Haunted Places in Texas

In February and March of 1836, somewhere between 180 and 250 Texian defenders died at the Alamo during a 13-day siege by Mexican forces. The exact number is disputed. What is not disputed is that the deaths were violent, concentrated, and occurred in a small space — the mission compound covers less than three acres.

The paranormal accounts from the Alamo begin almost immediately after the battle. Mexican soldiers ordered to demolish the structure reported seeing ghostly figures on the walls wielding flaming swords — an account documented in Mexican military records of the period. The demolition order was rescinded. Whether the soldiers' account influenced that decision is not recorded.

Modern accounts cluster in the Long Barrack — the building where much of the hand-to-hand fighting occurred. Visitors report cold spots, the smell of gunpowder in areas where no gunpowder has been present for 190 years, and the sound of men moaning from within the walls. Security staff working overnight shifts have submitted incident reports describing equipment malfunctions and unexplained sounds consistent with what daytime visitors report.

The Menger Hotel opened in 1859, directly adjacent to the Alamo. It is the oldest continuously operating hotel west of the Mississippi River. In its 165 years of operation, it has accumulated 32 documented ghost reports — more than any other hotel in Texas, and among the highest counts of any hotel in the United States.

The most frequently reported ghost is Sallie White, a chambermaid who was shot by her husband in 1876 and died two days later. She has been seen on the third floor in period clothing, carrying towels, performing the work she did in life. Guests have reported her appearing at the foot of their beds. Hotel staff report her in the hallways.

Theodore Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders in the Menger Bar in 1898. The bar itself — relocated from its original position but preserved intact — is reportedly one of the most active areas in the hotel. Bartenders working the closing shift have described a man in period military clothing who sits at the end of the bar, orders nothing, and disappears.

Built in 1886 by cattle baron Jesse Driskill, the Driskill is Austin's oldest hotel and one of the most haunted buildings in the Texas capital. Two brides have died in the hotel — one in the 1880s, one in the 1990s — both on their honeymoons, both in tragic circumstances. Both have been reported as presences in the hotel since their deaths.

The 5th floor is considered the most active area. Guests report hearing children laughing in the hallways when no children are present, and the sound of a ball bouncing — associated with a young girl who died in the hotel in the early 1900s. The Driskill Bar is where President Lyndon B. Johnson watched election returns on the night he lost his first Senate race in 1948. Staff report unexplained activity in the bar during closing hours.

Terlingua was a mercury mining town that reached peak population around 1900 before the mines played out and the town was abandoned in the 1940s. The ruins of the old town — adobe buildings, a cemetery, a church — remain largely intact in the Big Bend desert. Some of the original structures have been partially restored and are now occupied by a small community of residents who chose to live among the ruins.

The cemetery is considered the most active paranormal location. Visitors camping in the area report lights moving through the cemetery after dark, and the sound of voices speaking Spanish — the language of the Mexican miners who worked and died in Terlingua — from areas where no one is present. The church ruin is where photographers most frequently capture anomalous images: figures in the doorway, shapes in the windows, light sources with no explanation.

The Albany Jail, built in 1878, housed some of the most dangerous criminals on the Texas frontier, including members of the notorious John Larn gang. Larn himself was lynched in his own jail cell in 1878 by a group of vigilantes who came for him in the night. The jail continued operating until 1929 and is now an art center.

Staff and visitors report activity concentrated in the original cell block area. The specific phenomena include doors that open and close without cause, equipment malfunctions that occur only in the historic section of the building, and the sensation of being watched — described by multiple independent visitors as a specific, directional feeling originating from the cell where Larn died.

San Fernando Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest cemeteries in San Antonio, with over 75,000 burials dating back to the 1840s. It holds the graves of Alamo defenders, Civil War soldiers, and generations of San Antonio families. The cemetery spans multiple sections added over different eras, and the oldest sections are considered the most paranormally active.

Reports from San Fernando focus on visual phenomena — figures standing near graves that disappear when approached, lights moving between sections of the cemetery at night, and the appearance of a woman in white near the oldest section who has been described consistently across decades of independent accounts.

Bowden Road outside Huntsville is known locally as Demon's Road — a stretch of rural highway that passes through Martha Chapel Cemetery, one of the oldest burial grounds in Walker County. The road has a documented history of unexplained vehicle accidents, electronic equipment failures, and paranormal encounters going back decades.

The specific account that made Demon's Road famous involves the cemetery itself: visitors who walk through Martha Chapel Cemetery after dark report being followed back to their vehicles by something they cannot see — footsteps in the gravel behind them that stop when they stop and resume when they walk. Multiple independent accounts describe the same experience. Some describe it as escalating — the footsteps getting closer — until they reach their vehicle and drive away.