Haunted Places in Mississippi: 10 Sites With Real History

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The best-documented haunted places in Mississippi are tied to two real events: the 47-day Union siege of Vicksburg in 1863, and the cotton fortunes of antebellum Natchez, which were built on enslaved labor. Below are 10 haunted places in Mississippi, each split into what the record supports and what is only told as legend. Most ghost reports come from tour operators, inns, and paranormal websites rather than independent documentation, and we say so wherever that is the case.

Quick answer if you're short on time: The best-known haunted places in Mississippi are McRaven House in Vicksburg and the Natchez mansions Longwood, Dunleith, and Stanton Hall. McRaven offers ghost tours, Longwood and Stanton Hall are museums run by the Pilgrimage Garden Club, and Dunleith is an inn.

1. McRaven House (Vicksburg)

McRaven grew in three stages: a small pioneer section built around 1797, an Empire-style addition by Sheriff Stephen Howard in 1836, and Greek Revival rooms added by John H. Bobb in 1849. During the 1863 siege it served as a Confederate field hospital and camp, and it survived shelling from both sides. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Tourism sources call it “the most haunted house in Mississippi,” with stories of a highwayman named Andrew Glass said to have been murdered by his wife, and of a young bride who died in childbirth in 1836. The 1836 death is recorded. The ghost stories come from tour promotion and ghost media.

Can you visit: Yes. McRaven's website lists history tours, costumed haunted tours, and scheduled public ghost investigations. Check dates and book ahead.

2. Cedar Grove Mansion (Vicksburg)

John Alexander Klein built Cedar Grove between 1840 and 1852 as a wedding gift for his wife, Elizabeth Bartley Day. During the siege the house served as a Union hospital, and a Union gunboat cannonball is still embedded in the front parlor wall. Visitor guides describe the inn as one of the most haunted in Mississippi because of its hospital past. We found no specific ghost account from a source beyond inn and travel promotion. The cannonball is the verifiable part.

Can you visit: It operates as an inn with a restaurant and bar. Confirm current operation before booking.

3. Duff Green Mansion (Vicksburg)

Duff Green built this house in 1856 as a wedding gift for his wife, Mary Lake. Cannonballs struck the upper floors during the 1863 siege, and the family then offered the home as a hospital that treated both Confederate and Union soldiers. It is listed on the National Register and operates as a bed and breakfast. Lodging and travel sites say a six-year-old girl named Annie Green lingers on the lower floors. We could not trace that story to any source other than that promotion, so treat it as folklore.

Can you visit: As a guest. It is a working bed and breakfast, so check availability.

4. Longwood (Natchez)

Architect Samuel Sloan designed this octagonal mansion in 1859 for cotton planter Haller Nutt. Work stopped in 1861 when the Civil War began and the Pennsylvania craftsmen left to join the Union army. Only the basement level was finished, and Nutt died in 1864. It is the largest octagonal house in the United States. It was built partly with enslaved labor, and that is central to understanding what the house is. In 1968 it was donated to the Pilgrimage Garden Club on the condition that it never be finished. Ghost stories say Nutt and his wife Julia wander the unfinished rooms. We found those only in ghost-tour material.

Can you visit: Yes, as a house museum. Check current hours and tour types.

5. Dunleith (Natchez)

The house at Dunleith was built about 1855 to 1856 by Charles Dahlgren after lightning struck a chimney and burned an earlier house, Routhland, on the site. It is the only surviving example in Mississippi of a plantation-style house fully circled by Greek Revival columns, and it became a National Historic Landmark on December 2, 1974. The grounds included a courtyard building that housed the kitchen, laundry, and enslaved people's quarters. The legend of “Miss Percy” says a woman ruined by a failed romance in France returned to live out her days here, playing her harp, and that guests hear the harp today. Folklorist Kathryn Tucker Windham included the tale in her 1974 book, but the woman's identity is unknown.

Can you visit: It has operated as an inn with a restaurant, but the property went through a bankruptcy auction in 2019. Confirm its current status and ownership before planning a visit.

6. Stanton Hall (Natchez)

Frederick Stanton, a cotton broker born in Belfast, Ireland, built this Greek Revival mansion between 1851 and 1857, naming it Belfast. He lived there for only about nine months before dying of yellow fever. It later housed Stanton College for Young Ladies, then was acquired by the Pilgrimage Garden Club in 1940. It became a National Historic Landmark on May 30, 1974. Stanton Hall appears often on Natchez ghost-tour lists, but we did not find a specific ghost story from a source we would trust, so we are not retelling one. Its fame as a house is documented, and the haunting claim is unproven.

Can you visit: Yes, as a house museum run by the Pilgrimage Garden Club. Check current hours.

7. King's Tavern (Natchez)

Sources describe the building as the oldest structure in Natchez, built in 1769 as a blockhouse for Fort Panmure. In 1789 Richard King opened a tavern and inn there on the Natchez Trace route. It was listed on the National Register on May 6, 1971. The best-known ghost story is “Madeline,” said to be a mistress of the tavern who was killed, with three skeletons reportedly found behind a fireplace in the 1930s. The skeleton claim is repeated across ghost sites, and Wikipedia marks it as needing better citations, so we treat it as an unverified story.

