Gaineswood, Demopolis, AL: History, the Ghost of Evelyn Carter and Visiting

Gaineswood is a Greek Revival mansion in Demopolis, Alabama, a National Historic Landmark and a state-run house museum. Its builder, Nathan Bryan Whitfield, designed most of it himself over about eighteen years, and enslaved people did much of the construction. It is also the setting of one of Alabama’s best-known ghost stories, the tale of Evelyn Carter, whose body was reportedly kept in the cellar through a hard winter. This guide covers the history, the legend and its variations, what the record can and cannot support, and how to visit.

A short history of Gaineswood

Whitfield was a cotton planter who moved from North Carolina to Marengo County in 1834. In 1842 he bought 480 acres from George Strother Gaines, and from 1843 he began building on the site, starting with a dog-trot cabin, an open-hall log dwelling. He named the property Marlmont in 1843 and renamed it Gaineswood in 1856 in honor of Gaines. The Alabama Historical Commission says the house grew from a two-room cabin into one of America’s most interesting houses over an 18-year period, from 1843 to 1861. Wikipedia adds that Whitfield designed most of the house from architectural pattern books.

The finished house is Greek Revival and is unusual for using all three classical orders, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Inside are domed ceilings with skylights, elaborate plasterwork and a ballroom with fluted Corinthian columns. Whitfield sold the house to his son, Dr. Bryan Watkins Whitfield, in 1861, and the family sold it in 1923. After decades as a private residence, the state of Alabama bought it in 1966 to preserve it as a house museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 5, 1972 and designated a National Historic Landmark on November 7, 1973.

Labor, land and a few landmarks

Gaineswood was built with the profits of forced labor, and Wikipedia says much of the construction was done by enslaved people. By 1860 Whitfield owned as many as 7,200 acres and 235 enslaved people, though not all of them worked at Gaineswood. Between 1845 and 1863 enslaved workers dug a drainage canal by hand, more than 30 feet deep in places, to carry water off the plantation to the Tombigbee River.

Two other details come up often in accounts of the house. A painting of the burning of the steamboat Eliza Battle, painted by Whitfield, who witnessed the 1858 disaster, still hangs there. And the land is said to have held an old post oak, later called the Pushmataha Oak, where George Gaines is said to have met the Choctaw chief Pushmataha to negotiate terms of the treaty that led to Choctaw removal.

The ghost of Evelyn Carter

The Gaineswood legend was popularized by Kathryn Tucker Windham, the Alabama storyteller, in her 1969 collection Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. In the most common retelling, Evelyn Carter was a young woman from Virginia staying at Gaineswood when she fell ill and died during one of the coldest winters on record. Her family was far away, the roads were iced over, and it was not possible to carry her home. According to the story, her body was placed in an airtight pine box sealed with rosin and kept under the cellar stairs until spring, when it could be taken to Virginia for burial.

Soon afterward, people in the household reportedly heard footsteps climbing the cellar stairs and crossing to the drawing room, where a large piano stood. Faint music followed, said to be mostly Scottish ballads. When braver members of the household went down to the cellar, the sounds reportedly stopped, and they began again once the searchers returned upstairs. The story says the disturbances were so persistent that the household was relieved when spring came. It also says they did not end with the burial: later visitors, while the house was still a private home, were said to report soft footsteps on the cellar stairs and snatches of old songs.

How the story varies

Retellings disagree on who Evelyn was. One version makes her the sister of a young woman hired as housekeeper and companion to the general’s children. A ghost-lore website instead calls her the sister of Whitfield’s second wife. Her cause of death is given as malaria, pneumonia or a broken heart. Some tellings add a romance with a French count who threw her engagement ring into the bushes after a quarrel, and a detail that Whitfield, a musician himself, played Scottish tunes with her. These embellishments do not appear in every version.

