Haunted Houses & Ghost Tours in Vicksburg, MS

The history

Vicksburg's haunted frame, in its biggest ghost-tour operator's own summary, is a river city shaped by war. Vicksburg Ghosts (US Ghost Adventures), whose tour page was collected, puts it this way: Vicksburg "sits on steep river bluffs shaped by centuries of turmoil, from native conflict to severe steamboat accidents and the devastating 47-day Civil War siege," when "citizens took shelter in hillside caves while artillery shelled the city, turning elegant antebellum estates into makeshift field hospitals," and yellow fever outbreaks added to the toll. That is the operator's framing, recorded as such; the dated spine below comes from the houses themselves.

The city's best-known haunted house documents its own building in three dated layers. The McRaven Tour Home's history page records that the first portion was built in 1797 — "when George Washington was President, and before Mississippi became a state" — by highwayman Andrew Glass, as a two-room brick structure with a bedroom above a kitchen and a removable ladder, its blueberry-and-buttermilk plaster still on the walls. The second portion was built in 1836 by Sheriff Stephen Howard, who enclosed a patio and added a bedroom, a dining room and a two-story covered porch. The third was built in the Greek Revival style in 1849 by John H. Bobb, a brick manufacturer and sawmill owner, who added the parlor, master bedroom and flying-wing staircase. The home page adds the wartime layer: its three-acre gardens were "once a Confederate campsite and field hospital." The house first opened to the public in 1961, per its history page, and National Geographic called it the "Time Capsule of the South."

The second house is younger and its war record is its own. The Duff Green Mansion's FAQ page states the house was completed in 1856, and its place listing, quoting the business itself, describes it as built by businessman Duff Green as a wedding gift, designed for entertaining, and offered for use as a hospital in 1863 after being hit at least five times by Union cannonball; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its present life is documented on the same site: an eight-room-plus-suite bed and breakfast at 1114 First East Street, with a three-course seated breakfast, a 5 p.m. wine reception in the Grand Hall, and a morning house tour included in every stay.

The legend

This section is folklore — reported by the sources cited, and never asserted as fact here.

Of Andrew Glass, the page says he "would rob people traveling the Natchez Trace and hide out in McRaven," and that "his surprising death became the start of McRaven's haunting." Of the Howard chapter: "Sheriff Howard lost his young wife Mary Elizabeth after childbirth, and her spirit is the most active ghost in the house. Mary Elizabeth often greets guests and plays pranks. Some of her personal belongings are still in the house." The home page bills the house as Mississippi's "Most Haunted House" and invites visitors to discover "the famous and infamous people of McRaven, and why their spirits have never left" — the house's own marketing framing, carried here as such.

Duff Green's own telling is notably calmer, and its FAQ answers the haunted question head-on: "The Duff Green Mansion served as a hospital during the Civil War, and two of the Green children passed away in the home. Over the years, some guests have reported unexplained activity, but nothing frightening. If there are spirits here, they seem to be very fond of us."

The walking-tour legend list is the operator's route copy. Vicksburg Ghosts reports, at Anchuca Mansion and Inn, "a heartbroken daughter in brown who gazes into the parlor fireplace" — and elsewhere on the same page, "the restless spirit of Archie Archer still stares silently into the parlor fireplace," two versions of the fireplace figure on one page, recorded here as both appear. At the Old Court House Museum it reports "numerous ghostly inhabitants, including its former caretaker, several wandering souls, and something much sinister lurking in the basement." At the McNutt House it reports "an unmarked grave and a restless officer" in the courtyard, and at Walnut Hills Restaurant "phantom kitchen clatter and a spectral physician." Every item in this paragraph is that operator's published account, attributed as such.

Haunted today

Hountix lists 3 places in Vicksburg, MS. Seasonal attractions keep their own open dates, so check each business's own site before you go.

