While Sam Houston’s final resting place is in Huntsville, Texas, the former General, Senator and Governor had traveled all over to ensure the rights of Native Americans, railroads and general prosperity.
Photo credit: flickr/k4eyv
Updated 2/11/2020 – The Sam Houston Memorial Museum is located where Sam Houston finally succumbed to pneumonia in 1863.
The steamboat house, in which Sam lived and died, is now part of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum.
The Most Important Historical Home in Huntsville
The museum has gained a reputation for being haunted over the last decade.
Many Texans come to visit where the beloved Sam Houston passed away, and find themselves listening to phantom footsteps on the gravel below and disembodied voices of unseen spirits in the room.
For resident Texan Danielle, visiting the museum was about experiencing a sense of history—not ghosts.
“I have been studying my family’s history and I am 80% convinced that one of my relatives was a good friend of Sam Houston,” she said beaming.
“I decided to visit the museum and learn more about this extraordinary man.
“I had no idea that the museum was considered ‘haunted’ by the locals,” she added, shaking her head.
Did anything seem amiss when you first visited?
“No, not at first,” Danielle answered.
“Everything seemed fine as I explored the museum—until I got to where they display Sam Houston’s desk.
“There were only a couple of us, as it was a Tuesday afternoon.
“A security guard had been with us as we explored and saw that we were not the type of group that would vandalize the property or steal anything.
“So he temporarily excused himself to visit the restroom while we explored the office,” Danielle said.”
When Things Go Awry
“The officer could not have been gone for more than two minutes when I heard something fall off the desk behind me.
“I turned and saw that all sorts of objects—pens, pictures, parchment—were all shaking on Sam Houston’s desk and eventually falling to the floor.
“The ground wasn’t shaking; nobody was jumping…there was no logical explanation as to what was happening!” Danielle exclaimed.
“We watched, frozen, and it just got steadily worse.
“We each became so frightened that we ran out of the office and out of the hotel.
“The security officer found us minutes later and asked what had happened.
“He went to check out the office, but only came back pale faced and frightened looking.
“’Has this happened before?’ I remember asking him.
“He swallowed thickly and said that it had—so much so that he no longer would agree to being alone in the office.
“’I think it’s Sam Houston himself, attempting to work at his desk,’ he told me quietly.
“I stared up at the Steamboat House, wondering if Sam knew that he had passed on and that he deserved a break from working.
Photo credit: flickr/honeyonmyskin
“That’s when I saw something dart in my peripheral vision,” Danielle murmured.
“I glanced up at the house, moving my eyes from window to window until I saw it.”
What did you see?
“An apparition, hovering next to one of the second-floor windows.
“It was so misty, so foggy, it was hard to pick out facial features.
“But something told me it was Margaret, Sam Houston’s wife, who was looking down at us from above.
“I will never forget that trip to the Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville.”
Address
1836 Sam Houston Ave
Huntsville, TX 77340
United States