Haunted Places in Texas: The Most Haunted Places to Visit, Region by Region
Battlefields, frontier forts, ghost lights and some of the oldest hotels in the West. These are the most haunted places in Texas that you can actually visit, see or stay in, each checked against current sources.
Texas is big enough that its ghost stories come in regions: the Spanish missions and Alamo Plaza in San Antonio, the riverboat town of Jefferson in East Texas, the frontier forts of West Texas, the storm-battered mansions of Galveston and the lakes and bridges around Dallas-Fort Worth. We have rebuilt this guide from scratch, checked every place against official sites, historic records and news coverage, and told each story honestly, including the ones that turn out to be legend. Use the map and filters to find places near you, and the city guides below for more.
Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts at many of these places, from Presidio La Bahia and Fort Concho to White Rock Lake, Goatman’s Bridge and Miss Molly’s. See our Texas ghost hunts page for dates.
Address Presidio La Bahia, US-183, Goliad, TX 77963
Where to look The chapel, the quarters and the grounds by the walls
Reported ghosts Soldiers of the Texas Revolution, cries heard at night
Visiting Museum open to visitors; check the site for hours
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here
Founded in 1721 and moved to this rise above the San Antonio River around 1749, Presidio La Bahia is one of the finest Spanish colonial forts in America. In 1836 Colonel James Fannin held it as Fort Defiance; after his surrender his men were kept in the chapel, and on March 27, 1836 more than 300 prisoners were shot in the Goliad Massacre. It was restored from 1963 to 1968 and is a museum owned by the Catholic Diocese of Victoria.
The stories told here include a woman in black lighting a candle for her husband, Fannin seated in the courtyard in front of the chapel, orders shouted in Spanish and weeping heard by guests sleeping in the old officers’ Quarters, which can be rented for the night. These are visitor accounts, not records, but few places in Texas carry this much grief. Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts inside the fort.
Haunted Rooms tip: Visit the museum by day, then walk to the Fannin Memorial next door, where the massacre victims are buried.
Open to the publicGhost toursHaunted Rooms ghost hunts
Address Old Alton Bridge over Hickory Creek, between Denton and Copper Canyon, TX
Where to look The middle of the bridge and the trail approaches
Reported ghosts The Goatman, rocks thrown from the dark, strange lights
Visiting Pedestrian bridge on public trails
Tickets Free
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here
The King Bridge Company of Cleveland built this 145-foot iron truss over Hickory Creek in 1884, at an old cattle ford near Alton, a short-lived town that was once the Denton County seat. It carried cars until 2001, when a new bridge opened beside it, and it now links the Elm Fork and Pilot Knoll trails. It was listed on the National Register in 1988.
Locals call it Goatman’s Bridge. The legend says Oscar Washburn, a Black goat farmer, was lynched here by Klansmen in 1938, and that anyone who crosses at night without headlights meets the Goatman. Denton author Shelly Tucker checked census records and found no Oscar Washburn living near the bridge and no record of a lynching, so it stays a legend. Visitors still report figures, lights, hoofbeats and rocks thrown from the dark. Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here.
What investigators report
The best-known visitor ritual is knocking three times on the bridge’s iron trusses, said in local legend to summon the Goatman, though the stories are not based on historical fact.
Where to look The Cattlemen's Room, the Cowboy Room and the Madam's Room
Reported ghosts A cowboy, a madam, a working girl and a young child
Visiting A working hotel; the lobby and bar are open to the public
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms runs overnight ghost hunts here
Up a narrow flight of stairs above the Star Cafe on Exchange Avenue in the Fort Worth Stockyards, Miss Molly’s opened in 1910 as the Palace Rooms. Over the years it was a boarding house, a hotel for cattlemen, a speakeasy during Prohibition, a bordello called the Gayette in the 1940s, and finally Fort Worth’s first bed and breakfast. It has only a handful of themed rooms, and its longtime manager Paula Gowins has told local TV that every one of them has a story.
The regulars are said to be a cowboy mediums call Jake, whom Gowins says she watched walk into a room that was empty when she opened the door; Miss Josie, a madam seen at the foot of beds; a working girl or two; and a little girl. The Cattlemen’s Room and the Cowboy Room get the most reports. It is one of the few haunted hotels where you can join an organized overnight ghost hunt.
