Louisiana is a state known for Mardi Gras and New Orleans, one of the most haunted cities in America. It is also known as being home to many voodoo practitioners, the French Quarter, plantations, brilliant architecture, swamps and more. Louisiana is also a hotbed of paranormal activity.
Here is a list of the most haunted places in Louisiana!
1. St. Louis Cemetery No.1, New Orleans
High on the list of the most haunted places in New Orleans is the tomb of Marie Laveau. Marie was a famous Voodoo practitioner in New Orleans. She is considered to be a New Orlean’s voodoo queen. When she perished she was buried in her family’s tomb.
It is believed that if you visit her tomb and place an X on it, turn three times, knock on the tomb, and state your wish, Marie Laveau will grant you a wish from the other side. If your wish is granted you are to return to the tomb and not only circle your X but also leave her a gift.
2. Lafitte Guest House, New Orleans
Long before a home was built on the property where the Lafitte Guest House now sits there was a charity hospital. Over the years a simple home was built on the property after the hospital burned down.
Later on, in 1848, the simple home was replaced by a mansion built by Paul Gleise. Many families have lived in the 3-story home since that time.
There are a few stories of hauntings that people continue to share. The saddest paranormal activity that people experience is the sounds of a crying infant.
At one point in the hotel’s history, a little girl named Marie contracted yellow fever. Unfortunately, little Marie never recovered and perished in room 21. People who have stayed in that room say you can see her image in the mirror in that room.
Other people have said Marie appears and attempts to speak with children visiting the hotel. Another haunting people experience is the sound of Marie’s mother sobbing in the same room Marie perished.
Marie’s mother has also been known to turn lights off and on and wander around the grounds of the hotel. [CHECK AVAILABILITY]
Read more on the haunted Lafitte Guest House, New Orleans
3. Hotel Provincial, New Orleans
One of the most haunted places in New Orleans, The Hotel Provincial is located in New Orleans’s French Quarter. It has a history dating back to 1725.
The Hotel consists of five different buildings. The five buildings are 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500.
The buildings served as both personal and commercial structures. At one point the Hotel was the French Market Ice Company while at others it served as a private residence with slave quarters.
Prior to the construction of building 300, a medicinal herb garden was planted in the area. All the buildings served many purposes, including as a Confederate hospital.
Visitors and staff members of the Hotel Provincial have experienced a variety of ghostly encounters. People have seen pools of blood appear and disappear on different floors of the hotel.
Others have experienced blood stains on linens appearing then disappearing in certain rooms of the hotel. The appearance of injured and bloody soldiers is a common occurrence.
Two different soldiers make their presence known in a couple of the rooms. It is said they enjoy playing music on the room’s radio, appear in solid form, and make eye contact.
Surgeons have also been witnessed roaming around the Hotel. [CHECK AVAILABILITY]
Read more on the haunted Provincial Hotel in New Orleans
4. Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, Shreveport
Built between 1926 and 1929, the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium is home to some intriguing paranormal activity.
The building is home to concerts, Broadway plays, family shows, boxing events, and various special events. Famous performers in the auditorium include Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash.
Paranormal activities people have claimed to experience at the “Muni” include strange sounds, voices, and a door opening and closing on its own.
Other people have seen a young girl in a blue dress. One urban legend states a woman gave birth in a basement bathroom. She apparently returns and is heard moaning reliving the delivery.
Learn more about the Shreveport’s haunted Municipal Auditorium
5. Bourbon Orleans, New Orleans
One of the most haunted hotels in New Orleans, The Bourbon Orleans is a luxury hotel located in NOLA’s famous French Quarter. John Davis had the building built back in 1817. He opened the building as the Orleans Ballroom.
It is believed that the Bourbon Orleans Hotel is home to no less than 17 different ghosts.
The hotel is said to be home to countless children who lived on the property when the building served as an orphanage.
One of the children, a little girl on the sixth floor, likes to chase after her ball in the corridors. Staff members and guests have both seen and heard this occurring.
