ARLINGTON
SIX FLAGS OVER TEXAS
2201 East Road to Six Flags Street
Status: Amusement Park
Public Domain, Link
History
This location is the original and first Six Flags Park. It opened on August 5, 1961 after only 1 year of construction and a $10 million initial investment.
Currently, the park is managed by Six Flags Entertainment who own a 53.1% interest in the partnership who own the park. The park has 9 themed areas and numerous rides and attractions. It is one of the most famous amusement parks worldwide.
Paranormal Activity
As with every other major amusement/theme park there have been a few fatalities; despite numerous safety precautions. They have resulted in a few reports of paranormal activity – uneasy feelings, feelings of being watched and poltergeist activity – in the area of their deaths.
1968 – John Nelson, a ride attendant, lost his balance and fell while loading the El Sombrero.
1999 – 29-year-old woman died on river rafting ride when the raft deflated and machinery underneath flipped it.
2011 – 64-year-old woman found unresponsive in the Lazy River in the Hurricane Harbor expansion – declared deceased at the hospital.
2013 – 52-year-old woman fell from the New Texas Giant Roller Coaster due to a restraint malfunction.
The most famous – and active – ghost in the park is “Annie”. Annie is said to be a young girl. She apparently passed away in the early 20th century – one story says she drowned in a creek on site in the 1920’s – and generally haunts a yellow house near the Giant Texas Roller Coaster in the Texas section of the park.
A teddy bear has been seen to move on its own in Annie’s room. A voice has been heard in her room saying, “let me play with your hair”.
Her most common activity is flickering the lights on and off in her house. Although she rarely interacts directly with park guests, she has been seen in the darkness of the Mine Train. Those that have been lucky enough to interact with Annie describe her as friendly but a bit mischievous.
AUSTIN
LITTLEFIELD HOUSE
University of Texas at Austin
302 West 24th Street
Status: Former Residence; Historic Home; University Building
By Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
History
Built in 1893 for Civil War Veteran Major George Littlefield at a cost of $50,000 ($1,656,000 in 2022 dollars). Littlefield made his money in cattle and banking and was a major contributor to the University of Texas.
In fact, Littlefield and his wife Alice are responsible for the funding for Littlefield Fountain and Littlefield Dormitory as well as the Littlefield Building downtown.
When Alice Littlefield – who spent a large portion of her life struck down by severe mental illness but recovered before her death - passed away in 1935, she left the house to the University. The ground floor was renovated and is now used to host University events and the second floor has been turned into offices for the Office of University Events.
Paranormal Activity
The house is said to be haunted by the ghost of Alice Littlefield; She also haunts the University’s freshman female dorm that is named after her but more on that below.
Alice has been seen looking out of the house’s windows. She’s also said to be responsible for the sudden cold spots and feelings of unease inside the house.
There are also sudden disembodied screams and phantom footsteps going up the staircase reported in the house.
There’s a portrait in the house of Alice that people feel constantly is watching and judging them.
In the dormitory there are unexplained sounds and rattling heard. As well singing and moaning is heard in the walls.
Alice also acts like a guardian angel to the students living in her residence with many stories of unexpectedly avoiding physical accidents or an unseen force helping them out.
The students even hold an annual séance in the residence to communicate with Alice.
CORPUS CHRISTI
USS LEXINGTON (CV-16)
(The Blue Ghost)
2914 North Shoreline Boulevard
Status: Essex Class Aircraft Carrier; Museum; Annual Paranormal Tours
By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jim_Evans" title="User:Jim Evans">Jim Evans</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
History
The keel for this ship was laid on the July 15, 1941 as the USS Cabot in the Fore River Shipyards in Quincy, Massachusetts.
In May of 1942 the USS Lexington (CV-2) was lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea and the dock workers sent a petition to the Navy Secretary to change the name to Lexington. The Secretary agreed and on June 16, 1942 the name was officially changed to Lexington.
She was launched on September 23, 1942 and officially commissioned on February 17, 1943.
The Lexington fought in the Pacific Theater in World War II against the Imperial Japanese. For most of the war she was the Flagship of Admiral Marc Mitscher and lead ship of the elite Fast Carrier Task Force – the main strike force of the US Navy in the Pacific.
She was part of the Battle of Philippine Sea, the Battle of Leyte Gulf as well as final onslaught against the home islands of Japan. During the war she was the recipient of 11 Battle Stars and a Presidential Unit Citation.
