Ep. 101-Ghosts of Jackson Barracks and Sweet Tea After Dark Announcement

Big changes are brewing, and we’re pouring carefully. We’re launching Sweet Tea After Dark, a companion series built for the stories that land after midnight—paranormal encounters, urban legends, and heavier true accounts that deserve a softer light and a slower pace. To make room, we’re moving to one regular Hold My Sweet Tea episode every Monday, with After Dark arriving every other Thursday. Same hosts, same heart, two different moods.

To set the tone, we head to New Orleans and step into the layered history of Jackson Barracks. Born from the Federal Fortifications Act after the War of 1812, the barracks served as a rally point, a veterans’ hospital, and later a home for the Louisiana National Guard. It touched the legacy of Buffalo Soldiers, passed between state and federal hands, and survived the devastation of Hurricane Katrina only to rise again—brick, wall, and memory restored. Alongside the history comes the hush: reports of nighttime footsteps, slamming doors, faucets running without a source, and apparitions tied to soldiers, veterans, and even Native Americans once held there. We also trace similar accounts from other posts—disconnected phones ringing through the night, heavy corridors that unsettle even the calmest visitor, and photos that reveal what eyes missed.

We’re opening our inbox to your stories—messy, raw, anonymous if you want. Change names, keep the truth. Whether it’s a sleepover dare that went sideways, a sleep paralysis terror that felt too real, an intuition that kept you safe, or a brush with a legend that still follows you, we want to hear it. We’ll share some of our own first, not for shock but to build trust and show the care we bring to every tale.

Subscribe to keep Mondays sweet and let Thursdays get a little shadowed. Send your story to holdmysweetteapodcast@gmail.com or message us on Facebook or Instagram. If this episode sparks something, share it with a friend who loves a good ghost story—or a good gut check—and leave a quick review to help others find our little corner of the night.

Transcript

Announcement And Format Change

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We have an exciting announcement to make, and then we'll take a little trip to New Orleans and visit the Jackson Barracks. This is Hold My Sweet Tea.

Introducing Sweet Tea After Dark

SPEAKER_01 0:52

And today we wanted to give you a quick update from Hold My Sweet Tea. We wanted to take a moment to share something new we're trying and give you a heads up about a small schedule change. We are introducing Sweet Tea After Dark, a companion podcast where we share paranormal experiences, urban legends, and heavier true stories. The kind that tend to come out late at night when lights are low and the house is quiet. To make room for this and to make sure we're doing it well, we're adjusting our release schedule. So Hold My Sweet Tea will now be one regular episode per week, and we're going to be releasing those on Mondays. And Sweet Tea After Dark will release twice a month. So every other Thursday night will be Sweet Tea After Dark. Same host, same podcast, just two different moods.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

So the way this is gonna work, as of this moment, we haven't received any listener stories or what we're going to refer to as listeners spilling the tea. And completely okay. I will fill in a little bit with some fiction, maybe. Like we'll we'll find ways. If I have to write something and just entertain you that that week, I will do it.

unknown 2:32

Right.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

We have a few stories in our own pockets.

