Most Haunted Places in America: Oak Alley Plantation
Oak Alley Plantation is a gorgeous mansion built upon sprawling acreage back in the 1830′s. Named for the 240-meter long alley of live oak trees that lined the walkway, Oak Alley Plantation is not only a national historic landmark, but the source of much ghost haunting suspicions.
Built by George Swainy between 1837 and 1839, the Oak Alley Plantation was designed for Jacques Telesphore Roman III, most likely designed by his father-in-law, an architect by the name of Joseph Pilie.
Originally established as a sugar plantation, Jacques and wife, Josephine, moved into the plantation home, living happily for about ten years until Roman’s life was cut short by tuberculosis. Oak Alley Plantation was put up for auction in 1866 and changed owners numerous times over the next 50 years or so.
In 1925, Andrew and Josephine Stewart purchased the plantation, but the structure was little more than dilapidation by that time. The couple worked diligently to restore Oak alley Plantation to its former glory.
The years went by until Josephine, well into her years, passed away in 1972. Mrs. Stewart had founded the Oak Alley Foundation, which took over the plantation home upon her death, keeping it perfectly maintained until it was finally opened to the public as a bed and breakfast in 1998.
There have always been rumors and fearful whispers of ghostly activity surrounding Oak Alley Plantation, but it wasn’t until locals and tourists began staying in the bed and breakfast that the reports of spiritual activity really started pouring in. Guests and plantation workers alike have reported everything from unexplained noises and footsteps to visible apparitions.
One of the most common claims relates to the sound of a woman or child crying. Numerous reports point out the ghostly apparition of a tall, thin woman with brown or black hair, peeking out the windows, walking the halls or even galloping her phantom steed through the fields. Historians, employees and others with enough knowledge of the history of Oak Alley Plantation tend to believe this lady is none other than Josephine, wife of the original owner J. T. Roman. Others believe the female ghost to be Josephine’s daughter, Louise.
Office workers have claimed to see lights turning on and off without physical assistance, objects moving of their own accord, empty rocking chairs swaying in unison. Many are said to have heard the clear clip-clop resonation of a horse drawn carriage, though none have ever identified it visually.
The Oak Alley Plantation isn’t just famous for its gorgeous live oaks, nor it spiritual anomalies. The plantation has been a favorite local of Hollywood producers. Oak Alley Plantation has been depicted in a number of celebrated films, the most notable being “Interview with the Vampire”, based on the novel by Anne Rice.
Visitors to the Oak Alley Plantation come in droves, each and every year, either to experience or investigate the capacity of paranormal activity, to enjoy the splendor of the plantation’s amazing grounds, or perhaps a little bit of both.
Related posts:
- The Myrtles Plantation Ghosts
- Fort Monroe Hauntings
- Haw Branch Plantation Haunting
- The Haunts of Gaineswood Plantation
- The Haunting of the Ames Plantation
6 comments ↓
We spent the night of Sat. Jan 23, 2010 in the overseer’s cabin. There is a huge tree next to the cabin that I felt I needed to take pics of after dark. While taking the pics I saw none of the “stuff” that appeared – I also became very ligtheaded and very nauseous when I stood under the tree while touching the trunk. I have pics of: the tree surrounded by a mist,a blue-misty bearded old man, a young black male (looks teen-aged), with his pants rolled up to the knees, sitting on the ground – to the right of him is a small face with 2 triangular shapes attached to his head. One pic clearly shows a toddler-sized “child”, wearing only light-colored bottoms, looking at me with his right fist in the air – there is another small guy like this to his right, but he is very hazy. In this same pic there is what appears to be an adult-sized being wearing a red/black mask (grinning at me?)that has some sort of plummage or hair extending from the top and cascades dowm the neck and shoulder of this thing. Also on Sun.(1-24-10) I got shots of the upper windows of the mansion (front and back) and there appers to be someone looking out of the center windows. A pic of the car in the garage (the original mansion kitchen) shows a misty man behind the steering wheel with his hands on the wheel. I also got pics that show “stuff” but are hard to discern what is going on. What a trip it was. I was able to email friends/family these pics/attachments once – since that time I am unable to email any attachments.
That sounds like an awesome experience and of course pictures we would love to see! Sounds like a lot was going on that day at the old plantation. Do you feel like you possibly may have a gift to “feel” more? May be a reason why your pics had some much in them.
This isn’t all that exciting but… I was with a group touring the house mid morning on November 4th 2011. Everybody was on the second floor listening to the guide. There were stairs, which were roped off, leading up to a third level that the guide said was just storage and not part of the tour. I was standing facing the stairs and the tour guide. A window just past the top of the stairs was letting quite a bit of sunlight through. My focus was on the guide but suddenly I noticed all the light from the window vanished then reappeared as if someone walked past it. I started listening for anybody walking around up their but heard nothing. I don’t think anybody was moving around up there because I would have easily heard that. I also thought it was a little odd that all the light was momentarily blocked out. I guess there could be a logical explanation, but it just seemed a little odd.
I have proof. I know were not allowed to take pics but we did. Im sorry. But we have several pics. Originals. Never showed anyone. They are very disturbing. This was years ago.. i still have them. Wanna see them Email me. Crazycrys13@gmail.com.. honest to god.. these aee real..
In the pics.. are my brother posing in front one of the trees. And i the back are 3 dark shadows next to each other. In another a white figure . With a hat on… Next to the crib.. in the hall way looks like a black slave… In a window next the the door looks like the owner.. a head of a dog next to a couch… Someone looking in from a window.. iwe took a pic of a mirror.. and it looks like a lady with big poofy hair is in it.. .
My wife and I have stayed in most of the cabins on the grounds over the past several years. That was until our stay in cabin number 4. It was late when we arrived one spring night in ‘08, so we soon went to bed. We both fell asleep quickly. But, around 1am I was awoken by what sounded like squirrels frantically fighting in the rafters. A few minutes later I heard faint sounds outside of a woman and 2 kids playing (at 1am!). I was a bit spooked at that point. But, then the bed shifted – as if someone nudged it an inch across the floor! I snuggled up to my wife (who was still sound asleep) and a few minutes later I felt a cold hand touch me on the neck! I wanted to leave right then. But, I had paid good money for the room, so I decided to man up and stick it out. Fortunately, that was the last experience for the night and I eventually fell asleep. The next morning I told my wife about the nocturnal happenings and she suggested we look through the guest book for stories from prior guests. Sure enough, the majority of entries had mentioned unnatural occurrences! Several talked about the bathtub hot water turning on by itself and there was one entry detailing the stove burner automatically firing up in the kitchen. When checking out that morning, I asked the clerk if anyone had ever said anything strange happened in their cabins. The clerk said, “Oh, you must have stayed in number 4… We don’t like to talk about it, but people do say things happen there.” Anyone have a similar story? BTW… cabins 6, 5 and 3 were lovely and seemingly ghost-free during our previous stays.
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