Curious Nashville: What’s the most haunted place in Nashville?

It’s a Curious Nashville investigation … with a twist. We recently had a listener ask: “What is the most haunted place in Nashville?”

Instead of scoff, we came up with a ranking system and went to visit some infamous places. On today’s show, we’ve got paranormal investigators on with us debating what might count as the most haunted. And we also hear from some of our most creepy-curious listeners!

Guests:

• Alex Migliorini, ghost tour guide
• Missy Lavieri, owner of Nashville Paranormal
• Matt Ollis, lead paranormal tour guide at Haunted Nashville

This question is as mysterious as its asker. Most of the time on Curious Nashville we know exactly who asked the question and why. But that’s not the case there. After a live event hosted by Nashville Public Radio we were left with a handwritten question:

“What’s the most haunted place in Nashville?”

No name. No way to contact them. A bit of a ghost.

We took this question seriously. There is a whole cottage industry around the haunted parts of Nashville, so we asked several paranormal experts to tell us their thoughts on the most haunted place in Nashville. These are some top candidates.

Newsom’s Mill

Missy Lavieri comes from generations of purported mediums. She’s worked with people from the TV show “Ghost Hunters” and has her own company, Nashville Paranormal Investigations. She said she received the most paranormal energy around the area of Newsom’s Mill, far in the southwest corner of Davidson County on the Harpeth River. The Newsoms came to Nashville from Virginia in the late 1700s and built a mill that was destroyed by a flood in 1808. But there are some remnants to this day.

“I just felt this uneasiness. I felt a couple male presences watching,” Lavieri said.

Research showed that there was a skeleton found on the property with a pitchfork in its head. She speculated that it may have been a prisoner from a known prison break in the area that took place in the early 1900s.

There was also a more recent death that occurred nearby: Charles Burton Turner III, also known as Chuck Turner, died at age 34 at the Riverside Raceway Park drag strip.

On Oct. 5, 1975, he was making an elimination run against Spivey Williams. Traveling around 200 mph with the checkered flag in sight, his car suddenly went left and crashed into an embankment. It broke in two and the cage area of the car went airborne, tumbling several times. The crash killed Turner.

The limestone from the Newsome Mill area was also used to make the State Capitol, Union Station Hotel, and the wall around the Nashville City Cemetery. Lavieri says that limestone holds onto energy, adding to the haunting quality.

“It’s just a perfect storm,” she said.

Second Avenue

Like almost everything downtown, paranormal activity is entertainment.

“ We’re the world-famous Printers Alley. Basically been the party district of Nashville since the 1890’s” says is Alex Migliorini, a tour guide.

It is prudent to be skeptical of people who have a financial incentive to exaggerate ghost stories, in places that are conveniently located for tourists. With that said, Alex explains that downtown really does have a solid claim for haunted lore. In large part due to it’s Civil War history. “So a lot of these buildings down on Broadway were all utilized for the war efforts. They became barracks, hospitals, and then eventually as the war raged on, they became morgues,” he said.

He says there are two kinds of hauntings. Residual, which is just kind of spooky, like things getting moved around or noises. And active, in which people report interacting with spirits. Second Avenue has multiple accounts of active ghosts.

“That’s why I think it’s one of the most haunted places in Nashville. Because people were physically attacked, or shoved or scratched. And the stories online are everywhere. I think given the history … enough happened here that this is probably the most haunted place in all of Nashville.”

As for the skepticism about hauntings downtown, Alex thinks there’s no reason to exaggerate.

“There’s enough death, murder and mystery in Nashville that you don’t have to make up a story,” he said.

Cynthia Abrams WPLN News

Even before the Christmas Bombing, stories of active hauntings in Second Avenue bars like The Wild Horse Saloon spread.

Two Rivers Mansion

We did find a light consensus for the most haunted place in Nashville. Several paranormal investigators point to The Two Rivers Mansion in Donelson.

Jill Kilgore is the senior communications manager for Tennessee Tourism, and a paranormal investigator.

“ I have a team of people, including two of the members of our staff on Tennessee Tourism have done overnight paranormal investigations there,” she said.

The two rivers mansion was built in the 1800s for the McGavock family and was the centerpiece of an 1,100-acre plantation. That last caretaker was Mary Louise McGavock, who passed away in 1965 and who is still thought to haunt its halls today.

“Witnesses have reported seeing her in a white dress near some of the pocket doors,” Kilgore said. “She is known to flip light switches and turn water on and off.”

Kilgore says her team communicated with the spirit during an investigation using dousing rods that you hold loosely in your hands

“We asked if someone was there, and the dowsing rods crossed, which means ‘yes.’  We asked if there were any spirits in there, and they crossed for ‘yes.’ We asked if the spirit was a woman, and they crossed for ‘yes.’ We asked if it was Mary Louise, and they crossed for ‘yes.’ ”

Kilgore isn’t the only one to investigate Two Rivers Mansion. In 2018, a show on the Travel Channel called “Haunted Live” concluded that it was highly haunted.

McGavock isn’t a poltergeist and is considered harmless.

Paranormal investigators rally around Two Rivers Mansion as the most haunted because of the clear and consistent documentation — though Kilgore also says that healthy skepticism is important in any investigation involving ghosts.