After ferrying troops home, the Lexington was decommissioned in 1947 and became part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet. In 1953 she was brought into the Puget Sound Naval Shipyards in Bremerton, Washington and received the Essex Class conversions to allow her to operate with a modern jet air fleet.
On the 15th of August, 1955 the Lexington was recommissioned and assigned to San Diego as her home port. During her second tour of active duty, she spent most of her time in the Far East including during the Second Taiwan Crisis.
Her last mission as an attack carrier was in the Gulf of Mexico during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1969 she began her mission as a training carrier sailing out of Pensacola, Florida and Corpus Christi, Texas. In 1980 the Lexington became the first US aircraft carrier in history to have female crew members.
The Lexington was decommissioned for the final time in 1976. She was the final Essex Class Carrier to be decommissioned and is America’s oldest fleet carrier still afloat.
On November 26, 1991 the US Navy gifted the Lexington to the City of Corpus Christi. On June 15, 1992 the ship was officially donated as a museum which it remains today.
Paranormal Activity
Numerous people have died both on and near the Lexington. Most of them in the war, but also in training accidents.
The museum staff receive hundreds of reports of paranormal activity per year. The ghosts are considered playful and helpful; no one has ever been attacked or threatened by a ghost on the ship.
The museum’s Operations Manager tells a story of losing 6 pen caps over 6 weeks and having them all appear on his desk one morning lying side by side.
The ghost of a sailor who calls himself Charley stays below decks and is famous for helping lost visitors get back to the flight deck. Another sailor appears in the engine room and will teach visitors how the turbines work before vanishing into thin air.
The phantom sounds of someone running around in the flight hanger is heard in the early morning hours by security. One officer – upon seeing nothing on the cameras – went down to the deck and saw shadow figures moving around the hanger. Apparently, he never returned to work after that.
There are many residual hauntings on the ship such as three sailors that have been seen running for cover – probably – from a torpedo hit.
There is a Japanese flag on the island which identifies where a Japanese bomber crashed into the ship. The crash took the lives of 50 US sailors and injured 135 more. In this area people have experienced phantom screams and whispers; apparitions of the fallen sailors as well as feelings of being watched, not alone and not wanted.
Other Activity: apparitions of fallen sailors and officers; shadow figures; disembodied voices; unexplained noises including bangs and knocks; time and dimensional slips; cold and hot spots; objects moving on their own; electrical disturbances; light anomalies; misty forms; responses to questions by the living and feelings of being watched.
GOLIAD
PRESIDIO LA BAHÍA
(Presidio Nuestra Señora de Loreto de la Bahía)
217 US Highway 183
Status: Spanish Fort; Battle Site; Massacre Site; Catholic Public Museum
By Ernest Mettendorf - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us/Photo_submission" class="extiw" title="w:Wikipedia:Contact us/Photo submission">Contact us/Photo submission</a>, Public Domain, Link
History
Although the name dates back to a fort built on the ruins on a French fort in 1721 the fort was built at it’s present location in 1747.
By 1771 the fort had been rebuilt in stone and was the only Spanish fortress on the Gulf Coast between the Rio Grande and the Mississippi River. The civilian town, not surprisingly called Goliad, began to become populated in the latter quarter of the 18th century.
By the 19th century it was one of only three important sites in what was then known as Spanish Texas and one of only two schools.
In 1810 the Mexican War of Independence - from Spain - began. The Mexicans invaded Texas and captured the fort in February of 1813. It wasn’t returned until the remaining Texas territories were liberated by the Spanish Army by the summer of that same year.
In 1821 the fort was captured again – this time by Americans angry over the treaty between Spain and the United States were gave Texas to Spain – but only for 4 days. By the end of 1921 Mexico had achieved it’s independence from Spain and absorbed Texas.
In October of 1835 the Texas Revolution began between the colonists and the Mexican government. On October 10 Anglo-American volunteers (Texicans) attacked the fort. They forced the Mexican surrender after yelling out that they would slaughter everyone if they didn’t surrender now.
In early 1836 the Mexican Army entered Texas to put an end to the Revolution. After the more famous fort - the Alamo – fell, the Texicans retreated from the Presidio under the orders of General Sam Houston.
