Italianate Victorian mansion in Memphis's Victorian Village, an 1852 home museum where visitors report a third-floor white-haired woman and a disembodied hand on the banister.
652 Adams Ave., Memphis, TN 38105
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Admission through the Museum of Science & History (MoSH) ticketing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic three-story mansion with ADA accessibility features added during the 2005-2012 renovation.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1852 · Victorian Village Historic District · Operated as a house museum since 1973 · One of the only Memphis homes to retain original furnishings · Italianate-to-High-Victorian transition example
Construction of the home that would become the Mallory-Neely House began around 1852 for Isaac B. Kirtland. Benjamin Babb bought the home in 1864 and added a second story before selling it to James Columbus Neely in 1883. Through the 1880s and 1890s, Neely undertook an extensive renovation that expanded the building to three full stories and 25 rooms, adding the raised tower that affords views toward the Mississippi River. National Geographic later named the home one of the finest examples of High Victorian style in the United States.
From 1852 until 1969 the mansion was home to the families of Isaac Kirtland, Benjamin Babb, James Columbus Neely, Daniel Grant, and Barton Lee Mallory. Daisy Neely-Mallory, the final resident, bequeathed the property and most of its original furnishings to the Daughters, Sons, and Children of the American Revolution upon her death in 1969. The home is one of the only historic properties in Memphis to retain virtually all of its original furnishings, including original gas lights, parquet flooring, painted ceilings, carved woodwork, and stained-glass windows.
The Mallory-Neely House opened as a historic house museum in 1973. In 1987 it became part of the Pink Palace Family of Museums under Memphis Parks and Museums Inc. After closure for major renovations from 2005 to 2012, it reopened in November 2012 with expanded ADA accessibility and now operates under the Memphis Museum of Science & History (MoSH) on Fridays and Saturdays.
The house sits in the Victorian Village historic district on Adams Avenue, alongside the Woodruff-Fontaine House and the Mollie Fontaine Lounge.
Sources
Memphis ghost tradition focuses on the third floor of the Mallory-Neely House, which is roped off in normal museum operation. According to I Love Memphis and StoryBoard Memphis, visitors and staff have for decades reported disembodied sounds of a woman crying on the third floor.
The most frequently cited sighting is of an older woman with wild, untamed white hair at the top of the third-floor staircase; in some accounts she is interpreted as Daisy Neely-Mallory, the last family resident. A disembodied hand has also been reported on the banister. Memphis ghost-tour itineraries regularly include the house, and Victorian Village's October programming sometimes leans into the lore.
The museum itself does not advertise a haunted brand; it foregrounds the home's architectural and decorative-arts significance. The paranormal reputation is sustained by local history bloggers and ghost-tour operators rather than the museum.
Notable Entities
Self-guided or docent-led tour of the 25-room Italianate mansion, the only historic property in Memphis to retain most of its original furnishings, including stained glass, parquet, and ceiling stenciling.
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