Myrtles Plantation (St. Francisville, LA)

Myrtles Plantation is a historic estate in St. Francisville, Louisiana. It is often mentioned in popular culture as one of the most haunted homes in the United States.

The plantation was established in the late 1700s and has long been linked to stories of ghosts, strange noises, and hauntings. Many of these tales are connected to its history of illness, slavery, and a real 19th-century murder.

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Overview

Attribute	Details
Name	Myrtles Plantation
Other Names	Laurel Grove, America’s Most Haunted Home
Address	7747 U.S. 61, St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Country	United States
Coordinates	30.8122° N, 91.3861° W
Nearest City	Baton Rouge
Property Type	Antebellum plantation and Victorian mansion
Built / Established	1796
Closed/Abandoned	Still in use
Owner	Morgan Moss (Private Owner)
Type of Haunting	Residual, Intelligent, Apparitions, Orbs
Manifestations	Footsteps, handprints on mirrors, moving furniture, piano music, children’s laughter, shadowy figures, cold spots
Tragic Events & Causes	Yellow fever outbreaks, typhoid deaths, the 1871 murder of William Drew Winter, and the legacy of slavery.
Known Entities	Chloe, William Drew Winter, Sara Woodruff, Cornelia Woodruff, James Woodruff, The Girl in the Voodoo Room
Fear Rating	6/10 (Moderately Frightening) [See Explanation]
First Recorded Sighting	1940s (reports documented during the Federal Writer’s Project)
Most Recent Sighting	February 2026 – Overnight guests reported unexplained heavy footsteps on the main staircase and the sound of a piano playing in an empty room.
Activity Level	8/10 (High Activity) [See Explanation]
Current Status	Active hotel, bed and breakfast, and historical tour site.
Open to the Public?	Yes, through daily historical tours, evening mystery tours, and overnight stays.
Best Time to Visit	October–March (peak activity and seasonal events)
Danger Warning	Aggressive entities (rare reports), trip hazards on historic stairs, and psychological unease.
Similar Haunted Locations	Oak Alley Plantation, Magnolia Plantation, Destrehan Plantation, Houmas House, LaLaurie Mansion, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, Nottoway Plantation, San Francisco Plantation, Lemp Mansion, Winchester Mystery House, Whaley House, Farnsworth House Inn, Lizzie Borden House, Villisca Axe Murder House, Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Eastern State Penitentiary, Moundsville Penitentiary.

Myrtles Plantation’s Haunted History

Myrtles Plantation’s story starts in 1796, when General David Bradford, who led the Whiskey Rebellion, escaped to Spanish-controlled Louisiana to avoid being arrested. He built the first house, which he called Laurel Grove, on land he was granted. After Bradford died in 1808, his daughter Sara Mathilda and her husband, Judge Clarke Woodruff, inherited the property.

Many of the plantation’s most tragic stories come from the time when the Woodruff family lived there. During those years, the family faced great loss.

Records show that Sara Woodruff and her children, Cornelia Gale and James, died between 1823 and 1824. Local legends often blame a poisoning by an enslaved woman, but historical records and census data point to Yellow Fever, which was common in the area then.

In 1834, Ruffin Gray Stirling bought the plantation and made major changes. He almost doubled the size of the house and added the well-known 120-foot veranda and detailed ironwork. The Stirling family owned the property through the Civil War.

During that time, Union soldiers reportedly ransacked the estate. Some legends say three soldiers were killed inside the house, but there are no official records to confirm this.

The only confirmed murder in the mansion happened on January 20, 1871. William Drew Winter, who owned the house and worked as an attorney, was called out to the front porch by a man who said he had business with him.

Winter was shot in the chest. According to both history and local stories, he tried to get back inside and climbed the stairs to find his wife, but collapsed and died on the 17th step. The killer was never found.

During the 20th century, the plantation changed owners several times. In the 1950s, Marjorie Munson bought the property and was one of the first to report strange events, such as seeing a ghostly woman in a green turban.

Later owners, like Frances Kermeen—who wrote a book about her experiences—and the Moss family, also recorded paranormal activity as the plantation became a well-known bed and breakfast.

Local Legends

Stories passed down over the years at Myrtles Plantation include several well-known tales that try to explain the hauntings reported by staff and visitors.

The Legend of Chloe

The most famous story is about an enslaved woman named Chloe. The legend says she worked in the house and was caught eavesdropping on Judge Woodruff’s private conversations. As punishment, the Judge supposedly had one of her ears cut off. To cover the scar, Chloe started wearing a bright green turban.

Wanting to get back in the family’s good graces—or, in some versions, to get revenge—Chloe is said to have baked a cake with juice from boiled oleander leaves, which are very poisonous. She hoped to make the family sick so she could care for them and show her worth. Instead, the poison killed Sara Woodruff and two daughters.

