Old State House Museum

The oldest surviving state capitol west of the Mississippi saw a legislator stabbed to death on its floor in 1837, and staff have been seeing a man in a frock coat walking through locked doors ever since. A 2013 EVP captured a whispered voice in the old House chamber: "No, the war is not over."

On December 4, 1837, Speaker of the House John Wilson drew a bowie knife on the floor of the Arkansas legislature and stabbed Representative Joseph J. Anthony through the heart. The fight lasted maybe twenty seconds. Anthony died over a wolf-scalp bounty bill.

The Old State House in Little Rock was barely two years old when it hosted its first murder. Anthony had proposed a sarcastic amendment suggesting the president of the Real Estate Bank sign off on wolf-scalp certificates. Wilson happened to be the president of that bank. Representative Grandison D. Royston threw a chair between the two men, but it was not enough. Wilson was expelled from the legislature, tried in Saline County after his lawyer Chester Ashley secured a venue change, and a jury returned a verdict of "guilty of excusable homicide." He walked free, won another House seat in 1840, moved to Texas, and died in 1865.

That murder is the foundation of every ghost story in this building.

The most common sighting is a man in a period frock coat, seen in the East Wing and near the old legislative chambers. A security guard once watched a figure in 19th-century clothing walk straight through a locked doorway. He gave chase and found no one on the other side, the door still shut and bolted. Staff think it is Wilson, a man whose political career ended in blood on this floor and who died unhappy in exile, perhaps trying to make up for lost time in the building where everything fell apart.

There is a competing theory. In 1872, Elisha Baxter was declared governor after a disputed election. Seventeen months later, his opponent Joseph Brooks staged a coup, setting up a cannon on the State House lawn. Some staff members believe Brooks is the one still pacing these halls, convinced even in death that he is the rightful governor.

Either way, the building is active. The Arkansas Paranormal Investigations Society has captured electronic voice recordings in the old House of Representatives chamber. A 2013 session produced a voice whispering, "No, the war is not over." Investigators noted the voices carried a distinct 19th-century cadence, with both male and female speakers showing up on separate recordings.

A translucent woman in period dress appears on the upper floors near the old legislative chambers, gliding down the grand staircase or standing at the tall windows. She shows up when the building is supposed to be empty. Nobody has identified her with any confidence.

Doors lock and unlock on their own. Shadows track along walls with no one casting them. The Governor's Reception Room triggers electromagnetic field spikes and sudden temperature drops during investigations. Light anomalies cluster around the grand staircase in photographs.

Few staff members volunteer for solo shifts after dark. The Old State House is the oldest surviving state capitol building west of the Mississippi, a museum now, with presidential election night exhibits and a collection of inaugural gowns. It is a beautiful piece of Greek Revival architecture. It also has a body count from its very first decade, and the people who work there at night will tell you someone is still in the building long after closing.