Moore Hall Western Carolina University Cullowhee, North Carolina
Campuses across the country and around the world are places rife for ghostlore. Students have just left home for the first time in their lives, the real world is scary, there is trauma entering into adulthood, being surrounded by strangers…these things help shape the world of colleges and universities. Campuses are frequently the breeding ground of scary stories of murder, suicide, and failure, often involving death.
Western Carolina University’s Moore Hall has been mothballed for many years. The oldest building on campus, it was constructed between 1917 and 1924, when the building opened as an all-female dormitory. Part of the building served as a cafeteria starting in 1931 and the basement was utilized as a campus infirmary. There are also rumors that the basement served as a morgue during this time, though that is doubtful.
Moore Hall, shortly after its closure in 2012. By Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
For a couple years around the time of Moore Hall’s closure I was a semi-frequent visitor to the campus. As I drove past, the building seemed mysteriously swathed in shadow and my fertile imagination was piqued. My friends, one of whom was a university administrator, said it was known through official channels that the building was haunted. He told of how campus police were called out late at night to check on sounds emanating from the supposedly sealed building. A few pursued the sounds of someone, or something, moving around inside. My friend said the police logs were full of calls regarding the structure.
Within the student grapevine, rumors regarding the building have been a campus mainstay for generations. The most common tale says that a dreadful murder occurred here back in the 1920s or 1930s, when this was a dormitory. A pair of roommates stayed on campus during a holiday break. One evening, one went for a shower and after a short time, her roommate began to hear groaning and scratching outside the door. Out of fear, the girl locked the door and stayed put. Eventually, she opened the door to find her roommate’s body lying in a pool of blood with her throat slit. The story has mostly remained the same with a few variations including the identity of the perpetrator and the date of the murder. Over time, students have experienced disembodied crying and screams emanating from the third floor.
Another story has also emerged to explain the supernatural crying saying that it is from a student who committed suicide after her boyfriend was killed in World War II.
Moore Hall, shortly after its closure in 2012. By Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Subsequent searches for newspaper articles or police files regarding these incidents have come to naught. The story has many of the hallmarks of classic campus ghost stories and similar stories are found on many other campuses.
Regardless, students still regularly attempt to break into the building in search of thrills and perhaps a ghost. Campus police have issued warnings that anyone caught breaking into the building will have charges pressed. It’s not hard to imagine that perhaps something lingers in the old, shadowy building.
Sources
Jonell, Jean-Marie. “Halloween brings Western ghost stories to the front burner.” The Western Carolina Journalist. 30 October 2011.
Mitchell, Rachel. “Murder? Or just another ghost story?” Western Carolinian. 10 November 2006.
Several years before I started this blog in 2010, a series of articles by George Eberhart about haunted libraries was published in the Encyclopedia Britannica Blog. This comprehensive list on the now defunct blog—the above link is to the site on the Internet Archives’ Wayback Machine—covers perhaps a few hundred libraries throughout the United States including a great list on the South. After perusing the list and noting the many libraries missing from my own list, I’ve decided to create my own list here.
Marguerite Clark’s former St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, mansion, now the Milton H. Latter Memorial Library. Photo 2007, by Infrogmation. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Like theatres, it seems that every good library has its own ghost. George Eberhart argues that there are two reasons for libraries to be haunted: one, that the library inhabits a building that may have been the scene of a tragedy, or two, that the library may be haunted by a former librarian or benefactor who may continue to watch over it.
In these lists, I have includes places that are active library buildings, places that were once libraries, bookstores, and homes with significant libraries.
Some time ago, I published a series of articles examining hauntings in Alabama, county by county. Some of these are entries from my book, Southern Spirit Guide’s Haunted Alabama, and some were “new to me” locations that have come to light since my book was published.
Please enjoy this survey of the entire state of Alabama.
After Oglethorpe’s establishment of the first four wards Reynolds and Anson Wards were created to expand the city. The ward was laid out in 1734, just a year following the city’s founding. It did not acquire its current name until the 1750s, when it was named in honor of John Reynolds (c. 1713 – 1788), the fifth Royal Governor of the Province of Georgia.
Until its destruction by fire just prior to 1850, the northeast Trust Lot was occupied by a filature house, once useful in silk making, one of the industries that Oglethorpe hoped would make Georgia unique among colonies. This structure was the first large building built in the colony and the long rooms were needed for unwinding the filament of the cocoons of silkworms to weave into silk cloth. The silk industry did not survive for long in the nascent colony. Eventually, the building was frequently used for meetings, and in 1791, George Washington was fêted here.
