Civil War Era Haunted Home for Sale in New Orleans

The Adam Griffin House at 1447 Constance Street in New Orleans.

The reportedly haunted Adam Griffin House in New Orleans has been put up for sale with an asking price of $1,345,000.  This historic Antebellum Greek Revival home was built in 1852 by Adam Griffin, who lived in the house for only a few months prior to fleeing before the advancing Union army.

Griffin's intention was to build an elegant home capable of holding gala events and entertaining guests, a fact supported by the house's high ceilings, spacious rooms, and decorative crown moldings.  Unfortunately, events after its abandonment proved to be of a more sordid nature.

The house was used as a Union barracks and munitions storage area during the Union occupation of New Orleans.  The first soldiers to enter the building made a gruesome discovery when they followed the sound of rattling chains to the attic, where they found several slaves still shackled and in dire need of medical treatment.  The starving, malnourished slaves were sent to the Union field hospital where they could be cared for properly.

Later, two Confederate deserters dressed as Union soldiers were discovered among the soldiers onsite.  Union soldiers sympathetic to the deserters' plight supplied them with whiskey and sang the popular Union song "John Brown's Body" to raise their spirits.  The two men were to be shot, but committed suicide before the sentence could be carried out.  

The Adam Griffin House has been used for many commercial and residential endeavors since, but reports of haunting phenomena are remarkably consistent.  Residents report seeing two white-faced Civil War era soldiers holding whiskey bottles, and say they sometimes hear disembodied voices singing "John Brown's Body."  The sound of chains rattling and anguished cries are also said to emanate from the attic.  In addition, residents have reported objects being thrown, and even phantom blood dripping from the ceiling.

The house remained in a constant state of flux as it changed hands many times over the years, with new owners often anxious to vacate the property.  Relatively recently, however, the house was renovated, and since then the family living there has not reported any paranormal phenomena.