Ghost Tours Houston: Haunted History and Spooky Landmarks
Date Published
Houston has four operating ghost tour companies running nightly walking routes through the city, plus several historically documented haunted landmarks you can visit on your own. The best base for all of it is downtown Houston, where a bar from the 1860s, the hotel where Kennedy spent his last Texas evening before Dallas, and a library with a violin-playing ghost all sit within a half-mile of each other.
Here's where to start, whether you want a guided tour or prefer to trace the lore yourself.
The quick list
- Best downtown walking tour: Ghost City Tours Houston — three tours nightly, all-ages option from $29.99.
- Best neighborhood driving tour: Houston Historical Tours — covers River Oaks, Montrose, the Heights, and Sawyer Heights.
- Best for families near Hermann Park: Houston Ghost Tour — meets at the Sam Houston statue, all ages.
- Best day-trip ghost experience: Historic Galveston Ghost Tours — four departure times daily, $30 adults.
- Best haunted bar: La Carafe, 813 Congress St — cash only, beer and wine, open since the 1860s.
- Most historically documented landmark: The former Rice Hotel, now The Rice at 909 Texas Ave.
How we chose
We included ghost tours with current bookable schedules on their own official websites as of October 2026. For haunted landmarks, we required a documented historical basis — a real person, a real death, a verifiable connection to the address — and that the location be open to the public or at least walkable from the sidewalk. We left out any attraction we couldn't confirm as currently operating. Hours and prices change; always check the official site before you go.
Ghost tour companies
Ghost City Tours Houston
Downtown · nightly · from $29.99 · ghostcitytours.com
Ghost City Tours runs three downtown walking tours nightly from a meeting point near 301 Travis Street in downtown Houston. The all-ages Ghosts of Houston tour ($29.99, 8 pm, 90 minutes) covers about a mile through the historic district, with stops at the Esperson Buildings, the Julia Ideson Building, La Carafe, and the former Rice Hotel. The Dead by Moonlight tour (ages 16+, $34.99, 9 pm) covers the sites of the city's most documented violent deaths. The 21+ Haunted Pub Crawl ($34.99, 8 pm, 2 hours) combines paranormal storytelling with stops at historic bars.
All three tours cover roughly one mile at a leisurely pace. Ghost City Tours offers a 100% money-back guarantee.
Book: ghostcitytours.com/houston
Houston Historical Tours (Driving and Walking)
Multiple neighborhoods · advance reservation required · houstonhistoricaltours.com
Houston Historical Tours offers ten haunted tour routes: seven driving tours (3.0–3.5 hours each) covering River Oaks, Montrose, the Heights, Sawyer Heights, and farther-out areas, plus three walking tours of downtown. The walking tours meet at the former Spaghetti Warehouse site at 901 Commerce Street and spend 20–40 minutes at two or more haunted bars per route. The driving tours venture into genuinely remote locations, including abandoned cemeteries.
A 50% non-refundable deposit is required; the balance is due in cash only. Book two weeks ahead.
Book: houstonhistoricaltours.com/haunted.html
Houston Ghost Tour (Hermann Park)
Museum District · 8:30 pm nightly · all ages · houstonghosttour.com
Houston Ghost Tour offers a 75-minute walking tour of the haunted history around Hermann Park, meeting at the Sam Houston Statue at 6001 Fannin Street near the Museum District. Tours start at 8:30 pm and are open to all ages. The route follows the park's darker paths, old bridges, and a section known as the Whispering Wall, focusing on documented unexplained deaths and legends tied to the park grounds.
Book: houstonghosttour.com
Historic Galveston Ghost Tours (Day Trip)
Galveston · daily 4 pm, 6 pm, 8 pm, 10 pm · $30 adults · historicgalvestonghosttours.com
Galveston — 50 miles south of Houston — is one of Texas's most documented haunted cities, shaped in large part by the 1900 Hurricane that killed an estimated 6,000–12,000 people and remains the deadliest natural disaster in United States history. Historic Galveston Ghost Tours is the official ghost tour operator on the island and runs four 90-minute walking tours daily. Tours depart from the corner of 24th Street and Sealy Avenue, near the Rosenberg Library. Adults are $30; children $22; active military, police, and fire are free.
The route includes Ashton Villa (an 1859 mansion reportedly haunted by the apparition of Bettie Brown in a turquoise gown) and the Normandy Inn, a 1912 boarding house with documented paranormal reports. Pair the tour with the full Galveston day trip guide.
Book: historicgalvestonghosttours.com
Haunted landmarks you can visit on your own
La Carafe — Downtown
813 Congress St, Market Square Historic District · typically Mon–Sun 2 pm–2 am · cash only, ATM on site
La Carafe is the oldest commercial bar building in Houston, dating to the 1860s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The two-story brick structure in the Market Square Historic District serves only beer and wine — no cocktails — which keeps the crowd manageable and the atmosphere intact. It looks like it hasn't changed since it was built, because structurally it mostly hasn't.
The resident ghost is described as a woman in white seen on the second floor. Former regulars also report hearing a previous bar manager's voice calling last call after hours. Whether or not you believe it, La Carafe at midnight on a weeknight is one of the most atmospheric bars in the city.
The Former Rice Hotel (Rice Lofts) — Downtown
909 Texas Ave · exterior and ground-level area accessible
The Rice Hotel opened in 1913 and stood as Houston's most important address for half a century, hosting presidents, governors, and the city's grandest social events. The verifiable history that anchors the lore: President John F. Kennedy spent his last evening in Texas here on November 21, 1963 — holding meetings and attending events before flying to Fort Worth for the night. He traveled to Dallas the following morning.
