Skip to content
The Crystal Palace Saloon on Allen Street in Tombstone, Arizona, lit up at night

Haunted Bars, Taverns and Restaurants in America

Colonial taverns, frontier saloons, French Quarter bars and old dining rooms with lasting ghost stories: what sets each apart, what is history and what is legend, and which are still pouring today.

55 places in 26 destinations · Sources checked October 29, 2026

Bars and taverns collect stories the way few other buildings do. They were where news broke, deals were made, fights started and regulars spent the best and worst nights of their lives, and the ghost stories told about them are usually about those people: a bartender who never clocked out, a patriot still at his table, a gambler who lost everything upstairs.

This collection brings together the historic bars, taverns, saloons and restaurants we have written about. Some have poured drinks for more than two centuries; some are careful reconstructions of colonial taverns; some took a famous old name for a newer building; and several have closed since our articles were written. Each entry pairs what sources support about the place with the story as it is told, presented as legend and reported experience rather than fact, and shows whether it is open as we last checked it.

These places come from our own coverage and were chosen by our team. Many are in cities where we run tours, and some are stops on our haunted pub crawls, but being listed here does not mean a tour visits a place. This is not a nationwide survey or a ranking. Use it to compare the kinds of places and the kinds of stories, then read our full article on any that catch your interest.

How we chose these places. Every place has a full article, history checked against cited sources, and its ghost stories told as the accounts people share.

This collection covers the bars, taverns, saloons and restaurants we have written about, whether or not they are open today, including places that have closed, colonial taverns now run as museums, and newer bars that carry an old name. Every entry is named by its actual city and state. A tour includes a place only where its entry says “Featured on.” It is not a survey of every haunted bar in the country.

  1. We have written about it, and it is identified by its actual city and state
  2. We publish a full article on the place and its stories
  3. Historical statements checked against cited sources; where a story cannot be checked, it is told as legend
  4. Ghost stories presented as reported accounts and local lore, not as fact
  5. Each entry shows whether the place is open as we found it on the date shown, including places that have closed or that we could not confirm
Today
Region

55 places

See the places

New England

Boston's taverns lean on the Revolution, from a pub that took the Green Dragon's famous name to an oyster house in an 1820s building, while Salem's bars carry witch-trial and waterfront legends, including a restaurant on the site of the Lyceum Hall.

Boston, MA

The Brahmin

Shadow figure

A Back Bay supper club built in the old 33 Restaurant space and dressed as a Victorian parlor for Boston's 19th-century elite. Recent online listings mark it closed, so treat it as a story stop rather than a dinner plan. Choose it if you like modern-era hauntings told by the owners themselves.

The story people tell

The owners told author Sam Baltrusis that their renovation stirred something up: a shadow figure pacing behind the liquor-room door and a sudden chill in the room. An employee says she has seen it reflected in the ladies' room mirror. A man in a vintage gray suit is said to appear too, and some believe a 1955 fire said to have struck next door left an echo of breaking glass.

History we checked · 1 source
  • Boston Magazine reported that the Brahmin moved into the former two-story home of 33 Restaurant on Stanhope Street. (Boston Magazine)

Today: We could not confirm whether it is currently open (checked October 29, 2026) — check before you go

Read the full storyHaunted Boston

Boston, MA

Bell in Hand Tavern

1795Founder's spirit

A busy Union Street bar whose name goes back to 1795 and to Jimmy Wilson, the town crier who rang a hand bell through Boston's streets for half a century. It has moved and even closed for years, but the tradition carries on steps from Faneuil Hall. Choose it if you want a lively, crowded pub with a long backstory.

The story people tell

Staff say they hear a bell ringing before opening, and some describe an elderly man in colonial dress by the door, believed to be Wilson. Other stories tell of a regular's corner chair found pulled out, a shadowy figure seen there on Friday nights, and late-night laughter in an empty room. A legend also tells of a bartender from the Prohibition years who never left.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • The History of Massachusetts Blog says town crier Jimmy Wilson opened the tavern in 1795, and that it closed in 1915 before reopening on Devonshire Street in 1934. (History of Massachusetts Blog)
  • Wikipedia notes that the tavern moved several times before settling at 45 Union Street. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a bar and restaurant) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted BostonFeatured on The Boston Haunted Pub Crawl

Boston, MA

Green Dragon Tavern

1993 (original tavern by 1714)Revolutionary patriots

A Marshall Street pub, opened in 1993, that carries the name of the long-gone tavern where St. Andrew's Lodge met and where Sons of Liberty plotting is believed to have happened. It is not the original building, but it sits a short walk from that site. Choose it if you want Revolutionary-era stories in a busy pub with a full events calendar.

The story people tell

Staff describe hushed male voices debating in empty rooms late at night, phantom footsteps on the stairs, and the clink of tankards raised in a toast. Some believe a tall figure in colonial dress is Samuel Adams. Our article even says staff claim the activity picked up once the new tavern opened, as if the patriots came back to their old haunt.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Clio notes that today's Green Dragon is neither the same building nor the same location as the original, which was torn down in 1828. (Clio)
  • The History of Massachusetts Blog says the tavern ran in the basement while St. Andrew's Lodge met upstairs, and Daniel Webster nicknamed it the Headquarters of the Revolution. (History of Massachusetts Blog)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a pub and restaurant that took the historic name in 1993; it is not the original tavern building) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted BostonFeatured on The Boston Haunted Pub Crawl

Boston, MA

Ned Devine's Irish Pub

1826 (market building)Colonial watcher

An Irish pub inside the 1826 Quincy Market building, right in the middle of the Faneuil Hall Marketplace crowds, with a patio and brunch. The pub itself is modern, named for a 1998 film, and its ghost stories come without names or dates. Choose it if you are already at the marketplace and want an easy stop with a haunted footnote.

The story people tell

Staff stories describe a man in a tricorn hat watching Faneuil Hall from the windows, a hand on a bartender's shoulder in the empty basement, and fiddle music and laughter after closing. Some believe a shadowy figure behind the bar is a bartender who never clocked out. These accounts are told without names or dates.

History we checked · 1 source
  • Wikipedia says the Quincy Market buildings were built in 1824–1826 on filled-in harbor land beside Faneuil Hall, which had housed the market since 1742. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as an Irish pub and restaurant in the Quincy Market building) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted BostonFeatured on The Boston Haunted Pub Crawl

Boston, MA

Union Oyster House

1826Colonial paymaster

Serving oysters since 1826 in a brick building older than the Revolution, this is the oldest restaurant in the country known to have operated continuously. Its curved oyster bar still sits where Daniel Webster ate. Choose it if you want a full sit-down meal inside a National Historic Landmark rather than a bar crawl stop.

The story people tell

Delivery crews describe a man in colonial clothes hunched over a desk, whom a manager believed was paymaster Ebenezer Hancock. Staff also tell of a well-dressed woman staring out a window, said to be one of Louis Philippe's French students, and of a late chef named Henry who flickers the lights. Our article treats the JFK ghost as an urban legend.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Wikipedia says the restaurant opened as the Atwood & Bacon Oyster House in 1826, after the building had housed Isaiah Thomas's newspaper and Ebenezer Hancock's paymaster office. (Wikipedia)
  • The restaurant's own site says its oyster bar is in its original position and that Daniel Webster was a regular. (Union Oyster House)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a seafood restaurant with an oyster bar) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Boston

Charlestown, Boston, MA

Warren Tavern

1780Fallen patriot

Captain Eliphelet Newell built this Federal-style tavern in 1780, as Charlestown was rebuilding after the British burned it, and named it for his friend Dr. Joseph Warren, killed at Bunker Hill. King Solomon's Lodge, Charlestown's first Masonic lodge, was founded here in 1783 under a charter Paul Revere signed. Choose it if you want a low-beamed neighborhood tavern near the Bunker Hill Monument.

The story people tell

Staff describe a woman in a black Victorian dress in the front room and a figure in a colonial wig near a porthole window, believed to be Warren himself, plus heavy boots that walk up behind people. A psychic says she saw Daniel Webster here.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • The History of Massachusetts Blog says Captain Eliphelet Newell opened the tavern in 1780, the first tavern built after Charlestown burned, and named it for Dr. Joseph Warren. (History of Massachusetts Blog)
  • Wikipedia lists Paul Revere and George Washington among the tavern's early patrons. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a tavern and restaurant) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Boston

Salem, MA

Turner's Seafood at Lyceum Hall

1831Witch-trial victim

A seafood restaurant in Lyceum Hall, the brick rebuild of the 1831 lecture hall where Emerson spoke 32 times, Frederick Douglass and Daniel Webster took the stage, and Alexander Graham Bell showed off the telephone in 1877. Tradition puts Bridget Bishop's orchard under the site. Choose it if you want a proper sit-down dinner with witch-trial and literary history.

