South Main Memphis dive bar in a former pharmacy-turned-brothel widely described as one of the most haunted bars in the United States, famous for its self-playing jukebox.
531 S. Main St., Memphis, TN 38103
Age
21+
Cost
Free
No cover. Drinks and the legendary Soul Burger available; cash-friendly, late-night hours.
Access
Limited Access
Two-story 1918 building with narrow stairs to the former-brothel upper floor; ground floor only is reasonably accessible.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1918 · South Main historic commercial district · Pantaze Drugstore site (late 1930s) · Memphis blues social circuit anchor (1950s-1970s) · One of Memphis's last operating brothels through the 1980s
The building at 531 South Main Street was constructed in 1918. By the late 1930s it housed a Pantaze Drugstore owned by Memphis businessman Abe Plough, the inventor of a hair-straightening product who later acquired Coppertone suntan lotion. Plough deeded the building to Earnestine and Hazel, cousins and hairstylists who used his products, and they converted the ground floor into a cafe.
Earnestine's husband — a street promoter known as Sunbeam — operated Club Paradise, a nearby music venue that hosted B.B. King, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Sam Cooke, Chuck Berry, and Jackie Wilson. For roughly two decades these musicians moved between Club Paradise and Earnestine & Hazel's for food, conversation, and the upstairs rooms, which operated as the city's most enduring brothel through the late 1980s.
Club Paradise closed when downtown Memphis declined in the 1970s, and by the late 1980s the building's ground-floor cafe and upstairs trade had largely ceased. In 1992 local entrepreneurs Bud Chittom and Delmer George purchased the property; it later reopened under operator Russell George as the dive bar known today, with the upstairs former-brothel rooms left largely as they had been.
The venue is now a fixture of the South Main district, beloved for its Soul Burger, jukebox, and unrenovated atmosphere. It regularly appears on national 'most haunted bar' lists and serves as an anchor stop on Memphis ghost tours.
Sources
The most famous paranormal feature of Earnestine & Hazel's is the jukebox on the ground floor. Bartenders and longtime regulars report that it plays songs without being fed — and that the songs frequently respond to conversation in the room. Public Books quotes a bartender claiming the machine started playing 'Sympathy for the Devil' on its own during a paranormal researcher's visit. According to widely repeated Memphis lore, on the day James Brown died, two coworkers discussing the news heard 'I Feel Good' begin to play.
The upstairs rooms — left largely intact from the brothel era — generate the densest concentration of physical-contact reports. Visitors describe being touched on the shoulders or arms, hearing footsteps, and seeing reflections of unfamiliar figures in the bathroom mirror. A piano on the upper floor is occasionally reported playing on its own. Local accounts attribute these phenomena to the women who worked and, according to some accounts, died on the upper floor during its long brothel period.
The venue has been profiled by Atlas Obscura, Public Books, Vice, and the Boston Globe in the context of its paranormal reputation; ghost-tour itineraries from US Ghost Adventures, Backbeat Tours, and Historical Haunts Memphis include it as a featured stop.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Order a Soul Burger and a drink, settle near the jukebox on the ground floor, and watch for its reputed habit of cueing up songs that match conversation. The upstairs former-brothel rooms are typically accessible to patrons.
Many ghost-tour operators include Earnestine & Hazel's on Memphis itineraries; visitors are welcome to look for the haunted jukebox, the upstairs landings, and the mirror in the upper restroom that reputedly reveals figures.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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