Natchez, Mississippi · Founded 1799
A former Natchez tavern building with a documented 1799 public-house license, an uncertain eighteenth-century origin, and a closed restaurant awaiting a planned reopening.
King's Tavern at 613 Jefferson Street is a historic Natchez building long regarded as one of the city's oldest structures. Mississippi Department of Archives and History records establish that it was standing by 1805 and that Richard King held a license to keep a public house in 1799. The restaurant closed during the COVID-19 period; a July 2026 report described a planned September reopening under a new concept, but it was not operating at the audit date.
National Register documentation discusses a May 31 Spanish grant involving Prosper King and a square of grounds and buildings, suggesting the structure may have predated later King-family ownership; the record does not establish the construction year or Richard King's tavern opening.
Source: National Park Service, National Register documentation for King's Tavern
Mississippi Department of Archives and History identifies a Spanish record in which Prosper King petitioned the Spanish governor concerning a house site associated with the present King's Tavern property.
Source: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, King's Tavern property record
Richard King receives a license to keep a public house, the earliest strong documentary evidence of tavern operation at the property.
Source: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, King's Tavern property record; National Park Service, National Register documentation for King's Tavern
Natchez tax rolls document the building as standing by this year.
Source: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, King's Tavern property record
King-family ownership ends when Samuel King sells the property to Charles B. Green, according to National Register documentation.
Source: National Park Service, National Register documentation for King's Tavern
The building returns to tavern-and-restaurant use after a long period of private residential use, according to preservation accounts.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "King's Tavern in Natchez, Mississippi," January 12, 2017
Chef Regina Charboneau and Doug Charboneau purchase the building and operate a restaurant and tavern concept there.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "King's Tavern in Natchez, Mississippi," January 12, 2017
King's Tavern closes during the early COVID-19 period.
Source: Natchez Democrat, "Something's cooking at King's Tavern," July 22, 2026
A real-estate listing reports sale of the 613 Jefferson Street property; the buyer is not identified in the reviewed material.
Source: Paul Green Real Estate, 613 Jefferson Street property listing
The Natchez Democrat reports a planned reopening of King's Tavern under a new dining concept led by Doug and Regina Charboneau; this was a future plan at the audit date, not evidence of current operation.
Source: Natchez Democrat, "Something's cooking at King's Tavern," July 22, 2026
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Mississippi Department of Archives and History says King's Tavern has long been regarded as Natchez's oldest building and documents that it stood by 1805. National Register material suggests it may have existed before 1789, but neither source establishes a precise 1769 construction date or definitively proves the citywide superlative.
The 1769 date is widely repeated in later history and preservation writing, but the primary-oriented records reviewed establish only that the building likely predates 1789 and stood by 1805. No construction record, deed, tax record, or architectural investigation reviewed here proves 1769.
Mississippi Department of Archives and History identifies an August 5, 1799 court record granting Richard King a license to keep a public house. National Register documentation likewise records a 1799 public-house license.
The early tavern period ended after King-family ownership, and preservation accounts describe a long period of private residential use before restaurant/tavern operations resumed in the 1970s. The restaurant also closed during the COVID-19 period.
Accounts of a hidden-remains discovery vary, including the reported decade and number of remains. Paranormal sources connect an unidentified woman to a figure called Madeline, but no reviewed coroner, police, archaeological, probate, or forensic record establishes the discovery, identity, cause of death, or alleged murderer.
Discovery+ identifies a Ghost Adventures episode titled "King's Tavern" in which Zak, Nick and Aaron investigate the Natchez site. The production's existence documents a visit/filming claim, not paranormal phenomena.
The building has a well-established haunted reputation built around the Madeline and dagger stories, and Ghost Adventures investigated it. The reviewed sources document the reputation and television investigation, not the existence of paranormal activity.
That a crew visited and filmed is usually easy to verify. What they claim to have captured is a separate, and usually lower-rated, claim.
Discovery+ lists an episode titled "King's Tavern" and describes the team's Mississippi investigation. Platform metadata differs on the season/episode numbering, so this record does not assign a disputed 2010 date or a single season number. The program's paranormal conclusions remain unverified.
Everything below has been reported by two or more independent sources — this is an informational record of what's said about this place, not a verified account of paranormal activity. Still Open America doesn't certify hauntings as real.
A recurring young-woman apparition is reported in the halls, rooms, windows, and mirrors of King's Tavern. Local accounts identify her as Madeline, a supposed tavern waitress and Richard King's mistress whose alleged murder is central to the building's ghost legend.
No coroner, police, archaeological, probate, or other historical record reviewed confirmed a woman named Madeline, her employment at the tavern, or her alleged murder.
Reports attributed to Madeline include women's footprints appearing on freshly cleaned floors, jars or objects falling from shelves, doors opening and closing, and an unexplained apparition disappearing quickly after being seen. Some accounts also claim an electronic voice recording of her voice.
