The Highway Time Travellers – Abbeville, Louisiana

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In October 1969, two men identified only as L.C. and his business associate, Charlie, were driving north from Abbeville, Louisiana toward Lafayette on Highway 167. As they were driving along the nearly empty road, they began to overtake what appeared to be an antique car travelling very slowly. The two men were impressed by the mint condition of the nearly 30 year-old car as it looked virtually new, and were puzzled by its bright orange license plate on which was stamped only “1940.” They figured, however, that the car had been part of some antique auto show.

As they passed the slow-moving vehicle, they slowed their car to get a good look at the old model. The driver of the old car was a young woman dressed in vintage 1940’s clothing, and her passenger was a small child likewise dressed. The woman seemed panicked and confused. L.C. asked if she needed help and, through her rolled up window, indicated “yes.” L.C. motioned for her to pull off to the side of the road. The businessmen pulled ahead of the old car and turned onto the shoulder of the road.

When they got out however the old car had vanished without a trace. There were no turn-offs or anywhere else the vehicle could have gone. Moments later, another car pulled up to the businessmen and, quite puzzled, said he had seen their car pull off to the side… and the old car simply vanished into thin air.

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The Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana

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Commonly known as one of America’s most haunted homes, the Myrtles Plantation started off as a working mansion during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It’s an extravagant example of the grandeur that characterized plantations during that time period; the French chandelier in the mansion’s foyer is Baccarat crystal and weighs over 300 pounds. Today, it’s a bed and breakfast.

Rumor has it that the house was built on top of a former burial ground, and throughout the years there have been numerous ghost sightings. The most well-known being Chloe, who was allegedly a former slave at the plantation.

The legends that surround Chloe vary, but most say she poisoned the plantation owner’s two children, and was then hung by her fellow slaves. Chloe is said to have appeared as an apparition in a photograph taken by the plantation’s proprietress in 1992.


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The Haunting of the Calcasieu Parish Courthouse

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Calcasieu Parish Courthouse

Calcasieu Parish Courthouse is located in Louisiana and is said to be haunted by the ghost of an executed female inmate.

On November 28, 1942, Toni Jo Henry became the only woman to be executed by means of the electric chair in Louisiana. She had broken her husband out of jail, and together with another accomplice, they robbed, tortured, and murdered Joseph P. Calloway. They hid his body in a haystack in the eastern part of Calcasieu Parish. Henry received the death sentence after three trials. Before her execution, she spoke with her husband one last time. On her final day, she seemed jovial, only complaining when they cut off her hair.

Visitors and employees of the Calcasieu Parish courthouse are convinced that Henry’s spirit is haunting the place. They have reported unexplained electrical malfunctions, the smell of hair burning mixed with cheap perfume, equipment starting up by itself, as well as flickering lights and the sense that someone was watching them when no one else was around. Some have even reported hearing the voice of a woman in the distance, a door locking by itself, and screams echoing through a stair landing.


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Lafittes Blacksmith Shop – New Orleans, LA

It isn’t every day that you see a haunted site, and even more so uncommon is a Blacksmith’s shop. Well in New Orleans you get both! Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop however has been repurposed, and is now supposedly the oldest “bar” in the United States. The building where it resides was built around 1772 and is one of few that survived the two great fires of New Orleans, in 1788 and 1794. This building happens to be one of few remaining buildings built by the earliest pioneers using soft clay bricks from the Mississippi River.

jean lafittes blacksmith shop - new orleans, louisiana

In 1806, Jean Lafitte and his brother Pierre (a notorious pair) established their blacksmith shop along St. Philip St. as a base to sell the pirated goods and also to expand their smuggling business after
the “Embargo Act” forbade American ships from docking at foreign ports. Jean Lafitte was a prolific businessman who changed the pirates’ smuggling business from unorganized crimes into a well-run thriving criminal business. He consistently scheduled auctions of the pirated goods in New Orleans and also directly from the pirates’ warehouses in Barataria.

Jean Lafitte became famous during the war in 1812 when he helped defend the city of New Orleans from attacks at the hands of the British. This made Lafitte a local legend, which led to the further expansion of his illegal enterprise. The more money he made, the more ships he acquired to speed up operations. He took customer service to its peak by organizing his own fleet of barges that made speedy deliveries of the auctioned goods to their new owners. He profited enormously from his illegal activities and had mansions both in New Orleans and in Barataria.

Jean Lafitte - Privateer

Jean Lafitte was a handsome man who had many mistresses but one true love, the wife of the Governor. This affection made him a bad enemy of the governor, which helped in fueling nosey authorities suspicious of his operations.

There are so many stories about Jean Lafitte that makes it difficult to know what to believe. Some researchers assert that he was a pirate while others claimed that he was just a gentleman privateer. The difference between pirates and privateer involves only a few scary differences. A pirate is a ruthless killer that attacks ships and towns while a privateer sails on armed ships that carries letter of marquee from a country at war, which gave them the legitimate right to attack weaker commercial ships that sails under enemy flags.

A privateer could retain and offer any captured enemy vessel and its cargo. In the real sense, these privateers assaulted any weaker ship, paying little heed to the flag it sailed under, murder the entire crew and sold the cargo. The small Louisiana town of Barataria, about 60 miles south of New Orleans, was a favorite home for most of these pirates. The local merchants had intention of buying the low priced, stolen goods, but they were hesitant to deal with the dangerous pirates.

When Columbia started procuring privateers to man ships in Columbia’s new navy, to assault Spanish ships, Jean Lafitte for the first time joined their force and was part of a government-run plan to attack Spanish ships. Some say that he retired to his beloved Louisiana after that incident; others say that he died in a battle with one of these merchant vessels.

Since the days of the Columbian battle against the Spanish, locals have sworn that Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop was haunted by evil spirits.

Most people described that the chimney on the first floor bar section of the building is surrounded by an unwholesome or dark aura (most likely Jean), with random cold pockets of surrounding air. They claim that when his spirit is not hiding in the chimney, he has appeared in the dark corners of the first floor, looking irritated and scowling at the living, while jerking his mustache with his gloved hands. He disappears quickly when seen by witnesses.