The story people tell

Employees say they catch the scent of apples, and a former worker told the History Channel she saw a woman in a white seventeenth-century dress on the staircase, believed to be Bridget Bishop. Other accounts describe doors moving on their own, boxes thrown down the stairs, and a cash register that printed 'Good Morning' during a TAPS investigation.

History we checked · 3 sources
  • Salem State University's archives say Lyceum Hall opened in January 1831 and that Emerson lectured there 32 times; Turner's Seafood moved in in 2013. (Salem State University Archives)
  • The History of Massachusetts Blog says Bell gave the first public exhibition of his telephone at the Lyceum on February 12, 1877. (History of Massachusetts Blog)
  • Wikipedia gives Bridget Bishop's execution date as June 10, 1692. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as Turner's Seafood, a restaurant in Lyceum Hall) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Salem

Salem, MA

Mercy Tavern

Also known as: In a Pig's Eye

2017 (Derby Wharf 1762)Shanghaied sailors

A neighborhood gastropub on Derby Street, a short walk from Derby Wharf, the 1762 wharf at the heart of Salem's sea-trade fortune. It opened in 2017 in the old In a Pig's Eye space and books live music. Choose it if you want a relaxed waterfront-district stop and the city's tunnel-and-sailor legends rather than witch-trial history.

The story people tell

Accounts describe ghostly sailors in the bar area, and staff say they hear voices when the room is empty and men shouting and fighting below ground. Local legend says merchant Elias Hasket Derby Jr. dug smuggling tunnels to the wharf, and that young men who visited the building, then said to be a brothel, were shanghaied through them.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • The National Park Service says Richard Derby and his son Elias Hasket Derby began building Derby Wharf in 1762. (National Park Service)
  • Patch reported in 2017 that Mercy Tavern was opening in the former In a Pig's Eye spot. (Patch)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a gastropub with live music) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Salem

Salem, MA

Rockafellas

1826Blue Lady

A downtown restaurant and bar inside Salem's 1826 First Church meetinghouse, which later housed Daniel Low & Company, the jeweler that made the famous witch spoon. You can eat in the old bank vault, and the upstairs ballroom hosts weddings. Choose it if you want a lively dinner spot in the middle of downtown Salem.

The story people tell

The best-known story is the Blue Lady, a woman in an early-1900s blue dress whose screams staff say echo from the vault; legends say she was a murdered sailor's lover or a Daniel Low employee found dead there. A grumpy, black-suited minister is also reported, said to tell people to 'get' and to jam their cameras.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Historic Buildings of Massachusetts says the building was the First Church's fourth meetinghouse, built in 1826 and remodeled in Victorian Gothic style around 1874. (Historic Buildings of Massachusetts)
  • Salem State University's archives say Daniel Low's witch spoons won national notice in 1891 and the firm launched its Year Book catalog in 1892. (Salem State University Archives)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a restaurant and bar) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted SalemFeatured on The Ghosts of Salem Tour

Virginia, Maryland & Pennsylvania

Colonial taverns, several of them museum reconstructions, sit beside working bars: Gadsby's in Alexandria, Annapolis's waterfront Middleton, two very different Baltimore bars, the Colonial Williamsburg taverns, Philadelphia's closed City Tavern and the Dobbin House in Gettysburg.

Alexandria, VA

Gadsby's Tavern

1785–1816Nameless woman

A pair of Federal-era buildings, a c. 1785 tavern and the 1792 City Hotel, where Washington attended his last two Birthnight Balls. Today the city runs one side as a museum and a private restaurant serves meals in the hotel's old dining rooms. Choose it if you want early-republic history and a well-known ghost story in one stop.

The story people tell

Local legend centers on the Female Stranger, a young woman who died here in 1816 and was buried under a stone that never named her. Staff and visitors describe a pale woman in period dress near Room 8, glimpsed at the window or beside the bed, and accounts also mention candles relighting themselves, phantom ballroom music, and a gentleman some believe is John Gadsby.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • The National Park Service says the tavern was built in 1785 and expanded in 1792, and that the ballroom hosted Washington's Birthnight Ball in both 1798 and 1799. (National Park Service)
  • Gadsby's Tavern Museum notes that the Female Stranger's tomb records her death on 14 October 1816 at 23, and that the first newspaper telling of her story appeared only in 1866. (Gadsby's Tavern Museum / City of Alexandria)

Today: Open to the public (Gadsby's Tavern Museum offers tours; the privately run Gadsby's Tavern Restaurant next door serves lunch and dinner) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Alexandria

Annapolis, MD

Middleton Tavern

We write about Annapolis but do not run tours there.

c. 1750Colonial gentleman

A brick waterfront tavern on Market Space whose story begins with Horatio Middleton's mid-1700s inn for sailors and his Eastern Shore ferry. It is a busy restaurant and oyster bar today, with the City Dock right outside. Choose it if you like your colonial history with a harbor view and a low-key ghost story.

The story people tell

Staff and patrons describe a woman in white glimpsed on a staircase or by an upstairs window, and a man in 18th-century dress who appears and is gone. Some accounts claim he is Washington, which our article treats as legend embroidering itself. Closing staff also tell of footsteps upstairs and glasses that move after the crowd thins.

History we checked · 1 source
  • The National Trust for Historic Preservation says Horatio Middleton bought the building in 1750 and ran it as an inn for seafaring men, with a ferry to Maryland's Eastern Shore. (National Trust for Historic Preservation)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a restaurant and oyster bar) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Annapolis

Baltimore, MD

The Horse You Came In On Saloon

1775 (by tradition)Poe legend

A narrow Fells Point barroom on Thames Street that markets itself as pouring since 1775, though its name dates from a 1972 owner. Live music most nights and a stool labeled 'Poe's Last Stop' make it a lively stop. Choose it if you want a rowdy waterfront bar with Poe lore and a ghost of its own.

The story people tell

Regulars call the resident spirit Edgar and believe he is Poe, said to have spent some of his final days here in 1849. Staff closing up describe overhead lights swinging on their own, a register that opens by itself, footsteps upstairs, and a man in dark 19th-century clothes at the edge of vision.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • HISTORY.com recounts that Poe was found delirious outside Gunner's Hall, a polling-place tavern, on 3 October 1849 and died on 7 October. (HISTORY.com)
  • Wikipedia says Howard Gerber bought and renamed the bar in 1972, marking his first day by having a friend ride a horse inside. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a bar with live music) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Baltimore

Baltimore, MD

Club Charles

1951–presentPhantom regular

A 20th-century legend rather than a colonial one: a red-lit Station North dive owned by the Martin family since 1951 and reborn as Club Charles in 1981, long a hangout for artists and the John Waters crowd. It keeps evening hours on the same block as the Charles Theatre. Choose it if you want a ghost story in a working neighborhood bar.

The story people tell

Staff and regulars tell of a quiet man called Frenchie who appears at the end of the bar and is gone before anyone sees him leave. Closing bartenders describe footsteps, shuffling, and bottles out of place in an empty room. Staff and regulars tell these stories as part of the bar's own lore.

History we checked · 1 source
  • Baltimore or Less recounts that Esther Martin bought the bar in 1951, renamed it the Wigwam, and that it was reborn as Club Charles in fall 1981. (Baltimore or Less)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a bar, evenings only; it has closed for long stretches before, so check before you go) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Baltimore

Williamsburg, VA

Chowning's Tavern

1766Colonial revelers

Colonial Williamsburg's re-creation of Josiah Chowning's 1766 alehouse, an everyman's tavern rather than a gentry dining room. Service changes with the seasons, from a summer garden bar to winter evenings of 18th-century games played for tokens. Choose it if you want a casual, family-friendly stop on Duke of Gloucester Street with ghost stories on the side.

The story people tell

Tavern lore crowds the place with spirits: a portly Josiah Chowning checking on guests, a card-playing gentleman in the back room, a serving girl the stories call Lucy who tugs at sleeves, and a Redcoat said to walk the basement stairs. These are tavern legends, passed along by staff and visitors.

