bay the Union fleet shelled it for nearly three days until Colonel Charles Anderson surrendered on August 8, 1864. Its museum holds the anchor of Farragut’s flagship Hartford.
Dauphin Island’s museum director told WKRG in 2019 that the fort is doubly haunted, by soldiers and by the women tied to them, and that drivers have seen a woman in a full hoop skirt walking the parapets. Visitors also speak of cold spots and of a soldier who follows people until they leave by the gate. Southern Spirit Guide notes it found few detailed reports beyond these.
Haunted Rooms tip: Walk the walls and the museum by day, then drive back past the fort at dusk to look for the lady on the parapet.
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 34745 State Highway 225, Spanish Fort, AL 36527
Where to look The old town cemetery, the hanging tree and the Fort Blakeley earthworks
Reported ghosts Confederate soldiers, including one who gave his name as Jeffrey; figures in the wrong clothes
Visiting State park open daily; admission charged
Hours and season 8 AM to dusk, every day
Tickets Adults $5, children 6 to 12 $3
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts; cabins and campsites for overnight stays
Josiah Blakeley laid out this river town in 1813 to rival Mobile, and by the early 1820s it had more people than its neighbor. Yellow fever in 1822, 1826 and 1828 filled mass graves, and the town faded. On April 9, 1865, about 16,000 Union troops overran 3,500 Confederates here in one of the war’s last major battles. The 2,000-acre park keeps the earthworks, cemetery and old courthouse and jail foundations.
The park’s director told WKRG in 2019 that if any place is haunted, this one should be. Staff tell of a young man in Confederate uniform who gave his name as Jeffrey, visitors who see translucent figures or people in odd clothes, and campers near the cemetery who say they are not alone. A huge oak on the old square is called the hanging tree; that use is legend, not record.
What investigators report
Guided ghost hunts here have attendees run EVP recorders and EMF meters around the earthworks and cannon positions, keeping phones silent and voices low so recordings can be played back as a group.
Haunted Rooms tip: Drive the numbered auto tour to the earthworks, then walk the old town square and cemetery late in the day; the park stays open until dusk.
Where to look The upstairs windows, the parlor and the staircase
Reported ghosts A woman in a full skirt at an upstairs window, piano music at night, a music box that plays by itself
Visiting House museum with guided tours
Ghost hunting Occasional public ghost hunt nights (one ran in November 2019)
James W. Roper built this Greek Revival house in 1833 on the edge of Mobile with enslaved and free workers, then lost his fortune in the Panic of 1837. The Irwin family lived here from 1852, and the Historic Mobile Preservation Society took it on in 1955; it is now Mobile’s official period house museum, with the Cook’s House and the Cox-Deasy Cottage on the grounds.
Oakleigh’s manager told WKRG in 2019 that her first encounter was a woman in old-fashioned, full-skirted clothes watching her from an upstairs window while the alarm was set. Staff and overnight guests describe piano music playing all night, a broken music box playing at closing time, shadow figures on the stairs and a deck of cards that moves while the house is locked.
Haunted Rooms tip: Take the guided tour and ask about the music box; the museum has hosted occasional public ghost hunts around Halloween.
Where to look The upstairs back window, the attic and the tool shed behind the house
Reported ghosts A woman at an upstairs window with a ghostly cat, Judge Bragg, a gray figure
Visiting Guided tours only
Hours and season Tours Tuesday to Friday on the hour, 10 AM to 3 PM
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
Judge John Bragg, a lawyer who served in Congress, began this white Greek Revival mansion in 1855 as his family’s town house on Springhill Avenue. During the Civil War every live oak on the grounds was cut down to give Confederate guns a clear field of fire. A. S. Mitchell bought it in 1924, and today it is a house museum and one of the most photographed buildings in Mobile.
Visitors since the 1970s have described a woman staring out of an upstairs window toward the back field, sometimes with a ghostly cat, and Judge Bragg himself. Southern Spirit Guide adds a gray figure some call General Braxton Bragg and an air conditioning installer who was locked in the attic. A local legend about a Bragg daughter and a forbidden love has no record behind it.
Haunted Rooms tip: Tours run on the hour Tuesday to Friday; take the last one of the day and ask which window the lady is seen in.
