One of America’s Most Haunted Homes -The Myrtles Plantation
Writing by Susan Hilliard on Saturday, 7 of May , 2005 at 7:41 pm
Information courtesy of The Myrtles Plantation & The National Park Service
In St. Francisville, Louisiana there is a plantation home that was the 13th home listed as haunted in the world - that home is ‘The Myrtles Plantation’.
A number of theories abound as to why the spot is so haunted. For one thing, ten murders have been committed on this site since the late 1700s.
General David Bradford was forced to flee from President George Washington’s army in 1794, because of his leadership role in the Whisky Rebellion. General Bradford arrived in Louisiana and obtained a Spanish land grant of roughly 650 acres. A wealthy judge and businessman from Washington County, Pennsylvania, Bradford showed interest in the area before the conclusion of the unsuccessful Whisky Rebellion forced him to settle there. Bradford built the plantation that was later named “the Myrtles” in 1797. He died in 1808, and his widow sold the land to her son-in-law, Clark Woodruff, a lawyer and friend of Andrew Jackson. In 1834 Woodruff sold it to Ruffin Gray Stirling, who restored the plantation. The Stirling family held the plantation until 1894, after which it passed through a succession of owners. Restoration efforts on the gracious country house began in the mid-1970s.
The house itself is a broad, low, rambling frame mansion with a clapboard exterior and was built in two halves. The first half, which was built in 1796, forms the western six bays of the main façade. These were increased in size due to mid-19th-century restoration, when the house also received a southward extension that almost doubled its size. The unusually long gallery is supported by an exceptional cast-iron railing of elaborate grape-cluster design. It is the interior detailing, however, which is perhaps the most important feature of the Myrtles Plantation. Most of the ground floor rooms have fine marble, arched mantles in the Rococo Revival style, with central console keystones or cartouches. Most of the rooms have plaster-ceiling medallions, no two of which are the same. All of the flooring and most of the windows in the house are original. The Myrtles Plantation is an outstanding example of the expanded raised cottage form that characterized many Louisiana plantation houses by the mid-19th century. The plantation house is touted as one of the most haunted houses in America, as it was the scene of a Reconstruction-era murder and other more natural deaths that have entered into local folklore over the years. Restored to its 1850s grandeur, complete with fine French furnishings and chandeliers, the Myrtles enhances its haunted-house reputation with candlelight mystery tours.
The Myrtles has been featured in New York Times, Forbes, Gourmet, Veranda, Travel and Leisure, Country Inns, Colonial Homes, Delta SKY, and on the Oprah Show, A & E, The History Channel, The Travel Channel, The Learning Channel, National Geographic Explorer, and GOOD MORNING AMERICA. It was also featured in The Haunting of Louisiana. As you can see the ghostly activity at ‘The Myrtles Plantation’ has been widely talked about & documented by a great number of TV shows, movies and magazines.
Books on the ghosts of Myrtles Plantation ~
The Myrtles Plantation : The True Story of America’s Most Haunted House
Ghostly Encounters : True Stories of America’s Haunted Inns and Hotels
Louisiana’s Haunted Plantations
Haunted Places In The American South
Room Rates and Descriptions
*209-year-old National Register Home built by General David Bradford …”Whiskey Dave”.
*Guided History and Mystery Tours offered daily.
*Full Service Restaurant - Casual or Elegant Dining or Catering
*11 Bed & Breakfast Rooms
*Wedding and Reception Facilities
*Experience Antebellum Splendor in “One of America’s Most Haunted Homes”
The Myrtles Plantation
7747 U.S. Highway 61
P.O. Box 1100
St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
John & Teeta Moss, Proprietors
Phone: 225.635.6277
Fax: 225.635.5837
Email: myrtles@bsf.net
Website: www.myrtlesplantation.com
Category: Ghostly Tours, Haunted Plantations
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Comment by Jodie
Made Sunday, 28 of August , 2005 at 9:37 am
Not being a person to usually write an e-mail about something like this…I have a picture taken of the stairs and the doorway of a bedroom through the mirror. I was just wondering how many people have claimed they’ve seen a lady standing on the stairs in front of the doorway with her hand on the rail of the stairs. I’m a skeptic, but it’s a quite convincing picture. I’ve been trying to find similar ones online, but nothing has shown up just yet. We took a night tour of the plantation. I waited until everyone was out of the room to take the shot in hopes of something interesting without a bunch of people in the room. I preferred to have no one on the tour in my pictures. When I got home I got some major chills. I had hoped to find a ghost, but never expected one. The apparition is even standing behind the banister on the stairway, which I think would be hard to fake. I would really appreciate if you could tell me any information on pictures you’ve recieved that may contain a lady on the staircase. I’m not sending the picture now in case you’ve already received several, but if you haven’t I’d be glad to share it with you. I enjoyed the tour, and I do hope to come back to the Myrtle’s Plantation soon and possibly stay the night; though I must admit, after this picture I am becoming a true believer and slightly scared to stay there….
Jodie
Comment by Elsa Jimenez
Made Saturday, 18 of March , 2006 at 4:10 am
Iam relly amazed with your experience and eventhough I don’t have any helpful info I would like to see the picture.
I think my apartment is haunted.I always see a small boy about 7 years old and also an old man. I’ve been sharing this with my husband but he does not believe me. Do you think that its possible for me to take pictures around and be able to see one of the ghosts?
Comment by katie huff
Made Sunday, 11 of June , 2006 at 10:14 pm
I think it is possible to take a picture of the ghost and see them. My Aunt and I are both believers in ghost and would like to hear more stories and some of our own to tell about!
Comment by Tracey
Made Tuesday, 11 of July , 2006 at 6:08 pm
I am going there this weekend. My husband and I will take the candle light tour and are staying the night. I plan to take lots of pictures and hope to have my dangle earrings played with. I’ll let you know the out come.
Comment by Mary
Made Wednesday, 12 of July , 2006 at 8:38 pm
This web site has some great Myrtles ghost photos!
http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/ghostphotos/myrtlesghostphotos/
Comment by T.K.
Made Wednesday, 25 of April , 2007 at 3:40 pm
I don’t believe in “ghosts” but I do believe in familiar spirits. You may ask what the difference is. The difference is that there are spirits around us that hear us and they can use identities that we recognize to speak to us or make contact.