How Listener Stories Will Work

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Yes. And we have yeah, that's what I was gonna say. We have our own little personal stories to help you feel more comfortable with sharing yours. And we know it takes time to trust a new space, especially one meant for stories that are a little darker, more personal, harder to talk about. So that's why we're gonna start off sharing some of our own stories. That way, it'll kind of set the tone, show you how the episodes will feel, and hopefully make it easier to say, okay, I'm gonna share mine too. So if you think you already trust us with it, you can go ahead and share your story with us by sending us an email at holdmysweet teapodcast at gmail.com. Anonymous is always okay. Details can be changed, and you don't need perfect writing. Just tell it how it happened. We're listening. If we need to fix it for the pod, we will. But I feel like I feel like most of you are gonna find out you're a great writer anyway. Nothing you love about Hold My Sweet Tea is going away. This is just giving those after dark stories that you might be holding their own place where they fit better. Thank you for sticking with us, trusting us with your stories, and being part of this community. We're super excited about where this is headed, and we hope that you are too.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Yes. So if you have a story that is brewing, definitely send it in to us and we will have a tea party. Have a tea party, yes. We will sit down with a cozy blanket and maybe a roaring fire. Who knows?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Yeah, maybe in this in the after dark time we can do hot tea.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Hot tea, yes. We can hold my hot tea. We can steep a tea bag and I mean you still put sweetener in it. It's sweet. It's still sweet, yeah, for sure. I like a little honey in my tea.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Especially honey. I am a crazy honey person. Yeah, I put honey on my chicken nuggets. It's good on chicken nuggets. I put honey on my pizza, honey on biscuits, honey on everything. This is maybe why I don't get sick that much. Maybe.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

But you know, you you always have like have these stories, these crazy stories that you and your friends went out and dared each other to go into a cemetery. Or some abandoned, spooky-looking house. Like, how many movies start this way? Exactly. Or you decided, you and your friend group were like, let's get out my sister's Ouija board and ask it some questions. And it did some crazy thing, and you all screamed and threw it.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Like, we want to hear it. Or, like, I know when I was young, every time there was a sleepover with a bunch of girls, flat is a feather, stiff is a board. Absolutely. I lived in Arizona for a while. There used to be like this ongoing spooky story about this man who lurked in alleyways and all this other crazy stuff. Like, there's so many things. Yep. Share them with us.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Because we're gonna be the ones that believe you. Yep, absolutely. And we're gonna get those out there. And you like Pearl said, you don't have to give us your name. You can change your name if you'd like. If you want us to say your name and all that, we'll we'll put that on there too.

Inviting Paranormal And True Story Submissions

Guidelines For Anonymity And Tone

Setting The Mood With Tea Talk

Why We Believe Your Weird

Community Shoutouts And Encouragement

How To Submit And What To Include

Schedule Recap And Closing

SPEAKER_00 6:20

And you can change your friends' names. You don't have to give, like, if you experience this with other people, you don't have to use their real names. Change them. It's all good. It's all good up in our hood. RT hood. RT hood. So what are we getting into today? We are gonna go to New Orleans. We're home. Yeah. And visit the Jackson Barracks. Originally, it was established as a result of the Federal Fortifications Act, which was something that came about because of the War of 1812. So we're going way back. Way, way back. This is when Congress had realized that there was really a big lack of coastal protection. So for cities like New Orleans, there's nothing, there's nobody there to defend it. It's right up against the water.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Uh-oh. It's literally in the water. Right. It is the water. Right. Um, it was actually first known as New Orleans Barracks for very obvious reasons. And it was built in a quadrangle design. It was meant to be a rallying point for troops if there was an attack. And the buildings were constructed in such a way that it was like meant to be a fortification. Yes. This means that the entire backs of these buildings have no windows. Not a one. Or at least not outward facing. You get a window into the next room. Right. The structures also have a 10-foot brick outer wall. So that's that's the completion of the fort. At that point, you got all your little barracks buildings in there and a big old brick wall. Jackson Barracks was first used during the Mexican-American War, and it also became the first public service hospital for veterans. So lots of injured soldiers from the Mexican War ended up in there. The title of New Orleans Barracks only lasted from 1837 to 1866. Then it was renamed Jackson Barracks to honor the Battle of New Orleans hero general, Mr. Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson. That very same year, General Sheridan was charged with creating the very first African-American Cavalry Regiment. And this was created during peacetime. Two of those four units that came about from this were known as Buffalo Soldiers. One of those divisions, the 25th Infantry, formed at Jackson Barracks in 1869. This regiment would participate in the Indian Wars and the Spanish American War. So that's what led them to be called buffalo soldiers.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Well, I have a question. Sure. Did they always hang in a buffalo stance? They might have. Yeah, they were great. I always wanted some of those. I was like, where can I find these? You might find some now. Probably. Way easier to find.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

