Post by Graveyardbride on Oct 1, 2015 11:32:06 GMT -5
Other Louisiana Haunts
Some consider New Orleans the nation’s most haunted city. And it’s no wonder with its eerie hotels, rich voodoo culture and popularity with vampires and other mythical beings. But the Crescent City isn’t the only place in Louisiana where ghosts roam and things go bump in the night. Many Louisiana plantations, antebellum homes, historic bridges and graveyards are plagued by strange occurrences attributed spirits of the departed. Following are some interesting hauntings across Louisiana.
Chrétien Point (Sunset). There’s a chance you’ll encounter something other than what you’d expect even before you get to the door of this white-columned mansion. The bloody Battle of Bayou Bourbeau was fought near the 1831 plantation home and there have been reports of curious activity on the bridge leading to the property. Chrétien Point (above) is a gated private residence and no longer serves as a B&B and wedding venue. Accordingly, your chances of dropping by for an ectoplasmic experience probably won’t happen. But we’ll not let that fact get in the way of a good ghost story or two. Something to consider about the mansion on the banks of Bayou Bourbeau is its stairway. It was replicated for Gone With the Wind and like Melanie Wilkes in the film, a woman apparently shot an intruder dead on the steps. And, yes, both interloper and mistress have come back to visit from time to time. During the War of Northern Aggression, several clashes between north and South took place on the property, a Union cannon ball hit one of the columns and there’s still a bullet hole in a door. Chrétien Point was used as a hospital during the War and so, of course, there are tales of hauntings.
Marland’s Bridge on the way to Chrétien Point is also stalked by things not of this world. The bridge is named for Union Lt. William Marland, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during the November 3, 1863, Bayou Bourbeau Battle in which there were 812 casualties, 124 wounded and 566 missing. There are those who believe at least some of the spirits of those who die in battle are earthbound and a number of local ghost hunters are convinced a few of those wraiths hang out on and around the bridge. “The bridge by this plantation is incredible. You can hear voices, marching boots and on one occasion, we got run off by a strong sulphur smell,” said Toni Daigle in a 2014 post. “As soon as we moved from the bridge, the smell was gone. Warning, the plantation has new owners and they will call the police.” In March of this year, an anonymous writer said: “We came at night to see if we could see ghosts. We were parked on the bridge. Her car would not start. She (tried and tried) but it wouldn’t start. I told her to push the truck off the bridge. So she did. Then the truck started right up.” Marland’s Bridge is a bridge to somewhere – complete with shadowy figures, feelings that you’re being watched and touched, and other phenomena – but the question remains: Do you want to go there?
Loyd Hall (Cheneyville). William Loyd wasn’t fond of the visitors occupying his plantation during the War. But perhaps he found some satisfaction while acting as a double agent for both the Union and Confederacy – at least until he was discovered and tarred and feathered before he was hanged from a tree in his own yard.
The storied past of Loyd Hall (above), now a bed and breakfast, is largely attributable to its original owner, whose phantom footsteps and a presence have long been reported. But there are other Loyd Hall legends, such as that of Harry the Union soldier, who was shot in the attic. Sizeable bloodstains on the floor – a main attraction on tours, which have been tested and authenticated – are presumed to be his. His spirit has been seen in other parts of the house, too, often playing a violin. Then there’s Ines Loyd, William’s niece, whom some say took her own life by jumping from the second-floor balcony after being jilted at the altar. Her wraith is seen and heard playing the piano. There also have been reports of disembodied voices, doorknobs turned by unseen hands and rattling windows. If you visit, Beulah Davis, the housekeeper for the family who last occupied the house in the 1970s and current tour guide, will be the first to tell you the three ghosts – gone from this world before their time – have “unfinished business” at Loyd Hall that this is what keeps them coming back.
T’Frere’s House (Lafayette) – another plantation home turned bed and breakfast – has long been known as the local haunted house. According to legend, a young woman named Amélie Comeaux fell, or jumped, into the well on the property after losing her husband and child to yellow fever. The story goes that she is buried nearby instead of the church cemetery because of the possible suicidal nature of her death and such accounts for her restless spirit. But Holly Trahan, an assistant innkeeper who has been working on and off for around 10 years now, has another idea of who might be haunting the house. She quickly fell in love with the home – even after an early-on encounter at the age of 16 that would have sent others running for their lives. “I got locked inside of a room, and the door to that room only locks from the inside,” Trahan claimed. “But I had just been making jokes and making fun of the ghost I’d heard about the day before. I finally got out by asking the ghost to open the door in French: ‘Ouvrez la porte.’”
Trahan has spent years digging into historical records to learn more about the property and the people who have come and gone through the years. During the process, she also learned she is a distant relative of the home’s original owners. She insisted there is proof debunking the Amélie theory, that the young woman married a widower before the required mourning period ended and the two skipped town to escape accusations of murder. Her name crops up many years after her supposed death in documents, Trahan added. But Trahan revealed another possibility for who could be haunting the place: a girl by the name of Marie Estelle Comeaux. Records show that Marie died in 1827 at the age of 12 from drowning in a well on the family’s property. Although T’Frere’s House wasn’t built until 1897, Trahan believes it is Marie’s spirit haunting the place. Records also show that one after Marie’s accident, her father died of yellow fever.
