Civil War mansion where Jefferson Davis slept — and where the dead may never have left.
900 N Maney Ave, Murfreesboro, TN 37130
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
General admission fee for daytime museum tours; Flashlight Night tickets priced separately each October.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic mansion with paved grounds; some interior rooms may have limited access.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1818 · Antebellum Plantation Architecture · Civil War Battle Site · Confederate Presidential Visit · Rutherford County Heritage
The house that became Oaklands grew over four decades on land granted to Dr. James Maney and his wife Rachel. Construction began with a simple Federal-style structure around 1818 and expanded through Italianate additions completed by 1858 — the same year the estate passed to Dr. Lewis Maney, James's son, who added the distinctive front portico and formal gardens.
When Confederate forces occupied Murfreesboro in early 1862, the Maney family aligned itself with the Southern cause. On July 13, 1862, Union General Thomas T. Crittenden's troops were surprised by Confederate cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest; fighting swept across the mansion's front lawn during the First Battle of Murfreesboro, and Oaklands briefly served as a staging ground. That December, Confederate President Jefferson Davis stopped at the mansion during his tour of Western Theater command posts, sleeping in the upstairs guest room — a visit documented in period correspondence and confirmed by contemporary accounts.
Union forces occupied Murfreesboro again after the Battle of Stones River (December 31, 1862–January 2, 1863), and the Maney family lost possession of the property during Reconstruction. The house fell into disrepair through the early twentieth century before a preservation effort led to its restoration in the 1950s. The City of Murfreesboro acquired Oaklands in 1959 and opened it as a historic house museum, maintaining the antebellum interior with period furnishings drawn from the Maney estate inventory.
Sources
Paranormal reports at Oaklands have accumulated steadily since the mansion's opening as a museum. Staff members describe encountering a woman in period dress who weeps near the formal parlor before vanishing; some accounts identify her as a Maney widow grieving a son lost at Stones River, though no specific family member is confirmed as the source. Visitors on the annual Flashlight Night tours have reported the sound of a child's laughter in the upstairs corridor when no children are present, and footsteps crossing the hardwood floors of the guest room associated with Jefferson Davis's 1862 stay.
A recurring report involves the front porch and lawn — the site of the 1862 skirmish. Multiple independent witnesses over the years have described the outline of uniformed figures at dusk standing near the iron fence line, dissolving before they can be approached. WKRN's 2016 Haunted Tennessee feature documented firsthand accounts from museum staff who declined to walk certain rooms alone after dark.
Oaklands has appeared in regional paranormal literature and local ghost tour itineraries for decades. The museum embraces the history matter-of-factly, framing the October Flashlight Night program around documented Civil War events rather than theatrical staging — the candlelit ambiance comes from the building itself.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Docent-led tour of the antebellum mansion covering the Maney family, the Confederate and Union occupations, and Jefferson Davis's December 1862 stay. Includes the rooms where Civil War–era events unfolded on the front lawn.
Annual October evening program where guides lead small groups through the darkened mansion recounting apparition reports, weeping widow sightings, and soldier encounters documented by staff and visitors over decades.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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