History we checked · 1 source
  • Virginia Dogwood describes Chowning's as a painstakingly recreated tavern showing how middle-class Virginians dined, with seasonal service and winter Gambols. (Virginia Dogwood)

Today: Open to the public (a Colonial Williamsburg tavern with seasonal service; check current hours) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Williamsburg

Williamsburg, VA

King's Arms Tavern

1772Watchful tavernkeeper

A reconstruction, on its excavated colonial foundation, of the genteel tavern Jane Vobe opened in 1772, where George Washington was a customer and Baron von Steuben was among the officers she hosted before Yorktown. Colonial Williamsburg runs it as a sit-down restaurant with an 18th-century-inspired menu. Choose it for a reservation-worthy dinner with history and a ghostly hostess.

The story people tell

The stories say Mrs. Vobe still inspects her tables, with diners reporting a sense of being watched and a woman's voice objecting to sloppy service. Tavern legend adds a young duelist who died in the parlor in 1778 and phantom dinner parties after closing. These are told as tavern legends.

History we checked · 2 sources

Today: Open to the public (a Colonial Williamsburg restaurant; reservations recommended) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted WilliamsburgFeatured on The Night Watchman's Ghost Tour

Williamsburg, VA

Raleigh Tavern

1769–1776Revolutionary echoes

The tavern where Virginia's dissolved House of Burgesses regrouped in the Apollo Room in 1769 and 1774, and where Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1776. The original burned in 1859; today's building is the 1932 reconstruction that launched Colonial Williamsburg's exhibitions. Choose it for Revolutionary politics, not a drink: it is a museum site, not a bar.

The story people tell

Visitors and staff report footsteps in empty upper rooms and the murmur of a conversation next door that stops when someone looks in, plus rare glimpses of figures in colonial dress. Our article frames these as reported experiences and suggests the haunting comes from political intensity rather than any single tragedy.

History we checked · 1 source
  • Wikipedia notes the Burgesses met in the Apollo Room after the dissolutions of 1769 and 1774, that Phi Beta Kappa was founded there on 5 December 1776, and that the tavern burned in 1859 and reopened as a reconstruction in 1932. (Wikipedia)

Today: Limited public access: a Colonial Williamsburg exhibition building, not a working tavern; open on the Historic Area schedule, generally with admission — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Williamsburg

Philadelphia, PA

City Tavern

1773Colonial patrons

A 1975–76 National Park Service reconstruction of the 1773 tavern where Philadelphia toasted the first Fourth of July and the end of the Constitutional Convention. The restaurant inside has been closed since 2020; in summer 2026 only a seasonal garden bar operated out back. Choose it for a sidewalk stop in the heart of Independence Park, not for dinner.

The story people tell

Former staff and guests have told of a hand on the shoulder at the bar with no one behind them, servers hearing their names whispered, and figures in colonial dress who walk toward the dining room and fade mid-step. Some believe rebuilding on the original foundation in 1976 brought the old patrons back.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • The National Park Service says City Tavern was built in 1773, hosted a 1777 Fourth of July celebration and a 1787 Constitutional Convention celebration, was demolished in 1854, and was reconstructed in 1975–76. (National Park Service, Independence NHP)
  • PhillyVoice reports the restaurant has been inactive since closing in 2020, with a Historic Philadelphia garden pop-up opening behind it in 2026. (PhillyVoice)

Today: Closed — no longer open for business; the restaurant has not reopened since it closed in 2020; a seasonal garden bar ran behind the building in summer 2026 — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted PhiladelphiaFeatured on The Ghosts of Philadelphia Tour

Gettysburg, PA

Dobbin House Tavern

1776Field hospital spirits

The oldest standing building inside Gettysburg's town limits, a 1776 stone home built for a Presbyterian minister who taught a classical school there. Today it holds a casual cellar-style tavern, candlelit colonial dining rooms, and an inn. Choose it if you want Revolutionary-era architecture and Civil War history in one dinner stop.

The story people tell

Staff and diners describe a sad woman in a blue gown drifting through the upstairs rooms, childlike giggles and rolling marbles after closing, and a wounded soldier near the basement stairs from the house's time as a field hospital. Some say candles snuff out on their own and that they hear their name whispered when alone.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Wikipedia's entry notes the house was established in 1776 and is the oldest standing structure in Gettysburg's town limits. (Wikipedia)
  • The PCA Historical Center says Rev. Alexander Dobbin ran a classical school in the house and that it later sheltered Union and Confederate wounded. (PCA Historical Center)

Today: Open to the public (operating as Dobbin House Tavern, with a casual tavern and candlelit dining rooms) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Gettysburg

Georgia, the Carolinas & Florida

The largest group: Charleston pubs and a former tavern that is now a private home, Savannah's best-known dining rooms and a closed brewpub in an 1821 hotel building, two St. Augustine restaurants, one now closed, and Key West's Captain Tony's.

Charleston, SC

Blind Tiger Pub

1890sWoman in black

A working Broad Street pub whose name salutes the illegal 'blind tigers' that defied South Carolina's 1890s state liquor monopoly. It closed in January 2016 when its lease ended, was renovated by the building's owner, and reopened that September. Choose it if you want Charleston's dispensary-era rebellion story told in a place that is still pouring today.

The story people tell

The pub's best-known ghost, according to staff and guests, is an unfriendly woman in a black dress. A former manager said he watched her drift across the barroom after closing and lock eyes with him before vanishing, and a visitor reported having her hair yanked hard with no one nearby. Others describe heavy footsteps behind them that stop when they turn around.

History we checked · 3 sources
  • Wikipedia's history of the South Carolina Dispensary says the state liquor monopoly began operating in 1893 and was abolished in 1907. (Wikipedia)
  • Charleston Magazine says saloonkeeper Vincent Chicco defied the dispensary law, beat the charges in court, and was elected alderman five times. (Charleston Magazine)
  • Charleston City Paper reported that the renovated Blind Tiger reopened on Sept. 1, 2016, with a mayoral ribbon cutting. (Charleston City Paper)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a pub and restaurant) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted CharlestonFeatured on The Charleston Haunted Pub Crawl

Charleston, SC

The Griffon

Lady in white

A casual pub on Vendue Range in the French Quarter, a short walk from Waterfront Park. Its walls and ceilings are covered with dollar bills that visitors have signed and stapled up. It is also where several Charleston haunted pub crawls gather. Choose it if you want a crowded local pub to start an evening of ghost stories.

The story people tell

Staff and guests tell of a woman in a long white dress seen on the stairs and upper floors, a basement where employees say they feel watched or touched, and footsteps and clinking glasses heard in empty rooms after closing. One bartender claimed an unseen push moved her out of the way just before a shelf of glasses fell. These accounts come from tour and staff lore rather than written history.

History we checked · 1 source
  • Charleston Daily describes the Griffon at 18 Vendue Range as a French Quarter pub where guests staple personalized dollar bills to the walls and ceilings. (Charleston Daily)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a pub) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted CharlestonFeatured on The Charleston Haunted Pub Crawl

Charleston, SC

The Pink House

c. 1712Pirate legend

One of Charleston's oldest buildings, built of pinkish Bermuda stone in the early 1700s on cobblestoned Chalmers Street and said to have served as a tavern. It was later an artist's studio and an art gallery, but it closed to the public in 2013 and is now a private home. Choose it if you want a storied colonial building to admire from the street on a French Quarter walk.

The story people tell

Locals say a woman paces the third floor, and some claim she is the pirate Anne Bonny. Others believe she was a woman who worked here when, according to lore, the tavern doubled as a bordello. Accounts also describe windows bursting open and footsteps on the old stairs when employees were alone.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Wikipedia's entry on the Pink House says John Breton built it of pinkish Bermuda stone between 1694 and 1712, and the Morawetzes restored it in the 1930s. (Wikipedia)
  • Charleston City Paper reported that the Pink House Art Gallery closed in April 2013, after 19 years, as the owners prepared to sell the house. (Charleston City Paper)

Today: Closed — no longer open for business; the art gallery closed in 2013 and the house is now a private residence; view it from the street only — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Charleston

Charleston, SC

Poogan's Porch

1891Grieving sister

A Southern restaurant in an 1891 Victorian house on Queen Street, open for brunch and dinner since 1976. It is named for a neighborhood porch dog who became its greeter until his death in 1979. It suits families and brunch crowds more than late-night drinkers. Choose it if you want biscuits and Lowcountry cooking with a gentle, sentimental ghost story.