The person who converted the house into a bed and breakfast eventually moved a piano out of the home because its music awakened guests in the night when no one was in the room where the instrument was located. However, there has been only one known report of a full-on ghost sighting: An exterminator reported seeing a girl standing in the attic saying the words “viens voir” or “come see.”
T’Frere’s isn’t advertised as a haunted house, but the staff welcomes visitors and allows them to decide for themselves if the stories are true.
Green Light Bridge (Franklin Parish). If you don’t know your way around Franklin Parish, you’ll have to ask where to find Green Light Bridge. It’s down Green Light Road south of Winnsboro, but there’s no sign at the Louisiana 15 turnoff. The pavement turns to gravel a few yards from the highway and when it’s dry, the lush overgrowth on both sides of the road is covered in dust. Late in the afternoon with no sunlight filtering through the woods, the setting is creepy. The original name of the road is lost to time and as with many locations, its nickname has evolved into its official name. Green Light Road and Green Light Bridge are where an eerie phantom green light has been seen both on the bridge and the banks of the Turkey Creek.
Paul Price, a Franklin Parish native, remembers the old Green Light Bridge, not the modern concrete span that replaced it several years ago. “It was a really cool old wooden bridge. It didn’t have any sides. We would go down there in high school,” Price recalled. “Yeah, I saw the light, but it didn’t scare me or anything. I haven’t thought about that place in years.”
Isaac Eley is 83 and has lived near Green Light Road his entire life. While he could not recall having seen the green light, he does know of tragedies in the area. “Just across the bridge there was on old, old church built in the late 1800s,” he remembered. “The story goes someone was hung at the tree at the church.” In almost the same place, in front of the church, “There was a lady that got killed years ago, at least in the 50s or 60s. She was killed in an automobile accident right there at the church. I believe she ran into a tree.” Could it be one of their spirits that appears as a green light?
Louis Robinson of Winnsboro owns property adjacent to Green Light Bridge and confirmed Eley’s information. “I’m 45 and this happened years before I was born. There was a hanging at the church. The church was just west of the bridge. The church isn’t there anymore, it was moved to Jigger. There was a lady who did have a wreck at the church. She said she saw a ghost and had a wreck and later died.” Robinson said that as a boy he and his friends would play down around the bridge and old church, which was abandoned and falling apart.
According to Weird Louisiana by Roger Manley, “... west of Chase between Winnsboro and Jigger, you’ll find Green Light Road.” Manley writes that people see a green light emerging from the side of the creek and hovering over the bridge. Supposedly the light affects the electrical systems of vehicles, causing engines to shut down and disrupting doors, locks and windows. The author advises drivers: “Green means ‘go,’ so if you see the light, push the pedal to the metal and get out of there.”
The website Ghosts of America has a first-person account of someone who visited Green Light Bridge in 2009 and a woman who claimed to have seen someone in a white shirt walking into the bushes at the bridge. According to the site, there is a legend that a man was decapitated on the bridge and the green glow is from his lantern, which he carries as he searches for his head. This addition is very similar to the Crossett Lights in Crossett, Arkansas, and the light of the headless railroad man in Beauregard, Mississippi.
Historic Haunts of Shreveport. Beginning at Pierremont Mall, history buffs and ghost seekers embark on a three-hour tour visiting haunts throughout Shreveport and Bossier City, including Oakland Cemetery, Logan Mansion, Ogilvie Wiener Mansion, Spring Street Museum and the old Hunter Hotel.
Modern-day ghost hunters have decided cemeteries are prime locations for hauntings and haunted or not, Oakland Cemetery is worth visiting. Several mayors and other prominent Shreveport residents are interred at Oakland and there are several haunting tales. One of the more notable spirits is that of Nathan Goldkind, a dry goods store owner whose gambling addiction eventually cost him his life. He was murdered after being accused of cheating at poker and his ghost was said to haunt his former store, but after the building was torn down, his phantom was spotted in the vicinity of his grave. Some women have even reported something touching their in that particular location.
The Logan Mansion (above) is a Queen Anne-style dwelling built in 1897. Rumor has it that the house is haunted by the ghost of 11-year-old Theodora Hunt. The Hunts were neighbors of the Logan family and the girl would often visit. One day, it is said, Theodora either fell, or was pushed, from an upstairs window and died. Although it has been proven that Theodora actually died in Arkansas, it is still believed she haunts the Logan Mansion where she once loved to play. People have reported seeing the shape of a young girl in an upstairs window when the residence is empty.
Each location has its share of ghost stories from disembodied footsteps and missing pictures to actual sightings of the inexplicable. Historic Haunts of Shreveport is doing more than creeping out its customers. Net proceeds from the tours benefit local historic preservation efforts. In 2014, $20,000 was raised for renovations and restorations at Oakland Cemetery and other stops featured on the tour.
Sources: Dominick Cross, The Advertiser; Miranda Klein, The Town Talk; Megan White, The Advertiser; Hope Young, The New Star, and Jada Durden, The Shreveport Times.
