Buckner Mansion in New Orleans
Only in New Orleans could you find a crossroads for slavery and witchcraft, and only in New Orleans would that crossroads be a 20,000-square-foot regal mansion. Adorning the northwest corner of Coliseum Street and Jackson Avenue, the grandiose Buckner Mansion embodies a unique history true to The Big Easy, one that started with slavery and a cotton mogul’s spite, continued with a mini touch of Hollywood, and is topped off by stories that only the dead could retell.
This visually stunning piece of Louisiana history stands tall over the spectators who gaze upon its over 150-year history. The private estate may be off-limits to the public, but the current owners aren’t the only ones who preside over the property. While the antiquated Grecian architectural design links the Buckner Mansion to its 20th-century roots, there’s a fixture residing within the walls of the historical building, someone who’s more familiar with the property’s history than even the most versed historian.
Buckner Mansion’s spectral resident has a certain claim to the property, which leaves one to wonder if they had any qualms with their home landing a spot on television. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the apparition waits, eyeing up every passerby there to see Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies.
Why is Buckner Mansion Famous?
Haunted establishments gain fame all the time. However, Buckner Mansion’s time in the spotlight is less about its local apparition and more about its occasional appearance on season 3 of American Horror Story. While interior shots of the academy were all sound stages, Buckner Mansion stole the spotlight whenever its brilliant exterior and iron gate were in the frame.
You can hear about more fascinating Louisiana haunts like the Buckner Mansion on a spooky New Orleans ghost tour with NOLA Ghosts. Book today to see what apparitions haunted The Big Easy.
A Partnership Dissolved, A Mansion Built
The name Henry S. Buckner won’t mean much to anyone outside of New Orleans. However, there was a time when the Buckner name symbolized affluence and wealth—at least, it would have to for it to have ties to the massive mansion on Coliseum Street. Rewinding the clock back more than 150 years sees Buckner paired with Frederick Stanton, working together as partners. Both made their money off cotton and the backs of others, but their friendship didn’t last.
Sometime before 1856, when Buckner commissioned the construction of the New Orleans manor, the two had a falling out. At the time, Stanton was the proud owner of a Mississippi Antebellum mansion, a five-story testament to the value of cotton. Stanton Hall was unmistakable in the city of Natchez, taking up one full block. Buckner sought to have his home outshine Stantons, and in many ways, it did.
For almost 70 years, the Buckner name was tied directly to the home and its three ballrooms. By the 1920s, Henry and his wife, Catherine, had passed, and the home belonged solely to their daughter, Laura, and her husband. At least, on paper, there were only two owners.
It’s difficult to deny a spirit’s claim to the property they haunt, especially someone whose life was tied to the property before their passing. Miss Josephine may not have been on any deed, but as the mansion’s eternal resident, it belongs just as much to her as it does any warm-bodied resident.
The Eternal Resident of the Buckner Estate
As a cotton kingpin in the 20th century, Henry Buckner built his business with the (unpaid) labor of others. When he and his family finally moved into the mansion, it was believed that one of their slaves, Miss Josephine, joined them. Even after the Civil War, when Miss Josephine was free to live her own life, she remained with the Buckners.
She had grown close enough to the family and knew little of how to live her own life. So, she remained in the mansion, serving as the governess and midwife. Even after the mansion was sold in 1923 to George Soule, who converted it into a school for business, Miss Josephine stayed within the extravagant halls of the mansion, her apparition watching over the very home she once helped care for.
There’s no record of Miss Josephine’s death or existence in Buckner Mansion, but many who had entered the expansive building before being sold to a private owner spoke of hearing the sound of sweeping. Others claimed to have spotted Miss Josephine around the home as if she continued caring for it long after the last Buckner left.
Though the spirit of Miss Josephine and the Soule Business College drew attention to the mansion, it wasn’t until 2013 that a school of witches turned it into a horror phenomenon and earned it global fame.
The Witches of Buckner Mansion
During its first season, American Horror Story spotlighted Rosenheim Mansion in Los Angeles. When the show centered on an asylum in season two, it used the Orange County Courthouse to bring the haunting building to life. When the third season introduced witchcraft and voodoo, New Orleans proved to be the perfect location, and for the young witches studying under Miss Robichaux, Buckner Mansion was the ideal home.
Granted, the mansion was only used for exterior shots of the school for gifted young women, but its stature and haunting beauty, especially when framed through its iron gates or overgrown foliage, set the stage for a season that oozed Louisiana charm. Travelers from all over come to the corner of Coliseum and Jackson to admire the mansion, snap their fan photos, and check off another American Horror Story location from their “must-see” list.
All the while, from inside the estate, a ghostly figure stares out at them, curious about the spectacle that the mansion has turned into.
The Ghosts and Witches of The Big Easy
New Orleans is a fascinating city steeped in haunted history, and the Buckner Mansion is a stately addition with an interesting story of its own. From the former slave who remains attached to the home she once cared for to the connection to a televised treasure all too fitting of its aesthetic, the Buckner Mansion is a worthy stop should you find yourself in New Orleans’ Garden District.
Beyond the ghosts and witches of The Big Easy, the city is brimming with ghost stories to tell, many of which you can hear on a New Orleans ghost tour. With so many spirits roaming the historical city, you’ll need to catch up with more of New Orleans’ haunts on our blog or by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Sources:
https://visitnatchez.org/listing/stanton-hall/
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/louisiana/new-orleans/buckner-mansions-nola/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/buckner-mansion
https://www.hauntedplaces.org/item/buckner-mansion/
https://www.velvetropes.com/backstage/american-horror-story-murder-house