In my last post, I wrote of our trip to the big easy. Here you will find a few of my favorite ghost stories of the French Quarter with pictures to boot. If you are easily scared or grossed out, please ignore this post. I will not be held responsible for nightmares.
You've been warned!
The LaLauire Mansion (The Haunted House)
1140 Royal Street
In the middle of the French Quarter in New Orleans sits a rather large, yet unassuming house. For all the dull grey colouring on the outside, the house has a very dark history. It is allegedly the most haunted house in New Orleans, yet no one has ever been allowed to investigate because the current owner (Nicholas Cage) forbids visitors, despite not wanting to even spend the night there himself. What Mr Cage cannot hide, though, is the story behind the house. (We learned on our tour that Nicolas Cage lost the house just recently due to back taxes.)
History:
The year is 1831. Dr and Mrs Louis LaLaurie have been married for six years when they purchase the mansion situated at 1140 Royal Street. It is said that the Lalauries were worth around 600 million dollars. Basically, they were the Bill Gates of the 1800's. The couple is prominent in the social circles of the day; Delphine throws lavish parties where she invites some of the most prominent people in the city.
Two years later, a different picture of Delphine emerges after several neighbours witness her whipping a servant girl in the mansion's courtyard. The reason? The young girl, probably no more than 12 or 13, was brushing her mistress' hair and hit a knot which infuriated Delphine. The child ran to escape Delphine's wrath and "fell" over the balcony to her death. The neighbours complained as there was a law in effect in the city which prohibited the cruel treatment of slaves, but all legal matters were addressed by Judge Jean Francois Canonge, a friend of the LaLauries. All of their slaves were confiscated, but other friends of theirs bought the slaves and returned them to the LaLauries.
In 1834, the most graphic scene would unfold one night during one of the famous parties given by Delphine. As is custom with the houses of the day, the kitchen was set apart from the main house. The night of the party, firemen are called to the home to put out a fire begun in the kitchen. When the firemen arrived, they found two slaves chained to the stoves; the fire apparently begun by them to attract attention. The fire managed to spread to the house and when the firemen went into the house, they were met with the most unimaginable horrors.
Quote:
According to the newspaper, the New Orleans Bee, all of the victims were naked and the ones not on tables were chained to the wall. Some of the women had their stomachs sliced open and their insides wrapped about their waists. One woman had her mouth stuffed with animal excrement and then her lips were sewn shut.
The men were in even more horrible states. Fingernails had been ripped off, eyes poked out, and private parts sliced away. One man hung in shackles with a stick protruding from a hole that had been drilled in the top of his head. It had been used to “stir” his brains.
The tortures had been administered so as to not bring quick death. Mouths had been pinned shut and hands had been sewn to various parts of the body. Regardless, many of them had been dead for quite some time. Others were unconscious and some cried in pain, begging to be killed and put out of their misery.
Tales of the horrors that had been encountered within the house quickly spread and the enraged citizens gathered outside the home ready to mete out justice themselves. While it is said that Madame LaLaurie was the instigator of the tortures done to the slaves, it is certain that her husband knew and turned a blind eye.
Unfortunately, the LaLauries were never brought to justice. They fled that very night and were never seen again
There are appropriate six or maybe more ghosts including Madame Delphine LaLauire. Sounds of footsteps, unexplain noises, screaming, and phantoms are common in and around the Mansion.
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop
941 Bourbon Street
It is said that Jean Lafitte was born of the French aristocracy on the island of Santo Domingue and had fallen into a life of piracy when he and his brother, Pierre, attempted to escape Spanish dominance in the Caribbean. Sometime before 1808, the brothers Lafitte turned up in New Orleans where they established themselves as blacksmiths, opening the infamous Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop that still stands at the corner of St. Phillip and Bourbon streets in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Soon, however, it became clear to many who shared the brothers’ “entrepreneurial” spirit that the shop was merely a cover for the smuggling and piracy operations that were already underway.
Lafitte is known equally for his heroism in the Battle of New Orleans and for his acts of piracy throughout the Gulf of Mexico. He is remembered in Louisiana as a “privateer” who braved the waters of the Gulf and other pirates of the Caribbean to supply Louisiana and a growing United States with food, cloth, material resources and even slaves in the desperate economic times of the late 18th century.
Scorned in life by a thankless nation, driven to an anonymous death, it is said Lafitte will never rest until his honor is restored and he is reunited with the woman he loves!
The shop was built in the 1720's and the bar is still open, since 1772 which is the oldest bar in the United States! Today, the bar is considered to be one of the most haunted bars in the country! The ghosts of soldiers, spies, pirates, and a lady in black. No one knows who is the lady in black and she is probably looking for her lost soldier or just perfers to stay in the bar and not move on. .