The Mexican Army overtook them, forced them to surrender, and forced them back to the Presidio fort. On March 27, 1836 the Texas prisoners of war – between 425-445 of them – were executed by the Mexican Army under orders from the President of Mexico. This became known as the Goliad Massacre.
The bodies were piled up outside the fort and burned. They were left for the vultures until the remaining Texican army found them a few months later and gave them a military funeral.
In the 1960’s $1 million was donated to rebuild the fort and bring it back to it’s former glory as a Spanish fort. It is now run as a public museum and owned by the Catholic Church.
Paranormal Activity
The ghost of Col James Fannin (leader of the massacred Texan forces) is seen in the courtyard where he is sitting in a chair blindfolded and ready for his execution. Those who have witnessed his apparition say the air gets very cold and they feel a chill on their spine.
Col Fannin is also seen in the old officer’s quarters where phantom footsteps and cannon fire often are heard when his ghost appears.
Most of the soldiers were murdered in the quadrangle as the majority of the paranormal activity is focused here. People have reported smelling decaying flesh; a smell so strong the local vultures flock in to look for a meal. Phantom blood also appears on the walls.
In the courtyard a woman in white is seen; legend says she is looking for a lost grave.
The chapel – Our Lady of Loreto – is also reported as being very paranormally active with multiple ghosts. A woman in black is seen holding a burning candle apparently mourning someone for eternity. A robed monk is also seen in the chapel. There are reports of there being numerous other ghosts in the chapel.
When the chapel is empty people have heard the organ playing, a woman’s choir, a bell ringing and babies crying.
Other Reported Activity: disembodied voices; electrical disturbances; cold spots; time slips and feelings of not being alone.
HOUSTON
LA CARAFE
813 Congress Street
Status: Houston’s Longest Standing Building; Historic Bar
History
Built in 1847 by a real estate developer this building is believed to be both the oldest bar and the oldest commercial building still in use in Houston.
It has been used as a bakery, a drug store, a hair salon and as a Pony Express Station as well as a bar.
Due to it’s age its nearly been shut down repeatedly by the city but has always managed to make changes allowing it to stay open. Currently, the second floor cannot be used by the public due to fire code issues. It is currently undergoing renovations.
Paranormal Activity
Some websites say the bar is haunted by a former bartender and a former manager has been seen looking out of the window. This may be the same person whose name is Carl.
What isn’t up for debate is whether it is haunted or not.
Reported activity includes: apparitions; objects moving on their own; wine glasses suddenly shattering; the juke box playing music on it’s own; the 100 year old cash register opens on it’s own; furniture moving upstairs when that floor is deserted; cold spots; unexplained mists; a disembodied voice calling out “last call” and feelings of being watched.
There is also a “lady in white” haunting the building say to be a former lady of the night who is known for pushing attractive women when they’re on the stairs.
HOUSTON
JEFFERSON DAVIS HOSPITAL
(Jeff Davis Artist Lofts)(Elder St Lofts)
1101 Elder Street
Status: Former Hospital; Formerly Abandoned; Residential Complex
By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Euthman" title="User:Euthman">Ed Uthman</a>, Houston, Texas, USA - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY 3.0, Link
History
A former hospital that has now been converted into lofts.
Jefferson Davis Hospital opened on December 2, 1924 as the first city owned permanent hospital. Due to the fast growing population of the city a second Jefferson Davis Hospital was opened in 1937 but that building was demolished in 1999.
The hospital was built on the site of a large cemetery from the 19th century containing many Civil War soldiers from both sides. The building was built above ground in attempt not to upset the families who had loved ones in the cemetery. It has since been revealed that most of the remains were not removed when the hospital was built.
The hospital was used for many different purposes including: a hospital (to state the obvious)1924-1938, an addiction recovery center, a venereal disease clinic, a juvenile detention center and, finally, records storage. The site was abandoned for 20 years before it was converted to lofts.
The following is a floor by floor description of when the building was operating as a hospital. The first floor was used for a pharmacy, the clinic and the negro ward (as it was called at the time). The second floor contained the laboratory, the men’s ward, the kitchen and living quarters for the housekeeping staff. The third floor was used for the women’s ward, the OB ward and the psychiatric ward (padded cells still existed until the building was renovated into lofts). The fourth floor contained operating rooms and the children’s ward which had access to the rooftop garden and patio.
