To view and interactive map of the haunted areas, click here.It’s often only a puff of smoke or the sound of footsteps in a supposedly empty building. To many, these signs are nothing more than an old structure settling on its foundation, but for others, they are evidence of something more difficult to explain.Baton Rouge is a city with rich history — and some of that history still haunts some of the town’s oldest sites.During the first state legislative session in 1852, Marksville congressman Pierre Couvillion took the floor of the Old State Capitol chambers downtown. Enraged by the treatment of his constituents by local bankers, an impassioned debate led to him having a fatal heart attack.Though Couvillion’s body was removed, some at the Old State Capitol say he never really left.”There are a lot of things that happen in the building from time to time that we can’t explain,” said Mary Louise Prudhomme, executive director of the Old State Capitol. “He wants us to know what happened to him. He put things in place for us to find out who Pierre Couvillion was.”Employees have reported heavy doors opening and closing without human aid, and ghostly shadows have often appeared in the windows of the building, Prudhomme said.Old State Capitol employees consider Couvillion’s ghost a friendly spirit, according to Prudhomme.Jennifer Broussard, director of the paranormal investigations team, Louisiana Spirits, said she was impressed by the level of other-worldly activity at the Old State Capitol several months ago.”I believe there are several spirits who do roam the halls there,” Broussard said. “So much has taken place there, and it’s such a beautiful building, who would want to leave?”Broussard said most of the building is an electronic dead zone, and her electromagnetic spectrum equipment reacted strongly while Louisiana Spirits investigated the building.Willie’s On the River, located at 140 Main St., was named for the specter of one of the building’s original construction workers.Wanda Calkins, general manager of Willie’s, said the bar’s namesake was crushed to death when a wall fell on him in the 1800s. She said she’s recognized his presence since she took over.”In the very beginning, it was a little unsettling,” Calkins said. “But now he and I are good friends. He’s just a spirit in limbo. He just never left.”Calkins said when the bar was still called The Thirsty Tiger, Willie use to play on the billiard tables every night. She said she used to see the balls move seemingly by themselves.After the televisions began flickering on and off, Calkins hired a repairman to check the building’s wiring. She said the electrician wasn’t able to find anything wrong, but the televisions still switch on and off occasionally.Employees and customers of The Spanish Moon on Highland Road claim the establishment houses spirits from at least 100 years ago.”If there are any ghosts here, it could be anyone from a little girl to hundreds of bodies from the floods,” said J. Bourgeois, a Spanish Moon bartender.Bourgeois said when the building was still a feed and grain storage, a young girl was trampled to death by horses. After the 1920s, Catfish Floods washed away much of the city, and the building was transformed into a makeshift morgue.Though other employees and customers tell of their experiences, Bourgeois said he is skeptical.”A lot of people who come here say they see things and feel things, but I have literally stayed here for three days and never seen anything,” Bourgeois said.Still, he said he never goes downstairs when he is at the bar alone late at night. He said “it just doesn’t feel right.”Morgan Goff, agriculture freshman, said she believes in ghosts and is convinced her old home in Donaldsonville is haunted.”It was just an eerie feeling, kind of like someone is always watching you,” Goff said.She said she has seen objects move seemingly by themselves and lights turning on and off in her home. Two former plantations outside the city limits, the Myrtles and Houmas House, have also been historic hotbeds of ghostly activity.Visitors come from all corners of Louisiana to catch a glimpse of Chloe, the mysterious figure who appears across the Myrtles plantation, or of the eight mysterious “gentlemen” who haunt Houmas House.Kiersten Bazdera, agriculture sophomore, said she has visited the Myrtles almost 15 times. She said she used to believe in spirits haunting the grounds there, but now thinks she was only trying to convince herself of the otherworldly.—-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]