Planters Hotel seen from Reynolds Square, by Ken Lund, 2011. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
A large bronze statue of John Wesley memorializes the founder of Methodism, who was asked by Oglethorpe to minister to the local citizenry between 1735 and 1737 and had a home within the ward.
Sources
Fertig, Barbara C. City of Savannah Tour Guide Manual: Manual for the Instruction and Licensing of Tour Guide in the City of Savannah. Savannah, GA: Tourism and Film Services, City of Savannah, 2006.
John Wesley. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 28 September 2025.
Olde Pink House (23 Abercorn Street) – The light pink colonial home fronting Reynolds Square is the former mansion of the Habersham family. A restaurant since 1968, this home has been serving up top-notch food and spirits (both the alcoholic type and the spiritual type) since that date. A number of ghosts are known to be in residence here, including James Habersham, who may be the spirit a bartender followed one night to Colonial Park Cemetery. See my post on this incident here.
Planters Inn (29 Abercorn Street) – According to James Caskey, this hotel is haunted by a female spirit who casually straightens pictures on the wall then disappears.
Sources
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
Lucas Theatre for the Arts (32 Abercorn Street) – Opening on the day after Christmas, 1921, the Lucas Theatre was built by Georgia theater impresario, Arthur Lucas, who owned several dozen theaters throughout the state. It was in operation as a theatre until 1976. After it closed, the building was used as a comedy club and a restaurant for a few years. After years of abandonment and decay, it was saved from demolition by local historic preservationists. The building is now a part of the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Lucas Theatre in 2025, by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Ghost stories have been told about the theatre since at least the mid-20th century. According to James Caskey, a story has long been told involving a drive-by shooting in front of the theatre in the late 1920s where a ticket seller was killed. However, no documentation has surfaced regarding this incident. People inside the building have heard a projector running in the projection booth, despite the projector having been removed, while others have heard ghostly applause in the empty theatre.
Sources
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
Lucas Theatre. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 25 September 2025.
East Bay Inn (225 East Bay Street) – Often businesses shun the haunted spotlight, though in places like Savannah, they may proclaim that they are haunted on their websites. Contained within an Antebellum structure, the East Bay Inn is one of these sorts of places, talking about their ghost “Charlie.” Details on Charlie’s antics are not revealed, however.
Realty Building, 2021, by JeffersonLH, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Realty Building (24 Drayton Street) – Just beyond Reynolds Square is the city’s tallest building, the Realty Building, built in 1921 (or 1924, sources differ). A legend haunts these premises that may just be folklore told to scare maintenance employees. The story begins on the evening of Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, after the stock market crashed. A businessman working on the top floor and having lost everything in the crash, ended it all by jumping out a window. In 1969, a member of the night cleaning crew working on the top floor was startled to see a man emerge from an empty office, walk to a window and jump. After he called the police, no body or evidence of the jumper was discovered.
Sources
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
O’Connell’s Irish Pub (42 Drayton Street) – While so many of Savannah’s haunted sites have been well documented, there are others where the specifics of their ghost stories have not been disclosed. A review of this Irish pub on Tripadvisor notes a ghost tour stopping at the pub to talk about its ghosts, though the particulars are not revealed.
17 Lincoln Street about 1870, showing the proprietors of the saloon standing in the doorway. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Planning Commission Instagram page.
Abe’s on Lincoln (17 Lincoln Street) – Occupying the basement of 226 East Bryan Street, Abe’s on Lincoln’s front door faces Lincoln Street, given it a different address. This basement has hosted bars since shortly after the house was built in 1852. This bar is also a stop on a haunted pub tour, though the details of the haunting are unknown.
Statue of John Wesley in Reynolds Square, 2025, by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Reynolds Square – Local folklore states that this square was used to burn bodies used during one of the many epidemics to strike the city in the 19th century. Perhaps this this reason why photographs taken of John Wesley’s statue in the center of the square are distorted or show orbs that may be paranormal in nature.
Upon founding the colony of Georgia and the city of Savannah in 1733, General James Edward Oglethorpe imposed his neatly organized city plan on the swath of wilderness south of Yamacraw Bluff. Taking inspiration from the order of ancient Roman military encampments, a grid of streets was created and divided up into four equal wards. Featuring a square at its center for military drilling and community gatherings, each ward also has four trust lots for civic buildings and churches with four larger tithing lots for homes and businesses.
