The USS Kidd is a World War II destroyer that sits on South River Road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Sailors dressed in their 1940s uniforms have been seen in crew’s quarters and other compartments below the deck. The environmental imprints on the ship have been created over the years of life-threatening situations at sea. Even sailors who died well after their war days have returned as ghosts to the ship due to their strong attachment during time of war. The USS Kidd was a Fletcher-class destroyer that was called the “Pirate of the Pacific.” It served its country in the Pacific Ocean during World War II and the Korean War. The ship was named after Isaac C. Kidd, who was one of thousands to be killed by the Japanese at the attacks on Pearl Harbor. It contained 295 enlisted crew and 34 officers.
In 1945 during the battle for Okinawa, a Japanese kamikaze slammed into the ship. The impact caused the death of 38 crewmen. It is believed that most of the souls that were killed on that day still roam the ship, for the partial apparitions of soldiers have been seen in the crew quarter’s and other areas on the right side, or starboard part of the ship. Cold spots are often felt along with a tap on the shoulder from an old sailor. The USS Kidd currently serves as a memorial to the destroyer crews of World War II.
(Source: Dwyer, Jeff. Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans. 2007.)
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The Old State Capitol is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and in 1832, Pierre Couvillon was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was then elected to the state senate where his power greatly increased. On his political agenda, Couvillon primarily focused on the state’s banking laws and regulations. For in 1840s Louisiana, the banks only favored a small amount of wealthy families. Couvillon countered this by exposing the corrupt bank officials to the public sector. In 1852 at his home, Couvillon died of a heart attack, following the outrage he felt when he heard many senators were lining up for shares in the financial playoffs.
Couvillon was buried in Mansura Catholic Cemetery, leaving his wife and their ten children. This was a big blow to the reform movement in Louisiana, for he was a true pioneer. The Senator was so dedicated to reforming the bank industry in Louisiana that even after death, his ghost went back to work at the state capitol building. Legislators in the building said they felt his presence leading up to the Civil War. In 1862, the Union army marched through Baton Rouge and set the Capitol building on fire. The building was restored, and it stands today on top of a hill.
The building is no longer operating for the state legislatures, but visitors are still welcome for tours. The only state legislature still at the building is the old Senator, keeping an eye on the people that come to visit his former business of glory. In 1994, the Old State Capitol building was renamed the Louisiana Center for Political and Governmental history. Following this, Couvillon’s ghost became very active, triggering off the motion detectors late at night. The ghost has also left footprints on dusty floors from locked rooms, stole from visitors and staff members, and has had a certain desire for pliers. A total of 15 pliers have disappeared over the years once left alone for a few seconds.
(Source: Dwyer, Jeff. Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans. 2007.)
Chris Haunted New Orleans, Haunted Places
Cottage Plantation was an old plantation that lasted until the 20th century in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The ruins can be found on River Road, about 6 miles south of Baton Rouge. This area is known as Duncan’s Point, a promontory that goes out into the Mississippi River. The first owner of this land built a small cottage there for the summer. In the year 1825, Abner Duncan purchased a large amount of the land there from Armand Duplantier. He built a huge manor house after this named Cottage Plantation. Soon after, he gave the estate to his daughter Frances and her husband Frederick.
The couple would then go on to make the plantation one of the most successful sugar plantations in the area. One day, a man named Angus Holt showed up at the porch asking for food and a place to sleep. He was invited in by the Conrad’s because something about him seemed intriguing. He then became the personal secretary of Frederick. During the Civil War, Union riverboats fired at the plantation. Frederick and Holt were taken as prisoners during the war, and Fredrick died before the war ended.
When Angus was released following the war, he returned back to the plantation to find most of the Conrad family either dead or scattered. As a tribute to the family, he undertook the responsibility of manager for the plantation. This was a position Holt kept until 1880, well, as a human being that is. His ghost has seemed to never stop working for the Conrad family, as his apparition has been seen walking in the hallways of the manor house. In 1960, the plantation was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. As people look at the ruins, the ghost of Angus Holt may be seen walking through them.
There are other ghosts that are experienced at Cottage Plantation. The steamboat Princess exploded in the Mississippi as it was headed towards New Orleans in the 1800s. Seventy people were killed in the blast and about 100 others swam to shores by the plantation. White sheets were brought out to the lawn covered in flour in order to help save the burn victims. Despite this and doctors rushing to the scene, nearly everyone died on the lawn. To this day, the sight of white powder rise into the air on any given night. This is also accompanied with bloody sheets, giving a memorial to all those who died in the tragedy.
(Source: Dwyer, Jeff. Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans. 2007.)
Chris Haunted New Orleans, Haunted Places
Plantation is located in Whitecastle, Louisiana. The staff members of the plantation never speak of any ghosts and deny if any spirit walk along the halls there. Nottoway is the largest plantation house in America with 53,000 square feet. The house was originally built in 1859 for John Hampden Randolph and his family of 11 children. The Randolph’s were among the wealthiest of sugarcane plantation owners before the Civil War in all of Louisiana. Randolph and four of his sons left the rest of the family at the plantation during the war to start a cotton plantation in Texas.
During the war, a Union gunboat that was on the Mississippi River fired at the house. The attack was then called off because one of the men on the boat had stayed in the house the previous year. Due to their hospitality to a northerner, the house and the kids were spared. At the front of the house once stood a coachman, making sure guests were able to get out of the carriage’s comfortably and he also directed other slaves to handling baggages. However, this coachman is still doing his job, although his identity is not known. Many people have reported feeling the presence of this man behind them as they stand in the front.
(Source: Dwyer, Jeff. Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans. 2007.)
Chris Haunted New Orleans, Haunted Places
Houmas House is located in Darrow, Louisiana, and while construction was going on to renovate the grand house, the construction workers often came in contact with the ghost of a little girl. She would often walk down the spiral staircase to only disappear abruptly. The girl was wearing a blue dress and had dark eyes and brown hair. In the new grand house, she is often seen in the morning or early afternoon. She is either seen going along on tours, skipping upstairs, or walking down the main steps. The little girl’s identity is not 100% known, but it has been narrowed down to two scenarios.
The first is the daughter of Colonel John Preston and his wife Caroline, who began ownership of the plantation in 1825. In 1848, the two lost their daughter to yellow fever, possibly this little girl. The Colonel and his wife were distraught and moved away. The other scenario is that the ghost is the daughter of Colonel William P. Miles and his wife Harriet. In 1900, their 7 year-old daughter was killed and buried in the estate’s cemetery. The headstones of the cemetery were washed in 1927 when the levees broke, maybe causing an unrest to her spirit.
(Source: Dwyer, Jeff. Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans. 2007.)
Chris Haunted New Orleans, Haunted Places
