The Myrtles Plantation Story: History, Legends & Sightings

0:00 Speaker 1: Dear listener. Some places don't just hold history, They absorb

0:04 Speaker 1: it layer by layer, moment by moment, until the past

0:08 Speaker 1: doesn't feel distant anymore, it feels present. And just outside

0:12 Speaker 1: Saint Francisville, there is a home often called one of

0:16 Speaker 1: the most haunted in America, not because of a single story,

0:19 Speaker 1: but because of how many have been tied to it

0:22 Speaker 1: over time. The Myrtle's Plantation, built in seventeen ninety six

0:27 Speaker 1: by General David Bradford. The home originally stood as part

0:30 Speaker 1: of a large plantation known as Laurel Grove, established during

0:34 Speaker 1: a time when Louisiana was still deeply shaped by colonial

0:38 Speaker 1: systems agriculture and enslaved labor, and like many plantations of

0:43 Speaker 1: its era, its documented history includes ownership changes, family events, illness,

0:50 Speaker 1: and death, all of which contribute to the narrative that

0:53 Speaker 1: surrounds it today. Over the decades, the property passed through

0:58 Speaker 1: several families, including the Woodroof and Sterling families, with records

1:03 Speaker 1: confirming deaths on the property, though not always in the

1:06 Speaker 1: dramatic ways later legends would suggest. And this is where

1:10 Speaker 1: the story becomes layered, because while some of the most

1:13 Speaker 1: famous tales tied to the plantation, particularly those involving multiple murders,

1:19 Speaker 1: have been exaggerated over time, the reality remains that this

1:23 Speaker 1: was a place where life, illness, and loss were part

1:27 Speaker 1: of daily existence in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One

1:31 Speaker 1: of the most well known figures associated with the plantation

1:34 Speaker 1: is Chloe, an enslaved woman whose story has become central

1:38 Speaker 1: to the Haunting narrative. Though historians debate the accuracy of

1:42 Speaker 1: the details, particularly claims that she poisoned members of the household,

1:47 Speaker 1: what is clear is that her story, like many others

1:50 Speaker 1: connected to the plantation, exists in a space where documented

1:54 Speaker 1: history and oral tradition overlap, making it difficult to separate

1:59 Speaker 1: fact from abellishment. What cannot be dismissed as easily are

2:04 Speaker 1: the experiences reported in the present. Guests who have stayed

2:08 Speaker 1: overnight at the Myrtle's Plantation frequently describe similar patterns. Footsteps

2:14 Speaker 1: in hallways when no one else is awake, doors opening

2:17 Speaker 1: or closing on their own, and objects shifting slightly out

2:21 Speaker 1: of place, small details that might be overlooked individually but

2:25 Speaker 1: become more noticeable when repeated. One of the most famous

2:28 Speaker 1: elements tied to the plantation is the mirror located in

2:32 Speaker 1: the home, where visitors and staff have reported seeing what

2:35 Speaker 1: appear to be handprints or faces that reappear even after cleaning,

2:40 Speaker 1: a detail often explained through environmental factors or residue, but

2:45 Speaker 1: one that continues to draw attention due to its persistence

2:49 Speaker 1: and the way it aligns with the broader narrative of

2:52 Speaker 1: the house. Photographs taken on the property have also fueled

2:56 Speaker 1: its reputation, with some images appearing to show figures on

3:00 Speaker 1: the porch or in windows where no one was present

3:02 Speaker 1: at the time. Though interpretations vary widely, and while skeptics

3:07 Speaker 1: point to lighting, exposure, and reflection, these images have become

3:13 Speaker 1: part of the ongoing story. One of the most talked

3:16 Speaker 1: about accounts from guests staying at the plantation involves the

3:20 Speaker 1: mirror on the main floor, a feature that has become

3:23 Speaker 1: almost as well known as the house itself, and what

3:26 Speaker 1: makes this account stand out is how ordinary it begins.