As Savannah expanded, city planners added more wards, most, but not all, matching the original wards with a square at the center. Eventually, areas outside the gridded portion of the city were deemed as wards though they do not resemble the classic ward set up. Currently, Savannah’s National Landmark designated historic district consists of forty-four wards.
An 1818 map of Savannah showing many of the wards and their squares.
By 1851, the city had twenty-four squares. Most wards were named for people who were significant in the city or the country’s development. While many squares bear the same name as their ward, others do not. Progress has led to the destruction of three squares, though in 2010, Ellis Square at the center of Decker Ward was partially restored, bringing the number of “surviving” squares to twenty-two.
Due to the tremendous number of hauntings in this historic district, like the number in Charleston, South Carolina and New Orleans’ French Quarter, I have found this division makes it easier to cover Savannah’s piece by piece. It also makes it easier for readers to work their way through the city visiting its haunted locales.
The following list of wards only includes those wards with at least one haunting.
Like Decker Ward, Derby Ward is one of the first wards laid out when Savannah was created in 1733. It is named for James Stanley, Tenth Earl of Derby, while its central square is named for Robert Johnson, Royal Governor of South Carolina at the time Georgia was settled. The large monument at the center of Johnson Square was erected to the memory of General Nathanael Greene, a hero of the American Revolution. Savannah is frequently described as a city built on top of the dead. This is a fact for this scenic square as the probable remains of General Greene, who died near Savannah, are buried beneath the monument.
The fountain in Johnson Square, 2021, by Seasider53, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Sources
Fertig, Barbara C. City of Savannah Tour Guide Manual: Manual for the Instruction and Licensing of Tour Guide in the City of Savannah. Savannah, GA: Tourism and Film Services, City of Savannah, 2006.
Tondee’s Tavern (7 East Bay Street) – This mid-19th century building once housed a bank and the offices of a slave dealer. Spirits continue to occupy the building once even saving the lives of two servers sleeping in the basement by alerting them to a fire in a planter box affixed to the front façade. This location has been covered in a separate entry.
Churchill’s Pub (13 West Bay Street) – This British-style pub originally opened at 9 Drayton Street (now occupied by The Fitzroy, seer below) that is haunted only to love into another haunted location. Investigator and author Ryan Dunn frequented this bar for many years before asking one of the bartenders if it was haunted. A couple weeks later, he arrived with two other investigators to explore it after hours. Hearing that many patrons had experiences in the ladies’ room in the basement, Dunn focused his investigative efforts there, coming away with a decent amount of evidence that spirits are still lurking.
Sources
Dunn, Ryan. Savannah’s Afterlife II: More True Tales of a Paranormal Investigator. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2018.
The infamous basement of the Moon River Brewing Company, 2019. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Moon River Brewling Company (21 West Bay Street) – Of the many haunted locations in Savannah, perhaps the Moon River Brewing Company has gained the most notoriety. Nearly every book and article on the city’s hauntings written in the last twenty years includes this location, and it has drawn tourists, paranormal investigators, and the just plain curious in hopes that they may experience something unworldly here.
Opening as the City Hotel in 1821, this mostly unremarkable building has seen a little more than two centuries of activity played out in its rooms and corridors. While many have had chilling experiences in the basement and the upper floors of the building, patrons and staff have had encounters throughout the building.
Sadly, the brewery served its last drinks just last year. While the business has closed, I’m certain that the spirits remain.
View of the former site of the Pulaski Hotel at left, with City Hall in the background. Photo 2025, by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Regions Bank (formerly Piccadilly Cafeteria on Pulaski Hotel Site) (15 Bull Street) – Built on the former site of the large, antebellum Pulaski House Hotel, this site supposedly remains the playground for six-year-old Gracie Watson. The child, the only daughter of W. J. Watson and Margaret Frances Waterman, was often given the run of the hotel where her father was the resident manager. When little Gracie died of pneumonia at the age of six, her parents buried her in Bonaventure Cemetery, marking her grave with a marble likeness.
Before the hotel’s demolition in 1957, staff continued to hear a child laughing and playing. These sounds have continued to be heard after the construction of this modern structure, while witnesses also report seeing the apparition of a little girl.
Sources
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
Gracie Watson. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 16 September 2025.
9 Drayton Street, 2017, by Seasider53, courtesy of Wikipedia.
The Fitzroy (9 Drayton Street) – Built in 1853, this building is believed to have housed saloons and restaurants throughout its 172 years of existence. One legend states that a man died here during a boxing match and instead of alerting authorities to the man’s death, his body was walled up. Churchill’s Pub occupied this space before moving to Bay Street.