• Duff Green Mansion — haunted house, 1114 1st E St, Vicksburg, MS 39183
• McRaven Tour Home — haunted house, 1445 Harrison St, Vicksburg, MS 39180
• Vicksburg Ghost Tours — ghost tour, 203 N West St, Jackson, MS 39201

Attraction stories

McRaven Tour Home

McRaven's own pages make two claims for the house before any ghost is mentioned, and both are documented on them: it is "Vicksburg's finest, totally authentic, pre Civil War home," and National Geographic labelled it the "Time Capsule of the South" because it was built and remodelled in three different periods, each addition leaving the previous rooms untouched, furnished today with museum-quality antiques true to each period. Its history page dates those periods precisely — 1797 for Andrew Glass's two-room brick pioneer structure, 1836 for Sheriff Stephen Howard's Empire-period addition, 1849 for John H. Bobb's Greek Revival front, later replaced by Bobb himself with an Italianate facade on "Vicksburg pillars" — and the home page adds that the three-acre gardens were once a Confederate campsite and field hospital. The house, at 1445 Harrison Street, phone (601) 501-1336, first opened to the public in 1961 and has been featured, per its pages, in National Geographic and LIFE magazines, on the Travel Channel and on 48 Hours.

The haunting, as the house tells it, begins with its first builder. Glass robbed travellers on the Natchez Trace and hid out at McRaven, sleeping above the kitchen behind a removable ladder against ambush; the history page says "his surprising death became the start of McRaven's haunting," without giving the manner of that death, and none is invented here. The house's most active spirit, on its own telling, is Mary Elizabeth Howard, who died after childbirth in the Howard era: she "often greets guests and plays pranks," and some of her personal belongings are still in the house.

The visit today is layered by appetite for the story. The History Tour is 45 minutes on the house, the families, the periods and the antiques. The Haunted Tour is 1 hour 15 minutes with a theatrical guide in period costume, brief history first, then ghost stories. Monthly public Ghost Hunts pair the haunted tour with an investigation running as late as 2 a.m. using the house's equipment, capped at 18 tickets; candlelight tours in the last two weekends of October put a different spirit in each room telling their own story, in the house's words; and private investigations give a party exclusive access. Confirm the current schedule and tickets on the house's own site before going — its events page lists investigations by date and they sell as scheduled events, not a nightly walk-up.

*Website: http://www.mcraventourhome.com/*

Duff Green Mansion

The Duff Green Mansion's own site presents a bed and breakfast first and a haunted house second, and the order matters to how its story should be told. The documented house, per its FAQ and listing copy: completed in 1856, built by businessman Duff Green as a wedding gift and designed for entertaining, hit at least five times by Union cannonball during the siege and offered by the Green family for use as a hospital in 1863, and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, per its homepage, it is a lovingly restored antebellum home at 1114 First East Street, phone (601) 636-6968, with eight historic guest rooms in the main house and a separate courtyard suite, every stay including a three-course seated breakfast, a complimentary 5 p.m. wine reception in the Grand Hall, and the house's "world-famous tour" after breakfast.

Asked directly "Is the house haunted?", the mansion's FAQ gives the most measured answer in this batch, and it is quoted here rather than improved on: "The Duff Green Mansion served as a hospital during the Civil War, and two of the Green children passed away in the home. Over the years, some guests have reported unexplained activity, but nothing frightening. If there are spirits here, they seem to be very fond of us." That is the business's complete published lore position — a hospital past, two children who died in the home, reported activity, and no fright claimed.

The named figures attached to the house come from outside its own pages. Those figures are carried here as that account's folklore, labelled as such, at exactly that strength. For a visitor, the practical shape is simple: you experience this haunting, if you experience it, by staying the night and taking the morning tour — there is no separate ghost-tour ticket on the site collected. Confirm room availability and current tour timing on the mansion's own site before booking.

