The Lalaurie Mansion

Built in 1832 by Delphine Lalaurie, a wealthy socialite, it was one of the biggest and most expensively decorated mansions in New Orleans at the time. Delphine was a strong-willed and intelligent woman, who bought the property in her own name with little help from her husband, and she soon became a fixture in the New Orleans social circles, hosting elaborate parties in the three-story home. Like many other large homes at the time, the Lalaurie mansion was equipped with attached slave quarters and several slaves that were servants and cooks in the home. Although Lalaurie was well-liked and prominent in the community, rumors started to spread about her cruel nature towards her slaves. Although the house was examined several times by officials, no evidence was found of Lalaurie violating the anti-cruelty laws towards slaves that were in place at the time. And most people had to admit, she did seem rather kind towards them during her parties, and always seemed fair and just towards African-Americans. However, the rumors continued to grow, especially since people claimed that certain servants would disappear and be replaced without a word. One day, one of the neighbors witnessed a small girl being chased onto the roof of the mansion by a whip-wielding Delphine; the neighbor later claimed to see the young girl falling to her death in the courtyard, and of a shallow well later being filled in and repaved. It was soon after this that, after a subsequent investigation, all of the slaves were taken from the home and sold back into auction. However, through a third party, Delphine managed to buy back all of them, and the rumors of abuse started up again. It was soon after this that a devastating fire was started in the kitchen, where it soon started to spread throughout the home. Concerned about rescuing her jewels and imports, Delphine snapped at neighbors who begged for the keys to the locked slave quarters, insisting that people should mind their own business. When the door was finally kicked in, the neighbors made a horrible discovery. Accounts differ as to the extent of the depravity, but what is for certain is that Delphine had chained all of them to the wall; some had their limbs broken and reset at strange angles, some wore spiked collars to keep them from moving their heads or falling asleep, fingernails ripped out, dismembered body parts, mutilated genitals, and some accounts claim that one man had a hole cut in his head with a large stick protruding ‘to stir his brains’. It was discovered that the fire had been set by the cook, a slave chained to the stove, in an attempt to bring attention to what was happening in the mansion. 

The fire was successfully extinguished, and gradually, an outraged mob gathered outside of the cast-iron gates, demanding justice. Less then a day after the discovery in her home, Delphine Lalaurie snuck away and was never heard from again. Rumor has it that she boarded a ship back to France and later died there (Indeed, someone working at a cemetery in Paris believes he has found her headstone). The horribly mutilated slaves were kept in the town jail so that anyone could see proof of Lalaurie’s depravity. It’s said that over 4,000 citizens of New Orleans came to view them. After her departure, the house was ransacked by the angry mob, and the bodies of at least 2 people were found buried in the courtyard, including that of the young girl that had been chased onto the roof. For weeks afterward, people avoided the house; it was said that they could hear screams coming from the floorboards in one of the slave quarters.

The house remained abandoned for 40 years until an Italian immigrant turned them into cheap housing. However, that didn’t last long, as tenants began to complain about hearing screams and of seeing naked and shackled African-American’s wandering the hallways and then disappearing. Children reported seeing a woman running on the roof carrying a whip, and pets were found decapitated in the courtyard. After a few years the place was abandoned once more. It was eventually turned into a furniture, where the new owner was soon plagued with fresh problems. Every morning he would arrive to work to find his inventory covered in urine, feces and blood. Assuming vandals were at work, he armed himself with a gun and hid, waiting to catch the perpetrators. In the morning, when he discovered his furniture newly desecrated, he quickly sold the building and left. After a failed attempt to market it as a “Haunted Saloon”, the buildings were recently remodeled to once again become apartments. However, when the floor in one of the slave quarters was removed, contractors discovered the remains of about 75 people buried under the floor - the people that had been heard screaming in the weeks after the fire. To this day the house has remained infamous for its hauntings, with some nearby residents claiming to hear the screams of a young girl echoing through the courtyard on rainy nights. Lalaurie has become a fixture in Louisiana culture, even being immortalized in wax figures at the New Orleans Wax Museum.