While Dallas’s sister city of Denton is the official Halloween capital of Texas, more daring travelers can find something even spookier in our mist. Located just a few hours drive from Dallas, the town of Jefferson, Texas is the most haunted town in Texas – holding centuries of all sorts of eerie secrets.
Jefferson, Texas is a quaint East Texas town in Marion Country not too far off the Louisiana border. Home to a charming array of vintage storefronts, antique shops, local restaurants, and old brick streets – the historic river-town and “B&B capital of Texas” has become a big draw for history buffs as well as those seeking the respite offered only by a small town.
There is, however, a darker side to the seemingly pleasant town and once bustling 19th-century river port. It seems that its picturesque Victorian houses and lavish hotels are home to their fair share of secrets. Over the years, the town has become a breeding ground of ghost stories. Here, residents and visitors alike have reported sightings of apparitions of mysterious features, disembodied voices, and other paranormal phenomena.
Take a look below at Jefferson’s most infamous haunts.
The Grove
Built in 1861, the historic Victorian home is one of Jefferson’s most well-documented historic homes. Frequently featured on paranormal TV programs, The Grove is known as one of the most haunted houses in the state. For over a century, it’s been a source of reported footsteps, voices, and sudden temperature changes as well as shadow people meandering around the property.
The Excelsior House Hotel
In operation since the 1850s, The Excelsior House Hotel is recognized as one of the oldest continually operating hotels in the state. Over the years, the vintage hotel has hosted figures ranging from Oscar Wilde to Ulysses S. Grant.
One of the most legendary visits of the Excelsior Hotel was that of Steven Spielberg, who is said to have gotten the inspiration to write one of the genre-defining horrors: Poltergeist, upon experiencing a paranormal visit in the hotel’s Jay Gould Room. Spielberg was reportedly awoken at night by the sight of a small child, inquiring about breakfast. Spielberg abruptly woke up the rest of the crew staying at the hotel, checking out early.
Overnight stays in the Jay Gould Room start around $100 per night.
To this day, the hotel remains as one of the most haunted regions in Jefferson. Strange occurrences abound; the leading theory is that the hotel retains the spirit of Diamond Bessie, an historical Jefferson socialite who was murdered at the hands of Abe Rothschild, only for him to be acquitted.
Other reported sightings include a headless man, spectral woman, wandering fumes of cigar smoke, and whispering corridors.
The Jefferson Hotel
You know it’s a sinister sign when the hotel you’re staying at features a Book of the Dead. That’s what The Jefferson Hotel has done, cataloguing all the paranormal experiences of its guests over the years.
In fact, the hotel is trademarked as “The World’s Most Haunted Hotel“, in which visitors often describe hearing unexplained sounds, experienced flickering lights, and drifting apparitions.
While many of its hotel rooms have their own lore, Room 19, eerily named “Judy’s Room,” is the source of most reports. Said to be haunted by the spirit of an anguished teen girl, the room’s guests have reported her appearance in the mist, with scrawling messages, either warnings or pleas, left by her in the mirror.