8 Haunted Louisiana Roads Worth Taking a Trip from New Orleans
Set off on a creepy road trip and travel some of Louisiana's haunted roads. See if the paranormal stories of poor souls wandering are true or mere legends. Below are images of the haunted country roads with a brief history of why they are presumed haunted.
Bayou Sale Road - Dulac, LA
The story goes, the poor soul of a wandering hitchhiker's ghost can be seen on this road. People say a woman's ghost reaches out her hand to touch cars as they pass by. This stretch of LA-57 is super dark with a bunch of twists and turns that have led to several accidents. Supposedly, every accident has ended with vehicles crashing into the swamp that runs alongside the creepy road in South Terrebonne Parish. Bayou Sale Road is between the towns of Dulac and Chauvin.
Front Street - Natchitoches, LA
Natchitoches, LA is the oldest city in the state established in 1714, it is also the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory. Residents say the ghosts of Confederate soldiers are spotted wandering down Front Street at night. Any city this old is bound to have a ton of haunted history. Front Street runs along the Cane River and is also a major tourist site with several shops, stores, restaurants, and boutiques. Tina Rachal, the owner of Plantation Treasures talked about the store being haunted to the point that things would be broken and people would get their hair pulled.
The store was built by the Hughes family back in the early 1900s and is believed to be haunted by their daughter who died for reasons unknown. Rachel said "The occurrences kept occurring. It was beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was absolutely something within the building."
Hodge and Walker Road - Jonesboro, LA
Legend has it the premonition of a man frequents this road. Nobody knows the history of why the ghost walks the spooky roadway, only that a man wearing a tall black hat haunts this juncture where both roads meet.
Jackson Street - Monroe, LA
There was a drive-by shooting that occurred on this street and several victims died in the tragic homicide. Since then every January around the same time as the murders, residents say they see ghosts of the victims walking down the street. Every year between 7:45 p.m. and midnight, blood may appear on the roadway or shadow people appear and linger in the street.
Marlands Bridge - Sunset, LA
The site of the Battle of Bayou Bourbeau during the Civil War. The bridge leads to Chretien Point, an 1831 plantation that has had its share of death and curious paranormal activity. The area was also home to a hospital that cared for soldiers wounded in the Civil War. Marland’s Bridge was named after Union Lt. William Marland who was given the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during the Bayou Bourdeau battle.
There are also haunted tales of a bride being killed on the bridge after her carriage is turned over. She was said to be on the way to her wedding when the tragic accident occurred.
Pirates Alley - New Orleans, LA
Nestled behind the 1727 St. Louis Cathedral, this spooky stretch of the alley is rumored to be home to several ghosts including a priest, and several pirates to possibly include Jean Lafitte. It measures roughly 600 feet in length and 16 feet wide, and was never intended to be a main street with shops and business like it is today. It was actually meant to be a shortcut to the French Quarter. People have said the ghost of the pirate Jean Lafitte walks up and down the Alley, others don't think its Lafitte’s apparition rather another named Reginald Hicks.
Hicks was raised by pirates and became one himself during Lafitte's reign. He was even with the famous mate when he went to New Orleans to meet with General Andrew Jackson. It was there that he fell in love and married a creole girl in the alley, before heading back out to sea. He would not return, at least not alive, being killed in the war. However, it's his premonitions some think in still pacing the alley looking for his long-lost love. The original pastor at St. Louis Cathedral (then, St. Louis Church) is also said to be keeping watch of his church, while William Faulkner continues to reside in his home now the site of Faulkner House of Books.
Coteau Road in Houma, LA
There are Cajun tales of all kinds about this old lonely piece of roadway near the swamp. Locals talk about a real-live swamp creature to type of marsh gas called the Fe-fo-lay that ignites by itself. Some say if you ever see the light in the dead of the night, to never follow it or you will never be seen again. There's also ghostly stories of creepy figures wandering about near the old metal sheds at night.
Whichever haunted folklore people believe they agree on one thing, never get caught on Coteau Road at night. d just long enough to look like fire rising from the swamp. Others insist the ball of fire was actually a lightning bug that darted across the swamp’s surface in a flash of red and orange. Some say if you follow the light into the marsh, you will never see daylight again.
Laurel Valley Plantation Road - Thibodaux, LA
Laurel Valley Plantation, was and still is one of the largest sugar cane plantations in the country. The original five hundred twenty-eight acres was obtained in 1775 from a Spanish land grant obtained by Etienne Boudreaux. The Boudreaux's family kept the property until 1819, when they sold it to J. Wilson Lepine. By 1893, the plantation expanded to more than fifty thousand acres, with hundreds of slaves to work the fields. To accommodate the growing plantations population of workers, several shotgun houses, slave quarters, a school and store were built. Lepine was paying his slaves with monopoly-like money that could only be used at his store.
The slaves grew tired of being robbed and staged a three-week strike with thousands of slaves from nearby plantations. They demanded far pay and payment with real money, but they were silenced when Gov, l Douglas McEnery, ordered troops to shut their revolt down. As a result more than 200 were murdered. Now people see ghosts of slaves walking the grounds of the plantation or along the roadways. The plantation closed in the 1930s and was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Today, is still used to harvest sugar cane and most of the buildings are gone except the main house a couple of shotguns and the old general store, now serving as a museum for visitors.