Baker Peters House

An 1840 Greek Revival antebellum home where Dr. James Baker was shot through his barricaded bedroom door by Union troops in 1863, now a restaurant haunted by his son's ghost.

Dr. James Harvey Baker, a Confederate supporter, built this two-story Greek Revival mansion in 1840 on what was then rural farmland along Kingston Pike. In June 1863, raiding Union troops marched down Kingston Pike and entered the home, mortally wounding Dr. Baker by shooting through the barricaded door of his bedroom — the bullet-scarred door remains in the building today. His son Abner, a Confederate soldier, returned in 1865 and shot a man named William Hall in downtown Knoxville. An angry mob of Unionists overran the jail that night, dragged Abner outside, and hanged him from a tree. These violent deaths left an indelible mark. Staff and visitors report seeing Abner's apparition leaning on the staircase railing and in upstairs windows. A cold hand grabs shoulders from behind, glasses fall from shelves, lights switch on and off, objects move, and whispered voices echo through empty rooms. The basement, which once served as slave quarters, produces particularly intense feelings of unease.