Address 256 North Joachim Street, Mobile, AL 36603
Where to look The staircase, the red bedroom and the child's room upstairs
Reported ghosts Children playing on the stairs, a woman at the red bedroom window, a man in an 1860s frock coat
Visiting House museum with guided tours
Hours and season Monday and Friday 11 AM to 3:30 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 4 PM, Sunday 1 PM to 4 PM (2023 hours)
Ghost hunting No public ghost hunts
Steamboat captain Charles G. Richards built this Italianate brick house in 1860 in what is now the De Tonti Square district, and its cast iron lace, showing the four seasons, is called the most elaborate in Mobile. His wife Caroline died in 1867 after the birth of their twelfth child, and four of the children died young. The city has owned it since 1973 and the Daughters of the American Revolution run it as a museum.
Volunteers describe children playing on the stairs and marbles left on a child’s bed that are found moved in the morning. A photographer caught a shadowy figure by an upstairs curtain, a woman has been seen staring out of the red bedroom, and one employee saw a man in 1860s dress reflected on the couch behind her. The board’s view is that it is simply the Richards family still at home.
What investigators report
Investigators report leaving marbles out and telling the spirit children they could keep them if they moved them, and later finding the marbles had moved. Staff and visitors also report sounds of children playing on the staircase, especially just after opening up.
Where to look The second floor of the main house and the Antunez cottage
Reported ghosts A Confederate soldier at a cottage window, phantom footsteps, voices in empty rooms
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay the night
Ghost hunting No public investigations; you can stay the night as a guest
Fort Conde Inn is a 19-room boutique inn in Mobile’s historic Fort Conde Village, made up of an 1836 main house, once known as the Hall-Ford House, and three restored cottages along shaded brick streets, a short walk from the reconstructed Fort Conde and the waterfront. Breakfast is served in the main house or the courtyard, and the cottages take pets.
Guests most often describe voices and a strong sense of company on the second floor of the main house, and lights that flicker after they are switched off. The strangest stories come from the Antunez cottage, where workers say they heard heavy footsteps climbing empty stairs, watched a bucket roll down the steps by itself and once saw a Confederate soldier standing at a window.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book a second-floor room in the 1836 main house, or the Antunez cottage if you are traveling as a group.
Where to look Isabel's Room, the butler's pantry and the dining room
Reported ghosts A little girl running through the house, Isabel Shepard, a playful presence in the pantry
Visiting A working hotel; book a room to stay the night
Ghost hunting No public investigations; you can stay the night as a guest
The Kate Shepard House is an 1897 Queen Anne home on Monterey Place in midtown Mobile, now a small bed and breakfast with rooms named for the house’s history. Kate Shepard ran a school here for decades until her death in 1952, and her sister Isabel died in the house. Its owners put it up for sale in 2021, and it still takes guests today.
The owners have called the activity mischievous rather than frightening. A guest and a contractor both asked about a little girl they saw running through the house, though no child lived there. The butler’s pantry door is said to have flown open in front of the owners, and an antique plate flew off the dining room mantel during a meal. Isabel’s Room is the one to ask for.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book Isabel’s Room, named for Kate Shepard’s sister, who died in the house.
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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 Mobile, Alabama?
The USS Alabama and the Boyington Oak in Church Street Graveyard are the best known, followed by the Malaga Inn’s Room 007, the Battle House’s Crystal Ballroom and the Richards DAR House.
What is the story of the Boyington Oak?
Charles Boyington was hanged on February 20, 1835 for the murder of his roommate Nathaniel Frost, insisting he was innocent. Legend says he swore an oak would grow from his heart to prove it, and a live oak did grow over his grave. It now stands just outside the graveyard wall on Bayou Street.
Are there ghost tours in Mobile?
Yes. Visit Mobile lists Secret History Tours of Mobile, whose walks include stories at the Malaga Inn, and Mobile’s Original Ghost Tour, plus a Port City Phantoms Trail you can follow yourself. Most downtown walks pass the Boyington Oak.
Can you stay in a haunted hotel in Mobile?
Yes. The Malaga Inn, the Battle House, the Fort Conde Inn and the Kate Shepard House all take guests, and each has its own ghost story. Room 007 at the Malaga Inn and the fifth floor of the Battle House are the most requested.
Is the USS Alabama haunted?
Visitors and docents report footsteps on empty decks, slamming hatches and voices below deck, often linked to the five men killed when one of the ship’s guns fired into another in February 1944. The museum does not promote ghost stories.
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.