The detail that most people don't know: the Rice Hotel was built on the original site of the Texas Capitol building — the structure where Sam Houston took the oath of office as president of the Republic of Texas in 1836. Cold spots, unexplained sounds, and sightings in the old ballroom have been reported by former staff and residents for decades. The building is now The Rice, a private residential conversion. The exterior and historical marker are publicly accessible, and Ghost City Tours includes it on its nightly downtown route.
Julia Ideson Building — Downtown
500 McKinney St · free, open during Houston Public Library hours
The Julia Ideson Building opened in 1926 as Houston's central library. It's now home to the Houston Metropolitan Research Center and is worth visiting for the Spanish Renaissance Revival architecture and historical archives alone.
The ghost story is documented enough to take seriously: Jacob Frank Cramer was the building's caretaker for years and died in a basement apartment in 1936. Staff and visitors have reported hearing violin music — Cramer played the instrument — in empty parts of the building ever since. His German Shepherd, Petey, is reportedly heard following at his heels. The library publicly acknowledges the legend as part of its own programming, and it was covered in depth by the Houston Chronicle.
Glenwood Cemetery — Washington Corridor
2525 Washington Ave · open daily 7 am–5:30 pm · free
Glenwood is not Houston's most dramatic cemetery, but it may be the most historically loaded. Howard Hughes is buried here. So are more than 20 Houston mayors, past Texas governors, oil company founders, and Confederate veterans. The Confederate section is the focus of most documented paranormal accounts — soldiers who died during and after the Civil War and whose graves were reportedly disturbed during later construction.
The cemetery is free to visit any day during open hours. Preservation Houston leads guided walking tours on Saturday mornings — roughly two hours, about a mile, and free with registration.
Guided tours: glenwoodcemetery.org/visit/tours
Jefferson Davis Hospital Exterior — First Ward
1101 Elder St · exterior only
The original Jefferson Davis Hospital was built in 1924 over a former city cemetery — where Confederate soldiers, freed slaves, and early Houston residents were buried — and operated until 1938. It is now the Elder Street Artists Lofts, a private residential building, so the interior is inaccessible. The Art Deco exterior is visible from the public sidewalk, and the documented historical context — a hospital built over unmarked graves — is well established by Houston historians. Ghost City Tours routes past it on the Dead by Moonlight tour. Stay on the sidewalk.
Save this: downtown Houston haunted history route (on foot, about one mile)
You can layer the self-guided landmarks into the same evening as a Ghost City Tour.
- Arrive at La Carafe (813 Congress St) at 5 or 6 pm — cash-only glass of wine in a building older than the Civil War.
- Walk one block west to [Market Square Park](/things-to-do/market-square-park-houston-guide) — Houston's oldest commercial block, surrounded by documented history.
- Walk two blocks south on Travis to The Rice (909 Texas Ave, the former Rice Hotel) — read the historical marker and think about JFK's last Texas evening here before Fort Worth and Dallas.
- Walk north on Main Street to the Julia Ideson Building (500 McKinney) — visit the archives floor or walk the courtyard during library hours.
- Return to 301 Travis Street by 7:45 pm for the Ghost City Tours 8 pm walk.
To extend the day: rideshare to Glenwood Cemetery (closes 5:30 pm) before the bars open, then return downtown for step one.
Last verified: October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Are there ghost tours in Houston?
Yes. Ghost City Tours Houston runs nightly downtown walking tours starting at $29.99 for all ages. Houston Historical Tours offers driving and walking haunted tours across multiple neighborhoods. Houston Ghost Tour covers Hermann Park with an 8:30 pm walk meeting at the Sam Houston Statue.
What is the most haunted bar in Houston?
La Carafe at 813 Congress St in downtown Houston is widely cited as the city's most haunted bar. The 1860s building is on the National Register of Historic Places. Staff and regulars have reported a woman in white on the second floor and a former bartender's voice heard at last call for decades.
What is the connection between JFK and the Rice Hotel in Houston?
President Kennedy spent his last evening in Texas at the former Rice Hotel, 909 Texas Ave, in downtown Houston on November 21, 1963, holding meetings and attending events before flying to Fort Worth for the night. He traveled to Dallas the following morning. The building is now The Rice, a private residential conversion; its exterior and historical marker are publicly accessible.
Who is buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston?
Howard Hughes is buried at Glenwood Cemetery, 2525 Washington Ave, along with more than 20 Houston mayors, past Texas governors, and Civil War veterans. The cemetery is free and open daily from 7 am to 5:30 pm. Preservation Houston leads free guided tours on Saturday mornings.
How far is Galveston from Houston for a ghost tour?
Galveston is about 50 miles south of downtown Houston, roughly a 45–60 minute drive. Historic Galveston Ghost Tours runs four departures daily at 4 pm, 6 pm, 8 pm, and 10 pm from the corner of 24th Street and Sealy Avenue for $30 per adult, $22 for children.
Is the Julia Ideson Building haunted?
The Julia Ideson Building at 500 McKinney St in downtown Houston has a well-documented ghost story: caretaker Jacob Frank Cramer, who died in the basement in 1936, is reportedly heard playing violin in empty rooms. The library publicly acknowledges the legend. The building is free to visit during Houston Public Library hours.