Chapter 25

The Myrtles

🖤 THE MYRTLES PLANTATION The Most Haunted House of the Deep South A Louisiana Gothic Tale of Ghosts, Shadows, and Forgotten Memories PROLOGUE THE HOUSE BENEATH THE OAKS There is a house in Louisiana where the trees seem to lean toward the windows. Ancient oaks spread their branches across the grounds. Spanish moss hangs from them like gray curtains. The air is heavy with the scent of the Southern earth. And standing among it all is an old house known as Myrtles Plantation. The house dates to 1796 and stands near St. Francisville, Louisiana. Over the years it has become one of America's most famous supposedly haunted houses. People have reported seeing apparitions. Hearing footsteps. Noticing strange reflections. Feeling watched. Hearing children when no children were present. And experiencing unexplained sounds throughout the old house. But there is another side to the story. The plantation was also a place where enslaved people lived and worked. Their history should never be reduced merely to ghost stories. The darkness of the plantation's history is real whether or not its ghosts are. And perhaps that is what makes the place so haunting. CHAPTER ONE THE HOUSE The original house was built in 1796 by General David Bradford. It eventually became associated with the Woodruff family and later generations of owners. Over nearly two centuries, the property accumulated stories. Some were ordinary stories of families living and dying. Others became legends. By the twentieth century, tales of supernatural activity had begun to give the plantation a reputation far beyond Louisiana. Eventually, Myrtles became a destination for people fascinated by haunted history. National Geographic described it as "one of America's most haunted homes." Yet no matter how frightening the legends became, the building remained a real historic place. Its walls witnessed generations of human lives. CHAPTER TWO THE GHOST OF CHLOE Perhaps the most famous Myrtles legend concerns a woman named Chloe. According to the story, Chloe was an enslaved woman who lived at the plantation. The legend says she became involved with Clark Woodruff, the plantation owner. Different versions of the story disagree about what happened afterward. The most famous version claims that Chloe was punished after listening at a door. She supposedly wore a green turban to conceal an injured ear. Later, the story says she baked a cake containing poisonous oleander leaves. The cake was supposedly intended to make members of the Woodruff family ill. Instead, the story says, two children died. The legend continues with Chloe being killed by other enslaved people and her body being thrown into the river. Visitors have subsequently claimed to see her ghost around the plantation. But there is an important warning about this story: The historical evidence for Chloe and the poisoning story is disputed and does not establish the legend as fact. That distinction matters. The story is part of the plantation's ghost folklore, not a proven historical account. CHAPTER THREE THE MIRROR One of the most famous objects in the Myrtles is an old mirror. According to legend, the mirror is connected with the spirits of people who died at the plantation. Visitors have reported seeing strange shapes or markings in photographs taken near it. Some photographs have supposedly contained unexplained figures. Others show what appear to be handprints. To believers, the mirror is a doorway. To skeptics, reflections, lighting, dust, camera effects, and ordinary marks provide possible explanations. Nobody has scientifically established that the mirror contains spirits. But legends do not require scientific proof to become powerful. And the old mirror remains one of the plantation's most famous haunted objects. CHAPTER FOUR THE SEVENTEENTH STEP Perhaps the most chilling story connected with the house concerns William Winter. Unlike many of the plantation's ghost legends, Winter's death is historically documented. He was a lawyer who lived at Myrtles. In 1871, he was shot outside the house by a stranger. According to the famous legend, Winter managed to enter the house and climb the staircase. He supposedly reached the seventeenth step before dying. Today, visitors and staff have reported hearing mysterious footsteps on the staircase. The footsteps allegedly climb upward. Step. Step. Step. Then they stop. At the seventeenth step. The story has become one of the signature legends of Myrtles. CHAPTER FIVE THE FOOTSTEPS Imagine standing inside the old house at night. The building is silent. There is no conversation. No music. Only the occasional creak of an old wooden floor. Then you hear it. A footstep. You listen. Another. Closer. Another. The sound reaches the staircase. You hear the steps climbing. One. Two. Three. Four. The footsteps continue upward. They reach the seventeenth step. Then— nothing. You wait. Silence. You look toward the stairs. Nobody is there. Perhaps the house simply settled. Perhaps an animal moved somewhere inside. Perhaps the sound came from outside. Or perhaps, as the legend says... someone who died