Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainThe 1880s building that became a Baton Rouge music landmark reportedly stored flood victims from the 1927 Mississippi disaster in its basement — staff wouldn't go down there alone while it was a bar, and reports suggest the creative firm that moved in inherited the habit.
1109 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70802
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
No public admission. Exterior drive-by only; building is privately occupied by TILT creative firm.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Urban street, exterior viewing from Highland Road sidewalk
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1880 · Late 19th-Century Firehouse · Former Baton Rouge General Hospital Annex and Morgue · 1927 Mississippi Flood Victim Storage (oral tradition) · Spanish Moon Music Venue (1997–2020) · Adaptive Reuse as TILT Creative Firm Headquarters (2022–present)
The building at 1109 Highland Road dates to the 1880s, when it was constructed as a firehouse. It was later repurposed as a facility associated with Baton Rouge General Hospital, with a basement space used as a morgue during that period. The most dramatic account tied to the building's history concerns the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 — one of the most destructive river floods in American history — during which local tradition holds that the basement morgue received and temporarily stored the bodies of approximately 250 flood victims before proper burial arrangements could be made. This claim has circulated in Baton Rouge's local historical accounts for decades, though primary documentation at the archival level has not been independently confirmed.
Decades later the building was converted to commercial and entertainment use. The Spanish Moon music venue opened under that name in 1997 and became a well-regarded stop on Baton Rouge's live music circuit, hosting touring and local acts for more than two decades. The venue closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In late 2022 the building was purchased by TILT, a Baton Rouge-based creative advertising and branding agency. The firm undertook a careful renovation, preserving elements of the building's character while adapting the 5,500-square-foot space to serve as its corporate headquarters. TILT moved into the space in spring 2025. There is no public access to the interior.
Sources
The haunting accounts from the Spanish Moon venue cluster almost entirely on the basement — the former morgue space. Staff described a pronounced temperature drop upon descending, consistent across independent accounts from multiple employees. Objects moved without explanation: pool balls repositioning themselves on the table, glasses shifting on the bar surface. Disembodied voices were reported, along with a physical sensation of a hand on the shoulder in empty rooms.
The most specific figure associated with the building is a young girl, described as appearing near the bar area. Local oral tradition ties her to a story of a child killed by a horse on the property in an earlier era, though no historical documentation for this claim has been found. The figure is reported to move away when approached.
Employees of the Spanish Moon reportedly developed an informal policy of not entering the basement alone after certain hours — a behavioral response to the haunting accounts consistent with what has been reported at other Baton Rouge venues with former-morgue histories. Whether the new occupants, TILT, have experienced anything in the space is not documented.
Notable Entities
The former Spanish Moon building at 1109 Highland Road is visible from the public sidewalk. The building is now privately occupied by TILT, a creative design firm, and has no public interior access. The site appears on several Baton Rouge haunted history driving tour routes.
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Aerial survey · USDA NAIPBaton Rouge, LA
From 1927 to January 30, 1950, 929 Government Street operated as the Baton Rouge General Hospital, a 62-bed facility whose ground floor served as the hospital morgue. The morgue was later repurposed as a cafeteria and then for file storage when Guaranty Broadcasting acquired the building. The structure remains in use today as the headquarters of Guaranty Media.
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Aerial survey · USDA NAIPClinton, IA
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