Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainNearly 2,700 soldiers fell at Prairie Grove in December 1862 — the Borden farmhouse, surrounded by stacked bodies, is now the park's documented paranormal center
506 E Douglas St, Prairie Grove, AR 72753
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Grounds free; Borden House: After Dark evening tours ticketed — check Arkansas State Parks site for current pricing
Access
Wheelchair OK
Mostly flat battlefield grounds with paved paths; Borden House interior has steps
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1957 · Last major Confederate offensive in northwest Arkansas · Nearly 2,700 casualties in a single day · Borden House survived the battle intact as a period farmhouse
By December 1862, Confederate General Thomas Hindman had assembled roughly 11,000 troops in northwest Arkansas, hoping to retake the region after the Union victory at Pea Ridge nine months earlier. He intercepted a divided Union force — Blunt's division from the west and Herron's division marching hard from Missouri — and chose to fight Herron's exhausted column first before Blunt arrived.
The battle centered on the Borden farmstead south of the Prairie Grove ridge. Confederate forces occupied the ridge and the Borden property in the morning; Union artillery dug in across open ground to the north. For most of December 7 the two sides exchanged fire across the field, with Confederate infantry making charges that stalled against Union artillery. Blunt's division arrived from the west in the afternoon and the fighting intensified through dusk, ending without a clear victor on the field. Hindman withdrew under cover of darkness, abandoning his wounded and much of his equipment.
The Borden family's farm had been at the center of the worst of it. Contemporary accounts describe the yard filled with bodies waiting to be buried, the house itself used as an improvised hospital. The family returned to a property that had been effectively destroyed. Total casualties: approximately 2,700 killed, wounded, or missing across both sides.
Arkansas established Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park in 1957. The Borden House is preserved without electricity — a deliberate choice that contributes to the unnerving character of the after-dark tours the park has offered in recent years.
Sources
The Borden House's paranormal reputation developed through accounts that accumulated independently over decades. The most consistently described phenomenon is a young girl visible in the upstairs windows — seen by visitors and, on separate occasions, by park staff who knew the building was empty and locked. The house has no electricity, so reflections and interior lighting are not variables; accounts of the figure persist across different light conditions and times of day.
Arkansas Paranormal Investigations conducted a formal investigation at the Borden House that produced multiple EVP recordings. The most-cited capture is a voice, clearly audible on playback, ordering the investigators to leave. Investigators also documented a porcelain doll that had been repositioned between visits when no one had entered the building, and apparent residual lights in a space with no power source.
The park's official Borden House: After Dark program — a ticketed flashlight tour run by Arkansas State Parks — acknowledges the building's reputation directly and incorporates the documented accounts into the interpretive content. The existence of a formally sanctioned paranormal tour program at a state park is relatively unusual and reflects the depth and consistency of the reports park staff have received.
Notable Entities
Official Arkansas State Parks evening flashlight tour of the Borden House, the farmhouse at the center of the December 7, 1862 fighting. Rangers and park interpreters guide groups through rooms where the battle's aftermath played out, covering the documented paranormal reports alongside the documented history. Tickets required; check the Arkansas State Parks events page for dates.
Walk the 1,600-acre battlefield grounds along marked trails explaining the Confederate assault and Union defensive lines. The Borden House is visible from the main trail and serves as the geographic center of both the historical action and the paranormal reports.
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