A Gilded Age executive residence in Jefferson City where a child's 1883 death from diphtheria left an apparition still reported by staff a century later.
100 Madison St, Jefferson City, MO 65101
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Guided tours are free; advance reservation required at least 48 hours prior
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic mansion interior with standard flooring; some period rooms may have threshold steps
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1871 · Missouri Executive Residence · Second Renaissance Revival Architecture · National Register of Historic Places · Civil War Era Missouri History
The Missouri Governor's Mansion was built between 1869 and 1871 on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, replacing an earlier structure. Designed in the Second Renaissance Revival style, it occupies a prominent position adjacent to the State Capitol complex on Madison Street in Jefferson City.
Over thirty gubernatorial families have called the mansion home. The first death to occur inside the building was that of Carrie Crittenden, nine-year-old daughter of Governor Thomas T. Crittenden, who died of diphtheria on December 4, 1883 — roughly two years into her father's term. No other child had died in the mansion before or has since under comparable circumstances, which gives Carrie's death an unusual prominence in the building's history.
The state has maintained the mansion as an active official residence while opening it to public tours. The Friends of the Missouri Governor's Mansion support the docent program that now runs guided tours. The mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources
Carrie Crittenden's death on December 4, 1883, established the first and most durable of the mansion's ghost accounts. She died of diphtheria at age nine while her father Thomas T. Crittenden served as governor, and she remains the only child to have died within the building.
The account that draws the most attention happened in 1983, a hundred years after Carrie's death. A maintenance worker reported encountering a small girl playing upstairs during a period when no children were living in the mansion. The worker, unaware at first that this was unusual, later learned the upper floors were empty of child residents. Subsequent guests and staff have reported phantom laughter in upper hallways, objects moved from their set positions, and the impression of a child's presence near the rooms Carrie would have occupied.
Because the mansion is an active official residence, paranormal investigation access is not granted, which means accounts remain anecdotal rather than instrumentally documented. The Missouri Times and local Haunts of Missouri coverage have both reported the core Carrie Crittenden narrative using the 1883 historical record as a foundation.
Notable Entities
Volunteer docents lead tours of the mansion's formal rooms, highlighting its architectural history and the families who have lived here since the 1870s. Tours run Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during spring and summer; reservations required at least 48 hours in advance through the mansion website.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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