What investigators report
Investigators report REM pod alerts in the Railroader Room and on the landing at the top of the stairs, and describe an EVP session in Miss Amelia’s Room where a voice reportedly confirmed the name Amelia.
Haunted Rooms tip: Haunted Rooms runs overnight ghost hunts at Miss Molly’s, so you can investigate the building with our team rather than just sleep in it.
Open to the publicParanormal investigations allowedOvernight investigations
Address 2914 N Shoreline Blvd, Corpus Christi, TX 78402
Where to look The engine rooms, the bridge, the galley and the crew berthing
Reported ghosts Charlie the sailor, footsteps, voices and kitchen smells
Visiting Museum ship open daily, self-guided
Tours Self-guided decks; paranormal overnight investigation and October haunted house on set dates
Hours and season Daily 9 AM to 5 PM (to 6 PM in summer)
Tickets Adults $25, seniors $21, youth $20, children 4 to 12 $15; parking $5; sold at the ship
Ghost hunting Yes, on the museum’s own Blue Ghost Paranormal Overnight Investigation
The USS Lexington is a World War II Essex-class aircraft carrier, commissioned in 1943 and moored on Corpus Christi’s North Beach as a museum since 1992. She fought in almost every major Pacific campaign, was hit by a torpedo in 1943 and a kamikaze in 1944, and served as the Navy’s training carrier at Pensacola until 1991. Japanese propaganda reported her sunk more than once, which is one explanation for her nickname, the Blue Ghost.
Her ghost stories are some of the best known in Texas. Visitors describe a friendly young sailor called Charlie who explains the engine room and then is nowhere to be found, along with footsteps, voices, slamming hatches and the smell of cooking in the old galley. The museum leans into it, with an annual paranormal overnight investigation and a haunted house each October.
What investigators report
TexPart Paranormal report an EVP session with dowsing rods near the mess hall gave the name Paul, the rank Ensign and the number 19, while the hallway’s motion-triggered tour audio kept going off with no one there. The team later matched this to a plaque listing Air Group 19 and Ensign Paul Gevelinger.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the museum’s Blue Ghost Paranormal Overnight Investigation if it is on the calendar: it is the only way to explore the ship after dark and sleep in the crew quarters.
Open to the publicGhost toursHaunted Rooms ghost hunts
Address White Rock Lake Park, East Lawther Dr, Dallas, TX 75218
Where to look East Lawther Drive along the shore, and Flag Pole Hill
Reported ghosts The Lady of the Lake, a drowned young woman in a 1930s evening dress
Visiting City park, open to the public
Hours and season City park hours
Tickets Free
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here
Dallas built White Rock Lake in 1910 and 1911 to end a water shortage, and today its 1,254 acres and 9.3-mile trail are one of the city’s favorite parks, drawing more than a million visitors a year. It also holds Dallas’s most famous ghost story, which first appeared in print in a 1943 Texas Folklore Society collection and was retold in a 1953 book about Neiman Marcus.
The Lady of the Lake is a young woman in a soaked evening dress who flags down drivers on East Lawther Drive at night and asks to be taken home to Gaston Avenue. Partway there she vanishes, leaving a wet seat. Dallas newspapers printed sightings in the 1960s and the story inspired the 1965 song ‘Bringing Mary Home’, but no record of the drowning has ever been found. Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here.
Haunted Rooms tip: Drive or walk East Lawther Drive after dark with a friend, then read our full guide to the legend.
Where to look Room 501, the fifth floor and the west turret
Reported ghosts Audra, 'the Lovelorn Lady'; nuns and children from the 1900 storm
Visiting A working hotel; the lobby and bar are open to the public
Tours Hotel ghost tours led by the concierge, about 90 minutes, booked in advance
Ghost hunting No organized ghost hunts; book a room and stay the night instead
The ‘Queen of the Gulf’ opened on Galveston’s seawall in June 1911 and is the only historic beachfront hotel on the Texas coast; Frank Sinatra, Howard Hughes and Lyndon B. Johnson all stayed, and the Coast Guard used it in World War II. Now the Grand Galvez Resort & Spa, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, it is also the Texas hotel that leans into its ghosts the most: its concierge, Melissa Hall, known as ‘the Ghostess’, leads ghost tours of the hotel all year round, and it hosts a costumed Ghost Bride Ball every October.
