Louisiana is famous for its haunted plantations, hotels and historic sites. It makes sense, too - if you've ever been to Louisiana, you know why some don't ever want to leave.
Hotel Monteleone
Located on Royal Street in the French Quarter, Hotel Monteleone is a New Orleans landmark. It was purchased by Antonio Monteleone in 1886 and has been run by the same family ever since. So loved is the Monteleone that people don't want to leave, and some never do. For generations, both guest and employees have experiences that skeptics would be hard pressed to explain away. A restaurant door that opens almost every evening at the same time and then closes again, even though it is locked. An elevator that stops on the wrong floor, leading a curious couple down a hallway that grows chilly and reveals the ghostly images of children playing. In March 2003, the International Society of Paranormal Research spent several days investigating Hotel Monteleone. While at the hotel, the team made contact with more than a dozen earthbound entities. Among them was a middle aged man who identified himself as a Monteleone employee named Red. Sure enough, decades ago, the hotel employeed an engineer who went by the nickname "Red".
Pitot House
Visitors to Pitot House on Bayou St. John have the chance of encountering a gentle spirit known for imparting a fragrant floral aroma. More than 200 years old, and located a short walk to picturesque City Park, the Pitot House is named for James Pitot, a one-time owner of the property who became the first elected mayor of New Orleans in 1804. Pitot bought the house in 1810 with his wife, Marie Jeanne. The life of the Pitot family turned tragic in 1815, when Marie Jeanne died giving birth to twin girls, both of whom also died within months. Pitot sold the house and moved to the French Quarter in 1819, but some say the spirits of his wife and their daughters remain there. They reveal themselves through the alluring scent of flowers, which arrive at odd times, inexplicably. Visitors often will ask Pitot House staff what kind of potpourri is used in the property. There is none there, nor any alternate explanation for the fragrance.
The Myrtles
The Myrtles Plantation is an opulent estate in St. Francisville, but it has a dark history. It is described as the most haunted house in the United States, and the paranormal activity is largely rooted in a single tragic event that occurred in the early 1820s, when three members of the family that owned the plantation - the mother and her two young daughters - were inadvertently poisoned to death by a mischievous slave named Chloe, who was then hanged for her actions. Employees and visitors at the Myrtles have reported seeing the spirits of the two women and two girls on numerous occasions, not to mention countless sightings of other paranormal activity throughout the estate.
Rosedown Plantation
The Myrtles is not the only haunted plantation in St. Francisville. Rosedown Plantation has a resident spirit all its own. Built in 1835, Rosedown is famous for its beautiful, sprawling gardens. But it is also known for the spirit of William B. Turnbull. The eldest son of Martha and Daniel Turnbull, who built Rosedown, William drowned at age 27, when trying to cross a nearby river in a small boat. William's is a playful spirit, a practical joker. Often a Rosedown employee will turn off all the lights and lock up for the night, only to return the next morning to find all the lights have been turned back on. Sometimes the lights will flash off and on inexplicably while guests are touring the plantation.
Chretien Point Plantation
Chretien Point is a majestic, 230-year-old plantation house with a turbulent history in Sunset, Louisiana. The ramp knee staircase in its foyer is believed to be the model for the staircase in Gone With the Wind's Tara Plantation. But that is not the dramatic highlight of the plantation, or even the staircase. In the early 1840's, Felicite Chretien was awakened in the middle of the night by a band of pirates. She was descending the staircase when she was accosted by a would-be robber on the staircase. She shot him between the eyes with a pistol she had hidden in her nightgown. As the pirate died on the 11th stair, the sound of gunfire caused the rest of the robbers to flee. The fallen robber still haunts the place, according to staff members, as does Felicite's daughter in law, Celestine, who is known for trying to protect and comfort staff members. Also, Confederate soldiers killed on Chretien's grounds in the Civil War's Battle of Little Carrion Crow Bayou in 1863 are seen trudging about the house and the grounds.
Frogmore Plantation
In Frogmore, Louisiana, surrounded by fields of fluffy, white cotton, is the Frogmore Plantation, nearly 200 years old. Frogmore is popular among history buffs, as its current owners, Buddy and Lynette Tanner, operate it as a working cotton plantation and conduct both historical and modern tours of the property. Slave narratives recorded in the 1930s enabled the Tanners to offer historically accurate recreations of 19th century life at the plantation, including thorough portrayals of slave weddings. There has been a variety of paranormal activity experienced at Frogmore. Previous residents have reported such - a man in white walking across a 12-foot wide hallway and then disappearing into thin air, a woman dressed in black wearing a black veil standing beside a column on the porch and also vanishing before the eyes the father and son who were living there. Visitors, residents and employees have also experienced lights flashing off and on, the sound of chains rattling inside empty, locked rooms, as well as the sound of footsteps on the staircase with no earthly explanation.
Poverty Point
The oldest human dwelling site in North America, Poverty Point, is located in Epps, Louisiana, near Monroe. Constructed between 1650 and 700 B.C., this site of more than 400 acres is unique among archaeological sites on this continent. The central construction consists of six rows of concentric ridges, which at one time were five feet high. The five aisles and six sections of ridges form a partial octagon. The diameter of the outermost ridges measures three-quarters of a mile. It is thought that these ridges served as foundations for dwellings although little evidence of structures has been found. This accomplishment is particularly impressive for a pre-agricultural society. Experts have estimated that the construction of Poverty Point required more than five million man-hours of labor. Poverty Point is known more for its historical and anthropological significance than for any paranormal activity, but there have been sightings of a female apparition that is said to look like statues of the "Great Mother" from Europe.
There is so much to see and do in Louisiana. Here are a few ideas to get you started.