HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
Second Empire Victorian estate built 1871 by Mark Twain's childhood friend John Garth; Twain stayed in what is now the Samuel Clemens room, and guests still report pipe-smoke phantoms there.
11069 New London Gravel Rd, Hannibal, MO 63401
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
B&B accommodations in eight guest rooms and three private cottages. Samuel Clemens room is among the most requested. Phone (573) 221-2789 for current rates.
Access
Accessibility not stated
36-acre rural estate; mansion guest rooms are on the second and third floors, reached by stairs. The cottages are one-story; ask about a specific unit.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1871 · One of Missouri's finest surviving Second Empire Victorian estates · Mark Twain's documented overnight residence on return visits to Hannibal · 90 percent of original main-floor furnishings retained
Colonel John H. Garth — a successful Hannibal tobacconist and businessman — built Garth Woodside Mansion in 1871 on a country estate south of Hannibal, off what is now the New London Gravel Road. Architecturally, the home is one of Missouri's finest surviving examples of Second Empire architecture with Italianate elements; approximately 90 percent of the original main-floor furnishings remain in place.
John Garth and his wife Helen Kercheval Garth were childhood friends of Samuel Clemens. The three attended Mrs. Elizabeth Horr's school and later J.D. Dawson's school together in Hannibal in the 1840s. The Garths remained close to Clemens throughout his life, corresponded with him regularly, and hosted him on his return visits to Hannibal.
Clemens's most documented Woodside stay came in May 1882, when he traveled up the Mississippi on the steamer Baton Rouge and spent three days in Hannibal as part of the research trip that produced Life on the Mississippi. He returned to the estate on later visits as well; the bedroom he used is preserved today as the Samuel Clemens room and is among the inn's most requested accommodations.
The Garth family sold the estate in the early 20th century, and the property changed hands several times. In 1987 new owners converted the main house into a bed and breakfast; the operation expanded over time to include three private cottages and an on-site restaurant. The Wikipedia entry on Garth Woodside Mansion documents the architectural significance and the 1987 conversion; the inn's own history page documents the Twain connection in detail.
Sources
Because Garth Woodside Mansion is unusually well-documented as a place Samuel Clemens slept, the inn's paranormal lore is more biographically anchored than most B&B haunting accounts. Missouri Haunted Houses and FrightFind both center their reports on the Samuel Clemens room, where guests describe phantom pipe or cigar smoke — Twain was a known cigar smoker — appearing without source.
Haunted Places dot org adds reports of footsteps on the main staircase at night and of orbs of light captured in photographs taken in the upstairs hallway. Owners and innkeepers, interviewed in multiple ghost-directory profiles, generally describe the activity as benign and atmospheric rather than alarming.
The Wikipedia article on Garth Woodside Mansion does not document any paranormal claims; the ghost reports come exclusively from the ghost-directory and B&B-marketing layer rather than from independent investigative or academic sources. Guests interested in the Twain-room phenomena should treat the lore as folkloric — the historic Garth–Clemens friendship is fully documented, but the ghost reports are single-tradition.
Notable Entities
Overnight stays in the 1871 Garth family mansion, including the Samuel Clemens room where Mark Twain reportedly slept during return visits to Hannibal. Three private cottages on the 36-acre grounds also available.
On-site fine-dining restaurant in the historic mansion, by reservation.
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