“Perhaps the most startling of all the inexplicable tales told about the ghosts of this old city is that series of recitals by members of the police force concerning the manifestations which occurred in 1898 or so in the Ninth Precinct Jail.””
“Real Ghost Story. The Old Carrollton Jail Said to be Haunted….”
On Saturday, October 21, 1899 the New Orleans Times-Democrat ran an article under the headline: “Real Ghost Story. The Old Carrollton Jail Said to be Haunted.” Through the use of the exact words of the police officers, the article chronicles the eerie occurrences at the local jail.
Built when the town of Carrollton took over as the new seat of Jefferson Parish in 1852. It was a bland brick and stucco building, two-stories tall with large doorways and heavily barred windows. Quite simply, it was bleak and hideous. Within a year of its completion it was already begining to resemble an “old ruin” with “evident signs of decay.”
While many of the police officers who served at the Carrollton Jail stated that they didn’t believe in ghosts, most agreed that the strange things happening there seemed to defy rational explanation. And over time everyone stationed there experienced something unusual in some way shape or form; from footsteps and noises, furniture moving on its own, lights turning on and off, and objects moving without cause.
It is unsurprising that the haunting of the Carrollton Jail has become a part of the deep folklore of New Orleans — a ghost story that can pinpoint its origin to a exceedingly specific event, an October 21, 1899 article in the New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Democrat.
Additional Links From This Episode:
Sources:
deLavigne, Jeanne. Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans. New York: Rinehart & Company, 1946.
Democker, Michael. “Haunted NOLA: The Old Carrollton Jail & The Ghostly Prisoners That Can’t Escape.” Very Local. April 21, 2020. https://www.verylocal.com/haunted-nola-the-old-carrollton-jail-the-ghostly-prisoners-that-cant-escape/9056/.
“The Haunted Old Carrollton Jail.” Ghost City Tours. Accessed June 6, 2022. https://ghostcitytours.com/new-orleans/haunted-places/old-carrollton-jail/.
Horning, Katrina. “Favorite Building Friday - Carrollton Courthouse.” New Orleans Architecture Tours (blog). November 17, 2017. https://nolatours.com/carrollton-courthouse/.
The New Orleans Crescent. “The Killing in Carrollton.” October 24, 1868. Newspapers.com.
New Orleans Republican. “Paragraphs.” October 30, 1868. Newspapers.com
Powell, Lewis, IV. “‘A theatre of mental travail’ - New Orleans.” Southern Spirit Guide (blog). Accessed June 6, 2022. https://www.southernspiritguide.org/a-theatre-of-mental-travail-new-orleans/.
Saxon, Lyle, et al. Gumbo Ya-Ya: Folk Tales of Louisiana. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana Library Commission, 1945.
Stuart, Bonnye E. Haunted New Orleans: Southern Spirits, Garden District Ghosts, and Vampire Venues. Guilford, CT: Morris Book Publishing, 2012.
Taylor, Troy. Haunted New Orleans: History & Hauntings of the Crescent City. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2010.
The Times-Democrat (New Orleans, La.) “By The By!.” October 23, 1899. Newspapers.com.
The Times-Democrat (New Orleans, La.) “Lynch Law in Carrollton.” October 24, 1868. Newspapers.com
The Times-Democrat (New Orleans, La.) “Real Ghost Story.” October 21, 1899. Newspapers.com.
