Fresno's oldest surviving Victorian mansion, built 1889 by a Confederate Army surgeon whose family lived there for 81 years.
1007 R St, Fresno, CA 93721
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Adults $5, teens (13-17) $4, children (5-12) $3, under 5 free. Paranormal investigation tours priced separately — contact museum.
Access
Limited Access
Victorian home with stairs. Ground-floor access only for mobility-impaired visitors.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1889 · National Register of Historic Places (1975) · Oldest surviving single-family home in Fresno · Victorian Queen Anne Architecture · Civil War veteran's residence
Thomas Richard Meux was born in Wesley, Tennessee in 1838, studied medicine at the University of Virginia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1860. He enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 as a private in the Ninth Tennessee Volunteer Regiment and rose to captain, serving in major engagements at Shiloh, Murfreesboro, and Atlanta. After the war, he established a medical practice in Tennessee. When his wife Mary Esther Davis's health declined, the family relocated west, arriving in Fresno in 1887.
In March 1888, Dr. Meux chose the corner of Tulare and R Streets as the family homesite. The house was completed in 1889 — a 16-room Queen Anne mansion with a conical turret, elaborate interior woodwork, stained glass windows, and six fireplaces with decorative tilework. Dr. Meux practiced medicine from the home for the rest of his life, also serving as president of the Fresno County Medical Society. He died in 1929 at age 91.
His daughter Anne, who never married, remained in the house until her own death in 1970. The family's 81-year continuous occupancy makes the Meux Home the oldest single-family residence in Fresno still associated with its original family. The city of Fresno purchased the property from Anne's nephew in 1973. After restoration, it opened as a museum in 1975 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 13, 1975 (Reference No. 75000427).
The mansion stands largely unchanged from its construction, which is unusual for a Victorian property of its age. Furnishings include original Meux family pieces alongside period-appropriate additions that give visitors a working picture of late-nineteenth-century professional-class domestic life in the San Joaquin Valley.
Sources
The Meux Home's paranormal reputation developed gradually as staff accumulated unexplained experiences during the museum's years of operation. The most reported phenomenon is the sound of children's laughter coming from the upper floors when the rooms are unoccupied and no visitors are present. Staff describe it as distinct — not ambient noise from the street — occurring most often in the afternoon.
A doll on display in the museum occupies a specific place in local ghost-tour tradition. The Fresno Ghost Adventures tour characterizes it as linked to a restless spirit in the building, described as playful rather than threatening. Visitors report an unsettled feeling near the doll's case that they distinguish from the general atmosphere of the house.
Practical anomalies have also been reported: doorknobs that disappear from their fittings and turn up elsewhere, objects moved between rooms overnight. These are staff accounts accumulated over years of low-visitor operation, when movement through the house was limited and documented.
911 Paranormal Rescue Fresno became the first team authorized to conduct an overnight investigation of the museum. Their findings, and subsequent investigations, have kept the Meux Home on local ghost-tour routes. The US Ghost Adventures Fresno tour includes the mansion as a featured stop, framing it as the oldest haunted location on the tour. The combination of a tightly documented family history and a single family's eight-decade occupation gives the haunting claims a human specificity that more anonymous buildings lack.
Notable Entities
A 45–60 minute guided walk through the 16-room Queen Anne mansion, covering Dr. Meux's Civil War service, the family's eight decades in the home, and the building's Victorian furnishings and architecture. Tours run Friday–Sunday, noon to 3 PM.
Periodic after-hours investigation events led in partnership with local paranormal teams. 911 Paranormal Rescue Fresno conducted the first authorized investigation of the museum. Check the museum's website or contact directly for scheduled dates.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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