History and Mystery Along Magazine Street in New Orleans

When flames tore through the timber streets of New Orleans during the Great New Orleans Fire of 1788, they reduced the city to a shadow of its former self. But from the ashes, the seeds of progress were sown. With a blank canvas to work off, New Orleans could begin anew – and Magazine Street New Orleans was at the heart of it. 

Among the bustling markets, high-end hotels, family homes, and noisy schools, community life played out here against a backdrop of immigration, disease, and wild natural disasters. Residents and visitors have come and gone over the years, building a rich tapestry of curious myths and urban legends. 

Here, we’re taking a closer look at a few of the unexplained stories and paranormal mysteries surrounding this eclectic city, centered around historic Magazine Street haunted locations. 

Deanie’s 

As Hurricane Katrina made landfall and ripped through New Orleans back in late August 2005, local lady Vera Smith was hit by a drunk driver on the corner of Jackson Avenue and Magazine Street, and killed. With the wind whipping through the city streets and emergency services pushed to the limit, her body lay untouched for days. 

The Spirit of Vera Smith

Neighbors built a makeshift grave for Vera on a vacant lot nearby, and when a new building was put there, a memorial was added in her name. Though her body had been taken to her parents’ grave site in Texas, it’s said her spirit has been seen smiling in the window as people pay their respects, and her presence can still be felt at the site where she lost her life. 



Her ghost is a well-known figure in local ghost tours New Orleans, often mentioned by guides telling stories of paranormal activity New Orleans on Magazine Street.

St. Mary’s & St. Alphonsus Churches 

Build around 1860, the churches of St. Mary and St. Alphonsus were built to serve different congregations among New Orleans’ growing immigrant communities, and have withstood many, many of the powerful storms and hurricanes that sweep through the city – but not without sustaining structural damage. As each hurricane swept through, people began noticing that the original altars in the churches would be moved to slightly different locations, and remain undamaged.

Father Seelos’ Haunting Presence

Looking back through the archives, it’s thought the churches are still under the ghostly protection of a certain Father Seelos – a pastor of the Church of St. Mary's from 1866. His remains lie in a shrine at the church, and it’s believed his spirit still works to care for the buildings. 

This story is a key highlight of many historic haunted sites New Orleans.

Buckner Mansion 

Buckner Mansion is an elegant property widely considered the finest in all New Orleans. It was built in 1856 by cotton magnate Henry S. Buckner, with the sole aim of outdoing the home of his ex-business partner. 

One of the staff was a freed woman of color named Miss Josephine, whose jobs included overseeing the slave workers on the estate and caring for Buckner’s children. Miss Josephine died in the house in the year 1893, and her presence is apparently still felt to this day. 

Visitors have reported hearing Miss Josephine sweeping her broom around the house, and the smell of fresh lemons seemingly coming from nowhere. Other ghostly experiences include sightings of chandeliers swaying and doors swinging shut in empty rooms. On Sunday mornings before dawn, neighbors have noted the door of the main house opening and closing, and the sound of footsteps leaving the property. Could it be the spirit of Miss Josephine running her early-morning chores? 

Tracy’s

Between the 1820s and 1840s, Irish immigrants forced from their land by the potato famine began arriving in New Orleans in search of a better life. Times were hard though, with disease rife and overcrowded slums offering the only ready accommodation. 

As the new arrivals settled in and people’s circumstances slowly started improving, the Irish Chanel neighborhood became a popular spot for St Patrick’s Day celebrations – and Tracey's was among the first bars established to host the parties. 

One of the regulars was a man by the name of Emmet Flaherty, who’d led a life of hard labor in support of his family. Once a week, he’d hit the bar and drown his sorrows among pals – regaling them with stories of his dangerous work on the Basin Canal and laughing together over shared adventures raising their children. 

To this day, people have been known to ask where the guy went who was chatting with them a few moments earlier, to be told there was nobody there. CCTV cameras have recorded the time-frames in question, with customers seen seemingly talking to themselves. As for Emmet Flaherty himself, records show he was killed working on the Basin Canal, and his body never found.

Hotel St. Vincent 

There’s an old townhouse sitting just off Magazine Street which was used as a satellite lodge for the Odd Fellows Society back in the 1800s. The Odd Fellows Society was like the Freemasons – a secretive organization shrouded in mystery. 

During renovations a few years ago, builders found a stretch of flooring which didn’t match the surrounding area. Intrigued, they took the flooring up and found an old velvet-lined object shaped like a coffin. It looked like some kind of gun storage, but, as they later discovered, it was part of the Odd Fellows’ club rituals. Suddenly, answers to a few long-held questions started falling into place. 

For years, overnight visitors to the townhouse had heard their names being shouted out in the dead of night. They’d awake, thinking it was a dream, only to hear their name called out again in the darkness. Following the sounds, they’d find themselves in the same room the velvet-lined box was found in – at which point the calling would cease. 

When a collector in New Orleans offered to buy the box, the owners saw it as a chance to be rid of the unexplained noises – but they were mistaken. Instead of disappearing, the voices became more and more frequent, and the owners contacted the collector to return the box to its rightful place. They brought in a medium well-versed in the paranormal to investigate, and within minutes, things became clearer... 

The story goes that the mysterious voice told the medium that stitched inside the fabric of the box were legal papers righting a wrong committed many years previously. The owners opened up the velvet lining where, sure enough, they found the deeds to a property located a few blocks away, alongside someone's last will and testament.

Enlisting a family attorney, they discovered that the deeds related to the Odd Fellows Cemetery, and someone had been trying to trace them. Rightful ownership had been lost in the mists of time, and the newly discovered deeds corrected that. They found the deeds and the last will and testament found within the box correlated, and the rightful heir was now in legal possession of the property. That night and in the nights that followed since, the voices have fallen quiet. 

Explore More on Magazine Street and Beyond

If all this talk of mysterious goings on along historic Magazine Street New Orleans has got you curious to know more, check out our brand new Magazine Street Ghost Walk New Orleans for more details.

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