So Jackson Barracks was like actually um controlled by the federal government up until the end of World War One. Then it became property of the state. The state used it for the National Guard. Yes. Which is what it's still used for now. It literally became like the headquarters to like artillery and stuff like that. Um they say that it was technically called the 141st Field Artillery Regiment at that point. And it's actually the oldest continuous unit in the Louisiana National Guard. So you get little tidbits of lots of history. History information. That regiment has been actually located in New Orleans since 1838. Oh wow. So that's why they're saying like it's the longest one.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Absolutely the longest.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

During the Great Depression, state and federal funds put the barracks through an extensive renovation, which I'm sure they were like, woo-hoo. And during World War II, the federal government actually took back control of the barracks. And then when the war was over, they gave it back to the state.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

We need that. Thank you. We need to borrow this. There you go. You can have it back.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Now, unfortunately, in August 2005, the barracks post was nearly destroyed by floodwaters. Katrina. From Katrina. The hoe. She she ruined everything. She really did.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Like, really.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

It took a massive$325 million to bring the barracks back. The majority of the post was rebuilt from scratch. And, you know, it was like 17,500 square feet of buildings that were constructed to original design. So they they brought it back the same way it was before it got destroyed. Decated. And they used original materials where possible. So that's kind of just a little history before we get into the kookiness.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Is it haunted? Is it haunted? I'm sure it is because I'm sure people have died there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

So of course it's rumored to be haunted. Why would I be talking about it if it were not?

SPEAKER_01 13:10

All right. That's what I'm saying. Of like, I'm waiting for the ghosty part. That would be silly.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

I mean, hey, history. So I think the the most talked about, biggest ghost that gets seen and experienced would be the first sergeant Henry Brunig. He actually killed himself there in 1937. The stories go that Brunig used to assist with the care of the horses at the barracks. He literally decides that 21 of these said horses are actually unfit for duty. So you would think maybe they just like sell them maybe to some farm people or something. Right. But no. They did not. They were shot to death.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Not the horses.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

I don't think that Brunick knew that is what would happen to these horses. Because the very next day they find his body and he had committed suicide. Well, he's probably like heartbroken, like these poor horses. Yeah. I'm heartbroken. Yeah. Those poor horses. So now they say that they spot him and apparitions of other soldiers who possibly died in the time that it was being used as an infirmary for veterans and such. They say most of these apparitions are seen at night, and that people who work there in the night have heard water running where no water is running, doors slamming, and toilets flushing. And there's no other people around, and they're not the one flushing the toilet.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

It's the horses. They're like right. They're like, cut down. Yeah. We're gonna stampede you in your sleep.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Yes. They also say that they see apparitions of Native Americans that were held prisoner there during the Trail of Tears. Oh. Something else.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