The story people tell

According to staff and guests, the main ghost is Zoe St. Amand, a schoolteacher who shared the house with her sister for decades and declined after her sister died in 1945. People report a woman in black at an upstairs window, a face in a mirror, a coffee cup emptied with a lipstick mark, and a voice singing along to the radio. Some diners also say they feel a ghostly dog brush past their legs.

History we checked · 2 sources

Today: Open to the public (operating as a Southern restaurant) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted CharlestonFeatured on The Charleston Haunted Pub Crawl

Charleston, SC

Tommy Condon's Irish Pub & Restaurant

1984Mirror lady

An Irish pub on Church Street, open since 1984, decorated with antique mirrors and memorabilia that its founder brought back from Ireland after Hurricane Hugo. It serves pub food and seafood, has regular live Irish music, and draws a big St. Patrick's Day crowd. Choose it if you want a lively, traditional pub rather than a quiet historic house.

The story people tell

Staff stories describe a woman in 1800s dress glimpsed in the pub's big mirrors, gone when people turn around. They also tell of a barstool that seems to have an invisible regular, with glasses nudged and a shadowy man seen there for an instant. Late-shift workers report pacing footsteps upstairs and a cold spot near the back. These accounts are local lore, not written history.

History we checked · 1 source
  • Tommy Condon's own site calls it downtown Charleston's Irish pub since 1984 and says the founder collected its antique mirrors in Ireland after Hurricane Hugo. (Tommy Condon's (official site))

Today: Open to the public (operating as an Irish pub and restaurant) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted CharlestonFeatured on The Charleston Haunted Pub Crawl

Savannah, GA

Moon River Brewing Company

Also known as: City Hotel

1821Hotel shooting

Savannah's 1821 City Hotel, where a feud between two men ended in a fatal shooting in the hotel bar in 1832. It was a brewpub from 1999 until it closed for good in June 2024, and the building is not open to visitors now. Choose it if you want a famous Bay Street ghost story to look at from the sidewalk.

The story people tell

Staff and guests describe a shadowy basement presence they nicknamed 'Toby', and diners reported stuck restroom doors and unseen hands. Legend places a Lady in White and dark energy on the upper floors, which lore says were a yellow fever hospital, a claim our article treats as tradition. People say James Stark, shot here in 1832, still roams the main floor.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Wikipedia's article on 21 West Bay Street says Eleazer Early opened the City Hotel in 1821, and that Dr. Philip Minis fatally shot James Stark in its bar on Aug. 10, 1832. (Wikipedia)
  • WTOC reported that Moon River Brewing, Savannah's original brewpub, closed for good in June 2024. (WTOC)

Today: Closed — no longer open for business; the brewpub closed in June 2024; the 1821 City Hotel building still stands — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Savannah

Savannah, GA

The Olde Pink House

1771Colonial host

A Georgian mansion on Reynolds Square, begun in 1771 for merchant James Habersham Jr. It was Georgia's first bank in 1812 and a 1930s tea room, and it has been a restaurant since 1971. Today it is one of Savannah's best-known fine-dining rooms, with the casual Planters Tavern in the brick cellar. Choose it for a dressy Southern dinner in a colonial setting.

The story people tell

Staff say Habersham himself still visits between October and March, a tidy gentleman in colonial dress who straightens place settings and lights the candles. Legend claims he hanged himself in the cellar. Other accounts describe a toasting Revolutionary veteran at the bar, a woman heard sobbing upstairs, children's spirits playing in the cellar, and a girl said to lock guests in the ladies' room.

History we checked · 1 source
  • Wikipedia's history of the Olde Pink House says construction began in 1771 for James Habersham Jr., the building became Planters Bank in 1812, and the restaurant opened in 1971. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a restaurant, with Planters Tavern in the cellar) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Savannah

Savannah, GA

The Pirates' House

1753Shanghaied sailors

A rambling restaurant at the old Trustees' Garden, the colony's 1733 experimental garden, which traces its history to a 1753 inn for seafarers and has served diners since 1953. Next door is the little Herb House, long called Georgia's oldest building, though historians now date it to the 1850s. Choose it for a family-friendly lunch or dinner steeped in sea-dog folklore.

The story people tell

Savannah lore says drunken sailors were carried through a tunnel from the rum cellar and woke up shanghaied at sea. Staff working alone describe heavy boot steps and an old seaman who stares back before fading. Some visitors say this is where Treasure Island's Captain Flint breathed his last.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • The Pirates' House says its building first opened in 1753 as an inn for seafarers. (The Pirates' House (official site))
  • Wikipedia's Herb House article says the building first appears on an 1853 map and calls the 1730s date erroneous. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a restaurant) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Savannah

Savannah, GA

Six Pence Pub

Kitchen poltergeist

A British-style pub on Bull Street near Chippewa Square, with a red telephone booth by the door and English and American comfort food. Unlike the colonial taverns on this list, its haunting is a modern workplace story about kitchen and office staff. Choose it for a relaxed pint and British pub fare with a light, poltergeist-style ghost tale on the side.

The story people tell

Employees describe pots and pans sweeping off counters on their own, sudden temperature drops, and light bulbs bursting from their sockets. A former manager reported watching an office chair spin and slide across the floor untouched. No named ghost is tied to the pub, but some wonder whether the founding couple, Wally and Doris, or former regulars still look in.

History we checked · 1 source

Today: Open to the public (operating as a British-style pub and restaurant) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted SavannahFeatured on The Dead of Night Tour

Savannah, GA

Tondee's Tavern

1850sBasement investigation

A Bay Street building from the 1850s that in recent years housed Tondee's Tavern, a restaurant named after (but not on the site of) Peter Tondee's colonial tavern, where Georgia's Sons of Liberty met. The upstairs offices are said to have housed a slave broker. Tondee's Tavern has since closed and no longer occupies the building, which still stands on Bay Street. Choose it if you are interested in paranormal investigation and the history of the slave trade.

The story people tell

Our guide's investigation for GCT's The Dead Sessions series describes an EM meter that stayed silent for nearly an hour in the basement, then responded to repeated questions. Rumors claim enslaved people were held in the basement, but our article doubts it, noting that the slave pens stood just outside in Bay Lane. Investigators believe something still lingers below.

History we checked · 1 source
  • Wikipedia's article on Tondee's Tavern says Peter Tondee's original tavern, where Georgia's Sons of Liberty met from 1774, stood at Broughton and Whitaker Streets and burned in 1796. (Wikipedia)

Today: Closed — no longer open for business; Tondee's Tavern no longer occupies the building, which still stands at 7 East Bay Street — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Savannah

St. Augustine, FL

O.C. White's Restaurant

Also known as: Worth House

Late 1700sFamily spirits

A seafood restaurant on St. Augustine's historic bayfront, in a late-1700s house once owned by the family of General William J. Worth and moved here from Marine Street in 1961. Choose it for a waterfront dinner inside a house whose ghost stories are tied to the family that lived there.

The story people tell

Local accounts reported by News4JAX describe Mrs. Worth, the general's wife, walking down the stairs in a large dress and vanishing into the kitchen. Others say Colonel Sprague, husband of the Worths' eldest daughter, appears in the men's room mirror wearing a bowler hat before fading away.

History we checked · 2 sources

Today: Open to the public (operating as a seafood restaurant and bar) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted St. AugustineFeatured on The St. Augustine Haunted Pub Crawl

St. Augustine, FL

Scarlett O'Hara's

Also known as: Colee House

1879Drowned owner

Closed: this Gone with the Wind-themed bar opened in 1979 by joining two old homes at Hypolita and Cordova, including the 1879 house George A. Colee built for his bride. It closed in July 2022 after losing its lease, and a successor has also closed. Choose it as a sidewalk stop on a walk through the historic district's ghost lore.

The story people tell

The upstairs earned the nickname the 'Ghost Bar.' Accounts reported by News4JAX and Flagler College's archive attribute the activity to Mr. Colee, who drowned in an upstairs bathtub in 1911, or to a man said to have drowned there in the 1970s, citing tampered alarms and thermostats, moving furniture and candles lighting themselves.

