The Ghosts of Fayetteville, AR

Fayetteville is a lovely city in the Northwest quadrant of Arkansas with a population of roughly 100,000 residents. Known for being the home of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville offers residents and visitors an abundance of nature, culture, history, and entertainment.

On my most recent trip, I was visiting one of my brothers and my adorable niece for Thanksgiving. I’ve been to Fayetteville before so, this time, I wanted a hotel with history, character, and hopefully a ghost or two. I started researching my hotel options and I came across the perfect place.

My parents were with me on this trip so I was looking for a place with history and paranormal reports while also being a 3 star or higher hotel with modern amenities. My parents are NOT AT ALL open to the more “rustic” accommodations with which I have become familiar during my years of paranormal investigating. I have spent many nights in places with no electricity, air/heat, and even bathrooms. But my parents aren’t cool like that.

Inn at the Mill

The Johnson Mill was established in 1835 and it is believed to be the oldest business in Arkansas. In 1862 the Civil War Battle of Pea Ridge would see the Mill burned by Confederate troops. The Mill was rebuilt a few years later and it served the community as an operating mill well into the 20th century. It was abandoned for a while however it was eventually renovated into Inn at the Mill (IATM).

IATM is a budget friendly and we found it to clean and nice. The room we had was decent size and had a king bed, a desk (from which I worked) and a TV which we hardly watched. There is no microwave in the rooms but there is one available in the breakfast area.

There are some nice perks at IATM. They have a dish of cookies at the front desk, a nice breakfast available every day, and they offer wine and hors d'oeuvres in the evenings. All of that was included in the room rate.

There is equipment from the mill in the breakfast area.

Breakfast set up.

The front desk clerk was super friendly and seemed eager to talk about the paranormal when I asked. Apparently housekeeping has mentioned some experiences in all areas of the hotel that could not be explained. Reports include seeing partial apparitions and visual anomalies, hearing things, and experiencing phantom smells.

King room

King room

No one knows who it is exactly however I personally got the feeling one is male and that there is at least one female entity. One theory from staff is that at least one entity is one of the owners of the mill. Upon researching the mill, I found the names John Truesdale, Jacob Queener (J. Q.) Johnson and William Mays as previous owners. It was Johnson and Mays who rebuilt the mill after it was burned by Confederate troops.

IATM grounds

IATM grounds

IATM grounds

IATM grounds

During our stay I conducted a sweep during the day to look for high EMF. On our first night I placed a rempod on the floor at the foot of the bed. It was quiet until close to midnight, then it went of several times. I asked a series of questions but the rempod reaction did not seem to be direct responses. After about 25 minutes, the rempod went silent for the remainder of the night. I have no idea what created that 25-minute spike.

Local Ghost Stories

Inn at Carnall Hall

One place I read about is the Inn at Carnal Hall.  It was built as part of the University of Arkansas campus serving as a women's dorm beginning in 1905.  It later became a fraternity house, then was the location of university offices and classrooms, and ultimately opened as the Inn at Carnall Hall in 2003.  The story  behind the alleged haunting is that a professor by the name of Ella Carnall died of typhoid and she is believed to be the apparition that is seen in the hallways.

The hotel has 50-ish rooms so investigating it would be difficult since it would have many other guests there on any given day.  I did stop by and visit the place though and hope to make a trip out with the team sometime in the future. There were no vacancies for my Thanksgiving trip so I will have to try again when I visit my brother and niece again.

Confederate Cemetery

Next on my run through town was the Confederate Cemetery and the Walker Family Cemetery next to it.  The Confederate Cemetery contains the remains of those who perished at the Battle of Pea Ridge and the Battle of Prairie Grove.  There were many graves that had no name or date so my best guess is that they are unknowns.  The cemetery is not in a great part of town and it was not as full as I anticipated it to be considering the remains were moved there from another location.  I heard stories about creepy ghoulish sounds in the cemetery but it is on a street that I observed to have a reasonable amount traffic, and there are residences all around.  It would be hard to get a good investigation going with so many sources of contamination around it.

The Walker Family Cemetery

Across the street from the Confederate Cemetery is the Walker Family Cemetery.  David Walker and his family are one of the community's founding families after moving into the area in 1830.  Mr. Walker was a successful attorney as well as a farmer.  He served as a prosecutor, state senator, and Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, and his family is credited with influencing the development of the community.  His wife, Jane Washington Walker, was a descendant of George Washington and is also buried there along with several other family members.  

I am told that the wooded area behind the Walker Family Cemetery is a source of ghostly sounds and apparitions, one story being of a bride that died tragically on her wedding day.  Why she is in the woods is anyone's guess but, after seeing the area, I imagine it is dark and rather spooky at night.

Washington County Courthouse

Other Historic Places in Town

• Historic Washington County Courthouse - this is the 5th county courthouse. The fate of the 1st courthouse is unknown, the 2nd was destroyed by fire, the 3rd burned in 1862 during the Civil War, and the 4th was demolished in 1905. The current courthouse came into service in 1989.

• Old Main - It is the first permanent building to be erected on the Arkansas Industrial University campus, and is the oldest building still standing on campus.

• Headquarters House - It was the home of Judge Jonas M. Tebberts, and was Federal Colonel M. LaRue Harrison's headquarters during attack on Fayetteville in 1863. The house still shows scars from the attack including a hole in one of the doors from the attack.

• Stone House - It was built in 1847 and was home of David Walker. It was later home to Stephen K Stone. During the Civil War, the house show scars after being struck by Confederate cannon fire.

Old Main

Old Main

Headquarters House

Stone House

Fayetteville is a city that has a great deal of history. If you are a history lover like me, you may end up making multiple trips to this great place. There is so much more to Arkansas so I absolutely plan on spending more time there. Do you have any ghost stories to share? If so, please comment. I want to hear about it!

Make this beautiful day count!

Annette