Episode 47: A Charity Hospital Christmas

Big Easy Spirits

Merry and bright or creepy and dark? You be the judge. This week we explore the mysterious Charity Hospital Christmas tree.

Originally founded on May 10, 1736, by a grant from Jean Louis, a ship builder and sailer, then moved to it's final Tulane Avenue location in 1939 – Charity Hospital is a well-known abandoned building in New Orleans' Central Business District. In it's heyday, Charity Hospital was one of the largest hospitals in the country. Thanks to Hurricane Katrina's 2005 destruction, the building has been left empty and vulnerable to countless ghost stories and spooky tales.

In December 2015, a local New Orleans woman spotted what appeared to be a lit Christmas tree shining from one of the dark, empty building's many windows.