Other people have seen the likes of nuns wandering throughout the hotel.
Other guests include a woman dancing in the ballroom and a Confederate soldier who roams the third and sixth floors.[CHECK AVAILABILITY]
Learn more about the haunted Bourbon Orleans, New Orleans
6. Magnolia Plantation, Derry
Magnolia Plantation’s origins date back to the 18th century. Jean Baptiste LeComte II owned the land but did not build anything on it until the 19th century.
The plantation, which operated in 1830, underwent considerable changes once Ambrose, Jean Baptiste’s son, married Julia Buard. In total, the plantation had 21 main buildings erected on the property as well as brick cabins and eight additional quarters.
Countless people have lived in the buildings as both tenant farmers and plantation laborers.
Stories of people experiencing unusual occurrences or seeing things are not unusual. There are those that say the ghosts of former slaves who lived and worked on the plantation are present.
One room on the plantation is believed to be the room where residents went to die. It is now called “The Dying Room.”
Another room is believed to be where prisoners poisoned and drove a Union General crazy. People state they can see the distorted face of a man in the window of that room.
Read about the hauntings at Magnolia Plantation, Derry, Louisiana
7. Old Louisiana State Capitol, Baton Rouge
When it was decided that Baton Rouge needed a building for the Louisiana Legislature James Darkin came up with the concept for the Old Louisiana State Capitol.
The building served as a seat for the government until the Civil War when the legislators left and the State Capitol became a prison.
Later Union troops used it as a garrison. When they left it was nothing more than a shell of its former glory. It has since been restored and serves as a museum.
Paranormal activity has been experienced by visitors to the Old Louisiana State Capitol and people employed at the building.
Some say they feel as though they are being watched or hear footsteps in empty hallways. Doors opening and closing on their own is something else that people have witnessed.
The ghost of a little girl named Sara Morgan has also been seen on the grounds and property. She was apparently the daughter of the family who donated the property and lived during the time of the Civil War.
According to reports, she was witness to the Capitol building being built, burned down then rebuilt.
Read more about the haunted Old Capitol State building, Louisiana
8. The Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville
Arguably the most haunted hotel in Louisiana, The Myrtles Plantation was built back in 1796 for General David “Whiskey Dave” Bradford. Bradford originally called the plantation, Laurel Grove. Bradford lived on the plantation by himself until his wife, Elizabeth, moved from Pennsylvania with the rest of the family to join him.
Over the years the plantation has changed ownership multiple times. Bradford’s daughter, Sara Mathilda, and her husband, Clark Woodruff, took control of the plantation in 1808 following her father’s passing.
They maintained ownership until 1851 when Ruffin Gray Stirling and his wife purchased the plantation. They did extensive remodeling to the plantation almost doubling the original size. The plantation changed hands many times following Stirling’s death in 1854.
If you visit the Myrtles Plantation today you will be visiting what is considered to be one of the most haunted plantations in the entire United States.
Currently, the Myrtles Plantation is a bed and breakfast that is as well known for its incredible service as it is for its paranormal activity.
See also: Louisiana’s Most Haunted Plantations
Visitors and tourists visit the location to have the opportunity to stay on the property or to attend many of the different events people host at the Myrtles Plantation.
With regard to the paranormal activity at Myrtles Plantation, the claims of activity have been so extensive Myrtles has been featured in books, TV shows, and movies.
Countless paranormal investigators have come to the location to investigate the claims made; this includes teams from the SyFy Channel and the TAPS team.
Some of the claims included the sighting of two murdered children and Chloe, a servant who was hung after poisoning a cake Clark Woodruff’s family ate and subsequently died.
The dying footsteps of William Drew Winter, an attorney who lived and was murdered on the plantation, have been heard by staff members and visitors alike. The grand piano is often heard, playing the same song by itself. [CHECK AVAILABILITY]
Learn more about the haunted happenings at Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville