Former address: 814 Water Street, Waxahachie, TX 75165.
Current status: permanently closed. The restaurant announced its closure in 2022, the building was purchased in 2023 for Blind Pig Butchery, and the historic structure was badly damaged in a Jan. 5, 2026 fire.
The haunted reputation of Catfish Plantation
Catfish Plantation in Waxahachie was one of those Texas places that felt built for legend. It operated inside an 1895 Victorian house on Water Street and became widely known not only for Southern and Cajun-style food, but for years of reported paranormal activity. Local TV coverage from CBS Texas and KXXV helped cement its reputation as the most haunted restaurant in Texas.
What made the place so memorable is that the haunting stories were not presented as one single dramatic event. Instead, the legend grew because owners, employees, guests, and investigators kept describing odd things happening over and over again. That steady drumbeat of claims is what turned Catfish Plantation from a restaurant into a full-blown Texas ghost story.
The history of the building
The house itself was built in 1895 at 814 Water Street. D Magazine reported in 1988 that it was also the birthplace of Paul Richards, the future Major League player, manager, and executive. Tom and Melissa Baker bought the property and opened the restaurant in 1984, turning the old Victorian into a dining destination that quickly drew attention for both its food and its atmosphere.
The business later changed hands. KXXV reported that Richard Landis bought Catfish Plantation in 2007, and the Landis family continued running it for years after that. By then, the building’s history and ghost lore were already a major part of its public identity.
Reported ghost encounters at Catfish Plantation
Some of the earliest widely published reports came from the Bakers. In D Magazine’s 1988 feature, Melissa Baker described unexplained cold spots, faucets turning on and off, refrigerator doors opening by themselves, radio tuners moving, security alarms tripping, ceiling fans switching on, and appliances becoming unplugged. The same story also described objects in the old kitchen area reportedly flying across the room.
Those reports did not fade with time. In 2016, CBS Texas quoted co-owner Shawn Sparks describing plates being knocked from servers’ hands, ovens being turned off during service, and objects rising into the air in front of employees. CBS also reported that staff referred to at least four recurring spirits by name: Elizabeth, Will, Ms. Caroline Mooney, and Lola Roller. That does not make those identities historically proven, but it shows how specific and established the restaurant’s folklore had become.
KXXV added another often-repeated detail in 2021. Shawn Landis-Sparks said staff believed the spirit they associated with Caroline Mooney disliked alcohol service, and she connected that belief to wine glasses that were mysteriously found broken in the mornings. That kind of story is exactly why Catfish Plantation stayed in the haunted conversation for so long. The claims were colorful, but they were also being repeated by people tied directly to the business.
Why Catfish Plantation became so famous
A lot of haunted restaurants have ghost stories. Very few had Catfish Plantation’s combination of ingredients. It had a real Victorian house, decades of repeating paranormal claims, media coverage, and a steady stream of visitors who came hoping for both a good meal and a strange experience. Even people who were skeptical could appreciate why the place became a landmark in Texas haunting lore.
It also helped that the owners did not hide from the reputation. Their public interviews made clear that the ghost stories had become part of the experience. For believers, Catfish Plantation felt like a rare case where the staff were not just tolerating the legend, but living with it. For skeptics, it remained a great example of how folklore, media attention, and an old building can create a haunting myth that lasts for decades.
What happened to Catfish Plantation
Catfish Plantation is no longer open. An official Instagram post associated with the restaurant said it was closing because of staff shortages and problems created by COVID and the recession. After that, NBC DFW reported that the old Catfish Plantation building was purchased in 2023 and transformed into Blind Pig Butchery.
Then came another hard turn in the building’s long story. NBC DFW reported that firefighters responded to a structure fire at 814 Water Street at 4:32 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2026, and FOX 4 described the damaged property as the nearly 140-year-old building that previously housed Catfish Plantation. FOX 4 also noted that the site had suffered a similar fire in 2003.
Final thoughts
So, was Catfish Plantation really haunted? The honest answer is that there is no verified proof of ghosts. What is verified is that the restaurant’s owners and staff publicly described unusual incidents for years, and those accounts were consistent enough to make the building one of the best-known haunted restaurant stories in Texas. Whether you see it as paranormal evidence, old-house weirdness, or simply a piece of local folklore, Catfish Plantation earned its place in haunted history.
Never trespass on property that is not yours without permission and ghost hunting is dangerous so always use caution.
Sources
- D Magazine, “These Parts the Ghosts of Catfish Past”
- CBS Texas, “Welcome To Texas: Catfish Plantation”
- KXXV, “Traveling Texas: Catfish Plantation restaurant serves ‘souls and spirits’”
- FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth, “Waxahachie community rallies behind Blind Pig Butchery after fire guts historic building”
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