Two Austin landmarks rank among Texas's ten most haunted places

With Halloween approaching, two Austin landmarks, the Driskill and Walter Tips House, rank among Texas's ten most haunted places in HauntBound's 2026 index. The index ranks 424 Texas sites by separate published accounts and how far back they go, not by fame or search popularity.

The Driskill ranks #1, and its nine separate published accounts are the most of any Texas site. Colonel Jesse Driskill, a cattle baron, opened the hotel on December 20, 1886, and it hosted Governor Sul Ross's inaugural ball less than two weeks later; drought losses forced Driskill to sell in 1888, and he died in 1890. Staff describe cigar smoke in the lobby and a gentlemanly figure near the lobby, both attributed to Driskill himself; guests and staff report the strongest sense of presence on the fourth floor and in Room 525.

Walter Tips House ranks #6. German immigrant hardware merchant and state senator Walter Tips built the house in 1876 and lived there until his death in 1911; when the building faced demolition in 1975, it was moved intact to South Congress Avenue. Three separate published accounts describe activity there. Psychic mediums hired by a tour company independently described an older woman, children near the staircase, and a mustachioed man they matched to photographs of Tips, though the record treats the medium accounts as one tour operator's testimony rather than independently corroborated activity.

Statewide, the Alamo, the state's most famous haunted site, ranks #4.

"We rank by evidence, not legend: independent published accounts, documented history, and how far back the reports go. We don't claim ghosts are real, or that they aren't. We document where the reports concentrate, and we show our work," said Ben Fineman, editor of HauntBound. The ranking shows each site's documented record.

Visiting:The Driskill, 604 Brazos St., Austin, is a working hotel with a public lobby bar; rooms are for overnight guests.Walter Tips House, 2336 S Congress Ave., Austin, now operates as Walter's Tavern, a sports bar open to the public.

For media:The full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/texas/The fact sheet, with Austin numbers and cleared images: https://hauntbound.com/press/fact-sheets/texas/Venue contact: driskillhotel.comA short version follows.

HauntBound (hauntbound.com) is a family-friendly field guide to more than 6,000 documented haunted and historic places across the United States, ranked by published evidence rather than legend. No venue pays to be listed or ranked.

Media contact: Ben Fineman, Editor, HauntBound, editor@hauntbound.com

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