Haunted Places in Jefferson, TX

The history

Jefferson's haunted reputation rests on a documented boom and bust. When the river trade died and the railroads bypassed the town, that account continues, its 19th-century brick streets, historic homes and storied hotels remained intact instead of being rebuilt over. That preservation is why so much of the town's ghost lore attaches to buildings that are still standing and still in use.

The Excelsior House Hotel, at 211 W. Austin Street in the search-collected listing, describes itself as the oldest hotel in the state of Texas, welcoming travelers since 1858, built in the 1850s by Captain William Perry, who — on the Grove's own tours page summary of the hotel — served as mayor of Jefferson, owned a shipping business and played a significant role in developing Jefferson as an inland port. The same listing names famous guests including Ulysses S. Grant, Oscar Wilde, Rutherford B. Hayes, Lady Bird Johnson and Steven Spielberg, and says that since 1961 the not-for-profit hotel has been owned and operated by the ladies of the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club, in association with the Excelsior Foundation.

Jefferson's most documented tragedy is dated. In January 1877 a woman known for her diamonds — Diamond Bessie — was murdered at Jefferson, supposedly by Abe Rothschild, who was acquitted after two controversial trials, on the Texas Escapes account collected in search. The fuller accounts collected in search agree on the outline they retell: the couple checked in at the Excelsior, she was last seen crossing a bridge with a picnic basket on January 21 in one detailed retelling, and her body, shot through the head with her diamonds gone, was found weeks later. Those details are carried here as those accounts' retelling of a documented 1877 case, not as new findings.

The legend

This section is folklore — reported by the operators and secondary accounts listed below, and never asserted as fact here.

Local legend holds that Jefferson is the most haunted small town in Texas, on the visitor account collected in search, and that The Grove is its most haunted house. Texas Highways, collected in search, reports that local legend identifies The Grove — built in 1861 — as the most haunted place in Jefferson, that since the first supernatural occurrence was reported in 1882 strange events have been alleged ever since, and that the tales include shadowy figures, a lady in white, a man in the garden, whispering voices, phantom footsteps and strange smells. The Grove's own tour page makes the same core claim in its own words: follow the footsteps of the mysterious Lady in White.

At the Excelsior, legend attaches Diamond Bessie herself to the hotel she last stayed in. Texas Escapes reports that for years there have been reports of Diamond Bessie's ghost rattling around the Excelsior House, and that when she is not there she is usually found at Oakwood Cemetery — folklore, carried as that account's report. The Haunted Rooms account collected in search adds the hotel's other reported figures: a headless man lurking in the hallways, a spectral woman in black clutching a child, and the Jay Gould Room as a reported hub, with a rocking chair said to move on its own.

A second Jefferson legend is the railroad curse. Texas Highways, collected in search, reports that when the city refused New York railroad tycoon Jay Gould's bid to build his railroad through town, local legend says he cursed Jefferson, even writing in the Excelsior Hotel register, "The End of Jefferson," and that Gould's luxurious private parlor car has since come to rest in the city he is said to have damned. That is presented by Texas Highways itself as local legend, and it is labelled as legend here.

Haunted today

Hountix lists 4 places in Jefferson, TX. Seasonal attractions keep their own open dates, so check each business's own site before you go.

• Excelsior House Hotel — haunted place, 211 W Austin St, Jefferson, TX 75657
• Jefferson Palace Hotel — haunted place, 124 W Austin St, Jefferson, TX 75657
• Kahn Hotel and Saloon — haunted place, 123 W Austin St, Jefferson, TX 75657
• The Grove (Stilley-Young House) — haunted place, 405 Moseley St, Jefferson, TX 75657

Attraction stories

The Grove

The Grove publishes its lore itself, and its story here is built from its own tour page. A guided tour through one of the historical — and haunted — homes from Jefferson's past, its page offers: an hour-long excursion into the historic old home that has been called "the most haunted house in Jefferson," hearing the fascinating history of this 1861 house along with the true supernatural experiences of the owners, past and present, in its own phrasing — "true" is the owners' word for their experiences, carried here as their claim. Walk the gardens, sit in the front parlor, and follow the footsteps of the mysterious Lady in White, the page continues. The media the Grove's own page quotes add attributed reports only: Texas Monthly, as quoted on the page, reported that shortly after the owners moved in in March 2002 inexplicable things began to happen — sheets pulled off the bed, a dead bolt locking by itself, a mirror filling with condensation, and a tape-recorder playback in which an old man's voice could be heard saying, "I miss my family" — all as that magazine account is quoted by the house. The tour page's other quoted accounts agree that both male and female spirits are said to be present, with the Lady in White the one most often seen. Practical facts are the house's own: tours usually Saturday 2 PM and Sunday 11 AM, about an hour, $10 per person, advance reservations required, no children under 10, no pets except trained certified service dogs, phone 903.665.8018 on the tour page, and times occasionally vary due to other events in town.

*Website: http://thegrove-jefferson.com/tour/index.htm*

Excelsior House Hotel

The Excelsior House Hotel's own present-day description, in the listing collected in search, is historical rather than spooky — and this story keeps that order. The Excelsior House Hotel is the oldest hotel in the state of Texas, located in the heart of downtown Jefferson, welcoming travelers since 1858, with 15 guestrooms featuring antiques and old-world charm alongside updated bathrooms, a grand ballroom and a fountain courtyard, owned since 1961 by the Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club in association with the Excelsior Foundation — all on that listing's summary of the hotel's own description. The Grove's own ghosts page summary, also collected in search, makes a matching point in plainer language: while the staff doesn't discuss such things, many guests and reporters have come away with stories — a perfumed lady in the downstairs hallway, a rocker in the Jay Gould Room that rocks with no one in it, and voices in empty rooms. A working 1858 hotel whose staff, on that account, does not discuss ghosts, and whose guests keep reporting them anyway: that is the Excelsior's record, presented as such.

*Website: http://www.excelsiorhouse.org/*