History we checked · 2 sources

Today: Closed — no longer open for business; the restaurant closed in July 2022; the building stands, current use not confirmed — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted St. AugustineFeatured on The St. Augustine Haunted Pub CrawlFeatured on The Telling Elegies Ghost Tour

Key West, FL

Captain Tony's Saloon

1851Hanging tree

A Greene Street dive in an 1850s building that the bar says began as an icehouse and morgue, later hosted Hemingway at the original Sloppy Joe's, and still has a tree trunk rising through its roof. Choose it if you want live music, bras and dollar bills on the walls, and Key West legend at every table.

The story people tell

Legend says the tree inside was the island's hanging tree, and visitors claim to feel choking sensations or hear whispers near its trunk. Staff and guests also describe Elvira, said to have worked at the bar and died in the building, as a sad woman in old-fashioned clothes who taps shoulders and vanishes.

History we checked · 3 sources
  • Wikipedia says Hemingway spent most evenings here between 1933 and 1937, when the bar was Sloppy Joe's. (Wikipedia)
  • The saloon's own site says the building dates to 1851 and that 17 people were hanged from its tree. (Captain Tony's Saloon)
  • Amusing Planet notes that historian Tom Hambright believes some of the bar's grave legends were invented to entertain patrons. (Amusing Planet)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a bar with live music) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Key West

Tennessee

Mostly Nashville, where honky-tonk legends meet two bars that have since closed, along with an Irish pub in Franklin and a live-music bar in Chattanooga.

Nashville, TN

Alley Taps

ProhibitionProhibition gangsters

A tiny pub tucked into Printer's Alley, the lane where speakeasies opened after Tennessee went dry in 1909 and nightclubs took over in the 1940s. Today it books songwriters and solo acts in an intimate room a short walk from the crowds. Choose it if you want original live music and Prohibition-era alley lore in one stop.

The story people tell

Local legend casts the building as a Prohibition gin mill. Staff describe a man in a fedora at the end of the bar, a woman's screams from the basement walls, and the sounds of a phantom poker game ending in a gunshot. None of the violent history behind these stories has been traced to records, so treat it as alley lore.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Wikipedia says Tennessee's prohibition began in 1909 and many Printer's Alley establishments became speakeasies. (Wikipedia)
  • Wikipedia notes the alley's nightclub district dates to the 1940s, when burlesque and live music joined fine dining. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a small live-music bar) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted NashvilleFeatured on The Nashville Haunted Pub Crawl

Nashville, TN

Benchmark Bar & Grill

Also known as: Mulligan's Pub

Staircase murder

Closed: this late-1800s Second Avenue building held Mulligan's, a Celtic-music pub, until 2010 and then the Benchmark sports bar, which never reopened after the 2020 Christmas Day bombing. It sold in 2026 for renovation. Choose it if you want a sidewalk stop that ties Nashville's ghost lore to the recovery of Second Avenue.

The story people tell

According to the story told by guides and former staff, a woman whose name is lost was pushed down the main staircase by her husband long ago. Workers reported dishes flying off shelves, footsteps running down the stairs after closing, and a woman in an old-fashioned dress watching from the landing.

History we checked · 1 source
  • The Nashville Post reports the late-1800s building at 117 Second Ave. N. once housed Mulligan's Pub, which closed in 2010, and sold in 2026 for renovation. (Nashville Post)

Today: Closed — no longer open for business; the pub did not reopen after the December 2020 Second Avenue bombing; the building sold in 2026 for renovation — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted NashvilleFeatured on The Nashville Haunted Pub Crawl

Nashville, TN

Flying Saucer Draught Emporium

1900Train wreck dead

Closed: this beer hall filled Union Station's old Baggage Building from 1998 until December 2021, beside the 1900 railroad terminal that is now a hotel. The Baggage Building itself still stands next door to the hotel. Choose it if you are drawn to railroad history and the 1918 Dutchman's Curve disaster rather than a bar you can visit.

The story people tell

Local lore holds that the baggage area briefly served as a morgue after the 1918 train wreck, and patrons claimed the dead never left. Stories describe pool cues falling from racks, billiard balls dropping into pockets untouched, muted TVs blasting static, and a figure seen in the mirror standing too close behind drinkers.

History we checked · 3 sources
  • Wikipedia says the July 9, 1918 Dutchman's Curve collision killed at least 101 people and is regarded as the worst rail accident in U.S. history. (Wikipedia)
  • Wikipedia says Union Station opened in 1900 and reopened as the Union Station Hotel in 1986. (Wikipedia)
  • NewsChannel 5 reported the Flying Saucer in the Baggage Building closed on December 15, 2021, after 23 years. (NewsChannel 5 (WTVF))

Today: Closed — no longer open for business; the bar closed in December 2021; the historic baggage building still stands — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Nashville

Nashville, TN

Tootsie's Orchid Lounge

1960Country legends

The purple honky-tonk on Lower Broadway, bought by Tootsie Bess in 1960, where Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline and Kris Kristofferson drank and the back door opens toward the Ryman. Live country plays from morning to 3 a.m. Choose it if you want music history and ghost lore in a bar that is still very much alive.

The story people tell

Legend says Hank Williams, who died in 1953 before the bar opened, drifts between the Ryman and Tootsie's as a white mist by the bar, and one customer claimed to pass him in the alley. Staff also tell of Tootsie Bess drumming her fingers on the bar when she dislikes a performer.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Tootsie's own history says Hattie Louise "Tootsie" Bess bought a lounge called Mom's in 1960 and kept a cigar box of musicians' IOUs. (Tootsies Orchid Lounge)
  • Wikipedia says a painter's surprise purple paint job inspired the Orchid Lounge name, and that Bess was buried in an orchid gown in 1978. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a honky-tonk with live music daily) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Nashville

Franklin, TN

McCreary's Irish Pub & Eatery

2002Nameless spirits

A family-friendly Irish pub on Franklin's historic Main Street, open since 2002 in an unusually narrow storefront, with fish and chips, Guinness and weekend Celtic music. It suits visitors who want a relaxed meal downtown and a ghost story that stays honest about how little is known.

The story people tell

Employees and guides report voices in the empty dining room after closing, glasses that drop from secure spots, and shadowy shapes inside and on the sidewalk. Unusually, the lore names no ghost and no tragedy, and our article declines to blame Battle of Franklin soldiers without evidence.

History we checked · 2 sources

Today: Open to the public (operating as an Irish pub and restaurant) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted FranklinFeatured on The Franklin Haunted Pub Crawl

Chattanooga, TN

Cherry Street Tavern

2020sPhantom bartender

A young bar in an older downtown storefront: 719 Cherry Street was a coffee-and-cocktails café as recently as 2019 and is now a low-key live-music room booking free shows by emerging bands. Choose it if you want a casual dive-style night with local music rather than a centuries-old landmark.

The story people tell

Staff stories describe a phantom bartender wiping down glasses after closing, a sad woman in Victorian dress waiting at a corner table, and a basement where workers say they hear voices and footsteps. These stories are told as bar lore by the people who work and drink there.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Visit Chattanooga says the tavern sits at 719 Cherry Street, the former home of Mad Priest Coffee. (Visit Chattanooga)
  • Daily Coffee News reported Mad Priest Coffee & Cocktails open at 719 Cherry Street in March 2019. (Daily Coffee News)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a live-music bar) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted ChattanoogaFeatured on The Cursed in Chattanooga Tour

Louisiana

Three French Quarter landmarks where pirate legends and Creole history overlap: the Old Absinthe House, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar and Muriel's Jackson Square.

New Orleans, LA

Old Absinthe House

1806Pirate legend

A Bourbon Street corner bar in a building completed in 1806, where Cayetano Ferrer made the absinthe frappé famous in the 1870s. Its original bar and fountains were hidden at 400 Bourbon during Prohibition and returned in the 2000s. Choose it if you want absinthe history and a classic French Quarter bar in the middle of Bourbon's bustle.

The story people tell

Legend says Andrew Jackson and Jean Lafitte struck their deal for the Battle of New Orleans in an upstairs room, and tales of tunnels to Lafitte's blacksmith shop persist. Lafitte's ghost is said to throw spectral parties here. Staff and visitors also describe a woman in a long white dress, a child running on the third floor, and chairs that move.

