The 5 Most Haunted Places in Galveston, Texas
1. Hotel Galvez (2024 Seawall Blvd)
The Hotel Galvez has reigned over the island’s waterfront since 1911, surviving hurricanes, floods, and more than a century of restless guests. Its elegant halls once welcomed socialites and sea captains, but behind the charm lingers a darker memory. The hotel was built on the very shoreline where thousands perished during the 1900 hurricane — the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Survivors reported seeing bodies stacked along the seawall before the city rebuilt.
Over the years, visitors have encountered flickering lights, cold drafts, and the distinct scent of old perfume in empty rooms. The most famous apparition is “the Lovelorn Lady,” a spirit said to haunt the west wing. Legend claims she checked in while awaiting her fiancé’s return from sea; when word came that his ship was lost, she hanged herself in despair. Decades later, the Galvez staff still report phones ringing from rooms unoccupied — always the same extension.
2. Ashton Villa (2328 Broadway Ave J)
Built in 1859 by a wealthy merchant, Ashton Villa was one of the first brick mansions in Texas — and one of the few to survive the 1900 storm. It hosted Confederate officers during the Civil War and later served as a hospital. Every wall of the Italianate home has absorbed echoes of those turbulent years.
Locals tell of Bettie Brown, the spirited daughter of the original owner, who loved to play piano and throw lavish parties. She died in the home, and many believe she never left. Visitors often hear piano music drifting through locked doors, see curtains moving when no breeze is present, and glimpse a woman in Victorian dress standing at an upstairs window. Even skeptics admit the air inside the parlor feels charged, as if the past insists on being noticed.
3. Stewart Mansion (1702 Seawall Blvd)
The Stewart Mansion, built in the 1920s on the site of an older Spanish fort, looks out across the Gulf with quiet menace. Beneath its ornate plaster and cracked tile floors, the land carries a far older memory — of pirates and conflict. According to local lore, the area once served as a refuge for Jean Lafitte’s men, who hid treasure and bodies alike in the marsh beyond.
Time and hurricanes have battered the estate into ruin. Yet witnesses still describe lights flashing in its boarded windows and ghostly figures moving near the overgrown courtyard. Paranormal investigators claim to have recorded chanting in an unknown language, and one visitor fainted after hearing what sounded like cannon fire echoing across the bay. Whether the mansion is cursed or merely scarred by history, few dare to linger after dusk.
4. Broadway Cemetery District (2101 Avenue K)
In the heart of the city lies the Broadway Cemetery District, a cluster of seven adjoining burial grounds dating back to the 1830s. The ground itself is uneven, built over sand and silt that shifted after each hurricane. Many victims of yellow fever, war, and the great storm of 1900 were buried here in mass graves — their identities lost, their markers washed away.
Locals say the air feels heavier here than anywhere else on the island. Visitors report seeing will-o’-the-wisps floating between headstones, hearing children’s laughter when the cemetery is empty, and feeling sudden cold patches that raise goosebumps in the humid Gulf air. Ghost hunters have captured whispered voices on recorders that seem to call their names back to them. The restless dead, it seems, have not made peace with the living world.
5. Galveston Railroad Museum (2602 Santa Fe Pl)
Once a bustling hub for commerce and war, the Santa Fe Depot saw soldiers depart for battle and never return. The terminal closed in the mid-20th century and later became the Galveston Railroad Museum, home to gleaming vintage locomotives and restored train cars. But even among the polished steel and glass, something unseen rides the rails.
Security guards have reported footsteps pacing the platform long after closing. Lights flicker on in empty coaches, and the faint hiss of steam fills the air though no engine runs. The most chilling story comes from a volunteer who swears he saw a man in a conductor’s uniform standing by the ticket window — transparent, silent, and staring straight ahead. When the volunteer turned back for a second look, the figure was gone, leaving only the faint smell of coal smoke behind.
Explore Galveston’s Dark Side
Galveston’s beauty and tragedy are forever intertwined — its storms, its survival, and its spirits. To experience the island’s haunted history in your own time and at your own pace, take a self-guided Galveston Ghost Tour with Ghost Tour Fun. This is the best Ghost Tour in Galveston. Walk the streets, listen to the stories, and decide for yourself what remains when the tide goes out.