3:29 Speaker 1: A couple staying overnight reported that while getting ready for bed,

3:32 Speaker 1: they noticed what looked like smudges on the surface of

3:34 Speaker 1: the mirror. Nothing unusual at first, just faint marks that

3:38 Speaker 1: resembled fingerprints, and assuming it hadn't been cleaned properly, They

3:43 Speaker 1: tried to wipe it down using a towel, expecting it

3:46 Speaker 1: to clear easily, but it didn't. According to their account,

3:49 Speaker 1: the marks didn't smear or fade like normal residue. They

3:53 Speaker 1: remained exactly where they were, and as they looked closer,

3:57 Speaker 1: the shapes began to feel less random, less like smudges,

4:02 Speaker 1: and more like distinct impressions, smaller prints near the lower portion,

4:06 Speaker 1: and what appeared to be larger hand prints higher up,

4:10 Speaker 1: as if more than one person had touched the glass.

4:13 Speaker 1: Still not alarmed, they left the room for a short time,

4:16 Speaker 1: but when they returned, they claimed the markings looked different,

4:21 Speaker 1: not dramatically changed, but shifted just enough to make them

4:25 Speaker 1: question whether they had remembered their placement correctly, and at

4:29 Speaker 1: that point the experience moved from curiosity into something harder

4:34 Speaker 1: to explain. The next morning, they reportedly asked staff about

4:39 Speaker 1: the mirror, expecting a simple explanation, and instead were told

4:43 Speaker 1: that similar reports had been made by other guests, often

4:47 Speaker 1: describing handprints or marks that seemed to persist despite cleaning,

4:51 Speaker 1: a detail that has been repeated enough over time to

4:54 Speaker 1: become part of the plantation's ongoing reputation. Skeptics point to

4:59 Speaker 1: aid age, humidity, and the natural behavior of antique glass

5:03 Speaker 1: as likely explanations, and those factors absolutely play a role

5:08 Speaker 1: in how surfaces behave. But what keeps this account circulating

5:13 Speaker 1: is the consistency, not just the presence of the marks,

5:17 Speaker 1: but the way people describe them, the placement, the persistence,

5:22 Speaker 1: and the feeling that they're seeing something that doesn't behave

5:25 Speaker 1: the way it should. Because it's one thing for a

5:28 Speaker 1: place to feel haunted, it's another thing entirely when something

5:33 Speaker 1: leaves a mark behind. What makes the Myrtle's Plantation distinct

5:38 Speaker 1: is not a single event, but the accumulation of stories,

5:42 Speaker 1: the layering of history, folklore, and modern experience into something

5:46 Speaker 1: that feels continuous, a place where the past has not

5:50 Speaker 1: been clearly separated from the present, but instead exists alongside it.

5:56 Speaker 1: Because when a location spans centuries, when it whld hold

6:00 Speaker 1: the lives, work and emotions of countless individuals across vastly

6:05 Speaker 1: different circumstances, it becomes something more than just a structure.

6:09 Speaker 1: It becomes a record, and sometimes records don't stay quiet.

6:14 Speaker 1: So when you walk through the Myrtle's Plantation, past its rooms,

6:18 Speaker 1: its hallways, its mirrors, and its quiet exterior beneath the

6:22 Speaker 1: Louisiana trees. Remember that what you're seeing is only part

6:26 Speaker 1: of the story, because places like this don't just show

6:29 Speaker 1: you their history. They let you feel it. And now,

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7:06 Speaker 1: Until next time, dear listener, trust what you see, question

7:10 Speaker 1: what you don't, and if something familiar suddenly feels unfamiliar,

7:15 Speaker 1: take a step back, because not everything that reflects the

7:18 Speaker 1: past is ready to let it go.

8:03 Speaker 2: The ham behind the bold.

8:12 Speaker 1: Polio, the pope

8:36 Speaker 2: Behind the report, had the polling