History we checked · 3 sources
  • Wikipedia's history of the bar says the building was begun in 1798 and completed in 1806, first operating as a grocery. (Wikipedia)
  • The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails says the Aleix family ran the bar by 1842 and hired bartender Cayetano Ferrer around 1870, and that owner Pierre Cazebonne moved the original fixtures to a nearby soda fountain during Prohibition. (Oxford University Press via spiritsanddistilling.com)
  • New Orleans Historical says the Jackson–Lafitte meeting is legend, which a judge dismissed in 1951 as 'hearsay'. (New Orleans Historical (UNO))

Today: Open to the public (operating as a Bourbon Street bar) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted New Orleans

New Orleans, LA

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar

Late 1700sPirate legend

A small, candlelit bar in a cottage from the late 1700s at the quiet end of Bourbon Street, often called America's oldest bar and a National Historic Landmark since 1970. It feels darker and calmer than the neon blocks uptown. Choose it for a weekend piano night in one of the French Quarter's oldest buildings.

The story people tell

Legend ties the building to the privateer Jean Lafitte, and people say his silent ghost stands in the dark corners near the ground-floor fireplace, staring until noticed, then fading into shadow. Upstairs, visitors report a woman's voice whispering their names. Our article admits it cannot trace the story of a woman who died there in the 1890s.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Wikipedia's entry, citing architectural history, says the building was most likely built as a house in the 1770s, while the bar dates it to 1722–32. (Wikipedia)
  • According to the same entry, Lafitte's ownership is legend with no documentation, and the building became a National Historic Landmark in 1970. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a bar) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted New OrleansFeatured on The Ghosts of New Orleans TourFeatured on The New Orleans Haunted Pub Crawl

New Orleans, LA

Muriel's Jackson Square

1788Gambler's ghost

An upscale Creole restaurant on the corner of Jackson Square, in a house rebuilt after the 1788 fire and restored for Muriel's opening in 2001. It is the only stop on this page where the staff set a table for the ghost every night, and you can book a drink in the upstairs Séance Lounge. Choose it for a sit-down dinner or jazz brunch with a story.

The story people tell

Legend says Pierre Jourdan lost the house in an 1814 poker game and took his life upstairs rather than leave; our article notes records do not confirm either. Staff and diners report glasses flung across the courtyard bar, knocks in the Séance Lounge and a glimmer of light. The nightly table, with bread and wine, is said to keep him content.

History we checked · 3 sources
  • Muriel's history says Pierre Jourdan bought the fire-damaged house after the 1788 Good Friday Fire and rebuilt it using the surviving walls. (Muriel's Jackson Square)
  • According to the restaurant, Muriel's Jackson Square opened on March 10, 2001, after a restoration that followed the building's original design. (Muriel's Jackson Square)
  • Food Republic reports that Muriel's still reserves a table for Jourdan in the dining room. (Food Republic)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a Creole restaurant with a second-floor lounge) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted New OrleansFeatured on The Ghosts of New Orleans Tour

Texas

Houston's La Carafe in an 1860s building, a closed San Antonio cantina awaiting renovation, a 1929 country restaurant outside the city, and a Fort Worth steakhouse in a former bathhouse building.

Houston, TX

La Carafe

1860–61Lost bartender

A narrow, candlelit, cash-only wine and beer bar on Market Square, in the 1860–61 Kennedy Steam Bakery building, which the City of Houston calls the city's oldest documented commercial building on its original site. It was a bakery, then drugstores, and has been La Carafe since at least 1970. Choose it for dark, jukebox-and-candle atmosphere with no TVs.

The story people tell

Staff and regulars say a former bartender, usually named Carl, never clocked out: glasses turn up lined on the bar in the morning, and a figure like him is said to appear in the upstairs window after closing. Others report a man in a gray uniform on the steep staircase and a sad woman in old-fashioned dress at a corner table.

History we checked · 3 sources

Today: Open to the public (operating as a cash-only wine and beer bar) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Houston

San Antonio, TX

Cadillac Bar & Restaurant

1870sAngry spirit

The Cadillac Bar closed for good in 2020, but its 1870s limestone building on South Flores Street, once a downtown meeting place for farmers and ranchers, still stands and is being renovated for new restaurant and office space. It suits ghost-walk fans who like a lost landmark: view it from the sidewalk near the courthouse.

The story people tell

Former staff told stories of Beatrice, a sour spirit in a tattered white dress said to fling kitchen utensils, toy with faucets, and glare from a second-floor window. Other accounts describe a man in a sombrero, shadowy soldiers in the upstairs party room, a mischievous boy in the kitchen, and a mustached former owner guarding the sealed basement.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • The San Antonio Current says the building dates to the 1870s, was a gathering place for farmers and ranchers, and that the pandemic permanently shuttered the bar. (San Antonio Current)
  • The Houston Press traces the Cadillac name to Mayo Bessan, a Louisiana native who renamed a Nuevo Laredo bar in 1926. (Houston Press)

Today: Closed — no longer open for business; the bar closed in 2020; the building is being renovated — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted San AntonioFeatured on The Madames and Mayhem Ghost Tour

Grey Forest, TX

Grey Moss Inn

1929Devoted founder

A candlelit, family-run restaurant set in the woods of Grey Forest, northwest of San Antonio, serving dinner among its stone cottages since 1929. It's a drive from downtown but rewards a slower evening. Choose it if you want a romantic Hill Country dinner with a founder's ghost story and seasonal ghost tours.

The story people tell

Staff say founder Mary Howell never left the dining room she loved, describing a woman in a long skirt and white blouse. Stories tell of candles relighting themselves, and one former owner reportedly told Mary aloud whenever she would be away. Investigators claim to have recorded whispers, and some locals believe a darker presence shares the property.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • The Grey Moss Inn's own site says the restaurant was established in 1929. (Grey Moss Inn)
  • KSAT reported in 2023 that a co-owner leads ghost tours and blames the previous owners' ghosts for mischief, such as a glass flying off a shelf. (KSAT 12)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a restaurant) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyMore from our San Antonio coverage

Fort Worth, TX

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse

Hell's Half Acre eraMurdered gambler

A white-tablecloth steakhouse on Main Street in a building that once served as a bathhouse in Fort Worth's rowdy Hell's Half Acre district. It is one of the more polished, dress-up options on this list, far from a dive saloon. Choose it if you want a special-occasion dinner with a frontier-era ghost story attached.

The story people tell

Local lore says a gambler, perhaps fresh off a big win, was followed into the bathhouse and shot in the back of the head while he soaked. Staff and diners describe a man in turn-of-the-century clothes pacing the upstairs bar and banquet rooms, along with footsteps, cold spots, and a tap on the shoulder when no one is there.

History we checked · 2 sources

Today: Open to the public (operating as Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Fort Worth

The Midwest

Chicago pubs from a Capone-era speakeasy site to a rebuilt Red Lion, a closed bar with an occult-society legend, two Galena storefronts and Indianapolis's Slippery Noodle Inn.

Chicago, IL

Exchequer Restaurant & Pub

1969Phantom diners

A working Loop restaurant on Wabash Avenue that has served deep-dish pizza and beer since 1969, in a space whose ground floor held the 1920s 226 Club and its balcony speakeasy. It is an easy stop to fit into a Chicago sightseeing day. Choose it if you want a casual lunch or dinner with a Prohibition backstory.

The story people tell

Staff stories describe a man in a 1940s suit and fedora who sits alone at a back booth and vanishes when a server approaches, a prankster spirit they call "Eddie" who slides glasses along the bar, and the sound of a full dining room after closing. These accounts come from staff lore, and we have not found them told elsewhere.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • The Exchequer's own history says the ground floor began in the 1920s as the 226 Club, with a speakeasy in its upper balcony, and that Al Capone was a patron. (Exchequer Restaurant & Pub)
  • According to the restaurant, the Exchequer Pub opened in September 1969, modeled on an old English pub. (Exchequer Restaurant & Pub)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a restaurant and pub) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted ChicagoFeatured on The Ghosts of Chicago Tour

Chicago, IL

Golden Dagger

Also known as: Tonic Room

1894Occult society legend

This Lincoln Park music venue closed in 2023 after a sale, and another bar now uses the 1894 Halsted Street building. Its lore is unusual for this page: occult ceremonies rather than pirates or patriots, and a skull-handled dagger found in the walls. Choose it if you collect strange Chicago legends and want to see the outside of a storied building.

