Haunted Places in Indiana: 10 Sites With Real History

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The best-known haunted places in Indiana are Hannah House in Indianapolis, the West Baden Springs and French Lick Springs hotels in the southern hills, and the Old Lake County Jail in Crown Point, from which John Dillinger escaped in 1934. Below are 10 haunted places in Indiana, each split into what the record supports and what is only told as legend. Most ghost stories here come from tour operators, local lore, and paranormal TV, not from independent documentation, and we say so where that is the case.

Quick answer if you're short on time: Of these haunted places in Indiana, the Old Lake County Jail has the best-documented history, Willard Library has the most famous resident “ghost” (the Grey Lady), and the Slippery Noodle Inn and French Lick Springs Hotel are the easiest to visit with a drink or a room.

1. Hannah House (Indianapolis)

Alexander M. Hannah, who had returned to Indiana after the California gold rush, bought the brick in November 1858 and built the 2½-story Italianate house at 3801 Madison Avenue in 1859. His family held it until 1899, then the jeweler Roman Oehler, and later the Elder family, who lived there until 1962. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 1, 1978, and has run as a seasonal haunted attraction since 1980. The central legend is that enslaved people hiding in the cellar died in a fire. One historian quoted in the house's Wikipedia entry says there is no evidence the house was part of the Underground Railroad, and a local preservation group notes that no record of the fire exists. Ghost reports (cold spots, odors, voices) began in the mid-1960s, after years of vacancy.

Can you visit: Sometimes. The house is run by volunteers and opens for monthly open houses, Halloween events, and private bookings. Check current dates first.

2. West Baden Springs Hotel (West Baden Springs)

Lee Wiley Sinclair acquired the property in 1888. After a fire in 1901, he rebuilt it with a 200-foot free-spanning dome, and the new hotel opened on September 15, 1902. Ed Ballard bought it in 1923 and closed it in 1932, and the Jesuits ran it as a seminary from 1934 to 1964. After decades of decline it was declared unsafe in 1989, and a restoration of roughly $100 million (begun in 1996) ended with its reopening on June 23, 2007. It is a National Historic Landmark (1987). Among the haunted places in Indiana, this is one of the thinnest on actual ghost documentation: we found only guest reviews and travel blogs mentioning ghosts, and no recorded incident or named witness.

Can you visit: Yes, as a guest or a visitor. It is part of French Lick Resort, and the atrium is the main draw.

3. French Lick Springs Hotel (French Lick)

Thomas Taggart, a former Indianapolis mayor and Democratic Party chairman, bought the property in 1901 and built it into a grand resort, which became famous for Pluto Water, a mineral water sold as a laxative. Franklin D. Roosevelt attended a governors' conference there in 1931. The hotel was listed on the National Register on September 28, 2003, and reopened on November 3, 2006, after a $382 million restoration under the Cook Group. The ghost stories center on Taggart himself: guests and staff are said to smell cigar smoke and see a figure near the service elevator, and hotel-history and travel sites repeat tales of phone calls from empty sixth-floor rooms. These are tales told by staff and guests, not documented events.

Can you visit: Yes. It is an operating hotel and casino resort.

4. Old Lake County Jail (Crown Point)

The Lake County Sheriff's House and Jail was built in 1882 in the Second Empire style, with a mansard roof and a projecting tower. The sheriff's family lived there until 1958, and the jail held prisoners until 1974. The building was added to the National Register on January 4, 1989, and the Old Sheriff's House Foundation maintains it. On March 3, 1934, John Dillinger escaped from the jail, reportedly with a gun carved from wood, though the Foundation's own history says the story varies and some accounts say he had a real gun. He left in the sheriff's car with another prisoner and two hostages, and was killed by FBI agents outside the Biograph Theatre in Chicago on July 22, 1934. The escape is real and well documented. The ghost reports are not: shadow figures, cell doors, and EVPs come from visitors and unnamed investigators, and the jail appeared on Ghost Hunters (season 11, 2016). Dillinger's escape car crossed into Illinois, which is where our guide to haunted places in Illinois picks up the story.

Can you visit: Yes. The Old Sheriff's House is open to the public and runs tours, including night tours. Confirm hours and ticketing before you go.

5. Willard Library (Evansville)

The Victorian Gothic library, designed by James W. Reid of Reid & Reid, was funded by Willard Carpenter, a local philanthropist who set up a trust in 1876. The building dates to 1877 and the library was incorporated in 1881. The ghost is the “Grey Lady,” said to be Carpenter's daughter Louise, who supposedly sued the board in the 1890s over her father's will, lost, and returned in revenge. We could not verify the lawsuit, so we treat the identification as legend. The first reported sighting was in 1937, when a custodian is said to have met a figure in the basement and quit. Since 1999 the library has run webcams, and it keeps six cameras on the building today.

Can you visit: Yes. It is a working public library with a genealogy and local history collection, free to enter during opening hours.

6. Central State Hospital and the Indiana Medical History Museum (Indianapolis)

The Indiana Hospital for the Insane opened in November 1848 with five patients, was renamed the Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane in 1889 and Central State Hospital after 1926, and peaked at about 2,500 patients in 1950. It closed in 1994, and the city bought the 160-acre property in 2003 for $400,000. Only a few original buildings remain, among them the 1895 Old Pathology Building by architect Adolf Scherrer, which the museum calls the oldest surviving pathology laboratory in the United States. The museum was established in 1969, was added to the National Register on April 25, 1972, and has been open to the public at least once a week since 1984. Ghost stories about screams, shadows, and tunnels circulate in tour-company write-ups. They rely on anonymous accounts, and the museum itself presents the site as medical history.