That bride is Audra, who, the story goes, waited in Room 501 in the mid-1950s for her sailor fiancé to return. When word came that his ship had gone down, she took her own life in the west turret; he was later found alive. Guests in 501 report lights and TVs switching on, slamming doors and key cards that won’t work. The hotel also tells of Sister Katherine, a nun lost with the orphans of the 1900 storm, seen on the south lawn watching the sea.
What investigators report
Investigators filmed by KHOU set up audio recorders and asked direct questions such as “Where’s your favorite spot in the hotel?”, later reporting a female voice and whistling on the cleaned-up audio. Most reports centre on Room 501, tied to the legend of a 1950s bride.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the hotel’s ghost tour on your first night. It’s the best introduction to the building, and you’ll know exactly where to look afterwards.
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.
Open to the publicParanormal investigations allowed
Address 124 W Austin St, Jefferson, TX 75657
Where to look Room 19 (the Haunted Bride), Room 17 and the halls
Reported ghosts A jilted bride, two children and the 'Vanishing Man'
Visiting A working hotel; the lobby and bar are open to the public
Ghost hunting The hotel offers private paranormal investigations; or book a room and stay the night
Built about 1851 as a cotton warehouse, later home to a roller-skating rink and a Prohibition speakeasy, and now trading as the Jefferson Palace Hotel, this is one of the most openly haunted hotels in Texas. Owners Jeromy and Pam Jones, who bought it in 2020, lean into the stories, and the hotel offers private paranormal investigations. Its best-known room is Room 19, linked to a jilted bride said to have hanged herself from its antique bed.
Guests also report the Mill children, two youngsters said to have died when the building was a warehouse, and the ‘Vanishing Man’, a figure in a long coat and high boots who stands in guests’ rooms at night. The front desk keeps a journal of guest experiences, including words written in the steam on a bathroom mirror. None of these stories is backed by a record of a death.
Haunted Rooms tip: It’s self check-in only, children under 8 aren’t allowed, and bookings are non-refundable, so read the house rules before you book.
Visit on a tourGhost toursParanormal investigations allowed
Address 728 W Main St, Yorktown, TX 78164
Where to look The chapel, the basement hallways and the old labor and delivery rooms
Reported ghosts Nuns, a girl called Stacy, shadow figures
Visiting Privately owned; members-only tours and investigations while the city reviews the building’s safety
Tours Membership-based tours and investigations run by the owners, Curious Twins Paranormal
Ghost hunting Members-only investigations run by the owners; the city declared the building unsafe in 2025 and was still reviewing it in 2026
The Felician Sisters opened this small brick hospital in March 1951 and ran it until it closed in the 1980s; it later housed a short-lived drug rehab center. Empty since, it featured on Ghost Adventures and became one of the best-known haunted buildings in Texas, with stories of violent nuns, a girl named Stacy who loved The Poky Little Puppy and a boiler room murder.
Researchers who checked local newspapers found no record behind most of those stories, and the often-quoted death tolls of 500 to 2,000 are wildly inflated. Since 2025 the city has been in a dispute with the owners over the building’s safety, so tours run only for members and the situation can change.
What investigators report
A KSAT crew investigating with San Antonio Paranormal Investigators reported an audio recorder left alone in the chapel picking up what sounded like a choir, and an EMF reader only registering activity after they sang. They also focused on the upstairs room linked to a nun, where they noted a strong incense smell, and the maternity area with its old toys.
Open to the publicGhost toursHaunted Rooms ghost hunts
Address Fort Concho National Historic Landmark, San Angelo, TX 76903
Where to look Officers' Quarters 1, the post hospital and the old chapel
Reported ghosts A little girl from the 1870s, marching soldiers
Visiting City-run museum and grounds open to visitors
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here
The army chose this site where the North and South Concho rivers meet in November 1867 and named it Fort Concho the next spring. It was home to the 4th Cavalry and then, from 1875 to 1882, headquarters of the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry, before the army left in 1889. San Angelo began running it as a museum in 1935, it became a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and its 23 original and rebuilt buildings on 40 acres make it one of the best preserved frontier forts in Texas.
