October brings haunted house attractions like 13th Gate Haunted House that feed off the adrenaline of their spook-seeking patrons. However, with all of the centuries-old architecture in and around Baton Rouge, there are plenty of buildings with their own chilling histories and claims of ghostly guests year round.
Read below for five of the most infamous haunts Baton Rouge has to offer.
Old State Capitol
The Old State Capitol is rumored to be haunted by unexplained phenomena, especially the basement, which was originally a prison and hospital during the Civil War, according to an article from The Advocate published in January 2016. Footsteps, slamming doors, motion sensors going off, and shadows on security cameras — all with seemingly no source.
A 2012 article from WAFB adds that many of the night shift’s security guards and other employees have claimed to experience these strange noises and sensations, sparking rumors as to whom — or what — could be prowling the hallways of the Capitol.
Old State Penitentiary
Converted to several offices in recent times, the last remaining vestige of the Old State Penitentiary is known as the Warden’s House. In August 2016, a Haunted Nation article reported on the building’s history and the rumors surrounding its paranormal activity: Originally built in 1840 and moved in 1925, the building has plenty of history, and there have been several reports of disembodied voices and sounds, as well as electronic systems becoming completely erratic with seemingly no explanation.
The Spanish Moon
Beloved by many University students and fans of music and art, The Spanish Moon has a history spanning well beyond its years as the bar and venue it is today — including functioning as a temporary morgue in 1927. Along with many other rumors and legends, this has sparked claims of paranormal activity — pool balls falling to the floor, the sound of glasses being stacked, disembodied voices, and shoulders being tapped, reports a nola.com article from July 2014.
Guaranty Income Life and Broadcasting Building
This building was originally the Baton Rouge General Hospital before it was converted to the current offices. However, something from the building’s older years still lingers — the basement, formerly the hospital’s morgue, is said to get several degrees colder at night, and some employees refuse to go to the basement or other areas on their own, according to articles from Haunt Nation and Haunt Spot. Haunt Nation even reported disembodied voices and sightings of an older nurse. Some speculate that the haunting is due to a rogue doctor who continued operating a clinic after the hospital was shut down.
Springfield Cemetery
The legend of Michael Brown’s tombstone in Springfield Cemetery has since been debunked, but it made for a great ghost story in its heydey.
Located in Springfield, Louisiana, the tombstone of Michael Brown developed an etching seemingly overnight depicting a detailed scene of a road with several cars and people.
According to an article from Haunted Places, many believed Brown had been killed in an unsolved hit-and-run and that his ghost had etched the scene of the crime into the tombstone, leading to the perpetrator’s arrest. As noted in a Livingston Parish News article from 2003, the myth has since been disproven by Brown’s family, who clarified that the etching was commissioned by the family to be put on the tombstone; Brown was an avid fox hunter, and the etching is a sketch Brown had drawn of a fox hunt that he had recently been on.