Sources
9 Dayton Street. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 16 September 2025.
Cobb, Al. Savannah’s Ghosts II. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2007.
Circa 1875 (48 Whitaker Street) – According to the authors of the blog, Eat It & Like It, the owners of this French restaurant and gastropub began experiencing paranormal activity in the building shortly after it opened. After problems with lights being mysteriously turned off, the owners locked the electrical box. Despite the lock, they continued having issues.
A sensitive visited, informing them that the spirits were of enslaved people who had been held on the premises in the Antebellum era. They wanted confirmation that the new owners would not use the building for enslavement. In an effort to appease the spirits, the owners drew up an agreement and hung it in the wine cellar.
Named for Sir Matthew Decker (1679 – 1749), who at the time of Georgia’s founding was a Director for the British East India Company, Decker Ward is one of the four original wards laid out by General James Edward Oglethrope, the colony’s founder. At the heart of the ward, Decker Square was laid out. The square’s name was changed to honor Sir Henry Ellis, the colony’s sixth royal governor sometime later.
Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that the square was renamed for Ellis as before he was appointed royal governor, he earned money as a slave trader. As the square was the location of the City Market and a place known for its trade in enslaved Africans. The exact date of the slave market here is unknown, though when General Sherman captured the city in December 1864, the market was still here. With the awful emotions experienced by the enslaved here, this may be Savannah’s most haunted square. Interestingly, reports of paranormal activity in this ward are only confined to a single building.
Sam Cooley’s photograph of the City Market in Ellis Square near the end of the Civil War in 1865. While the market building was demolished in 1954, the buildings in the background are still standing. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
In 1954, the square and the city market hall was sacrificed to America’s love affair with the automobile when it was demolished and replaced with a parking garage. It is this moment, accompanied by the planned or actual destruction of Savannah’s historical treasures, that spurred the community into preservation. The deep regret of having lost the original square, led the city to redeem itself with the restoration of the square shortly after its lease expired in 2004.
B & D Burgers (209 West Congress Street) – This 19th century commercial building harbors ghosts, spirits, and more than just those served with its gourmet burgers. This location has been covered in a separate entry.
The city of Savannah created Franklin Ward in 1791, naming it for Benjamin Franklin, on land that was part of the city’s West Common. It was here in 1820, that one of Savannah’s most infamous fires began in a livery stable near Franklin Square. The fire destroyed around 500 buildings and is considered the worst conflagration in the city’s history.
In 1853, a water tower was located on Franklin Square that was eventually replaced by a large tank. In 1935, when US 17 was routed down Montgomery Street, Franklin Square was not spared as the street barreled directly through it. Only after the highway was rerouted around the historic district was the square restored. Now, under the shade of oak trees, the square features a monument honoring Haitians who fought under Casimir Pulaski during the siege of Savannah in the American Revolution.
Williams, Robin B., David Gobel, Patrick Haughey, Daves Rossell, and Karl Schuler. “Franklin Ward.” SAH Archipedia.
Garibaldi Savannah, 2025. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Garibaldi Savannah (315 West Congress Street) – Originally constructed for the Germania Fire Company, this elegant 1871 building now houses an equally elegant restaurant. Architectural historian Jonathan Stalcup reports that a large Neoclassical ballroom is behind the Palladian windows on the second floor.
During renovations a server regularly heard footsteps on the second floor when no one was up there. One evening she went out with a friend, and they decided to return to the restaurant to check on a friend who was working. The restaurant was closed by the time they arrived, though looking through a window they spied a woman walking down a hallway. Thinking it to be their friend, they tapped on the window to no avail. They phoned their friend only to discover that she was already home and that the restaurant had closed early after a slow night.
Sources
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
Stalcup, Jonathan E. Savannah Architectural Tours. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2008.
The Rail Pub (405 West Congress Street) – In 2010, The Rail Pub brought Northeast Florida Paranormal Investigations in to investigate this 1870 building. Investigators walked away having experienced the odor of perfume and flickering lights.
Congress Street Social Club (formerly B & B Billiards) (411 West Congress Street) – Partially hidden behind a beer garden, this large commercial building is believed to have been constructed in 1860, though James Caskey writes that it may be older, or at least built on a much older foundation. Over the more than 150 years this building has been standing, it has seen a variety of uses including a warehouse, grocery store, carriage shop, and even a rumored shooting range.
