State file · TN
Haunted places in Tennessee
What are the most haunted places in Tennessee? The best-known are The Bell Witch, Orpheum Theatre, Memphis and Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.
Tennessee claims what many call America’s greatest ghost story. From 1817, according to the family’s account, an invisible, talking spirit tormented the Bell family on their Robertson County farm near Adams, quoting sermons, slapping children and, in legend, poisoning John Bell in 1820. The Bell Witch has been retold for two centuries – even though its main source was not published until 1894 – and still draws visitors to the Bell Witch Cave every October.
- 3 hauntings
- 12 recorded sightings
Haunted places in Tennessee
The Bell Witch
From 1817 a talking, invisible “witch” was said to torment the Bell family of Robertson County. America’s best-known ghost story still draws crowds. Widely reported
Orpheum Theatre, Memphis
Memphis’s 1928 movie palace at Main and Beale is said to have a resident ghost: “Mary,” a girl in a white dress who watches shows from a mezzanine box. Regional legendBrushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Born of Tennessee’s convict-leasing wars, this mountain prison held men from 1896 to 2009. Paranormal tours now report footsteps, voices and shoves. Regional legendThe ghost lore of Tennessee
The state’s other famous haunts follow its history. The Civil War left bloody fields and field hospitals at Franklin, Shiloh, Stones River and Chattanooga, and stories of soldiers cling to many of the houses that survived them. In the mountains east of Knoxville, Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary – built in the wake of the 1891 Coal Creek War against convict leasing – now runs overnight paranormal investigations in its stone cellblocks.
Memphis and Nashville add theatre ghosts and music-city legends: the Orpheum on Beale Street has its shy “Mary,” and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and old downtown are fixtures of local ghost walks. Some historic sites, such as Franklin’s Carnton, deliberately avoid ghost tours to focus on the real people who lived, worked and suffered there.
Ghost-hunting hotspots
- Adams and Robertson County
The Bell Witch country, with the Bell Witch Cave, the old Bell family cemetery and autumn festivals built around the legend.
- Downtown Nashville and Printers Alley
The Ryman Auditorium, the old state capitol district and the city’s historic bars and alleys anchor Nashville’s ghost tours.
- Beale Street and South Main, Memphis
The Orpheum and the neighbourhood’s old hotels and music halls are regulars on Memphis ghost walks.
- Franklin
The 1864 battle and its field hospitals left the town with many ghost stories, told on walking tours of the historic downtown.
- Morgan County and the Cumberland Plateau
Brushy Mountain prison and the coal-mining valleys around Petros hold stories of the convict mines.
Timeline
- December 20, 1820Death of John Bell The Bell Witch
John Bell dies after a long illness. In the legend, the witch claims to have poisoned him and mocks his funeral.
- 1828The promised return The Bell Witch
As foretold, the spirit is said to return briefly to Lucy Bell and her sons Richard and Joel, who ignore it until it leaves again.
- 1891The Coal Creek War Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Miners revolt against the use of leased convicts in the coal mines, burning stockades and freeing prisoners. The conflict leads Tennessee to end convict leasing and build Brushy Mountain.
- 1894Ingram’s Authenticated History The Bell Witch
Martin V. Ingram publishes the first full-length account, the foundation of nearly every later version and a target of modern skeptics.
- 1896The prison opens Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
About 210 prisoners released from expired lease contracts become the first inmates, put to work building the prison and mining coal.
- October 16, 1923The first Orpheum burns Orpheum Theatre, Memphis
Fire destroys the 1890 theatre shortly after a performance. The cause is never determined.
- November 19, 1928The New Orpheum opens Orpheum Theatre, Memphis
The Rapp and Rapp movie palace opens with a film and vaudeville acts. Some versions of the ghost story date Mary’s death to this year.
- 1977Saved from demolition Orpheum Theatre, Memphis
The Memphis Development Foundation buys the theatre, restores the Orpheum name and begins presenting Broadway tours and concerts.
- June 10, 1977James Earl Ray escapes Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Ray and six other inmates go over the wall. He is caught in the nearby mountains about 58 hours later.
- 2006An American Haunting The Bell Witch
A Hollywood film starring Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek retells the legend, adding a fictional explanation of its own.
- June 11, 2009Brushy closes Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
The last prisoners are moved to the new Morgan County Correctional Complex, and the old stone prison falls silent.
- 2018Reopening as an attraction Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
The site reopens with tours, a restaurant and a distillery; visitors tell local reporters they have come because they have heard it is haunted.
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