Advance tickets on sale for Historic Ghost Walk

For the first time, Heritage House Museum is selling advance tickets to the annual Historic Ghost Walk through downtown Orange.

The ghost walk this year will be Saturday, October 26, with family-friendly tours from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and "fright night" tours from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tour groups leave every 10 minutes.

Historic Ghost Walk started in 2016 and this will be the eighth annual one after missing one during the Covid pandemic. The ghost walk begins at Heritage House Museum, 905 West Division Avenue, and goes through sites in downtown Orange. Costumed drama students from Orange County high schools tell true local history stories about events at the sites where they happened.

Stories have been researched and written by local writer Margaret Toal, who currently is the chair of the Orange County Historical Commission. Events featured in the ghost walk are rotated yearly.

The popularity of the event has made it expand into a festival with food trucks, Free State Winery, live music, children's crafts and games. For the past three years, the ghost walk has sold out and some had to be turned away.

Advance tickets will be on sale at the Heritage House administration building behind the main J.O. Sims house museum. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and younger.

The dates and times for advance ticket sales are Thursday, October 3, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesday, October 8, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.; Tuesday, October 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, October 17, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and then Monday, October 21 through Friday, October 25, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Schools participating in the Historic Ghost Walk this year are Vidor, Bridge City, West Orange-Stark, and Orangefield.

The walk covers about a half mile and participants should wear comfortable shoes. Strollers and wagons have been used in the past.

Heritage House Museum is a non-profit group established in 1976 to preserve the 1902 J.O. Sims House as an example of an upper-middle class residence in Orange. The home is furnished in antiques from Orange's past and is open for tours.

The museum is supported by memberships, donations, and contributions from Hotel Occupancy Tax grants from the city of Orange and Orange County.

People interested in touring the house or volunteering should contact Director Charlotte Alford at 409-886-5385.