*Website: http://www.duffgreenmansion.com/*

Sources

• McRaven Tour Home — official website, homepage and history page as collected (Mississippi's "Most Haunted House"; built and remodelled in three periods; gardens once a Confederate campsite and field hospital; 45-minute History Tour, 1-hour-15-minute Haunted Tour in period costume, monthly ghost hunts and private investigations, candlelight tours in late October; opened to the public in 1961; National Geographic's "Time Capsule of the South"; 1797 Andrew Glass two-room brick structure, removable ladder, Natchez Trace robberies, his surprising death as the start of the haunting; 1836 Sheriff Stephen Howard addition, Mary Elizabeth Howard's death after childbirth, her spirit as the most active ghost who greets guests and plays pranks, her belongings still in the house; 1849 John H. Bobb Greek Revival addition later given an Italianate facade; 1445 Harrison Street, Vicksburg, MS 39180; 601-501-1336): http://www.mcraventourhome.com/
• Duff Green Mansion — official website, homepage and FAQ as collected ("Is the house haunted? — The Duff Green Mansion served as a hospital during the Civil War, and two of the Green children passed away in the home. Over the years, some guests have reported unexplained activity, but nothing frightening. If there are spirits here, they seem to be very fond of us"; house completed in 1856; eight historic guest rooms plus the Hideaway courtyard suite, a "Little Annie Room" among the pet-friendly rooms; three-course seated breakfast at 8:30 a.m., house tour after breakfast, 5 p.m. complimentary wine reception in the Grand Hall; 1114 First East Street, Vicksburg, MS 39183; 601-636-6968): http://www.duffgreenmansion.com/
• Duff Green Mansion — business description via its place listing, in this batch's seed research (built in 1856 as a wedding gift by businessman Duff Green, designed for entertaining and known for lavish parties; offered as a hospital in 1863 after being hit at least five times by Union cannonball; listed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognised by the Department of the Interior and the Smithsonian Institution; completely restored): http://www.duffgreenmansion.com/
• The Mississippi Monitor — "Ghosts and History: The McRaven House – Mississippi's most haunted home," via this batch's seed research (guests convinced they have met Mary Elizabeth or felt Andrew Glass's darker presence, others reporting only creaky floorboards; daytime historic tours, candlelit evening tours and late-night ghost hunts; 1445 Harrison Street): https://www.themississippimonitor.com/ghosts-and-history-the-mcraven-house-mississippis-most-haunted-home/
• Fairies Travel Tales — "Haunted Vicksburg Inns," via this batch's seed research (Duff Green Mansion ghosts as that account reports them: a Confederate soldier missing a leg, Annie Green, a little girl known to roam the halls, and a woman, possibly Mary Green, also known to roam the halls — folklore, not confirmed by the mansion's own pages): https://fariestraveltales.com/haunted-vicksburg-inns/
• Vicksburg Ghosts (US Ghost Adventures) — Vicksburg Ghost Tour page as collected ("Vicksburg Terrors — Beneath the Veil and the Vow," 4.9 stars as displayed, 1 hour, 1 mile, 8 p.m., $26, all ages, 6+ locations, daily rain or shine year-round; the 47-day siege, hillside caves, field hospitals and yellow fever framing; Anchuca's heartbroken daughter in brown at the parlor fireplace and, elsewhere on the page, Archie Archer staring into the same fireplace; Old Court House Museum's caretaker, wandering souls and something sinister in the basement; McNutt House unmarked grave and restless officer; Walnut Hills phantom kitchen clatter and spectral physician; McRaven described by the operator as holding spirits of murder victims and former residents — the operator's copy, not the house's own claim; FAQ — about an hour and a mile, possible stops Anchuca, Governor McNutt House, Old Court House Museum and Lakemont; 1201 Main St., Vicksburg; (601) 654-4036; collector's notes — the /the-haunt fetch redirected to the Golden, Colorado tour page and was discarded as not-Vicksburg, and the /haunt path returned a thin/challenge response): https://usghostadventures.com/vicksburg-ghost-tour/
• McRaven House — Wikipedia lead collected for this draft (used only as a lead): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McRaven_House