HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
A stone castle on Lake Worth begun by the Whiting family in the late 1920s, completed in 1938, and linked to a drowned bride and the suicide of a Whiting son — fenced off and largely abandoned since the 1970s.
9115 Heron Dr, Fort Worth, TX 76135
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
The property is fenced and not open to the public. Drive-by and view from Lake Worth shore only.
Access
Limited Access
Residential street near Lake Worth. Building is visible from Heron Drive and from the water. No interior access.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1938 · Stone castle expansion by the Whiting family, late 1920s to 1938 · Leased by Vultee Aircraft Corporation (1944–1954) as private club · Visited by General Eisenhower and James Stewart during WWII era
The Castle of Heron Bay sits on a rise above the south shore of Lake Worth in west Fort Worth, its round crenellated front wing and rear tower visible from the water. The stone structure has accumulated history across multiple ownership periods.
A three-room stone farmhouse at the core of the current structure is believed to have been built around 1860 as a wedding gift by an original owner whose records were subsequently lost. The Charles Turner family owned the property from 1873 to 1894. The Oliver S. Kennedy family held it from 1904 to 1911, when the City of Fort Worth purchased the land as part of the Lake Worth reservoir project.
Samuel E. Whiting, a wealthy Fort Worth resident, and his wife acquired the property — reportedly after Whiting won it in a poker game from a previous owner named McPherson. Mrs. Whiting personally designed and supervised the construction of the castle expansion, which began in the late 1920s and was largely completed by 1938. The Whitings named the property Inverness, after the Scottish castle. A serious fire damaged the structure in 1939.
From 1944 to 1954, the Vultee Aircraft Corporation leased the property as a private club and getaway for visiting dignitaries and executives. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and actor James Stewart both stayed on the premises during this period. The property returned to private use after the lease ended. A Whiting son died by suicide in 1953, at age 44, though not at the castle itself. Fires and deterioration have left the structure largely uninhabitable since the late 1970s. It remains fenced off and privately owned.
Sources
The Castle of Heron Bay carries two distinct ghost legends, each tied to a specific death in the property's history.
The first involves a woman in white, linked to a drowning at Lake Worth near the property. The original story, as documented in several Fort Worth haunting accounts, holds that a man built the 1860 stone farmhouse as a wedding gift, only to find his bride-to-be drowned near the shore on what should have been their wedding day. The cause — accident, suicide, or foul play — was never definitively determined. Witnesses since the nineteenth century have reported seeing a woman in a white dress running from the house toward the lake and vanishing at the water's edge. At least one former owner described seeing a female apparition hovering directly above them inside the building.
The second apparition is a young man, usually seen in dark clothing and often described as standing still and watching visitors from a distance. This figure has been connected in local accounts to the Whiting family. A Whiting son died by suicide in 1953 at age 44, and while that death did not occur at the castle, the family's emotional connection to the property has been cited in paranormal accounts linking him to the building. The young man apparition has been reported at windows and in shadowed portions of the structure.
The castle has been fenced off and inaccessible for decades. Ghost City Tours of Fort Worth has documented both legends as part of its haunted Fort Worth content.
Notable Entities
The Castle of Heron Bay — also called the Whiting Castle or Lake Worth Castle — is visible from Heron Drive and from the lake's south shore. The crenellated stone structure sits on a rise above the water. The property is fenced and private; this is an exterior observation only.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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