Should Boise Be One Of The Most Haunted Cities In America?

One of the most haunted spots in Boise has been around since 1872, and that rivals most of the other top haunted places in America.  So why isn't Boise in the top ten?

Travel and Leisure magazine says Portland is considered one of the most haunted places in America because of its history, and that's the closest city to Boise to make the nationwide top ten.

Travel and Leisure points out Portland's Shanghai Tunnels might be the most notoriously haunted site in the city.  "...In the late 1800s, the city was a major international port, and underground tunnels were created to transport (often illegal) goods across Portland. According to local lore, residents hanging out at local bars were kidnapped and taken through the tunnels to waiting ships, never to be seen again. Some say the victims’ souls still haunt the bars above ground — you can even take a ghost tour to learn more about the city’s gritty past."

Yes, but they don't have The Old Idaho Penitentiary, and old prisons seem like they might be more haunted than old tunnels. The penitentiary was open for more than one hundred years and deaths there included some inmates who were executed.  Solitary confinement and the gallows are extra haunting and some visitors have said they felt a presence and felt "weird" in the cell blocks.  The ghost tours at the penitentiary have been impacted by the pandemic, but they're starting up again now with 50 visitors per hour.

New Orleans is the #1 most haunted place in America, according to Travel and Leisure, because it has "churches haunted by the spirits of former priests, former hospitals visited by soldiers who died but never truly passed on, and homes filled with ghosts of residents who died on the premises."  It also says the ghost of author William Faulkner lives there at his former home-turned-bookstore, Faulkner House Books

It's October, so if there is ever a month to get curious about the paranormal, this is it.  And since we know Boise is a little haunted and we're okay with it, maybe it's only a matter of time before Travel and Leisure notices.