The story people tell

Legend says the basement hosted a local chapter of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and an older woman once claimed she saw a ritual killing there as a child. Staff told of men in Jazz Age suits at the bar, said to be North Side Gang regulars, and a young woman's ghost wandering the basement.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Time Out Chicago dates the building to 1894 and reports that a previous owner found a ceremonial dagger inside its walls, which inspired the Golden Dagger name in 2021. (Time Out Chicago)
  • Block Club Chicago reported that the Golden Dagger closed in 2023 after its owner sold the space. (Block Club Chicago)

Today: Closed — no longer open for business; the bar closed in 2023 and a different bar now occupies the space — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Chicago

Chicago, IL

The Red Lion Pub

1984Founder's spirit

A British-style pub on Lincoln Avenue, founded in 1984 by London-born architect John Cordwell in a former Wild West saloon. The 1882 original was torn down in 2008, and his son Colin rebuilt the pub on the same site in 2014, so the building is new but the stories are old. Choose it for fish and chips and a family ghost story.

The story people tell

The Cordwell family says the spirits stayed through the rebuild. The best-known story is of a woman said to have died on her 20th birthday in an upstairs apartment; another holds that a 2003 photo caught John Cordwell's face after his death. Staff also describe a cowboy in the basement, which fits the building's Dirty Dan's saloon past.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • DNAinfo Chicago reported that John Cordwell bought a Wild West saloon called Dirty Dan's in 1984 and turned it into the Red Lion, and that the original 1882 building was demolished in 2008. (DNAinfo Chicago)
  • According to DNAinfo, Colin Cordwell rebuilt the pub from the ground up and reopened it on Lincoln Avenue in July 2014. (DNAinfo Chicago)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a British-style pub in a 2014 building on the original site) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Chicago

Galena, IL

Galena Cellars Wine Tasting Room

1985Phantom pianist

A three-level winery tasting room on Galena's historic Main Street, run by the Lawlor family, whose winery has made wine here since 1985. Since 2021 it has occupied a building that once housed a funeral home and later the One Eleven Main restaurant. Choose it if you prefer a wine tasting and live weekend music to a late-night bar.

The story people tell

Local lore holds that the building was Galena's first mortuary, and staff tell of a piano in the tasting room that plays by itself, with keys moving and music starting when no one is near. Visitors also describe cold spots and the sense of being watched. Tour guides on Galena's drinks-and-ghosts tours tell the piano story.

History we checked · 3 sources
  • Shaw Local reports that Galena Cellars opened in 1985 as Illinois' 12th bonded winery, the Lawlor family's third. (Shaw Local)
  • BizTimes reported in 2021 that the winery moved its tasting room to 111 N. Main St., the former home of the One Eleven Main restaurant. (BizTimes (Dubuque))
  • Enjoy Illinois lists Galena Cellars as a stop on the Spirits & Spirits tour with the DeSoto House Hotel and Galena Brewing Company. (Enjoy Illinois)

Today: Open to the public (operating as the winery's downtown tasting room and shop) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Galena

Galena, IL

Otto's Place

1899Friendly founder

A small breakfast-and-lunch restaurant just off Main Street, beside the railroad tracks and the Galena River, in a building Otto Sallman put up in 1899. He hoped to open a restaurant there but never managed it; the café that finally opened in 2011 is named for him. Choose it for a daytime meal and one of the gentlest ghost stories on this page.

The story people tell

Local lore says Otto never left the building he built. People report a pleasant, middle-aged man in early-1900s clothes walking the tracks beside it and vanishing when approached. Staff describe a watchful, friendly presence and small helpful moves, read as Otto finally playing the host he never got to be.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • BizTimes reports that Otto Sallman built the building at 100 Bouthillier St. in 1899 and reportedly wanted to open a restaurant there but never did. (BizTimes (Dubuque))
  • St. Louis Magazine says Sallman lived upstairs, financial difficulties kept him from opening, and the café opened in his honor in 2011. (St. Louis Magazine)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a breakfast-and-lunch restaurant; check days before you go) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Galena

Indianapolis, IN

Slippery Noodle Inn

1850Bordello and gangster lore

A downtown Indianapolis blues bar in an 1850 roadhouse building, cited by Indiana Landmarks as the state's oldest continuously operating bar in its original building. It has been a German club, a saloon and a Prohibition restaurant, and under the Slippery Noodle name since 1963. Choose it if you want live blues with your ghost story.

The story people tell

Lore at the Noodle spans every era: shadowy figures in a basement some say sheltered freedom seekers, women from the bordello years seen upstairs, and a man said to have been killed in a fight in the bar's early days. Legend credits slugs in the basement walls to the Dillinger gang's target practice. Staff also describe a friendly ghostly bartender who sets out glasses.

History we checked · 3 sources

Today: Open to the public (operating as a bar, restaurant and blues venue; check the age policy before you go) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Indianapolis

The West

Tombstone's two famous saloons, a Portland saloon with rooms upstairs, a Seattle Irish pub in a former mortuary, and Hollywood's Musso & Frank Grill, open since 1919.

Tombstone, AZ

Big Nose Kate's Saloon

1880Silver-thief handyman

A lively Allen Street saloon on the site of the Grand Hotel, which opened in 1880 during Tombstone's silver boom and later burned. It's named for Doc Holliday's companion Kate, who never ran it, and today serves food with live country music. Choose it if you want a rowdy Old West bar with a basement legend.

The story people tell

Legend says a nameless handyman called the Swamper lived in a room beneath the Grand Hotel and secretly tunneled into the silver mine shafts below. No one knows whether he fled or was killed, but staff and visitors claim he still guards the basement, shoving people from his shaft. Stories also tell of ghostly cowboys and saloon girls still gathered at the bar.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • ABC15 Arizona recounts the legend that the Swamper was a Grand Hotel handyman who dug into a mine shaft beneath his basement room, and that his fate is unknown. (ABC15 Arizona)
  • Wikipedia's Big Nose Kate article notes she was Hungarian-born and died in Prescott, Arizona, in 1940. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a saloon and restaurant with live music) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted TombstoneFeatured on The Bullets and Bordellos Ghost Tour

Tombstone, AZ

Crystal Palace Saloon

1882Earp-era gunmen

A corner saloon at Fifth and Allen that opened in 1882 on the site of the Golden Eagle Brewery, where Virgil Earp kept his office and was ambushed in 1881. Restored in the 1960s with a bar rebuilt from the original blueprints, it now serves food with live music and rooftop seating. Choose it if you want Earp-era history with your meal.

The story people tell

Staff and visitors tell of a tall cowboy in a black duster at the far end of the bar, said to be one of the men who ambushed Virgil Earp, visible mostly in the mirrors. Other stories describe a cheating gambler still dealing in the back room, a laughing working girl called Golden Dollar upstairs, and Frank, a protective phantom bartender.

History we checked · 3 sources
  • Legends of America says the Golden Eagle Brewery burned in May 1882 and the Crystal Palace opened on the site that July. (Legends of America)
  • Arizona Highways recounts that Virgil Earp was shot walking toward the Golden Eagle, where his office was housed. (Arizona Highways)
  • Arizona Sonoran News reports the original bar went to Sonora during Prohibition and was recreated from blueprints in 1963. (Arizona Sonoran News)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a saloon and restaurant) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted TombstoneFeatured on The Bullets and Bordellos Ghost Tour

Portland, OR

McMenamins White Eagle Saloon & Hotel

1905Murdered working girl

A 1914 brick saloon on North Russell Street, founded by Polish immigrants in 1905 and nicknamed the 'Bucket of Blood' for its brawls. Today McMenamins runs it as a live-music bar with a handful of plain rooms upstairs. Choose it if you want to hear a band and then sleep above a reputedly haunted bar.

The story people tell

Legend says a young woman the stories call Rose was murdered in an upstairs room by a client or pimp who was never identified, and staff and guests describe weeping, heavy perfume, and a figure in a white nightgown. Stories also tell of Sam, a protective presence downstairs, and of a hostile feeling in the basement. Local historians point out the real Sam, a family friend who lived at the saloon, died in Salem.