Its best-known ghost story is set in Officers’ Quarters 1, where Edith Grierson, the commander’s young daughter, died of typhoid in 1878; visitors say a cheerful girl in an old-fashioned dress appears there. Staff have described shadows and voices in empty barracks, doors that lock on their own and a woman in black leaving the old hospital, while the site manager has said he is not a believer. The fort runs its own Fort Concho After Dark night tours in October, and Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here.
Haunted Rooms tip: Walk Officers’ Row at dusk after a museum visit; the parade ground is open and atmospheric.
Where to look The church, the Long Barrack and the plaza after dark
Reported ghosts Phantom defenders, a blond boy at a window, a pacing soldier
Visiting Free state historic site, open daily
Tours Free church entry with a timed reservation; paid guided battlefield tours and after-hours private tours
Hours and season Daily 9 AM to 5:30 PM (last entry 30 minutes before close); closed Christmas Day
Tickets Church entry is free with a reservation
Ghost hunting No paranormal investigations; private after-hours history tours can be booked
Founded in 1718 as Mission San Antonio de Valero and moved to this spot in 1724, the Alamo is where Texian defenders held out for 13 days before Santa Anna’s army stormed it on March 6, 1836. Nearly all the defenders died, along with several hundred Mexican soldiers. Today it is a free state historic site and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, visited by millions.
Ghost stories began almost at once. Legend says Mexican soldiers sent to burn the mission were turned back by spirits with flaming swords, and in the 1890s the San Antonio Express reported moans and marching from the Long Barrack, then used as a police station. Visitors still describe a blond boy at a high window and a soldier pacing the grounds.
Haunted Rooms tip: Reserve a free timed ticket for the church online, then come back to Alamo Plaza after dark, when the floodlit facade is at its most atmospheric.
Where to look Menger Bar, King Ranch Suite, third-floor corridors of the original wing
Reported ghosts Chambermaid Sallie White, Captain Richard King, Teddy Roosevelt
Visiting A working hotel; the lobby and bar are open to the public
Ghost hunting No organized ghost hunts; book a room and stay the night instead
Opened in February 1859 by German brewer William Menger and his wife Mary, right beside the Alamo, the Menger is the hotel most often named as Texas’s most haunted, with anywhere from 32 to 43 different spirits claimed over the years. The best known is Sallie White, a chambermaid shot by her jealous husband in 1876 who died two days later. Guests still report a woman in an old-fashioned maid’s uniform carrying an armful of towels down the corridors at night.
Cattle baron Captain Richard King kept a suite here and died at the hotel in 1885; his funeral was held in the parlor. Staff say his figure walks into the King Ranch Suite through the wall where the door used to be. Down in the Menger Bar, where Teddy Roosevelt recruited Rough Riders in 1898, people report a man in period dress sitting at the bar who isn’t there when they look again.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for a room in the original 1859 building rather than the newer tower; that’s where most of the reports come from.
Where to look Room 525 (some accounts say 329), the grand staircase, the portrait of a little girl
Reported ghosts Colonel Jesse Driskill, a young girl known as Samantha, the 'suicide brides'
Visiting A working hotel; the lobby and bar are open to the public
Ghost hunting No organized ghost hunts; book a room and stay the night instead
Austin’s grandest old hotel opened on December 20, 1886, built by cattleman Colonel Jesse Driskill, who lost it within months and died in 1890. Staff and guests say he never really left: the smell of cigar smoke drifts near his portrait, though the hotel is smoke free. The most requested room is 525, where, according to hotel legend, two brides took their own lives on the same date twenty years apart.
Then there’s Samantha. The story goes that the young daughter of a senator fell to her death chasing a ball down the grand staircase in 1887, and guests say they hear a giggle and a bouncing ball. A portrait of a girl hangs on the fifth floor; it is not Samantha, but visitors say her expression changes. Historians have never found records of the fall.
What investigators report
The hotel says ghost-hunting guests are usually placed on the historic fifth floor, and some visitors report the expression changing on a painting of a little girl linked to the Samantha Houston story.
