The Old Fort Smith Courthouse is described as haunted due to its history under "Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker, who sentenced many to death on its gallows. Reported paranormal activity includes disembodied voices and sounds like a gavel, spectral apparitions of figures, and unexplained movement of the gallows ropes. Visitors and former employees have experienced a sense of the site's violent past, with some hearing sounds of a gavel or seeing a mist and partial apparitions. Visitors have reported hearing the sound of a gavel slamming and disembodied voices. A former employee witnessed a partial apparition of a man in dusty clothes being dragged away. A mist has been seen spreading around the former courtroom. Paranormal investigators recorded bangs near old furniture, and visitors have seen gallows ropes moving without wind. Judge Isaac C. Parker, known as the "Hanging Judge," sentenced 160 people to death during his 21 years on the federal bench. Seventy-nine people were executed on the gallows located at the site. The courthouse is considered haunted by the spirits of those who died there, including Parker himself, according to some stories. The Fort Smith National Historic Site encompasses nearly 80 years of history, from 1817 to 1896. During this period, the site served as a federal court that oversaw the Western District of Arkansas.