Pitot House
Pitot House is located on Moss Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, and this plantation home was originally constructed in 1799. The ghost who haunts this house seems to have a love affair with flowers, for the fragrance of magnolias and roses is always smelt throughout the bedrooms and dining room. The house is named after a man named James Pitot, who lived at the house from 1810-1819. He gained fame in 1804 as the first American mayor of New Orleans. He only stayed in office for a year, but completely transformed the city in that short span of time.
He started a ferryboat service on the Mississippi River, streets were paved, and civic building projects were started. In 1810, he purchased a two-story house on Bayou St. John. In the year 1815, tragedy struck his life at the house. While his wife gave birth to two twins, she was killed in the process. Both of the twins then died soon after the event took place, nearly within two months of their birth. One would imagine that the house was full of flowers following the three separate funerals at this time. In 1904, Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini purchased the house for the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mother Cabrini was known for her passion of flowers, and often walked throughout the streets looking for wild flowers to make a bouquet.
(Source: Dwyer, Jeff. Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans. 2007.)