Where to look The 11th-floor Baker Suite, the seventh floor, the elevators
Reported ghosts The Baker of the Baker Suite, the lady of the seventh floor, a bellhop
Visiting Under restoration: view from the street; occasional special events only
Hours and season Reopening expected in 2028
Ghost hunting No. It is a construction site
T.B. Baker’s 14-story, 450-room spa hotel opened on November 9, 1929, to serve the crowds who came to Mineral Wells for its healing water, and it hosted Judy Garland, Clark Gable and Lyndon B. Johnson. It closed for good in 1972 and stood empty for nearly fifty years, which is when its legends grew.
People report cigar smoke in the 11th-floor Baker Suite, lavender perfume on the seventh floor where a manager’s mistress is said to have died, and a bellhop crushed by an elevator in 1948. The hotel is being restored as The Baker Hotel and Spa, with reopening expected no earlier than 2028.
Haunted Rooms tip: See the tower from downtown Mineral Wells; the site is private and unsafe, so watch for one-off events instead.
Where to look The hallway, the den, the old back porch wall and the garden
Reported ghosts A woman in white, often linked to Minerva Stilley
Visiting Private residence; visits by guided tour only
Tours Hour-long guided tours of the house with the owners, covering its history and ghost stories; book ahead
Hours and season By arrangement; confirm tour times on the official site or by phone at (903) 665-8018
Ghost hunting Not offered as a public ghost hunt venue; the tours are the way in
The Grove is a one-story Greek Revival cottage built in 1861 for cotton broker Frank Stilley and his wife Minerva in the old river port of Jefferson. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. Writer Mitchel Whitington and his wife Tami have owned it since 2002 and live there.
It is often called the most haunted house in Texas. Owners going back to Louise Young, who died in 1983, have described figures in the garden, a lady in white who walks through a wall that was once a doorway, wet footprints in a dry hallway and falling mirrors. The Whitingtons share the stories on tours of the house.
Haunted Rooms tip: It is a private home: book a tour ahead and never walk onto the grounds uninvited. Stay at the Excelsior House or the Jefferson Hotel downtown, both with ghost stories of their own.
Visit on a tourOvernight investigationsHaunted Rooms ghost hunts
Address Gainesville, TX (exact address given to ticket holders)
Where to look The Fireplace Room, the Murder Room in the Dead Area, the Windows Room
Reported ghosts Bordello-era women, the angry Cowboy, a cat, children called Charlie and a girl
Visiting Private house, open only for booked investigations and ghost hunt events
Tours Booked overnight investigations and ghost hunt events
Ghost hunting Yes: the owner rents it to investigation teams, and Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts here (8 PM to 2 AM)
Owner Linda Hill bought this rambling North Texas house in 2004 and named it Hill House Manor. She says tenants kept breaking their leases, the longest stay lasting six months, so she opened it to paranormal investigators instead. The house is said to have been a bordello and a speakeasy, though no records of either have been published.
Investigators report a cat heard in the upstairs Windows Room, an angry old man nicknamed the Cowboy in an upstairs kitchen, children’s voices, and the Fireplace Room, where recordings are famously X-rated. Its story has been on A&E’s My Ghost Story and in national news. Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here.
What investigators report
One investigation team placed motion-sensing cat balls on the staircase and the upstairs kitchen table and reported them flashing with no one nearby. Team members also reported hearing a male voice in the upstairs back rooms, though their recorders captured no EVPs.
Where to look The upstairs rooms and George Littlefield's portrait
Reported ghosts Alice Littlefield
Visiting University offices and event space; see the exterior from the street
Ghost hunting Not open for ghost hunts
Banker and cattleman George W. Littlefield built this red brick Victorian mansion in 1893 to a design by James Wahrenberger, and it is the oldest building on the University of Texas central campus. Littlefield died here in 1920 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery; after his widow Alice died in 1935 the house passed to the university, which uses it for offices and events. It has been on the National Register since 1970.
Campus legend says Alice still walks the upstairs rooms and plays the piano, and that George’s portrait has an eye that follows you. The darker version, that George locked her in the attic, is false: his great-great-grandson David Gracy told KVUE the story is baseless and that the couple were devoted to each other. You can admire the house from the street; inside is university space.
Haunted Rooms tip: See it on a walk across campus; it is at the corner of 24th Street and Whitis Avenue.