Can you visit: Unclear. Wikipedia described the building as closed and for sale as of 2022. Operating status is unconfirmed, so check before you go.

8. Natchez City Cemetery (Natchez)

The city bought the land in 1821 and the cemetery opened in 1822. It holds about 10,000 marked graves. Visitors come for the “turning angel” statue marking five girls killed in a 1908 explosion at the Natchez Drug Company, and the stairs to the grave of ten-year-old Florence Irene Ford, a yellow fever victim. Tourism sources say spirits linger among the tombstones. Those claims are not documented. The real stories here are the graves themselves.

Can you visit: Yes, it is a public cemetery, and guided tours are available. Be respectful, since these are real graves.

9. Stuckey's Bridge (Lauderdale County)

The current bridge over the Chunky River southwest of Meridian was built in 1901, replacing a structure from around 1850. It was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 1984 and listed on the National Register in 1988. The legend says a man named Stuckey, linked to the Dalton Gang, ran an inn nearby where he robbed and murdered guests, then was hanged from the bridge. Reports mention an old man with a lantern and splashing sounds. No historical evidence supports the Stuckey story. The bridge is real, and the legend is not documented.

Can you visit: Check local access rules before going. Avoid trespassing on adjacent private land.

10. Old Capitol Museum (Jackson)

The Old Capitol was completed in 1839 and served as the Mississippi state capitol until 1903. It is a National Historic Landmark and a notable example of Greek Revival public architecture. Mississippi's secession in 1861 and the 1868 and 1890 constitutions were drafted here. Visitor guides say it is haunted by former legislators and an employee who died at a desk. Those claims come from tourism and paranormal sites, and the museum's own materials focus on the history. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History runs it as a free museum.

Can you visit: Yes, as a free museum. Check current hours.

What's Actually Verifiable

Across these haunted places in Mississippi, the dates, buildings, battles, and hospitals are documented. The ghosts mostly are not. The Vicksburg siege ran from May 18 to July 4, 1863, and the hospitals, cannonballs, and field-hospital use are real. The Natchez mansions were built by cotton wealth that depended on enslaved labor, and that history is better documented than any apparition. Stuckey's murders, the skeletons behind King's Tavern, and Miss Percy's harp are stories without verified records.

Visiting Haunted Places in Mississippi Responsibly

Haunted places in Mississippi include working inns, house museums, a public cemetery, and a historic bridge. Several are private or commercial properties, so stay on public areas, book official tours, and do not enter closed buildings or private land. Trespassing is illegal, and the Natchez and Vicksburg sites involve the history of enslaved people and soldiers who died here, so approach them with respect. For Southern folk magic traditions tied to this region, read our article on hoodoo and American conjure, and for the neighboring state, see our guide to haunted places in Louisiana. For the wider American picture, see our guide to haunted places in the United States and our list of real haunted places you can actually visit on Halloween.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most haunted place in Mississippi?

There is no objective ranking of haunted places in Mississippi. McRaven House in Vicksburg bills itself as the most haunted house in the state, and King's Tavern in Natchez has been called the most haunted restaurant. Both labels come from tourism and ghost media. The ghosts are unproven, so treat “most haunted” as marketing, and rely on the documented history instead.

Is McRaven House in Vicksburg really haunted?

There are many reports of apparitions, voices, and slamming doors, and the house offers ghost tours and investigations, but nothing has been independently documented. What is documented is that McRaven was built in stages from about 1797 to 1849, served as a Confederate field hospital in 1863, and was shelled during the siege. The history is the verifiable part, and the ghosts are a story.

Why are Vicksburg and Natchez so associated with ghosts?

Both cities have intact antebellum buildings and well-documented tragedies. Vicksburg endured a 47-day siege in 1863, and many homes served as hospitals. Natchez has dozens of surviving mansions from the cotton era, and yellow fever killed many residents. Tour operators in both cities build ghost tours around those buildings, which is why they dominate lists of haunted places.

Is the Stuckey's Bridge legend true?

No evidence supports it. The bridge is real, built in 1901 over the Chunky River in Lauderdale County and listed on the National Register. The story of a man named Stuckey killing guests at an inn and being hanged from the bridge has no corroborating historical record. It is a local legend that has been repeated in books and on television without independent documentation.

Can you stay overnight at haunted places in Mississippi?

Yes, at some. Cedar Grove and Duff Green Mansion in Vicksburg operate as inns or bed and breakfasts, and Dunleith in Natchez has operated as an inn, though its ownership changed after a 2019 auction. McRaven also offers private investigations. Confirm current operation and booking details directly, since status can change.

Is it legal to explore abandoned haunted places in Mississippi?

Not without permission. Entering a closed building or private land without the owner's consent is trespassing, and cemeteries and historic sites keep posted hours. The legal ways to see these sites are official tours, museums, and public visiting hours listed above, which also give you better history than a flashlight and a dare.