88. Explore Brownsville's Haunted History

This is the twelfth installment in a series titled, "Top 100 Things to do in the South Padre Island/Brownsville Area," designed to aid the visitor in getting the complete experience of this historical area of South Texas.



Brownsville is a town seeped in rich history. You can tell how old the town is by some of the architecture of its buildings, for example, the cathedral in the city's downtown area...

or by the magnificent houses in the old part of town.

but would you be willing to experience Brownsville's HAUNTED history?

88. Experience Brownsville's HAUNTED history

Everyone knows that if you want to get the socks scared off you, you can go out to the old Palo Alto Battlefield and attempt to spend the night out there with all those ghosts, or take a terrifying walk in the old city cemetary in the center of town. An eerie tale of a Brownsville haunted office building on Wildrose Lane was even published years ago in Reader's Digest. Most Brownsville residents who have attended the college that sits on the grounds of old Fort Brown, though, know of something else, something that lurks within the hallowed halls of this old infantry fort and hearing strange tales of soldiers, apparitions and strange feelings as they walk through these old halls and age-old buildings.

The University of Texas at Brownsville campus sits on the grounds of old Fort Brown.

Texas Southmost College is now part of the UT system.

The grounds are lush and beautiful... in the bright sunshine.

There is even a brige now that spans across to the old

Resaca Club.

This marker tells of how the fort was named for Major Jacob Brown who died in 1846 while defending the post.

Another plaque tells of a warplane.

Then you start to see where the stories come from.

This plaque tells of the hospital annex. Many men died of yellow fever.

Here we go...




This says Morgue and Linen Storage.

and it gets worse...

This building was for the dead.

They say the spirit of a little boy haunts the old morgue now.

old Gorgas hall

Your heels on the wooden walkway take you back in time as you walk along these buildings and see brick that is older than many generations of your family.

I dared not go up those stairs and take a peek inside the open door.

This door was anything BUT inviting, thank you.

Could you see yourself strolling along these old buildings at night?

Sure, it's okay in the bright sunshine.

Everyone talks real big in the bright light.

If this were evening would you enter through these open doors?

We spoke with Mr. John Hawthorne, Manager of Special Collections for the University of Texas - Brownsville, who kindly agreed to meet with us in the middle of a bright afternoon.

He is a very knowledgeable man. I liked him immediately but it did not help my nerves that he said we were in "Ghost Central" where most of the apparitions appeared.

He spoke of apparitions of ghosts seen by staff and students and I wondered who would have the guts to work in the old morgue. Many men died of yellow fever and their souls are sure to be haunting the old buildings where they died.

Then John pointed out an old tree behind him.

He said it was called the "ghost tree" and I wondered what tales it could tell.

How many men died on its boughs?
Does only time separate us and them?

Is that all? Only time? And even then who can put a limit on time?

Is life forever? Is love forever? Are souls forever?

Are they still with us?

We thanked John for his time and bid him farewell. As I walked away, I looked back at the "ghost tree" and thought of how many men had hung on those boughs and how their unfulfilled souls may still possibly roam these grounds looking for closure or justice.















They say you can hear them at night in these halls, their boots clunking on the wooden floor.

Would you walk these halls at night?




The college and its haunted grounds can be found at the end of International Highway near the bridge going to Matamoros from Brownsville, Texas.