Where to look The second floor and the lobby elevator
Reported ghosts Founder Walter Faust Sr., children on the second floor
Visiting A working hotel; the lobby and bar are open to the public
Ghost hunting No organized ghost hunts; book a room and stay the night instead
This four-story downtown hotel opened in 1929 as the Travelers Hotel, a civic project to bring tourists to New Braunfels, and took the Faust family name in 1936. Its best-known ghost is the man local lore calls its founder, Walter Faust Sr.: guests describe a gentleman in a three-piece suit and bowler hat who chats in the lobby elevator, then vanishes.
Most reports come from the second floor, where guests and staff told KSAT they hear children giggling at night near rooms 215 and 217. The Faust reopened in May 2026 after a two-year restoration, and local ghost tours still make it their headline stop.
What investigators report
San Antonio Paranormal Investigations focused on the second-floor hallway near rooms 215 and 217, and reported their devices going off and voices picked up on an audio recorder during an EVP session.
Reported ghosts A presence in the dressing room, footsteps
Visiting Community venue open for events
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here
Built in 1907 by A.W. Johnson and Dr. D. Williams, this brick opera house on the courthouse square is the landmark of the small West Texas town of Anson, north of Abilene. Over the years it staged stock company and Chautauqua shows, silent films, a state championship wrestling match and Anson High School’s first graduation in 1909. It became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1963.
The ghost story centers on the back dressing room. Actors say they hear footsteps near it and that props go missing, then turn up somewhere else. People who have rehearsed in the empty building describe feeling watched, though most say the presence feels friendly, like someone who simply loved the theater. Haunted Rooms has run overnight ghost hunts with an optional sleepover here.
What investigators report
During an EVP session on the stage, investigators asked the little girl said to haunt the building to recite her ABCs and say her name, and reported a voice that seemed to answer “Sally”.
Where to look The second-floor flat bar cells, the men's cells and the stairs
Reported ghosts Former prisoners, a push on the stairs
Visiting Closed as a jail in 2005; open only for booked tours and overnight paranormal events
Ghost hunting Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here
A block from the courthouse in Hallettsville, about 100 miles east of San Antonio, this jail opened in 1885 and held prisoners until 2005, making it one of the longest-serving jails in Texas. Its masonry walls are 30 inches thick, and the upstairs cells still have their original flat iron bars. A gallows once stood in the yard, and floods in 1940 and 1981 filled the building with water.
Owner Roger Chambers bought the empty jail in 2014 and opened it to paranormal groups to help pay for restoration. The property manager says she has been shoved on the stairs, and the owner says doors close behind him. A KSAT crew reported a sudden smell of cigarette smoke in the men’s cells during an overnight visit. Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts here.
What investigators report
Investigators running EVP sessions in the downstairs cells that once held women inmates reported a sudden smell of cigarettes and a recorded voice saying the lead investigator’s name.
Address Shane Rd at Villamain Rd, San Antonio, TX 78223
Where to look The Union Pacific crossing where Villamain Road becomes Shane Road
Reported ghosts Children said to push stalled cars off the tracks
Visiting A working rail crossing on a public road; view it from a safe, legal spot off the roadway
Hours and season Public road
Tickets Free
Ghost hunting Not an investigation site: an active railroad with up to a dozen trains a day
San Antonio’s most famous legend says a school bus stalled on the tracks here and was hit by a train, killing the children on board. Put your car in neutral on the crossing, the story goes, and small hands will push it to safety; dust the trunk with baby powder and you will find their prints. Nearby streets such as Cindy Sue and Bobbie Allen are said to be named for the children.
None of it happened here. The crash behind the story was in Salt Lake City in December 1938, which San Antonio papers covered at the time, and the streets were named for a developer’s grandchildren. The roll was an optical illusion on a slight downhill slope, and in 2018 Union Pacific added a siding track, regraded the crossing and installed gates and lights, which ended the effect. Do not stop on the tracks.
Haunted Rooms tip: Treat this as a story stop, not an experiment. Trains run here many times a day and the crossing now has gates: never park on the tracks.
