San Fernando Cathedral

Staff and visitors at San Fernando Cathedral have reported shadowy figures near the altar, voices with no clear source, orbs in photographs, a man dressed in black and hooded, monk-like figures; ghost tours add a white stallion said to gallop in front of the church, and an image some have described appearing faintly on the cathedral's doors. Condé Nast Traveler named it one of the 30 most haunted places in the U.S. in 2019, the only Texas location on the list.

The story goes back to 1936, when a renovation crew uncovered bones, nails and remnants of old military-style clothing near the altar; local tradition holds that these were the remains of Alamo defenders, possibly including William Travis, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett, a claim historians still debate. San Fernando Cathedral traces back to 1731, when sixteen families from the Canary Islands settled in San Antonio at the invitation of the Spanish crown and built the church that anchors the city's Main Plaza, making it the oldest continuously active religious community in Texas. In 1836 a Mexican officer raised a red flag from its bell tower, signaling no quarter for the defenders inside the nearby Alamo.