Clayton House

In the Belle Grove Historic District, this Italianate-style mansion was built in the 1850s and served as a Civil War hospital before William H.H. Clayton renovated it in 1882.

The Clayton House stands at 514 North Sixth Street in Fort Smith, a city that served as the last outpost of civilization before Indian Territory throughout the nineteenth century. The house was built in 1852 as a modest two-room structure by William Henry Harrison Clayton, who arrived in Fort Smith as a federal prosecutor in 1874, appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant. Clayton served as chief prosecutor for the Western District of Arkansas under the legendary Judge Isaac C. Parker, the "Hanging Judge" who presided over more than 13,000 cases and sentenced 160 men to death between 1875 and 1896. Clayton prosecuted many of the desperate criminals brought before Parker's court — horse thieves, murderers, and outlaws dragged in from the lawless territories. In 1882, Clayton purchased the house and expanded it into the elegant Italianate Victorian residence that stands today, complete with period furnishings, ornate woodwork, and a wraparound porch. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and operates as a museum under the Fort Smith Heritage Foundation.

During the Civil War, the original structure served as a makeshift hospital for wounded soldiers. Fort Smith changed hands between Union and Confederate forces multiple times, and the house's early history is marked by the suffering and death that accompanied military occupation. This wartime use is frequently cited as the origin of the paranormal activity that has been reported consistently since the house became a museum.

Three distinct spirits are said to inhabit the Clayton House. The most commonly reported is the ghost of a cat, seen by visitors and staff alike moving through the rooms and hallways, often glimpsed as a dark shape darting around corners or sitting in doorways. A tall man wearing boots has been seen on the staircase and in the upstairs hallways, his heavy footsteps heard when no one is on the second floor. The third and most dramatic apparition is a woman named Florence, described as wearing a long brown dress and appearing most frequently in the parlor and dining areas. She is believed to be connected to the Clayton family's era of residence.

The Paranormal Investigators of the River Valley Area (PIRWA) conducted an investigation at the Clayton House and captured EVP recordings of voices in rooms that were empty at the time. Electromagnetic field readings spiked in specific locations, particularly on the staircase and in the upstairs bedrooms. A carpenter working on restoration of the house in 2007 and 2008 reported that photographs he took of the interior repeatedly showed the face of a woman appearing in frames where no person had been standing — an anomaly he noticed only when reviewing the images later.

Porcelain dolls on display in the house have been found moved from their original positions, with staff discovering them facing different directions or relocated to different spots within display cases that had not been opened. Doors open and close on their own, and motion-activated lights in the museum have triggered in empty rooms during after-hours periods. The house's proximity to the gallows site where Judge Parker's condemned prisoners were executed — just blocks away at the federal courthouse — adds another layer to the building's connection to Fort Smith's violent past. The Clayton House is open for tours and is included on Fort Smith's historic walking tours.