The McRaven house

The McRaven House

Vicksburg’s McRaven House has been called the most haunted house in Mississippi. 

The first phase of its construction was completed by Andrew Glass around 1797 in Walnut Hills, a settlement which lay near the present-day city. Over the years and various owners, construction continued, and the result is a mixture of Empire, Frontier, and Greek Revival styles. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Bobb House, its current name comes from McRaven Street (now Harrison Street), on which it sits. Glass used the house as a stopping point for pioneers traveling to Nashville via the 440-mile Natchez Trace, and according to folklore, he was also a highwayman who would hide out there to count his bounty after robbing travelers. Glass met his own demise in the house, having his throat slit his jealous wife. 

During the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, homeowner John Bobb allowed the McRaven House to act as a Confederate field hospital, in which maimed and wounded soldiers took their last breath. At least 25 are buried on the grounds. Is it true that some of them remain, even after departing this mortal plane?

The following year, Bobb sealed his own fate when he threw a brick at a group of marching Union troops. As a slave owner, he was offended that Yankees determined to upend his way of life were on his property. The brick hit one in the head, fracturing his skull, and the soldiers retaliated by fatally shooting Bobb in the head and stomach.

The McRaven House has long been rumored to have spectral residents, who are responsible for strange noises and phantom touches. These include Bobb, who wanders along his balcony, and the aggressive ghost of Glass. Female visitors report having been touched while in his section of the home, and men have been overcome by unexplained feelings of anger there. The ghosts of the Murray family, who lived in the home after Bobb and all died there, have also been seen on the grounds. 

The most active spirit inhabiting the home is reportedly Mary Elizabeth Howard. She was the child bride of Sheriff Howard, who built the McRaven House’s Empire section, and died shortly after giving birth in 1836. Only 15 when she died, Elizabeth is said to sometimes play mischievous pranks on visitors.