This horse-drawn hearse was made in 1898 and delivered to Dallas, where it was in use until purchased for use in Castroville TX in 1919.
In use until 1930, this old hearse is on display at the Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio TX.
A sign at the hearse reads as follows:
"CASTROVILLE HEARSE
As Castroville grew, certain needs of the community became self-evident. One of the first to confront the people was the need for a hearse, and in 1919 they found a handsome gray, secondhand hearse in Dallas. The total cost, including new harnesses and cover, came to about $650. August L. Tschirhart purchased a team of horses for the hearse and became its driver, receiving $5 for each funeral.
Made in 1898 by the Sayers and Scovill Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, the hearse body is kiln-dried select White Pine. The handcarved wood is glued and screwed together, and treated with numerous coats of wrong linseed oil. The final touch was "French" air-dry enamel, finished and polished by wet sanding and rubbing with pumice-stone powder. The painting process alone took approximately 3 months. Until about 1930 the hearse was in use in Castroville.
Mrs. Ruth Lawler
Castroville TX"
From the Ghost Tours of San Antonio website: (
visit link)
"The Hearse: Haunted Artifacts at the Institute of Texan Cultures
Is there anything creepier than a haunted hearse? We honestly don’t think so, but it’s rumored that one of the most active objects at the museum is just that: a hearse.
The horse-and-buggy hearse from the Institute was originally built in 1898 by the Saville Company all the way in Cincinnati, Ohio. Soon after its construction, it was shipped (sent? horse-driven?) all the way to Castroville, Texas, to be put to use.
For decades, the hearse did its job: carrying countless of corpses from funeral homes to their final resting place in a cemetery. But while the so-called Castroville Hearse served a legitimate purpose, it also served a more . . . illegitimate gig, too.
A photo of the haunted Castroville Hearse, which is located in the Institute of Texan Cultures, in San Antonio, Texas.
An early sketch of the C.S.S. Georgia, which was one of the first ironclads to be created during the Civil War
The famed haunted hearse, where moans can be heard and the doors springing open on their own. (Source: Institute of Texan Cultures)
During the length of the Prohibition Era, and earlier, the Castroville Hearse was utilized to secretly convey illegal, bootlegged bourbon to its final destination. Beneath the casket lay a hidden compartment where the bottles of bourbon could be concealed without anyone knowing anything better.
After all, since a hearse is going somewhere—and you know exactly where a hearse is going—no one would ever think to stop a hearse for bootlegged bourbon.
By the time that the horse-drawn hearse was brought to the Institute of Texan Cultures, it was almost immediate that strange things began to happen around it. Or even spookier, that some sort of energy had attached itself to the hearse.
Nighttime security guards have gone to do their routine rounds, only to discover the hearse’s doors sprung wide open. After closing them and re-latching the complicated lock, they’ve gone on their way. Except, the next time they came back around, the doors were once again open!
According to prior employees, the hearse’s paranormal antics have become somewhat of a rite of passage for security guards. You aren’t a full member of the museum until you’ve seen the doors fling open or have heard the strange growls that have emanated from the hearse, despite the fact that nobody is inside.
Who might be responsible for the growling? That’s one ghost we don’t want any contact with, and it seems content from the stories to remain within the hearse . . . and to never venture out."