Are you ready to experience the terrifying hauntings of Louisville? Take a Derby City Ghosts tour to hear hair-raising stories behind the town’s tortured past.
Book NowHome to world-famous fried chicken, baseball bats, and Kentucky bourbon, this charming midwest town also has a chilling reputation for being one of the most haunted cities east of the Mississippi. Come face-to-face with the ghostly spirits of long-dead Louisville residents and learn the harrowing history of the doomed founders whose souls are forever tied to the lands in which they met their tragic fates.
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Widely regarded as a controversial figure throughout Louisville, Revolutionary War hero George Rogers Clark is best known for being the city’s founder. But any positive reputation Clark may have earned from his time in the military is justifiably overshadowed by his bloody history as a cruel, oppressive murderer who fought — and slaughtered — sevreal Native American prisoners during the war. Today, Clark’s spirit is said to linger around the site of his statue, stricken with a sinister desire for revenge since his family’s name has been tarnished. Activists even vandalized the statue in 2020 in protest, leading Clark’s spirit to become defensive. Visitors often complain of feeling a dark, angry energy surrounding the statue…and even, the feeling of a push or pinch if they step too close to the monument.
If only statues stayed quiet and didn’t come to life.
While a seemingly endless supply of tobacco and bourbon might sound like a dream to some, the dark history of the 21c Museum and Hotel, a former warehouse, is actually brimming with a disturbing, hidden past that’s much closer to a nightmare. See if you can spot the ghastly apparitions of long-dead phantoms, who can often be seen rolling wooden barrels through the hotel. Others also report of smelling a strange, lingering scent of tobacco and bourbon throughout the building…perhaps, the otherworldly playback of Louisville’s long-gone past. A resident ghost is also rumored to roam the corridors; a mostly peaceful male spirit referred to as “the artist.”
This haunted hotel is located on the horrific site of some of the most notorious ghosts of Kentucky. The details of their hauntings will make the hairs on your neck stand straight up and give you the chills until you’ll wish your teeth would stop chattering long enough for you to hear the rest of the story.
While the tale of Mary M. Miller, the first female licensed steamboat captain, is generally regarded to be a happy one, it’s also a reminder that some spirits never truly leave the places they loved in life…even from beyond the grave. The City of Louisville named the formerly steamboat the Georgia Queen the Mary M. Miller in honor of the trailblazing woman, but little did they know that they would also pick up a ghostly resident: Miller herself. Today, she’s frequently seen as a full-bodied apparition aboard the steamboat, where she sits in the control room, very much still in charge. Her spirit, although startling and otherworldly, is a reminder of the long fight to win women’s rights…something that can be seen through Miller’s grit and determination.
Don’t stray too far from the group or the deep currents of the Ohio River won’t be the only danger on your trip. The ghosts of Louisville will be waiting.
Have you ever wondered what haunted horrors plague America’s Derby City? Join Derby City Ghosts to uncover the dark truths, chilling legends, and eerie mysteries that continue to haunt this historic riverside city to this day. If you think the Kentucky Derby is an adrenaline rush, you’ll be surprised when the bizarre tales and sordid details of Louisville’s most inexplicable hauntings will leave you wide-eyed and breathless with your heart thumping and eager for more.
Kentucky’s River City has a long and complicated relationship to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers…which once acted as shipping lanes for one of the city’s more regrettable acts when it participated in the lucrative slave trade of America. This sinister legacy has left an irreversible dark spot on Louisville’s history that can still be seen and felt today, particularly near the riverbanks.
Some say that an overwhelming feeling of dead of misery can be felt while walking near the water, the persistent remnants of feelings of terror and horror experienced by victims all those years ago. Several visitors have even reported seeing walking apparitions marching slowly down the river banks, followed by the disembodied, eerie cries of Freedom Seekers, many of which tragically drowned in these very waters.
Step back in time on a ghost tour of Louisville, and learn about the legacy of violence, death, and bloodshed that continues to torture the city to this very day. Hear stories of survival and human strength at Roots 101 History Museum, and listen as the spirits that are said to haunt this site sing songs of freedom. Explore this hidden, darker side of Louisville’s history, and unearth a grim but authentic part of this city’s tragic history.