According to the legend, other slaves, afraid of the Judge’s anger, took Chloe from her bed, hanged her from a tree, and threw her body into the Mississippi River. This story is often told on tours, but historians point out that there is no record of a slave named Chloe, and the family members actually died from Yellow Fever.

The Haunted Mirror

A large, decorative mirror from the Stirling era hangs in the main hallway. Local tradition says that when someone died, families would cover all the mirrors in the house to keep the spirit from getting trapped in the glass.

The legend says that after the Woodruff family died, the mirror was left uncovered. Many visitors say they have seen handprints, dark smudges, and the shapes of a woman and children in old-fashioned clothes in the glass. Even after cleaning or replacing the glass, the marks are said to return to the same spots.

The Ghost on the 17th Step

This story is connected to William Drew Winter’s death. People say that late at night, you can hear the sounds of a man stumbling or crawling up the stairs. The footsteps always stop suddenly at the 17th step, which is where Winter is said to have died in his wife’s arms.

Reported Ghosts

Besides the main characters in the legends, people say there are other ghosts at the plantation. One is a young girl called the “Girl in the Voodoo Room,” who is often seen in the room where she supposedly died in 1868. Witnesses describe her as about ten years old, wearing a white dress, and sometimes pulling at guests’ clothes or moving small objects.

Another often-mentioned ghost is a young Native American woman. Some people think the plantation was built on an old Tunica Indian burial ground. Visitors have reported seeing a woman in traditional Native dress walking in the gardens and near the gazebo.

People have also seen a ghostly blonde girl looking through the nursery windows. There are stories of a phantom piano player, too, with scales and melodies heard coming from the empty parlor.

Documented Sightings Timeline

Witness	Date	Details
Federal Writer’s Project	1941	First formal documentation of spectral sounds and “ghost stories” from local families.
Marjorie Munson	1950s	Repeated sightings of a woman in a green turban; Munson later wrote a song about the entity.
Arlin Dease	1970	While refurbishing the grounds, he reported seeing a man in a straw hat staring at him from a tree.
“The Long Hot Summer” Crew	Mid-1980s	Cast and crew reported furniture moving on its own and lights flickering during filming.
Teeta Moss	1992	Captured a world-famous insurance photograph showing a translucent figure between two buildings.
Amy Campbell	October 30, 2000	Reported a little girl (allegedly Cornelia Woodruff) jumping on her bed during the night.
Unsolved Mysteries Crew	2001	Reported massive technical failures, including walkie-talkies and cameras malfunctioning during filming.
TAPS (Ghost Hunters)	2005	Recorded knocking sounds in the game room and a thermal anomaly in the hallway.
Anonymous Guest	December 2012	A local news reporter captured footage of a “ghostly face” looking out of a window.
Overnight Guest	October 2015	Reported seeing two young girls in 19th-century dresses playing on the 120-foot veranda.
Tour Group	June 2019	Witnessed a heavy silver candlestick fly off a table in the dining room.
Reddit User (r/Ghosts)	May 2023	Detailed account of a “man with a cigar” standing at the end of the bed in an upstairs room.
Paranormal Investigator	September 2023	Captured a “shadow person” leaning against the veranda pillars on a thermal imaging camera.
Sam and Colby (YouTubers)	2022-2024	Documented various “EVP evidence” and visual anomalies in the Woodruff and Winter suites.
Bed & Breakfast Guest	January 2026	Reported finding child-sized handprints appearing on the inside of the hallway mirror.
Overnight Guest	February 2026	Reported heavy, rhythmic footsteps stopping exactly on the 17th stair of the main staircase.

Paranormal Activity

Strange events at Myrtles Plantation happen often and tend to repeat. These activities are found throughout the house but are most common on the main staircase, near the hallway mirror, and in the “Voodoo” bedroom. People often report hearing footsteps and piano music, which seem like echoes from the past.

There are also many reports of intelligent hauntings, where spirits interact with guests by moving luggage or answering questions. These events have happened for decades, making the plantation a popular place for researchers.

Notable Investigations

Several professional paranormal teams have studied the plantation. In 2005, The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS), led by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, investigated the site for the TV show Ghost Hunters. They found unexplained audio recordings and thermal changes, but stayed skeptical about the more dramatic legends.

Unsolved Mysteries filmed at the plantation in the early 2000s, showing the “Chloe” photograph and talking to staff about the handprints that keep appearing in the mirror.

The plantation was also featured on Ghost Adventures, where the crew investigated the William Winter murder and the supposed burial ground beneath the house. They reported strong EMF (Electromagnetic Field) spikes throughout the building.

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