Paranormal Activity
Apparitions of former staff, soldiers, slaves and former patients, shadow figures, feeling of being watched, feeling of intense misery and sadness, phantom footsteps, light anomalies, disembodied voices, smell of disinfectant, screams, cries, bangs and other noises and the feeling of being followed.
Based on continued reports the activity continued after the building was converted into lofts in 2005.
SAN ANTONIO
EMILY MORGAN HOTEL
(Medical Arts Building)
705 East Houston Street
Status: Former Battleground; Former Medical Building; Double Tree Hotel
History
Long before a building was ever built here Mexican and Texas forces fought here in the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. Part of the battle took place on the very ground the hotel now stands. It is, of course, impossible to tell exactly what happened on this one patch of land but 600 men lost their lives in the battle.
The building was completed in 1924 and called the Medical Arts Building. It housed over 100 medical professionals as well as a 50 bed hospital, a morgue and even a crematorium. There’s even stories that people with mental illnesses stayed here which, while certainly possible, isn’t a proven fact.
In 1976 the medical staff left and the building was completely converted into offices.
In 1984 it was renovated and turned into a hotel.
In 2012 the building underwent a massive renovation when it was bought by Hilton Hotels and converted into a Doubletree Hotel which it remains today.
Paranormal Activity
This hotel is considered the third most haunted hotel in America.
The hotel is open about it’s reported paranormal activity. They do not go so far as admitting a haunting – their website says the hotel is probably not haunted – but they do not deny the strange and unexplainable things people have reported. They simply think there’s a logical explanation; which there certainly could be.
Their website also states visitors are welcome to ask the staff about the history of the hotel and the unexplained things that have been reported.
The most active floors are 7, 9,14 and the basement with the 7th being by far the most haunted of all.
A “woman in white” has been seen walking through the halls of the hotel. People have also reported shows on the walls when there was nothing visible to cast the shadow.
The elevators will move on their own and stop at random floors when no button was pushed.
On certain floors people have felt a presence when they were completely alone. A powerful feeling that they are not truly alone as if something unseen is watching them. Most disturbing is that the elevators will occasionally ignore all the pushed buttons and take guests down the basement; where the morgue used to be.
The elevators have also sealed their own doors and trapped people within them.
Numerous guests have reported hearing something that sounds like hospital carts in the hallways but when they open their room door the hallway is empty and silent.
Other people have reported seeing nurses pushing gurneys down the hall. The illusion will first appear as solid as reality then slowly fade away to nothing.
The phones at the front desk will occasionally ring but when answered there is no one on the line. Sometimes it will show as an unknown number but sometimes it will show as a call from a completely empty elevator.
Doors will sometimes open and close on their own.
Staff have cleaned entire rooms only to return and find the bed all rumpled again.
One staff member went into a bathroom in an unoccupied room only to find the tub suddenly filled with blue water.
Not only is there no 13th floor labeled – a common occurrence in buildings 13+ stories but the room numbers on the 14th (13th) floor end at 1407. There is no room 1408 because you add 1+4+0+8 you get 13.
The 14th floor is where the crematorium was housed when it was the Medical Arts Building. It was also used for surgeries and some guests have opened their room doors to see the hallway replaced by an obviously busy hospital scene preparing and doing surgeries in an apparent time slip event. The natural reaction would be to close the door – denial is our reaction to seeing something we can’t believe – and when the door is opened again its just the normal hallway as it should be.
The 14th floor is said to have an antiseptic smell as if one was in a hospital.
Guests on the 12th floor have seen their bathroom doors open and close on their own. They’ve also been awakened in the dead of night to hear water dripping from the bathroom faucets which turns to a torrent when they get up to investigate and then stops completely the second they enter the bathroom itself.
Apparitions of nurses are reported on the 12th floor as well.
On the 7th and most haunted floor there seems to be a ghost bride as well as other ghosts who move freely about the floor including both the rooms and the hallways.
The bride is known wailing unearthly loud screams in the middle of the night waking up guests.
All the ghosts of the 7th floor seem to enjoy playing with the living. They will suddenly appear in your room – or just come right through the wall – which, rightfully so, can terrify guests. These experiences have led to guests leaving the hotel or asking for another room in the middle of the night.
