It’s that time of year when travelers turn their thoughts to places with supernatural stories and spooky sites - places whose history is both fascinating and bloody.
Think Salem, Massachusetts with its witch trials; New Orleans, Louisiana with its voodoo connections; Amityville, New York with…..well, you’ve seen the movie. One place you probably won’t think of is Bardstown, as the Bourbon Capital of the World is usually associated with “spirits” of another kind. However, putting bourbon aside for a moment, there are enough spooky stories and haunted locations here to make would-be ghostbusters pack their bags for a Halloween in the Bluegrass State.
Just what are some of Bardstown’s scariest sites?
Let’s start with its most famous attraction, My Old Kentucky Home. True, the beautiful Federal-style mansion generally evokes thoughts of mint juleps, Southern hospitality and the commonwealth’s signature song by Stephen Foster. But My Old Kentucky Home, once the home of Judge John Rowan and now a state park, has a darker side, dating back to the 19th century when Federal Hill (its official name) was a thriving plantation.
In 1833 a devastating cholera outbreak claimed the lives of eight Rowan family members, and in a bizarre coincidence, eight of their enslaved people – all within the same 24-hour period. No doubt the restless ghosts of these cholera victims still roam the grounds, but the mournful wailing some claim to have heard is the result of another tragedy on the property. On a summer night in 1855, Judge Rowan’s son fell from a second-floor window and suffered a broken neck. The wailing is said to be that of his bereaved mother grieving for her lost son. Could the words “Weep, no more my lady” from the state song have a second, more personal meaning?
If you want to learn more about Federal Hill’s ghosts, join the staff on the annual Shadows of Federal Hill Ghost Tour (October 24 & 25).
What’s a good ghost hunt without a moonlit visit to an eerie cemetery? Bardstown’s Old Pioneer Cemetery more than fills the bill for a hair-raising hunt for the “hants.” A stroll through the tombs and gravestones of this haunted landscape will give you a feel (even if that feel is the shivers) for this ancient cemetery dating to the 1700s. Adding to the cemetery’s lore is the fact that one famous corpse was buried here and then unburied and moved elsewhere. If you knew it was John Finch, operator of America’s first steamboat service, give yourself a pat on the back, or start to worry that you are spending too much time lurking around graveyards.
Just in front of the Old Pioneer Cemetery is one of Kentucky’s most unique (and haunted) lodgings. Today, the Old Jailer’s Inn Bed & Breakfast is a charming nine-room B&B where guests enjoy a morning coffee or evening glass of wine in the flower-filled courtyard. But when it was built in 1819, it was for a more sinister purpose, for this was the original Nelson County Jail, home to some of the commonwealth’s scariest miscreants (John Dillinger once spent a night here while being transferred to federal prison).
Some of them never left. Low moans have been heard emanating from the black-and-white room still decorated like a jail cell, and those courtyard coffee and wine drinkers have reported catching sight of the occasional ghostly wraith. Not too surprising when you consider that the courtyard served as the gallows for the most unfortunate of the prisoners. All these feisty spirits, however, don’t come with a criminal record. Among them is one of the original jailers, a lady known only as Mrs. McKay. So many guests have reported encounters with Mrs. McKay that the Travel Channel once named the Jailer’s Inn one of America’s 10 most haunted places.
Perhaps the prize for most haunted place in Bardstown belongs to another lodging, The Old Talbott Tavern. As the first coaching inn west of the Alleghenies (built in the 1780s), it has seen a lot of famous and infamous guests register. Among the former were law-abiding types such as Daniel Boone and Abraham Lincoln – who if their ghosts linger, are content to let guests get a good night’s sleep. It’s the latter – in the person of outlaw Jesse James – that those guests report having trouble with. James was a frequent presence in the tavern as he was said to be an early fan of the town’s bourbon.
After being overserved on one occasion, he stumbled up to his room. Seeing a flock of birds on a nature mural and thinking them real, he shot off a round of ammunition before making it to his bed. The mural, pocked with bullet holes, remains intact today. Which you can see during the self-guided tour available at the property. Something else that remains, according to guests, is unexpected sounds such as the tinkling of a piano and the chiming of clocks in the middle of the night. Jesse isn’t alone in his haunting of the tavern. He has plenty of company in the form of a one-time owner’s wife and two of his children – one a young girl who hanged herself in the building after being jilted by her lover.
For devotees of the macabre and mysterious and fans of the supernatural and super scary, Bardstown is the ideal destination this Halloween season.
For more information about Bardstown’s ghostly happenings, go to VisitBardstown.com