There’s no shortage of haunted places in the United States. Entire cities down south, like Charleston and Savannah, put on ghost tours year-round. Tourists show up to those sleepy southern towns and have their fears realized as they are taken from ghost story to ghost story. So many spirits are said to roam around those cities that it seems like you’d never feel lonely, no matter how alone you may seem or how late at night it may be. Creepy! But also… fun.
However, Charleston and Savannah are far from the only haunted spots across America. In fact, some of the most fascinating ghost stories are those that haven’t been endlessly mined by paranormal investigators, tourists, or reality TV producers! Here’s a look at ten haunted American spots that are off the beaten path. You may not have heard of many (or any) of these before. But you’re sure to want to visit at least a few of ’em after we get done telling these terrifying tales!
The Red Onion Saloon (Alaska)
You’d be forgiven if you think that Alaska’s Red Onion Saloon is just another bar. It certainly looks that way! Based in the city of Skagway, it’s got a bunch of alcohol on hand. But it actually is so much more than that. It has stayed true to an Old West theme that harkens back to its days as a watering hole first built during a gold rush in 1897. All the decor is aged and themed, and it really feels like you’re stepping into a time machine.
Back in its early days, right at the turn of the 20th century, it was the most popular brothel in Skagway. On the second floor above the bar, working girls would take clients to have fun. A sex worker named Lydia was the most popular draw in town. And it’s her ghost that still haunts the Red Onion Saloon to this day! As the legend goes, employees regularly hear her footsteps shuffling about on the second floor. Cold spots drift in and out of the bedrooms, too, with no rhyme or reason. And the creepiest part by far is the fact that the scent of her century-old perfume still wafts around the bar!
Bartenders, through the years, have gone on to claim that Lydia still tends to the plants that can be found throughout the establishment. Some saloon visitors have even claimed to have watched a ghost that resembles her walking into what would have been her old room! The cool part is that Lydia’s spirit doesn’t appear to be malevolent in any way. She just likes to hang out and haunt the place that she called home during her mortal life! [1]
The Sloss Furnace (Alabama)
The Sloss Furnaces of Birmingham, Alabama, helped power the city for about a century before they were shut down for good in the 1970s. The furnaces were a massive reason why Birmingham became a major southern population hub. Even now, the city still honors the men who worked the furnaces and powered the city way back when. But amid all that pride in the city’s history also sits one of the most disturbing ghost stories.
In the early 20th century, the Sloss Furnaces had a very difficult foreman named James “Slag” Wormwood. He ran the furnace’s graveyard shift, and he was incredibly cruel. During his time as the graveyard shift foreman, Wormwood was said to have presided over the on-the-job deaths of at least 47 workers. In 1906, Wormwood accidentally slipped and fell into the site’s largest furnace. In an instant, he melted to death in the white-hot molten ore. Considering his reputation while alive, some people have wondered whether his death was truly accidental or not. And now, he haunts the place that claimed his life.
For years after Wormwood’s grisly demise, workers claimed that the Sloss spirit would push them to work harder and faster. Some employees even asserted that the spirit would physically assault them. Over the next couple of decades, there were more than one hundred reports filed of strange work happenings attributed to some kind of paranormal entity. Now, the hair is standing up on the backs of our necks just thinking about this! [2]
The Jerome Grand Hotel (Arizona)
The Jerome Grand Hotel in Arizona was originally a hospital before it offered rooms for travelers and tourists. Way back in 1927, construction crews built the hospital in the tiny town of Jerome. Over the next couple of decades, it came to be known as United Verde Hospital. Then, in 1950, it shut down. For the next half-century, the property sat completely unused. Finally, in 1996, developers purchased it and opted to turn the place into a hotel.
Historians estimate that nearly 10,000 people died in the hospital during its prior three decades of use. Guests in the modern era contend that they often see hospital gurneys floating through the hallways. Others claim to have heard disembodied voices wailing from empty rooms.
The hotel’s third floor is specifically the center of ghost activity. That’s where the hospital’s operating room once stood, and now, guests say that apparitions can still be seen all over the place. Some swear they can hear the sounds of gurney wheels rolling down the hall. The most haunted room of them all—room 32—is said to be possessed by the ghost of a maintenance man who was crushed by a runaway elevator back in 1935. The hotel’s manager now keeps a journal to log events. [3]
The Whaley House (California)
San Diego’s Whaley House may be the most haunted place of them all in California. Back in 1856, a man named Thomas Whaley settled in what is now San Diego and built a house there. Four years before he constructed his home, in 1852, a horse thief named Yankee Jim Robinson was executed on the land. Ever since, locals claimed that his spirit still haunted the region. And after Whaley’s house first went up, it was very clear that something was horribly wrong.
Just after the family moved in, a newborn Whaley son died suddenly of scarlet fever. A few years after that, Thomas’ daughter Victoria committed suicide in the house. The place has been haunted ever since—whether by Yankee Jim, Victoria, or a combination of the above.
Today, visitors are certain that the entire family still possesses the house as spirits left behind from the undead world. Inexplicably, Thomas’ cigar smoke is said to linger in the halls. And his wife’s perfume is known to tickle the noses of tourists who come through. Even Victoria is around—still supposedly puttering about in an upstairs room. And the creepiest part of it all is that the baby’s giggles can still be heard throughout the house. [4]
Mackinac Island (Michigan)
Mackinac Island is one of northern Michigan’s foremost tourist destinations. The weather is perfect, the sunlight stays in the sky seemingly forever, and visitors flock to the small community to enjoy the local shops, historic buildings, great restaurants, lovely downtown, and incredible outdoor activities. Oh, and cars are completely banned on the island, too. But as cool as Mackinac Island may be, it also hosts quite a dark side.
