The Story Behind Tennessee's Most Haunted House Will Give You Nightmares

This is a private home, located in Eastern Tennessee. Although it’s not open to guests of any sort, the wicked past housed within these walls really gets our skin crawling – we have no idea how anyone could live here without getting the heebie-jeebies. Anyway. Curious about a little ghost story?

PS: There’s no visiting this spot on your own. The mansion is a private residence, so you best be making friends with the owners if you want to get inside these walls.

Rotherwood Mansion / Flickr

The mansion was originally built in 1818, by a Frederick Ross who was also the founder of Rossville. Curious what happened to that no-name town? It morphed into the place you and I know as Kingsport. The plantation was a highly successful spot, and Frederick had a joy of a daughter named Rowena. A doomed daughter, unfortunately...

M Fletcher / Flickr

She was beautiful and kind, highly educated and supposedly beloved by the entire community. Which is why when she fell in love with a young man from just outside city lines, everyone was giddy with excitement. Then, on her wedding day, what was meant to be the happiest day of her life - Rowena's husband was drowned when his boat capsized in the Holston river.

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Rotherwood Mansion / Flickr

She was broken. Legend has it, the young woman lost her sparkle and was never quite the same again. She married a few years later, and her husband died of yellow fever. She married again, and had a little girl who died very young. The extent of the tragedy and severity of the heartache led Rowena to commit suicide. It was only after her death that a "Lady in White" began to appear on the property.

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AppalachianTreks.Blogspot.com / Blogger

She wanders the grounds, and walks for all eternity on the rivebank. Many say she is searching for that first great love of hers, and will never rest until she finds the other half of her heart.

There’s nothing like a little bit of lost love to put a damper on your day. A young woman plagued by heartache, a beautiful mansion drenched in passionate pain. It’s a perfect story for those summer campfires, don’t you think?