The Ghost of Julie
732 Royal Street
High on the steep gables of a Royal Street townhouse, a naked, olive-skinned ghost woman paces and trembles, but only on the most blustery of December nights. Or so legend says.
The Octoroon Mistress, as the apparition is known, was the courtesan of a wealthy Frenchman. Her bloodline - one-eighth African-American, seven-eighths white - begat her the racial title octoroon. Her real name was Julie.
Back in the days when New Orleans brimmed with Frenchmen and slaves, society's strictures made it all but impossible for a white man to marry a woman with even the smallest tendrils of African roots. So the Frenchman kept Julie - who, they say, was young and gorgeous - as his mistress.
Julie yearned to marry her European nobleman. He either declined or evaded the issue. Their relations soured. Desperate to prove her love, Julie spent a night on the rooftop of the four-story walkup at 734 Royal St., either at the Frenchman's behest, or of her own vehemence. It was a frigid and wet December night. When the Frenchman found her in the morning, Julie lay naked on the slick slate roof. She was dead.
These days, Julie's ghost seems to have abandoned the lonely rooftop. She now haunts an art gallery that is directly below her once happy home. She is a bit of a mischef and will appear when her name is called. Apparently she didn't want to play last weekend because we never saw her.
I did find the above picture online. Check out the apparation in the bottom right window. Is it Julie?
Last, here are a couple of haunted places in which I would love to stay;
(I don't think John would go for it)
The Andrew Jackson Hotel
The Andrew Jackson Is Located 919 Royal St. In The Heart Of The Haunted French Quarter. The Hotel Offers A Charming And Relaxing Atmosphere With 18th-Century Furnishings And Spacious Guest Rooms.
Haunted New Orleans legend tells, that this was the site onthis site which the hotel now sits was once the site of an old New Orleans all-boy’s school. The school was destroyed in the great fire of New Orleans ,1788. Five boys were said to have perished in the blaze. And still haunt the present building.
Over the years, guests have reported hearing children playing in the courtyard in the middle of the night, despite the fact that the courtyard was deserted (at least by the living!)
Other guests have reported sighting a ghostly figure resembling General Andrew Jackson walking through the hotel.
Le Pavillion Hotel
A paranormal research team identified four ghosts at LePavillon including a 19th century teenage girl, a young aristocratic couple from the 1920’s, and a dapper gentleman from the same era who likes to play pranks on the cleaning staff. This hotel was built in 1907.
Often called "The Belle of New Orleans." Le Pavillion offers turn-of-the-century charm in the heart of downtown New Orleans. Twenty foot Italian statues representing Peace and Prosperity greet you at the Poydras Street front door. Inside this spectacular grand hotel you'll find crystal chandeliers, historic antiques and several lively ghost.
Noteworthy, among the hotel's impressive collection of historic antiques, are a distinctive portrait of a lady of the French Court that hangs in the Crystal Room. Two stipulations to the hotel's purchase of the painting were that it would never leave New Orleans and that it be the only painting of a woman in the room where it was to be hung.
The hotel also boasts the largest gas lantern in the United States, which hangs burning at the front porch.
Proudly sitting in our Castle Suite, is a magnificent hand carved marble bathtub, which was a gift from Napoleon to a wealthy Louisiana plantation owner. A similar tub that had belonged to Napoleon is housed in the Louvre.
At one point a few years ago the hotel management hired paranormal investigators, who identified several ghosts in the hotel. one group found four another say they documented over 100.
Strange noises in the night apparitions of figures standing at the foot of different beds. Bed sheets being tugged into the air after midnight, and disappearing items only to turn up in odd places. One guest visiting for a large medical convention held in New Orleans last year gave an account of a old gray haired woman sitting on the side of his bed, he said he felt the weight of her body on the bed and her cold hands stroking his head and saying "I will never let you go." he turned on the light and she faded away. And Yes, He checked out within the hour.
Paranormal investigators have deemed this one of the most haunted hotels in the Crescent City.
BEWARE! Hidden by the luxurious décor are many tales of eerie occurrences and ghostly happenings. It is said that the entire cleaning staff refuses to go on a certain floor.
To anyone planning a trip to New Orleans, I highly reccommend the Haunted History Ghost Tour. The guides are great storytellers and will keep you on your toes and begging for more. You learn the history of New Orleans including the stories of the 2 great fires, the cannibolistic indians that once resided in the swamps, the mystery of the baby bones found beneath the church and much more.
The entire experience was completely facinating and I can't wait to visit again!
Live, Love, Breathe & Ghost Hunt!