That's sad. That's really sad. Yeah. I'm sure there's like several, and and just, you know, infantry that was shot down there. And that's not including the the more famous, you know, not famous, but like the more seen ones that are going through there. So I'm sure there's lots of bumps in the night and apparitions that they see.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Yeah. And so they like have so many sites that are like, please share your experience with us, which is basically what we're asking you guys to do. Yeah. Moving forward for our little stories.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Right. Because if you go to, you know, the Myrtles or something like that, you you share it and you're like, this is what I saw.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Just tell the Myrtles. Right. But talking about this barracks, there have been like barracks in Georgia and a whole bunch of other places that are still being used. And like I've read about experiences where it's a woman's barracks. There's a picture floating around the internet where these two female soldiers are standing in a in a room. They've like marked out their eyes and stuff and and claim their picture so they know who it belongs to. But like there's this shaggy-headed looking person. Like there's no face, it's like the back of a person, and like some civilian type clothing, but it it literally looks like a guy. Yeah. It doesn't look like any possibility of it being a girl. And it's like, what is back there behind them? Yeah. It's like a creepy picture they've shared. And and when they share that creepy picture, then people are like, oh my gosh. I have a creepy picture. When I was in the Navy, yeah, you know, they're like, there's there's somebody who who left a little story that says they got stationed at a place in Virginia Beach called Damn Neck. Damn neck. Damn neck. And they said, while the spirits never do anything like malicious. Yeah. Nothing malicious, nothing crazy, nothing mean. They're not like throwing stuff at people or whatever. They're just like you can hear people walking down the hallway and there's nobody in the hallway. And everybody who visits, like if they bring a civilian back to their room, sneaky deaky, that every single time people enter into that building, they're like, there's just some really heavy vibes here. Yeah. It literally caused one visitor to have a panic attack, and they've never had a panic attack before. Like they were like, No, I gotta get out of here. I can't stay here. This there's something not cool here. There's like other stories in other barracks where they have like an old payphone sitting outside of a barracks room. And every night this payphone will ring like 10 times. Now, here's the thing, it's disconnected. Oh, that's crazy. The receiver is not even hooked up, the wire is cut, the receiver's still there, but it's not like you could pick it up and go hello. Right. But it will ring 10 times in the middle of the night. That's insane. And like one of the people talking about it was like, I sleep inside the room right by this. And we have no doors in our room. It's it's an So you hear it. Yeah. So you can't help but hear it. And my other roommate's like, You're not hearing that. And she's and she's like, I just sleep really heavy. So I wasn't really hearing it. Like, I was like, next time it happens, wake me up, make sure I'm all the way awake. Right. I need to hear this. And then actually heard it that time and was like, How the hell is this thing ringing? It's not even hooked up, it's literally just hanging on the wall for fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Those are the kind of things we want. Right. Absolutely. Tell us I in Mobile, they have um on Dolphin Islands. There's a fort on Dolphin Island. And then right before you hit the underground, like the tunnel that goes under the water to Mobile Bay, there's uh Fort Conti right there. I have been to Fort both of those, but Fort Conti definitely gives you a creep vibe when you go like down, it goes down in because it's up on a hill almost. So there's like not really a basement, but it's under under the ground. Right. Bunker. And there's certain parts that you go in there. I was like, I'm not walking in that room. I'm not going in there. I feel it before I even walk in there. And I know there's something heavy in there. So I'm like, I don't want to take it home. I no, I don't want it attaching to me and coming home with me at all. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

And so I'll have to, I guess I'll share uh on one of our Thursdays before we get uh get some people I'll ride it out. Cause I I had my own little experiences out at Myrtle's. I've never spent the night there, but I I want to. Oh, me too. That would be a cool thing to be able to write about. I've been there like so many times. But I've been there during the day a ton and through the whole tour several times. Yep. Cause why not? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

It's so much fun. Every time you go, it's something different. Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

It's never the same thing. No. Going out by the gazebo. I don't want to give it away because I'm going to use it now. But yeah. So hope this helps get you a little comfy.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Absolutely. Slightly. And and I have a story from when I was about five years old. Um, the the vampire that lived in my parents' bathroom. So we'll get into that one on one of them because like it's it's a funny little story, but also every time I went down there, I saw it. So I'm like, it was either a devil or a bat a vampire and it freaked me out.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Or like I just moved and there's a weird cauldron left in the attic. Yeah. And like in one side of the attic storage. And then the other side of the attic storage, there's a broken vampire statue. Yeah. I'm like, not touching them.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Yep. I know. You showed me and I was like, what? Like, why are these things in this attic? The cauldron's fine.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

It's the broken headed Dracula over there that creeps me out a little bit. But you know, nothing's happened there. So maybe it's totally fine.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Every like I I don't say everybody, but like most people have experienced something or done something or have had some sort of like question, like, what the heck was that? Or okay, we did something really, really stupid stories. Or yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

