100 Iberville Street, New Orleans, LA
The Haunted Westin Hotel
The Ghosts of Woldenberg Park
Tales of twisted fate proliferate Near Orleans, yet Westin's nearby Woldenberg Park is darker still. This now idyllic park was once the site of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Ships of enslaved Africans would stop along the river's edge, unloading carts of trafficked persons. While New Orleans is filled to the brim with murderous mistresses and unlucky accidents, the brutalization of the Transatlantic Slave Trade is their most tragic truth.
The residual energies of their traumatic past may linger along Woldenberg Park today. Restlessly, these spirits roam the region, asking to be remembered.
Slavery in the Crescent City
In 1850, the population of New Orleans had reached 100,000–17,000 of those were enslaved Africans. Even though the Transatlantic Slave Trade was abolished in 1808, the domestic exchange of human beings continued.
New Orleans became the largest slave port in the United States.
The Central Business District was one of the most prominent locations for human trafficking, with slave-trading taking place regularly throughout Common, Carondelet, Union, and O'Keefe Streets.
Visitors to the district witness full-bodied apparitions, mysterious sounds, and heavy, melancholic energies. These are no doubt from the souls whose livelihoods were brutally stolen.
Archives reveal how not even the youngest were spared. Nearly one-third were children under the age of thirteen.
At the age of fourteen, Charlotte was sold to John L. Day for five hundred dollars. Thousands of others were exchanged throughout the Central Business District, their "price" determined by their tag.
Those who weren't "bought" died inside the pens binding them. Their residual energies only further reveal the darkness of American history. Neither their stories nor their specters should ever be forgotten.
Visitor Tips
- Ask staff about recent paranormal activity
- Bring a camera for potential ghost photos
- Visit common areas after midnight
