NOLA Ghosts

10. Former O'Flaherty's Irish Pub

New Orleans, LA

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This building was once scene to a love triangle gone horribly awry, an affair which still haunts the building to this day. In the 1803 Mary Wheaton would buy this commercial and residential property with her first husband, who disappeared one day several months after their arrival, later found dead blocks from the home. She remarries in 1806 to a man named Joseph Baptandiere. Joseph retains a mistress from before his marriage, a common arrangement amongst the French-speaking Creoles of the city. Mary, an American, was unaccustomed to the traditions of New Orleans society and did not approve. Joseph hid his mistress, Angelique, who became more and more demanding as time went by. Eventually, he tries to end his relationship with Angelique, but she comes to the Joseph's home to confront him. Joseph is terrified that his wife will return home at any moment and discover Angelique there. The lovers argue and struggle on the balcony overlooking the courtyard. Angelique falls over the low railing into the courtyard below, breaking her neck on the cobblestones below. Joseph, terrified, throws her body into a disused well in the courtyard. As he finishes his task, however, he looks up and sees a young slave boy staring at him. The boy runs off as soon as he is seen, but Joseph knows that there is no way out for him now. He climbs to the empty attic of the commercial side of the building, just above a floor used for shucking oysters, and hangs himself. Mary returns home from her errands, finds her husband and one of her slaves are gone with no explanation � she fears the worst, that Joseph has met the fate of her first husband. The smell of the oyster-shucking in the New Orleans heat would disguise the smell of decomposition for several weeks. Eventually the remains are discovered when a workman goes upstairs to take a break from his labors. When news of Joseph's demise spreads, the slave returns and alerts Mary to the presence of Angelique's body in the well. All three spirits have been quite active in the building in the nearly two centuries since their demise. Mary is often seen pacing the galleries overlooking the courtyard. She was also known to let employees of various businesses occupying the building in the following years know if she finds their work lacking. Visitors experience Angelique's presence by hearing sobs and through feelings of grief or rage in the courtyard area. She is also known to touch the hands of young men and children. Joseph, the most menacing of the three, seems to still harbor much anger about his death. A dark figure seen in the upper floors of the commercial building, he has been heard whispering "Get Out!" in visitors' ears, even attempting to push them down the stairs to make his point.