I dreamt something that felt really, really real. Yeah. Yep. We'll take those two. Those are the things.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

And you know, not everybody has sleep paralysis, but everybody's sleep paralysis demon is different. Mine was hideous. Like when I used to get sleep paralysis, it was horrible. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

So it's like, there's we'll share ours to make you more comfortable with sharing yours. Weird stuff happens to people all the time.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

And it doesn't have to be creepy weird. You know what? Your sister's like best friend's aunt might have dated some guy that turned out to be a serial killer. Like, share those stories, like just those you know, things that you're like, I have this story.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Or maybe you had like an oogie feeling about something, and you were like, we can't get on this airplane, some final destination type stuff. Yep. Like, share that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Like I and one that I would say is here recently, um, you know, you you get on dating sites and things, and there's these people, and you just get this weird vibe from them. And I got this weird vibe, this one guy, he just, you know, had kept messaging me. And then I was like, no. And then it got to the point where I was like, blocked him on it. Well, a month later, I get another request from him to swipe, and I'm like, dude. So he was creating multiple ones, and I guess he was floating around trying to get whomever. So one day I'm flipping through Facebook and I see this dude's mugshot.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

Pedophile. And I was like, my heart sank down to my big toe. I was like, oh my God. Yeah. And like I mean, this is why I had this funky feeling. I would have never matched with him anyway, because I was like, Yeah. But still, I had this feeling. I was like, absolutely not. You creep me out. Right. And when I saw that, I was like, whoa. Yeah, we want all of that stuff. So yeah. Let's make this like fun and exciting and give us some stories. Maybe Patty Salzetta can give us some stories.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

I bet she's got some good stories. She could give us some stories besides our theme music.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

We'd appreciate it. Oh, you know. Give her her uh trophy for being first.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

That's right. Come on, Patty. You can do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Give us a story. Give us one. So we don't have to just use ours.

unknown 25:35

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

And you can send these stories to hold my sweet tea podcast at gmail.com. You can message us, Facebook, Instagram, wherever. I mean, it'll fit. And we'll we'll put like a little um thing on Facebook.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

Yeah, if you need something to like a guide.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Yeah, we'll put like a little guide to tell you this the information we need, like just to complete the story. And that way you have something to go by.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

So ask, like, you know, do you want to remain anonymous? Do you um do you have a title for your story? The type of story, is it like paranormal? Is it an urban legend or a dare? You know, things like that. And then you can just put your story and then, of course, you know, by giving us permission.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

Yeah, when you submit this, you give us permission to really use it, yeah. Yeah, to use your story on our podcast.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

And, you know, we're gonna try to get as many, depending on how many come in on there. You know, we might not be able to use your specific story, but we're going to try to get them. We're gonna group a few together. If we get inundated, yeah, it may be harder to fit, but we will get to it. We're gonna put pinkies up, sip that tea, and we're gonna tell some of your stories.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Yeah, and if they're like you don't have to worry about length, because like Holly said, we'll group some together and and tell them. Yeah, if it's just like two paragraphs, like we're good. Doesn't have to be long.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Yep. All right. It's your new assignment. That is it. That's your homework. So full episodes on Mondays, and then we're gonna be doing every other tea after dark every other Thursday.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

So this is officially the last Thursday episode that you get for from regular podcasts. And then there won't be one next week on Thursday.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

And then we'll continue we'll start the after dark on the following Thursday.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

Yep. So it gives us gives y'all some time because maybe we can tell one of ours and tell one of yours. Right. So it gives you a little time to get it in there if you want to be part of the beginning of something different. Wouldn't that be exciting? The first one. And if you're uh wanting to tell it yourself, yeah, maybe we can make arrangements for that to occur.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

So totally up to you. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

So as always, Hold My Sweet Tea is a drunken bee production. And you guys remember to stay safe out there and submit those stories. And just because we're dipping doesn't mean you can't keep zipping. Bye.