State file · MS
Haunted places in Mississippi
What are the most haunted places in Mississippi? The best-known are McRaven House, King’s Tavern and Witch of Yazoo.
Mississippi’s ghost stories gather along the river. Natchez, perched on its bluff, has more antebellum buildings than almost any town in America and a tavern said to be its oldest, complete with a legend of bones in the wall. Downriver at Vicksburg, the McRaven House – frontier cabin, sheriff’s home and Civil War field hospital in one – is billed as the most haunted house in the state, and in the Delta town of Yazoo City a chained grave is blamed for the great fire of 1904.
- 3 hauntings
- 12 recorded sightings
Haunted places in Mississippi
McRaven House
A Vicksburg house built in three eras, used as a Confederate hospital during the 1863 siege, often billed as the most haunted house in Mississippi. Widely reported
King’s Tavern
Said to be the oldest building in Natchez, this Natchez Trace tavern is haunted, legend says, by Madeline, a young woman whose remains lay in a wall. Local legend
Witch of Yazoo
A chained grave in Yazoo City holds, legend says, to a witch who swore to burn the town; the great fire of 1904 duly came. Willie Morris made it famous. FolkloreThe ghost lore of Mississippi
The history behind the stories is deep and often painful: Native nations including the Natchez and Choctaw, the outlaw-haunted Natchez Trace, cotton fortunes built on slavery, the 47-day Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, and the yellow-fever epidemics and floods that repeatedly devastated river towns. Mississippi’s storytellers – Eudora Welty and Willie Morris among them – have shaped how these legends are told, and some of the best-known tales owe as much to literature as to history.
Ghost hunters head to Natchez during its spring and fall pilgrimages and ghost walks, to Vicksburg’s McRaven House and the National Military Park, and to Yazoo City’s Glenwood Cemetery for storyteller-led tours. Cemeteries and battlefields close at dusk; visit respectfully.
Ghost-hunting hotspots
- Natchez
A bluff-top river town of antebellum mansions, the Natchez City Cemetery and the southern end of the Natchez Trace, with seasonal ghost tours.
- Vicksburg
The siege city, with McRaven House, the National Military Park and a historic downtown full of Civil War-era buildings.
- Natchez Trace Parkway
The old road from Natchez to Nashville, remembered for its boatmen, bandits and lonely stands.
- Columbus
A Tombigbee River town of antebellum homes and Friendship Cemetery, with its own spring pilgrimage and ghost tales.
Timeline
- 1836Death of Mary Elizabeth Howard McRaven House
The sheriff’s teenage wife dies in childbirth in the newly built middle section; she is the house’s best-known ghost.
- 1863Field hospital during the siege McRaven House
During the 47-day Siege of Vicksburg the house shelters wounded Confederate soldiers and is damaged by shellfire.
- 1864John Bobb is killed McRaven House
After striking a Union soldier with a brick, the owner is taken from his property and shot by Union troops.
- 25 May 1884The witch’s death (in legend) Witch of Yazoo
In Willie Morris’s telling, the witch is chased into quicksand and vows to burn the town in twenty years. There is no historical record of the event.
- 25 May 1904The Great Yazoo City Fire Witch of Yazoo
A fire destroys some 324 buildings, including most of downtown; the legend says the witch’s chains were found broken the next day.
- 1930sSkeletons reportedly found King’s Tavern
According to local tradition, three skeletons and a jeweled dagger are discovered behind the fireplace, giving rise to the Madeline legend.
- 1961Opened for tours McRaven House
After the last Murray sister dies in 1960, new owner O. E. Bradway opens the house to visitors.
- 1971Good Old Boy published Witch of Yazoo
Yazoo native Willie Morris tells the witch’s story in his novel, making the grave a destination.
- 6 May 1971National Register listing King’s Tavern
King’s Tavern is added to the National Register of Historic Places.
- 2013Reopened as a restaurant King’s Tavern
The Charboneau family reopens the tavern with a farm-to-table menu, and its ghost stories become part of the dining experience.
- January 2016Chain links stolen Witch of Yazoo
Vandals take links from the chain around the grave, a reminder that the town’s favourite legend draws unwelcome attention too.
- 2018Ghost Adventures episode McRaven House
The Travel Channel series investigates the house, cementing its title as Mississippi’s most haunted.
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