Where to look The basement, the hallways and the old hotel rooms
Reported ghosts Sara the little girl, a violent basement entity, shadow figures
Visiting Closed and fire-damaged; view from the street only
Tours Downtown El Paso ghost walks stop outside
Ghost hunting Not possible: the building is closed and unsafe
The four-story De Soto opened on Mills Avenue in 1905, first as the Great Northern, and spent most of its life as a cheap residential hotel, its side wall painted with El Paso’s Boxing Wall of Fame mural. An owner was converting it into a 34-room boutique hotel when fire tore through it on February 4, 2022, destroying the roof and upper floors. It remains closed to the public.
For years it was the star stop on El Paso ghost tours. Guides and guests told of Sara, a little girl who calls out her name on recordings and is drawn to women, and of something in the basement said to scratch, bite and push visitors. Ghost tours still gather on the sidewalk outside to tell the stories, but nobody can go in.
Haunted Rooms tip: See it from the sidewalk on Mills Avenue as part of a downtown ghost walk; the building is a damaged shell and must not be entered.
Address Gulf Copper shipyard, Galveston harbor (best seen from Pier 21)
Where to look The engine room, the second deck and the ladders
Reported ghosts A smiling red-haired sailor; voices and white vapors
Visiting Closed for restoration: see it from Pier 21 or a harbor boat tour
Tours Regular tours closed; occasional specialty tours are announced by the foundation
Hours and season Reopening at Pier 15 targeted for 2027
Ghost hunting Not while it is under restoration. Overnight ghost hunts ran on board in 2019, before it closed
Commissioned in 1914, the Texas is the last surviving dreadnought to have served in both world wars. She fired on Pointe du Hoc on D-Day and was hit off Cherbourg on June 25, 1944, killing helmsman Christen Christensen. In 1948 she became the first battleship museum in the US, moored for 74 years at San Jacinto near Houston.
Visitors told of voices with an urgent wartime ring, white vapors drifting through compartments, noises in the engine room and a smiling red-haired sailor by the ladders. The ship has been under restoration in Galveston since 2022 and is not open for tours; reopening at Pier 15 is targeted for 2027.
Haunted Rooms tip: Walk out on Galveston’s Pier 21 for the best public view of the ship in the shipyard.
Reported ghosts Spirits linked to the hotel's frontier past
Visiting A working hotel; the lobby and bar are open to the public
Ghost hunting No organized ghost hunts; book a room and stay the night instead
One of the oldest buildings in Seguin, the Magnolia started as a log cabin around 1840 and was a hotel by 1844. Its most notorious guest was Wilhelm Faust, who in 1874 slept here after riding to New Braunfels in the night and committing murder.
Today it’s run by owners who embrace the ghosts completely: they claim at least 17 spirits, run night-time ghost tours on selected Saturdays, and rent out the upstairs Second Floor Suite to overnight guests. It has featured on Ghost Adventures, Ghost Brothers and the YouTube channel Watcher.
What investigators report
The owners say spirits seem to enjoy the toys in the children’s room, where REM pods are set out and their cameras reportedly recorded a ball rolling across the floor.
Reported ghosts Founder Alfred Gage, said to be one of three spirits
Visiting A working hotel; the lobby and bar are open to the public
Ghost hunting No organized ghost hunts; book a room and stay the night instead
Rancher and banker Alfred Gage commissioned the architects Trost & Trost to build this hotel in the high desert, and it opened on April 1, 1927. Gage died the next year, and local lore says he is one of three spirits here, still checking up on the place, with others seen on the porch and in the patio gardens.
Room 10 in the main building and Room 39 are the ones with the reputation. The hotel itself doesn’t promote its ghosts, so this is a beautiful West Texas stay with a quiet haunted side.
Haunted Rooms tip: Pets are only allowed in certain courtyard rooms and houses, so check before you book if you’re bringing a dog.
Where to look Guest rooms in the original building
Reported ghosts A woman in a white dress; an old man
Visiting A working hotel; the lobby and bar are open to the public
Ghost hunting No organized ghost hunts; book a room and stay the night instead
Another Henry Trost design, the Paisano opened in Marfa in 1930 as ‘the most elegant hotel between El Paso and San Antonio’, and found fame in 1955 when Warner Brothers made it the base for Giant, with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean among the cast. Abandoned and auctioned for back taxes in 2001, it was restored and reopened, and it has been on the National Register since 1978.
