Haunted Myrtles Plantation

Tonight, my special guest is author Rebecca Pittman who's here to discuss her book about the reported hauntings at The Myrtles Plantation. Get the book for your collection.

Welcome back to the haunted hallways of the Myrtles Plantation, in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Named The Most-Haunted Home in America, this 220-year-old antebellum plantation plays host to guests from around the world...and "other worlds." Her moss-laden trees have witnessed it all--from murders to voodoo, pirates to poison, slavery and the Civil War.With new photos, history, and today's ghost stories, this 2nd Edition issue will invite you to peek through her upside-down keyholes and discover the secrets of the Myrtles Plantation.

More on the Myrtles Plantation:

Sited on a hill, the eastward-facing frame house, which features a clapboard exterior, is built in the Creole cottage style that characterized many Louisiana plantation houses in the 19th century. The original house was built in 1796 and featured six bays and three dormers on the roof. In the mid-1850s, the one-and-a-half-story house was extended south, almost doubling its size, and increased to nine bays including a new double door entrance. The entry doors are surrounded with a transom and sidelights, showcasing original hand-painted stained glass, etched and patterned after the French cross to allegedly ward off evil. The main feature of the Myrtles is the 125-foot-long veranda that extends the entire length of the façade, and wraps around the southern end of the house. The ornamental cast-iron railing, with an elaborate grape-cluster design, supports a broad Doric entablature, and on the gabled roof, with six brick chimneys, are two large double-paned, pedimented dormers with Doric style pilasters, interspersed with three single-paned dormers. When the original roof of the house was extended to encompass the new addition, the existing dormers were copied to maintain a smooth line. The west facing rear façade features a central, open loggia that is enclosed on three sides by the house, and on the roof are five pedimented dormers identical to the front.[2]

Interior[edit]

The Myrtles has 22 rooms spread over two floors. The spacious entry hall runs the length of the house and features faux-bois, open pierced friezework molding, a French Baccarat crystal chandelier weighing more than 300 pounds and a cantilevered staircase. The flooring and most of the windows in the house are original. To the left of the hall is the music room that is adjacent to the only bedroom found on the first floor. The principal rooms of the house are found to the right of the hall. The walls of the original house were removed and repositioned to create four large rooms that were used as identical ladies and gentlemen's parlors, a formal dining room and a game room. The two parlors feature Carrara marble mantles in the Rococo Revival-style on the north and south walls, and are crowned with elaborate plaster cornices and ceiling medallions, made from a mixture of clay, Spanish moss and cattle hair, with no two being the same.[3]

The second floor features five bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. The largest bedroom, known as the Judge Clarke Woodruff Suite, is the only room that is accessed by the main staircase in the entry hall. The remaining four bedrooms, that are separated by a common sitting room, are accessed by a staircase that ascends from the rear loggia. The floor of these bedrooms were raised one foot when the house was renovated, as the addition had higher ceilings than the original house.

Grounds[edit]

The current plantation landscape is centered on a large pond that features a small island centered with a gazebo accessed by a bridge. To the rear of the main house is the oldest structure on the grounds. Now known as the General's Store, this was where General Bradford lived while the main house was being built. Currently it is used as the gift shop, laundry facilities, plantation offices and guest breakfast spot.[4] To the south is another structure that houses a restaurant. The two ancillary buildings are connected to the main house by a 5,000 square feet (460 m2) old brick courtyard. Scattered elsewhere on the grounds are modern wooden cottages available to guests.

LEGENDS AND LORE

The plantation house is rumored to be on top of an ancient Tunica Indian burial ground. It is currently a bed and breakfast, and offers historical and mystery tours. Touted as "one of America's most haunted homes", the plantation is supposedly the home of at least 12 ghosts.[12] It is often reported that 10 murders occurred in the house,[12] but historical records only indicate the murder of William Winter.[6] William Drew Winter is very popular in the plantation. He was an attorney who lived in the plantation from 1865 until 1871. He was shot by a stranger. After being shot, he staggered inside the house and died trying to climb the stairs. He died on the 17th step of the stairs. To the present day, visitors, as well as employees in the hotel, still hear his dying footsteps.[13]

In 2002, Unsolved Mysteries filmed a segment about the alleged hauntings at the plantation. According to host Robert Stack, the production crew experienced technical difficulties during the production of the segment. The Myrtles was also featured on a 2005 episode of Ghost Hunters.[14][15] The TV series Ghost Adventures also filmed an episode there. The television series Most Terrifying Places in America profiled the plantation.

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