Guests, employees, and paranormal accounts report hearing a baby's cries from an empty upstairs room or area. The sound is sometimes attributed to a story involving the outlaw Wiley or Big Harpe and a murdered infant, but the historical identity and event are not established.
No historical source reviewed confirmed that an infant was killed at King's Tavern or that the reported crying is connected to a person named Wiley Harpe or Big Harpe.
Accounts describe a spectral or menacing male figure appearing in an upstairs mirror. The figure is sometimes blamed for thrown dishes and reports of pressure around a visitor's chest or neck, but sources do not agree on his identity.
Visitors report sudden cold or warm areas in rooms, beds, seats, and near the fireplace. Some accounts describe the warmth as if someone had recently been sitting or lying there, while other accounts connect temperature changes to Madeline or the unidentified remains legend.
Customers and visitors have reported feeling pushed, pulled by the hair, pressed in the chest or neck, or generally threatened by an unseen force. The accounts do not consistently attribute these sensations to one distinct spirit.
A central King's Tavern legend says that three bodies, including one woman and two men, were found hidden in a fireplace or chimney wall during renovations, along with a dagger. Later paranormal accounts identify the woman as Madeline and treat the dagger as the murder weapon, but the discovery and identities remain unverified.
The reviewed source set contains conflicting accounts about the alleged remains and dagger. No coroner, police, archaeological, forensic, museum, or cemetery record was located confirming that three bodies were found at the tavern or identifying them as Madeline and two men.
King's Tavern was built in 1769.
The reviewed archival records show the building likely predates 1789 and was standing by 1805, but do not establish a precise 1769 construction year.
Source: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, King's Tavern property record; National Park Service, National Register documentation for King's Tavern
Richard King opened King's Tavern in 1789.
A King-family connection may date to 1789, but the earliest strong documentary evidence of Richard King's tavern operation is his August 5, 1799 public-house license.
Source: Mississippi Department of Archives and History, King's Tavern property record; National Park Service, National Register documentation for King's Tavern
King's Tavern has operated continuously as a tavern since the eighteenth century.
The building later served as a private residence for a long period, returned to restaurant/tavern use in the 1970s, and closed again during the COVID-19 era.
Source: National Trust for Historic Preservation, "King's Tavern in Natchez, Mississippi," January 12, 2017; Natchez Democrat, "Something's cooking at King's Tavern," July 22, 2026
The remains reportedly found at King's Tavern were conclusively Madeline, Richard King's murdered mistress.
The claimed remains discovery is inconsistent in later accounts and no reviewed forensic, police, archaeological, court, or coroner documentation identifies the remains or establishes a murder.
Source: Hinds Community College Library, "King's Tavern," Paranormal Mississippi Case Files
King's Tavern is currently open as a restaurant and inn.
It was closed as of August 18, 2026. A September 1, 2026 reopening was reported as a future plan, not a current operating fact.
Source: Natchez Democrat, "Something's cooking at King's Tavern," July 22, 2026
This field is retained only for archival context. The building has passed through changing functions: an early tavern period, long residential use, a late-twentieth-century restaurant revival, and later chef-driven restaurant operations. Its historical identity survived, but the active business did not remain open continuously through the COVID-era closure.
No, not as of August 18, 2026. The Natchez Democrat reported that King's Tavern had been closed since the early COVID-19 period, although Doug and Regina Charboneau announced plans for a new-concept reopening on September 1, 2026.
The earliest strong documentary evidence is an August 5, 1799 license granting Richard King permission to keep a public house. Earlier Spanish records connect the King family to the property, but they do not prove that Richard King opened a tavern there in 1789.
Mississippi Department of Archives and History says King's Tavern has long been regarded as Natchez's oldest building and records that it stood by 1805. The building may predate 1789, but a precise 1769 construction date and the citywide oldest-building claim have not been conclusively documented in the records reviewed.
There are repeated local and paranormal accounts of human remains and a dagger being found in a fireplace or wall, but the stories conflict on when and what was found. No coroner, police, archaeological, or forensic record was located in this review to confirm the discovery or identify anyone as Madeline.
Yes. Discovery+ lists a Ghost Adventures episode titled "King's Tavern" in which the team investigates the Natchez site. The existence of the episode documents the TV production, not the reality of any reported paranormal activity.
The property was reported sold on July 9, 2026, but the buyer was not identified in the material reviewed. Doug and Regina Charboneau were named as the people planning the September 2026 restaurant reopening, but their operating role should not be treated as proof that they own the building.
613 Jefferson St, Natchez, MS 39120
(601) 446-5003
None on file
Closed as of August 18, 2026; local reporting described a planned September 2026 reopening under a new concept, so verify status before traveling.