It featured on Travel Channel’s Portals to Hell, where Jack Osbourne and Katrina Weidman described experiences in several rooms. A former manager has said the most common report is the feeling of being touched or of someone sitting on the bed; less often, guests describe a woman in a white dress and an elderly man.
Reported ghosts Original owners Erastus and Sarah Reed, by local accounts
Visiting A working hotel; the lobby and bar are open to the public
Ghost hunting No organized ghost hunts; book a room and stay the night instead
Opened in 1859 as the Reed House and known for decades as Ye Kendall Inn, The Kendall is one of the last 19th-century resort inns in Texas. Local accounts say its original owners, Erastus and Sarah Reed, still keep an eye on the place, with flickering lights and light touches in the hallways and by the fireplace.
The hotel itself doesn’t talk about its ghosts, so treat this as a quiet, historic stay with a local legend attached rather than a ghost hunter’s hotel.
Visiting Privately owned and closed; view from the street
Ghost hunting Not possible: the building is closed and privately owned
Built in 1888 of native limestone with battlements in what its historical marker calls French Bastille styling, the old Williamson County Jail held prisoners from 1889 until about 1990, Henry Lee Lucas among them. It later housed county offices until safety concerns emptied it in 2020, and in February 2026 the county sold it to a hospitality developer planning a hotel and restaurant around the historic building.
Its ghost stories are modest: footsteps, voices, cold spots and the sound of cell doors in an empty building, told around Georgetown’s courthouse square. For years the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office ran a Halloween haunted house inside, Nightmare on Jail Hill, which helped cement its reputation. The building is now closed and private, so today you can only admire its battlements from Main Street.
Haunted Rooms tip: View the jail from the corner of Third and Main, then walk one block to Georgetown’s courthouse square, where the Williamson Museum has run ghost walks.
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.
The White Sanitarium, Wichita Falls
Older lists, ours included, told of strange experiments, screaming children and ghosts playing cards in this old sanitarium. It has been a private residence for years, as our older guide noted. Do not go onto the property.
The Haunted Hill House, Mineral Wells
Not to be confused with Hill House Manor in Gainesville. Our older guide described scratches, bites and a shadow man in this Mineral Wells house. We could not confirm who runs it today or whether visitors are welcome, so check locally before you go.
Bragg Road and the Saratoga Light, Hardin County
The old logging road near Saratoga in the Big Thicket is famous for a light that floats along it at night, said to be the lantern of a railroad worker looking for his head. We could not check the road’s current condition with a source we trust before publishing; it is a remote dirt road, so go only in daylight and with care.
Changed from our older guide: we rebuilt this page around places you can visit or see, added Presidio La Bahia, Fort Concho, the USS Lexington, Battleship Texas, the Ghost Tracks and the haunted hotels of West Texas and the Hill Country, and corrected the stories that do not stand up to the record. The De Soto Hotel in El Paso was badly damaged by fire in February 2022, and the Baker Hotel is still under restoration. The White Sanitarium is a private home.
About our Texas ghost hunts: Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunts at many of the places in this guide. See our Texas ghost hunts page for dates.
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.
The Alamo in San Antonio is the most famous, and the Menger Hotel next door is the best-known haunted hotel. Presidio La Bahia in Goliad, where the Goliad Massacre took place in 1836, is often named the most haunted place in the state by people who have spent a night there.
What is the most haunted town in Texas?
Jefferson, in East Texas, is usually given that title, with the Jefferson Hotel, the Excelsior House and The Grove all within a few blocks.
Is the San Antonio Ghost Tracks legend true?
No. The bus crash behind it happened in Salt Lake City in 1938, the roll was an optical illusion, and Union Pacific regraded the crossing in 2018.
Can you go ghost hunting in Texas?
Yes. Haunted Rooms has run public ghost hunts at Presidio La Bahia, Fort Concho, White Rock Lake, Goatman’s Bridge, Miss Molly’s Hotel, the Tarpon Inn and more. See our Texas ghost hunts page for dates.
Which Texas haunted hotels can I stay in?
The Menger, the Driskill, the Grand Galvez, Miss Molly’s, the Jefferson Hotel, the Excelsior House, the Gage Hotel and Hotel Paisano are all open. See our haunted hotels in Texas guide.
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.