The island was originally home to the Odawa tribe of indigenous people. Sadly, in the 17th and 18th centuries, they were brutally wiped out as the British turned the island into a fur trading center. Then, the British military really took things to another level with the War of 1812. To this day, tourists claim to see the ghosts of long-dead soldiers still roaming the island.
The epicenter of hauntings on Mackinac Island is the Grand Hotel. Some claim that it’s haunted by the ghosts of men who were killed while constructing it back in the late 1880s. Others swear that a phantom with glowing red eyes on some Satanic level is the keeper of the place. Still more people claim there’s a ghost named Harvey who haunts that hotel and the rest of the downtown area. [5]
The Wabasha Street Caves (Minnesota)
The Wabasha Street Caves are a man-made tunnel system in Saint Paul, Minnesota. First dug in the middle of the 19th century, they were initially created to mine silica. During Prohibition, the Wabasha Street Caves became an underground speakeasy and nightclub.
Gangsters from several states around would show up at Wabasha Street to take part in some underground drinking and partying. All kinds of infamous thugs, including Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger, were known to drink there. And with men like that came wanton violence, aggressive assaults, and even a series of murders that occurred throughout the deep, dark, and dank tunnels over the years.
Today, locals say that whatever the gangsters did down there has stuck around. For those who are brave enough to venture deep into the caves, hauntings are a daily occurrence. Tourists show up and go as deep as they can, often being spooked before getting to the good stuff. But local tour guides and other residents regularly see it all—from strange footsteps to flickering chandelier lights to supposed apparitions said to be wafting through the halls. [6]
The McRaven House (Mississippi)
In the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, sits the most haunted place in that entire state: the McRaven House. The house was built in the Mississippi River-set city just before 1800. And like many old antebellum homes, it has no shortage of creepy ghost stories. For one, the home’s builder and original owner, Andrew Glass, has a terrifying backstory.
As he was constructing the house, he was known to be a feared highwayman in the region. He would rob unsuspecting travelers who were coming across the Natchez Trace through Mississippi and out to the West, and sometimes, he would murder them. Then, he’d return to the McRaven House and stash all of his ill-gotten loot.
During the Civil War, the house was used as a field hospital to treat Confederate troops. But that ended when the home’s owner—a man named John Bobb—was murdered by invading Union soldiers. As the story goes, his spirit still haunts the house, too. Murray family members died inside the home. [7]
The Old Montana Prison (Montana)
Built in 1871, the Old Montana Prison was the state’s largest penitentiary for a full century. The prison itself was hellish right from the very start. And over the years, things got so bad—with so many prisoners dying of awful circumstances—that the hauntings simply can’t be ignored or avoided. While the prison closed for good in 1979, ghosts still roam the property.
Many of the spirits stuck there are likely those from the prison’s most horrific moment, which was a 1959 riot. Inmates managed to take control of the entire complex for more than 36 hours that year. They imprisoned guards and killed a deputy warden. State officials eventually had to send in the National Guard to battle the prisoners. In the end, multiple prisoners were murdered, and several of the riot’s ringleaders committed suicide to avoid further punishment.
Today, the Old Montana Prison is a museum. Strange figures can be heard (and sometimes seen) roaming down the halls long after everyone else has left for the night. Museum employees claim that a spirit inside that tiny cell pushes and shoves people who come inside. [8]
KiMo Theater (New Mexico)
First built in 1927, the KiMo Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was a very unique building right from the start. It was constructed as a push to combine American Indian traditions with the then-popular Art Deco look. Today, the KiMo Theater sits on the National Register of Historic Places.
Locals claim that the KiMo Theater is actually haunted. They point to a former teenager named Bobby, who supposedly died in an explosion in the theater’s basement back in 1951. Ever since, his mischievous teenage personality has come through with a variety of strange hauntings. For years now, theater workers have claimed that he regularly plays pranks on staff.
Employees have taken to making sure that he’s happy, regardless. They will leave things like candy and donuts all around the theater to appease him. And even patrons have seen the ghost of Bobby! Some say he can be seen wearing a striped t-shirt and jeans at the top of the theater’s staircase every so often. She means no harm. Doesn’t make it any less creepy, though! [9]
The Ocean Born Mary House (New Hampshire)
On a ship sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean in 1720, a young girl named Mary Wallace was born. Not long after her birth, the ship they were on was captured by pirates not far outside of Boston.
The pirate captain was moved by the baby’s cries, though, and made a deal with the captives: he’d let them all go if the couple would name their baby Mary after one of his relatives. For the next few decades, Mary grew up and lived in a small town in New England.
Visitors began coming to his Henniker home and those same visitors began to swear up and down that they were seeing her ghost! Some claimed to have seen her sitting in a rocking chair. Others claim Mary reunited late in her life, as an old widow, with the pirate captain to supposedly let him stash treasure in her orchard. To this day, visitors of the Ocean Born Mary House swear they have seen ghosts. [10]
These haunted locations offer a chilling glimpse into the unknown, each with its own unique and terrifying tale. From ghostly apparitions to lingering scents of the past, these off-the-beaten-path haunts are sure to send shivers down your spine. Whether you’re a seasoned paranormal investigator or a casual ghost story enthusiast, these destinations promise an unforgettable and spine-tingling experience.
Have you visited any of these haunted locations? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments below!