Also, on the 7th floor guests have reported their phone ringing in the middle of the night with no one on the line, lights and television turning on and off on their own. There are also reports of being touched by something unseen which would be another level of creepiness if it happened while you were sleeping.
Despite a few unscheduled trips by the elevators guests are not permitted in the basement. Only staff go down there and they’ve had enough experiences that no one really wants to go down.
The morgue and embalming room were once in the basement.
Sometimes the room with filled with the smell of decaying flesh. Other staff have reported disembodied voices and bright orbs of light that flash around the basement.
HARDIN COUNTY
SARATOGA LIGHTS
Bragg Road/Ghost Road
Between Saratoga and Bragg
Status: Former Railway; County Dirt Road; Ghost Lights
By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Junglecat" title="User:Junglecat">Junglecat</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
History
During the 19th century there was an oil boom in the area and a railway line was built through the Big Thicket area of Southeast Texas to move supplies through the area. The part of the Santa Fe Line between the ghost town Bragg and Saratoga is now known as Bragg Road or more commonly The Ghost Road.
Bragg was a farm town that grew up around Bragg Station on the railway. In the early 20th century, its population began to dwindle until no one lived there anymore. Saratoga faired better – although its population did drop drastically after the boom ended and the railroad closed up – and still has a population now. The town was based on the sulphur industry as well as the railway.
In 1934 the tracks on the closed rail line between Bragg and Saratoga were removed and it was repurposed into a road.
Paranormal Activity
The Saratoga Light(s) have been seen since the late 19th century; although with the advent of electricity in the area the number of reports did decrease. Most reports now are from people driving the road very late at night between 2am and 4am.
The Light(s) usually appears as either a single light or in a group of three or more. They are usually a bluish-white color but both green and yellow have been seen as well. No one has ever caught the phenomena; anyone who gets close – one person claims they got to within 30 feet before they changed color and shot into the sky – the Lights will either escape into the sky or simply fade away.
So, what are they? Well, no one really agrees on that.
Since sightings date back to before the rail road stopped running, much less when the tracks were removed, most people put stock in the earliest theory that a conductor lost his head in an accident here and the Lights are his lantern as he searches for his head.
Of course, there is the fact that pretty much every Ghost Light on railway tracks or were once there uses pretty much the exact same story does dampen this theory a bit. At least this is true in the United States and Canada.
The other most commonly told story is that of a new bride – seriously new brides should never go anywhere on their own for at least the first month, am I right? – went for a walk and never returned. It is assumed she disappeared into the swamp – drown or found some of that quicksand we all thought was going to be a huge problem when we were kids. Anyway, her new husband went looking for her with a lantern and never gave up until his death. The Lights is believed to be his lantern eternally searching for his beautiful bride.
The pragmatic, well, they say its just lights from either nearby farms or cars on other roads. One problem, though, reports of the Lights predate both electricity and automobiles in the area. Then there’s always Will-O-Wisps – glowing swamp gas – which apparently are a proven phenomenon.
The truth will probably never be known but I agree with Austin something happened on that long dark road and it probably involved death.
Many people who have encountered the Lights verify that if you get out of your car and approach the Lights on foot you can get much closer to them.
yorktown
YORKTOWN HOSPITAL
728 West Main Street
Status: Former Hospital; Tourist Attractions; Paranormal Investigations are Available; Open 11am - 6pm Monday to Saturday
History
This hospital was built and founded by the Felician Sisters, a Roman Catholic Order, in 1950. The hospital closed down in 1988 and became a drug rehabilitation center.
Currently the facility is completely abandoned. Reports indicate that something a little less than 2,000 lives were lost in this hospital while it was operating. The hospital is over 30,000 square feet and contains 3 floors including a basement and a chapel.
This location is privately owned and open for paranormal investigations.
Paranormal Activity
This location is considered one of the most paranormally active sites in the world.
If the lights are turned on the activity will calm down but as soon as those lights are turned off apparitions can be seen walking the hallways.
There are many reports of evil and dark forces being very active at this site. Dolls on site have been reported as talking to investigators.
Apparitions of former staff and patients have been witnessed. Black objects about the size of a large dog are seen moving about the building. Glowing red eyes floating in the air have been witnessed. Tapping has been heard on the glass on a door that seals off a closed stairway. Phantom organ music has been recorded in the old chapel.
Other activity: light anomalies, malfunctions in battery equipment and phantom footsteps.