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Southern Gothic

Louisiana's Haunted Hanging Jail

Southern Gothic

Southern Gothic Media LLC

Documentary, True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.7974 Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2026

⏱️ 38 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Old Beauregard Parish Jail doesn’t look like it belongs in the middle of a small Louisiana town. Rising beside the parish courthouse in downtown DeRidder, the towering structure—with its steep roofs, pointed arches, barred windows, and castle-like silhouette—has spent more than a century looming over the community. Folks eventually gave it the nickname “The Gothic Jail,” but over time another name would take hold as well: The Hanging Jail. That title came after two condemned men were executed inside its walls in 1928, on a scaffold built at the top of its infamous spiral staircase. Over the decades, the jail became more than just a place of confinement. Violent criminals passed through its cells, jailers and their families lived inside the building, and whispers slowly began to grow around the strange things people claimed to experience there. Visitors have reported shadowy figures in empty hallways, footsteps on staircases with no one present, voices echoing from vacant rooms, and the sensation of someone standing just behind them. Whether the stories are tied to executions, generations of prisoners, or something far older lingering within the building itself, the old jail has become one of Louisiana’s most notorious haunted locations. Want to Listen to Southern Gothic Ad-Free? ⁠⁠⁠Patreon: Ad-Free Episodes, Premium Releases, Bonus Content & More⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠Southern Gothic Premium on Spotify⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Southern Gothic Premium on Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Into History: History Without Interruption⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Southern Gothic Media: Website:⁠⁠⁠ SouthernGothicMedia.com⁠⁠⁠ Merch Store:⁠⁠⁠ https://www.southerngothicmedia.com/merch⁠⁠⁠ Pinterest:⁠⁠⁠ @SouthernGothicMedia⁠⁠⁠ Facebook:⁠⁠⁠ @SouthernGothicMedia⁠⁠⁠ Instagram:⁠⁠⁠ @SouthernGothicMedia⁠⁠⁠ X:⁠⁠⁠ @SoGoPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Southern Gothic is a podcast that explores the history behind some of the American South's darkest days, greatest mysteries, and most chilling ghost stories. I'm Y'all, there really isn't a better way to describe it. The old Beauregard Parish Jail stands out like a sore thumb in downtown Derritter.

2:14.2

Situated right there on Main Street, next door to this Louisiana Parish's classically-styled

2:20.5

courthouse with its bright white dome and regal columns. The jail looks like a place you really don't

2:29.7

want to be. Some sort of haunted castle or gothic-styled asylum dropped right there into the middle of

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