long ago is still trying to reach the top. CHAPTER SIX THE CHILDREN Another group of stories concerns children. Visitors have reported hearing children's laughter and voices around the property. According to the legends, some of the spirits are said to belong to children associated with the Woodruff family. The stories sometimes describe children appearing in windows or moving through rooms. Again, these accounts are part of the property's folklore rather than established evidence of ghosts. But there is something especially unsettling about an empty house containing the sound of children playing. CHAPTER SEVEN THE LADY IN THE HOUSE Some visitors have described seeing the figure of a woman inside the mansion. She appears briefly. Then disappears. Sometimes she seems to be standing near a doorway. Sometimes near a staircase. Sometimes beside a window. Nobody knows exactly who the woman is supposed to be. That uncertainty has allowed the story to change over generations. One person sees a grieving mother. Another sees Chloe. Someone else believes it is simply the shadow of a former resident. Perhaps every visitor sees something slightly different. CHAPTER EIGHT THE HOUSE AT MIDNIGHT At night, the plantation becomes completely different. The daytime sounds disappear. The enormous oak trees become silhouettes. The windows glow faintly. The house seems to watch the grounds. A breeze moves through the branches. Spanish moss sways. Then the house makes a sound. A creak. A knock. A whisper of wood. The mind begins searching for explanations. But in darkness, imagination becomes powerful. Every hallway seems longer. Every shadow seems deeper. Every old object seems to possess a secret. That is the true power of a haunted house. It makes you wonder. CHAPTER NINE THE SPIRITS OF THE ENSLAVED The stories surrounding Myrtles must also be approached through the history of slavery. Enslaved people lived and worked on the property. They were human beings living under a brutal system that denied them freedom. Some modern ghost stories focus on enslaved people as supernatural figures. But there is a danger in allowing folklore to replace their actual history. The real tragedy is not whether a ghost walks the halls. The real tragedy is that people were forced to live without freedom. Their lives deserve to be remembered as history—not merely as entertainment. The plantation's supernatural legends should never erase that truth. CHAPTER TEN IS MYRTLES REALLY HAUNTED? Nobody can scientifically establish that ghosts inhabit the Myrtles Plantation. Reports of apparitions, footsteps, voices, strange photographs, and unexplained experiences are personal accounts. Some may have ordinary explanations. Others remain unexplained. But "unexplained" does not automatically mean "supernatural." That distinction makes the story more interesting, not less. Because the question remains: What exactly did people experience? And why have so many stories survived? CHAPTER ELEVEN THE MOST TERRIFYING THING Perhaps the most frightening thing about Myrtles is not a ghost. It is time. A house can survive generations. People come and go. Families disappear. Children grow old. Names are forgotten. Furniture remains. Walls remain. Trees remain. The house remembers everything that happened inside it—or at least it appears to. That is why old buildings can feel haunted even when no supernatural event occurs. They contain history. And history can be heavy. CHAPTER TWELVE THE HOUSE THAT REMEMBERS Imagine the plantation a century from now. The trees are older. The house is older. The people who visit it are different. Yet the old staircase remains. The mirror remains. The rooms remain. And perhaps someone will still tell the story of William Winter. Perhaps someone will still whisper the name Chloe. Perhaps someone will still claim to have heard children laughing. Maybe another photograph will appear to contain a strange figure. Maybe nothing unusual will happen at all. But the stories will remain. EPILOGUE WHEN THE OAKS GROW DARK The moon rises over Louisiana. The oaks become black silhouettes. Spanish moss moves gently in the night. The old house stands quietly beneath them. Inside are rooms filled with history. A staircase with seventeen famous steps. An old mirror surrounded by legend. And countless stories passed from one generation to another. Is the Myrtles Plantation haunted? Nobody can prove it. But perhaps that isn't the real question. Perhaps the real question is: Why do we continue telling the stories? Maybe because ghosts represent memories. Maybe because old houses make us wonder about the people who came before us. Maybe because tragedy leaves emotional shadows long after the people involved are gone. Or maybe... just maybe... there really are things in this world that we cannot explain. The house grows quiet. The trees whisper. The staircase waits. And somewhere inside the darkness... a single footstep sounds. Then another. Then another. They climb slowly upward. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Silence. The house waits. The night deepens. And the Myrtles remembers. THE END