What the record can and cannot support

The house, its builder, its enslaved workforce and its dates are well documented by the National Historic Landmark program, the Alabama Historical Commission and the museum. The ghost story is a different kind of source. None of the sources read for this guide cites a death record, a grave, a letter or a newspaper notice naming Evelyn Carter, and none gives the year she died. The earliest printed version found in this research is Windham’s 1969 chapter, though earlier oral tellings may have existed.

The web versions largely repeat one another, so a ghost-lore blog, a directory entry and a summary page should not be counted as independent confirmations. Their disagreements about Evelyn’s relationship to the household, the cause of her death and the French count suggest a story that grew in the telling. Keeping a body in a cold cellar through a frozen winter is plausible for the period, but it is unverified for this house. Neither the Alabama Historical Commission’s visitor page nor the museum’s visit page mentions the ghost.

Visiting Gaineswood

Gaineswood is at 805 South Cedar Avenue, Demopolis, Alabama 36732. On October 25, 2026 the Alabama Historical Commission visitor page and the museum’s visit page gave the details below. The state owns the site, and the Alabama Historical Commission administers it. Hours, tours and prices can change, so call before you travel.

• Hours: open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm. The commission’s page says the house is closed on Sunday unless by special appointment, and both pages say it is closed on state holidays.
• Admission: the museum’s page lists adults 10 dollars, seniors 9 dollars, college students and military 8 dollars, and students ages 6 to 18 5 dollars. Group rates are offered for 10 or more by calling ahead.
• Military: the museum offers free admission to active duty military personnel and their families between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
• Phone: 334-289-4846.

Practical tips

• Tours: the commission says tour times are available by appointment. Call to confirm the day you plan to visit.
• The site: the five-acre grounds include formal gardens, a gazebo, picnic tables, a pantry and the plantation office, and there is a gift shop.
• Access: the first floor of the house and the restrooms are accessible. The grounds are generally accessible. Contact the museum ahead if you need assistance.
• Ghosts: neither official page promotes ghost tours or night visits. Do not rely on ghost-tour dates seen elsewhere without checking with the museum.
• Older listings: a state tourism listing seen during research showed an older admission price, so use the museum’s own page or the phone number.

FAQ

Is Gaineswood haunted?

According to local lore, the ghost of Evelyn Carter walks the cellar stairs and plays music in the house. The story has no documentary support in the sources read, and its details vary from one telling to the next.

Who was Evelyn Carter?

In the legend she was a young woman from Virginia who died at Gaineswood in winter. Retellings disagree on whose sister she was and what she died of, and no record naming her was found.

Is Gaineswood open to the public?

Yes. It is a house museum, open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm according to the official pages read on October 25, 2026. Sunday visits are by special appointment.

How much does Gaineswood cost to visit?

The museum’s visit page lists 10 dollars for adults, 9 dollars for seniors, 8 dollars for college students and military, and 5 dollars for students ages 6 to 18. Confirm by phone before you go.

Who built Gaineswood?

Nathan Bryan Whitfield designed and built it between 1843 and 1861, and enslaved workers did much of the construction.

More haunted houses: For other historic houses with ghost traditions, see Captain Mulls House in Hollygrove, Arkansas, The Bell House, the Lemp Mansion and Hull House in Chicago.

Sources

• Alabama Historical Commission: Gaineswood plan your visit: hours, appointments, grounds and access, read October 25, 2026.
• Gaineswood Museum: visit: hours, admission, phone and group rates, read October 25, 2026.
• Wikipedia: Gaineswood: history, architecture, enslaved labor, canal, Pushmataha Oak and listings.
• Seeks Ghosts: Evelyn Carter and Gaineswood: a retelling of the Evelyn Carter legend, including the cellar, the music and the French count.
• Nightbringer.se: The haunted America: a ghost-lore page with a short Gaineswood entry, used for the variant about Whitfield’s second wife.
• University of Alabama Press: Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey: publisher listing for the 1969 collection.

Top image: Gaineswood, a plantation house in Demopolis, Alabama. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.