Can you visit: The museum, yes, on its regular public tours. The wider grounds are not an open invitation, so stay on public paths and do not enter any fenced or closed building.

7. Slippery Noodle Inn (Indianapolis)

The building opened in 1850 as the Tremont House, and the Slippery Noodle claims to be the oldest continuously operating bar in Indiana. It has used its current name since 1963 and is part of the Indianapolis Union Station-Wholesale Historic District, added to the National Register on July 14, 1982. The inn describes its basement as an Underground Railroad hiding place, a local claim we could not confirm from independent records. It also had a brothel era, and the dates and details vary by source. Ghost stories name a basement caretaker called “George” and a woman said to be the brothel's madam; both come from patrons and paranormal investigators, not from records.

Can you visit: Yes. It is a working blues bar and restaurant with live music most nights.

8. Story Inn (Story)

The village of Story in Brown County was established in 1882 by Dr. Arnold S. Griffitt, who ran a medical practice, a farm, and a dry goods store. The original general store burned in November 1915 and was rebuilt as a two-story building. Benjamin and Cynthia Schultz bought the property in 1978 and turned it into a bed-and-breakfast, and Rick Hofstetter and Frank Mueller bought it at a sheriff's sale on February 14, 1999. The village was listed on the National Register in March 2019. The “Blue Lady” is said to be a gentle apparition in white robes on the second floor, reported by employees and recorded in guest books since the 1970s. As far as we can tell, nobody has tied her to a named person.

Can you visit: Yes. The Old General Store is a restaurant, and guests can stay in the rooms and cottages.

9. Crown Hill Cemetery (Indianapolis)

Crown Hill was founded in 1863 and dedicated on June 1, 1864. It covers 555 acres and is one of the largest non-governmental cemeteries in the country. Burials include President Benjamin Harrison, three vice presidents, the poet James Whitcomb Riley, and John Dillinger. The local tale that Dillinger lies under layers of concrete and steel is told widely but we did not find it documented. Local accounts also describe a woman with a baby and soldiers from several wars, and the Crown Hill Heritage Foundation holds a ghost-story evening each fall with Storytelling Arts of Indiana. The stories are tour and storytelling material, not documented sightings.

Can you visit: Yes. It is an active cemetery with posted hours and walking and driving routes. Stay on the paths and respect the graves.

10. Madison and the Lanier Mansion (Madison)

James F. D. Lanier, a banker and railroad investor, built his Greek Revival mansion in Madison in 1844. It became a state memorial in 1926 and a National Historic Landmark in 1994. The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites runs a “Haunted Histories” walking tour from the mansion on Fridays in October (2026 dates are October 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, 7-9 p.m., ages 13 and up, with a separate ticket). The program talks about “dark dramas and lingering legends” and does not claim that anything is proven. The mansion and the river town are real history, and the ghost lore is entertainment attached to it.

Can you visit: Yes. The mansion is a state historic site, and the walking tour is the easiest way to see the old downtown after dark.

What's Actually Verifiable

Across these haunted places in Indiana, the dates, owners, closures, landmark listings, and the Dillinger escape are documented. The ghosts mostly are not. The fire in the Hannah House cellar has no record behind it, the Underground Railroad claims are unconfirmed at both Hannah House and the Slippery Noodle, and Willard Library's Grey Lady comes with a lawsuit story we could not verify. Most of the reports come from owners and tour operators who have a business reason to tell them.

Visiting Haunted Places in Indiana Responsibly

Haunted places in Indiana include hotels, bars, a library, and a cemetery you can visit, and a hospital campus and private homes you cannot enter freely. Book official tours, check hours before you drive, and do not enter closed buildings. Trespassing is illegal, and cemeteries are burial grounds, not stage sets. For the wider picture, see our guide to haunted places in the United States, our list of real haunted places you can visit on Halloween, and the neighboring haunted places in Michigan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most haunted place in Indiana?

There is no objective ranking of haunted places in Indiana. Hannah House, the Old Lake County Jail, and the French Lick Springs Hotel are among the most promoted, and Willard Library has the most famous named ghost. Treat any “most haunted” label as marketing, since the ghosts are unproven and the history is what can be checked.

Is Hannah House really haunted?

The house is real, built by Alexander Hannah in 1859, but the story of fugitives dying in a cellar fire has no documentation, and a historian says there is no evidence the house was part of the Underground Railroad. Ghost reports began in the 1960s after the house stood empty. It runs as a haunted attraction, so the stories are part of its fundraising.

Did John Dillinger really escape with a wooden gun?

Dillinger did escape from the Crown Point jail on March 3, 1934, and he left in the sheriff's car with another prisoner and two hostages. Whether the gun was carved wood is a long-told story, and the Old Sheriff's House Foundation says the account varies. Some versions say he had a real pistol.

Who is the Grey Lady of Willard Library?

She is said to be Louise Carpenter, the daughter of the library's founder. The first reported sighting was in 1937, and the library has run webcams since 1999. The story that she lost a lawsuit over her father's will is the standard explanation, but we could not confirm it, so it is best read as local legend rather than fact.

Can you visit the haunted places in Indiana on your own?

Many of them, yes. French Lick Springs and West Baden Springs are working hotels, the Slippery Noodle Inn is a bar, Willard Library is a public library, and Crown Hill Cemetery is open during posted hours. Hannah House and the Old Lake County Jail open on set dates, so always confirm hours first.

Is it legal to explore abandoned places in Indiana?

Not without permission. Entering a closed building or private land without the owner's consent is trespassing, and parts of the old Central State Hospital grounds are closed. The legal ways to see these sites are official tours and public visiting hours, which also give you better history than a flashlight and a dare.