1859 Ashton Villa
Built in 1859 by James Moreau Brown, Ashton Villa was the first of Galveston's grand Broadway mansions, weathering the Civil War, yellow fever, and the catastrophic 1900 Storm. Its resident ghost is Bettie Brown, born in the house in 1855, a cigar-smoking, world-traveling heiress who never married and lived there until her death in 1920.
Guides, caretakers, and visitors describe a woman in a turquoise gown atop the grand staircase or near the Gold Room, a chest of drawers that locks and unlocks itself though its key has been missing for years, and a ceiling fan said to keep oscillating after the switch was hit on Bettie's birthday. The Galveston Historical Foundation stewards the property, and with KHOU and Texas Escapes covering the haunting, Bettie remains one of the island's most cited ghosts.
📍 2328 Broadway, Galveston, TX 77550, Galveston, TX · Get directions