Established in 1898, the Doerhoefer Building (now, the Frazier History Museum) is teeming with over a century worth of ominous, inexplicable haunted history. Stare up at the building’s ornate brick pilasters and stone capitals, and see if you can sight the terrifying apparition of a ghostly rider on horseback through the windows, who’s frequently been sighted around the space. Inside, guests also report seeing the figure of a small child, who plays hide and seek with visitors…before suddenly vanishing.
Underneath Louisville’s charming facade lies a frightening, tormented underbelly that can only be experienced by visiting the real-life locations of these terrifying hauntings. Join us and stop by the Frazier History Museum, the demonic Jennie Casseday Free Infirmary, and other horrifying buildings that act as a front to the morbid, dark truths of this historically haunted city…all of which are bound to send a shiver down your spine.
Murder, poorly-plotted coverups, inexplicable mysteries…all of these lie buried below the idyllic green space of Louisville’s Central Park. But little does the average visitor know they’re sitting atop hundreds of years of macabre, bone-chilling history. Notorious bachelor Alfred DuPont, who used the space as a country retreat before making it a public park in the late 1800s, was horrifically murdered at a nearby bordello by a wrathful prostitute on these very estate. Walk the harrowed grounds of Central Park and keep close watch for the chilling apparition of DuPont himself, whose soul is said to wander about, deep in thought.
Learn the tale of a city on the water with a history deeper and darker than the bottom of its three rivers. Some say the truth will set you free, but the truth of this town’s sordid past will make you wish life wasn’t so much stranger than fiction.
Experience the real hauntings of Kentucky and hear bone-chilling accounts and sightings of ghosts that have tormented its residents since it was just a fort on the frontier of the wild west.
* This is a walking tour and we do not enter privately-owned buildings or private property *
The state of Kentucky is synonymous with bourbon. But why restrict yourself to just this one, small corner of Louisville’s culture? Dive deep into the disturbing, nail-biting side of this historic city and uncover deeply-hidden truths. Get the adrenaline pumping by learning about the phantoms of Louisville’s past, many of whom are particularly active at the 21c Museum and Hotel, which used to be a storehouse for hundreds of bourbon bottles. Full-body apparitions of workers pushing barrels around the space can still be seen today, harkening back to the peak of Louisville’s bourbon business. Join us and learn about a new, hidden part of Louisville’s history that extends far past the bottom of a bourbon bottle.
Churchill Downs, feathered hats, mint juleps…odds are, if you’re visiting Louisville, you’ve probably made it a point to get the 101 on one of the state’s most beloved institutions: the Kentucky Derby. But after learning about Secretariat, Seattle Shaw, and Seattle Slew, odds are you’re ready to explore something different. Hear haunted stories from Louisville’s history and get a darker, more macabre perspective on what actually lies beneath the streets of this old city. Follow us on a nail-biting tour around downtown Louisville and experience a different side of town that, unlike the horse races, you won’t find written on a door sign.
There’s no better time to experience Louisville’s haunted activity than after the sun goes down. If you’re a night owl looking to learn more about the grim, ghostly stories of Louisville, then join us on a curated one-hour tour around some of the city’s most haunted destinations. Encounter the ghouls and long-dead spirits of Louisville residents, who are especially active at night.
Louisville is chock-full with years of fascinating, one-of-a-kind history that makes the core identity of the city what it is. But isn’t it a bit redundant to hear about the same famous names and places over and over again? Challenge your conventional knowledge of Louisville’s centuries-long history with a spine-tingling ghost tour, and see how much you really know about the eerie events that have likely been left out of the history books.
The world-famous Louisville Slugger Museum draws hundreds of thousands of sports fans each year…many of which are unaware of the museum’s chilling, haunted history. Join us to hear spine-tingling, hidden stories about this iconic building, and witness what’s rumored to be the home of long-dead sports legends Babe Ruth and Roberto Clemente. Some have reported hearing the strange, disembodied sound of a ball being hit off a bat…perhaps, the sound of Ruth and Clemente swinging for the fences from beyond the grave.
It doesn’t have to be Halloween for you to want to get the blood pumping. Whether you’re a tourist or a local, a memorable, spooky outing with friends awaits with a tour from Louisville ghosts. Immerse yourself in the everyday horrors of Louisville by visiting haunted sites including the famously-dubbed Witch’s Tree, where, according to local lore, a coven used to gather back in the day. While you and your party might not be practicing witchcraft, you can still come face-to-face with this ominous tree, which is said to have the faces of long-dead witches engraved into the bark.