History we checked · 3 sources
  • The Eliot Neighborhood Association says the saloon opened in 1905 under Polish immigrants Barney Soboleski and William Hryszko, with the current brick building completed in 1914. (Eliot Neighborhood Association)
  • McMenamins' own history says that when Oregon's statewide Prohibition began in 1916, the 'Bucket of Blood' became a place for neighborhood kids to buy ice cream. (McMenamins)
  • Wikipedia notes the Hryszko Brothers Building joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. (Wikipedia)

Today: Open to the public (operating as McMenamins White Eagle Saloon & Hotel, a bar with live music and rooms upstairs) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Portland

Seattle, WA

Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub

1903Former mortuary

A family-run Irish pub open since 1983 in the lower level of the Butterworth Building, which in 1903 became Seattle's first purpose-built mortuary. It sits off Post Alley at Pike Place Market and hosts frequent live Irish music. Choose it if you want a lively pub night with a funeral-home backstory.

The story people tell

Staff and regulars describe Charlie, a smiling man in a derby hat glimpsed in the mirror by the bar who vanishes when people turn around. Other accounts tell of a shy little girl in a red dress on the stairs, a red-haired woman, and cold drafts below. Our article describes still more spirits that guests and staff have reported.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Wikipedia's Butterworth Building entry says the mortuary opened in 1903 and moved to larger quarters in 1923. (Wikipedia)
  • Seattle Refined reports the McAleese family opened Kells in 1983 and still runs it. (Seattle Refined)

Today: Open to the public (operating as an Irish pub and restaurant with live music) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted Seattle

Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA

Musso & Frank Grill

1919Golden Age stars

Open since 1919 and still family-run, this Hollywood Boulevard grill is the place where Chaplin ate, Fitzgerald checked his novels, and Chandler drafted chapters of The Big Sleep. Red booths, a long wooden bar, and red-jacketed waiters keep the studio-era mood. Choose it if you want a classic Hollywood dinner with movie-star ghost lore.

The story people tell

Regulars say Charlie Chaplin never gave up booth No. 1 by the front window, and stories tell of a small, mustached man in old-fashioned clothes who vanishes when approached. Accounts also place Orson Welles at the bar amid phantom cigar smoke, and Jean Harlow as a sad blonde glimpsed in mirrors.

History we checked · 2 sources
  • Musso & Frank's own history says Frank Toulet opened Frank's Café in 1919 and later partnered with Joseph Musso. (Musso & Frank Grill)
  • Discover Los Angeles notes Chaplin's booth was No. 1 in the Old Room, right by the window. (Discover Los Angeles)

Today: Open to the public (operating as a restaurant and bar; dinner only, closed Mondays) — verified October 29, 2026 (source)

Read the full storyHaunted HollywoodFeatured on The Ghosts of Hollywood Tour

Old names, new buildings

“Oldest bar in America” is one of the most repeated claims in this business, and one of the least reliable. Several places here are often called the oldest in their city or the country; where sources disagree, our entries say so rather than pick a winner.

Some of the most famous names belong to newer buildings. A few colonial taverns were rebuilt from records in the twentieth century, and some modern bars took the name of a long-gone tavern that stood elsewhere. Their stories are still part of their cities, and each entry says which kind of place it is.

Bars also change hands, close and reopen more often than almost any other kind of business. Several places in this collection have closed since our articles were first written. We keep them here, clearly labelled, because the stories outlast the business.

Visiting, and our pub crawls

Check hours, age policies and reservation rules with each place before you go; many bars are 21 and over, at least after a certain hour, and some historic taverns serve only seasonally. Closed places can be seen from the street only.

If you would rather hear these stories with a guide, our haunted pub crawls visit historic bars in several of these cities. Pub crawls are for guests 21 and over; our ghost tours are open to all ages. Drink responsibly, and look after each other.

Compare all 55 places in one table

Every place, its era, its story and its status today, side by side.
Comparison of the places in this collection
PlaceLocationEraThe storyToday
The BrahminBoston, MA—Shadow figureStatus not confirmed
Bell in Hand TavernBoston, MA1795Founder's spiritOpen
Green Dragon TavernBoston, MA1993 (original tavern by 1714)Revolutionary patriotsOpen
Ned Devine's Irish PubBoston, MA1826 (market building)Colonial watcherOpen
Union Oyster HouseBoston, MA1826Colonial paymasterOpen
Warren TavernCharlestown, Boston, MA1780Fallen patriotOpen
Turner's Seafood at Lyceum HallSalem, MA1831Witch-trial victimOpen
Mercy TavernSalem, MA2017 (Derby Wharf 1762)Shanghaied sailorsOpen
RockafellasSalem, MA1826Blue LadyOpen
Gadsby's TavernAlexandria, VA1785–1816Nameless womanOpen
Middleton TavernAnnapolis, MDc. 1750Colonial gentlemanOpen
The Horse You Came In On SaloonBaltimore, MD1775 (by tradition)Poe legendOpen
Club CharlesBaltimore, MD1951–presentPhantom regularOpen
Chowning's TavernWilliamsburg, VA1766Colonial revelersOpen
King's Arms TavernWilliamsburg, VA1772Watchful tavernkeeperOpen
Raleigh TavernWilliamsburg, VA1769–1776Revolutionary echoesLimited access
City TavernPhiladelphia, PA1773Colonial patronsClosed
Dobbin House TavernGettysburg, PA1776Field hospital spiritsOpen
Blind Tiger PubCharleston, SC1890sWoman in blackOpen
The GriffonCharleston, SC—Lady in whiteOpen
The Pink HouseCharleston, SCc. 1712Pirate legendClosed
Poogan's PorchCharleston, SC1891Grieving sisterOpen
Tommy Condon's Irish Pub & RestaurantCharleston, SC1984Mirror ladyOpen
Moon River Brewing CompanySavannah, GA1821Hotel shootingClosed
The Olde Pink HouseSavannah, GA1771Colonial hostOpen
The Pirates' HouseSavannah, GA1753Shanghaied sailorsOpen
Six Pence PubSavannah, GA—Kitchen poltergeistOpen
Tondee's TavernSavannah, GA1850sBasement investigationClosed
O.C. White's RestaurantSt. Augustine, FLLate 1700sFamily spiritsOpen
Scarlett O'Hara'sSt. Augustine, FL1879Drowned ownerClosed
Captain Tony's SaloonKey West, FL1851Hanging treeOpen
Alley TapsNashville, TNProhibitionProhibition gangstersOpen
Benchmark Bar & GrillNashville, TN—Staircase murderClosed
Flying Saucer Draught EmporiumNashville, TN1900Train wreck deadClosed
Tootsie's Orchid LoungeNashville, TN1960Country legendsOpen
McCreary's Irish Pub & EateryFranklin, TN2002Nameless spiritsOpen
Cherry Street TavernChattanooga, TN2020sPhantom bartenderOpen
Old Absinthe HouseNew Orleans, LA1806Pirate legendOpen
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop BarNew Orleans, LALate 1700sPirate legendOpen
Muriel's Jackson SquareNew Orleans, LA1788Gambler's ghostOpen
La CarafeHouston, TX1860–61Lost bartenderOpen
Cadillac Bar & RestaurantSan Antonio, TX1870sAngry spiritClosed
Grey Moss InnGrey Forest, TX1929Devoted founderOpen
Del Frisco's Double Eagle SteakhouseFort Worth, TXHell's Half Acre eraMurdered gamblerOpen
Exchequer Restaurant & PubChicago, IL1969Phantom dinersOpen
Golden DaggerChicago, IL1894Occult society legendClosed
The Red Lion PubChicago, IL1984Founder's spiritOpen
Galena Cellars Wine Tasting RoomGalena, IL1985Phantom pianistOpen
Otto's PlaceGalena, IL1899Friendly founderOpen
Slippery Noodle InnIndianapolis, IN1850Bordello and gangster loreOpen
Big Nose Kate's SaloonTombstone, AZ1880Silver-thief handymanOpen
Crystal Palace SaloonTombstone, AZ1882Earp-era gunmenOpen
McMenamins White Eagle Saloon & HotelPortland, OR1905Murdered working girlOpen
Kells Irish Restaurant & PubSeattle, WA1903Former mortuaryOpen
Musso & Frank GrillHollywood, Los Angeles, CA1919Golden Age starsOpen

Ghost tours

Hear these stories in person

We run tours in 25 of the destinations on this page. A tour visits a place only where its entry says “Featured on”.

Show all 25 destinations
See every tour by destination

Researched by the Ghost City Tours editorial team, reviewed by Tim Nealon

History checked against the sources cited with each place on October 29, 2026; approved October 29, 2026. Ghost stories are presented as the accounts people tell, not as established fact.

Opening hours, ownership and access change. Confirm with each place before you travel.