The first ghost stories emerged from this building after B & B Billiards opened around 2001. Staff regularly saw a man “sitting at the bar, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a tan shirt and pants, and boots,” who disappeared when he was approached. Both staff and patrons had experiences throughout the building, but especially in the ladies room. While cleaning the restroom, one staff member was shocked to see the toilet paper roll quickly unspooling itself.
Investigator Ryan Dunn explored the building with his paranormal team and collected some Class-A EVPs, including several from the infamous ladies room. One EVP caught the sound of a woman groaning, while another captured a man’s voice asking for help. While the team captured scant evidence, much of it was high quality.
Sources
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
Dunn, Ryan. Savannah’s Afterlife II: More True Tales of a Paranormal Investigator. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2018.
Corleone’s Trattoria, 2025. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Corleone’s Trattoria (44 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) – According to writer and investigator Tobias McGriff, this Italian eatery has a haunted basement.
Sources
McGriff, Tobias. Savannah Shadows: Tales from the Midnight Zombie Tour. Savannah, GA: Blue Orb Publishing, 2012.
Situated between Yamacraw Bluff and the Savannah River is this narrow ward that is now an entertainment or tourist district. It was here in 1733, that the first settlers stepped off the Anne under the leadership of General James Edward Oglethorpe, to create a new colony with Savannah as its capitol. Over time, enslaved Africans were unloaded here providing labor for the nascent city and as warehouses were constructed, this area became a place where they lived, worked, and died, leaving their spirits and energies to permeate the atmosphere.
Monument on River Street honoring the enslaved of Savannah. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, 2025, all rights reserved.
This ward incorporates all the buildings and warehouses from the north side of East Bay Street to the river. Due to the location of these buildings between streets and with different elevations, some of these locations may have up to three different addresses, depending on where their entrances are located.
View down Bull Street towards Savannah’s gold domed city hall. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, 2025, all rights reserved.
Savannah City Hall (2 East Bay Street) – In an article in the Savannah Morning News regarding recent renovations, Savannah’s mayor, Van Johnson, remarked on hearing “strange noises, sounds of ghosts,” within the 1904 building.
Savannah City Hall. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 3 September 2025.
24 East Bay Street – When Circa Savannah opened at this address in 2011, a press release was issued stating that paranormal investigators discovered a “major ghost portal” being used by a wide array of spirits from the city’s past. The store’s owner noticed paranormal activity as soon as he began opening the store including the sounds of parties and large groups in parts of the seemingly empty building, disembodied footsteps, and objects moving on their own volition.
Sources
Preston, Michael. “A Major Ghost Portal Discovered at the Historic Storefront of Circa Savannah.” PR Web. 26 September 2011.
Vic’s on the River (26 East Bay Street) – Occupying a warehouse dating to the end of the Antebellum era, Vic’s on the River is believed to be haunted by a French mariner whose love life was anything but lucky. Some years ago, a wedding cake brought in for a wedding the following day was found on the floor. Seeking the culprit, staff looked at security video to find that it slid off around 3:30 in the morning without the aid of anyone, or anything, living. The restaurant’s paranormal hotspot is the fifth floor, where the mariner’s spirit is most active.
Two Cracked Eggs Café (202 East Bay Street) – This warehouse building, once the home to Melonie’s Antiques, is home to several active spirits. While interviewing store staff, author and investigator James Caskey had something tugging at his glasses. When he took them off, he discovered that one lens was loose and the screw holding the lens in place was missing. He later discovered it in his shirt pocket.
The shop’s owner had numerous items fling themselves off the shelves and damaged once they hit the floor. In addition, a woman in blue appeared and would disappear within the shop. In one case, she walked in the front door ahead of an employee but vanished inside the store.
Sources
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
208-230 East Bay Street (Lower Stoddard Range) – Construction on this large warehouse began in 1858 when it was built for local businessman John Stoddard on the foundations of several older warehouses. Today, this building houses several businesses and restaurants, including the Boar’s Head Tavern (see below).
Sources
Lower Stoddard Range. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 24 August 2025.
The Chart House, 2025, by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Chart House Restaurant (202 West Bay Street) – Reports of paranormal activity in this restaurant date to its opening in 1979 when a group of employees encountered the apparition of a little girl one evening after close. Over time, staff and customers have seen the apparitions of a woman and a “blue man,” as well as experiencing the feeling of being watched and poltergeist activity. The building may be one of the oldest buildings in the ward, dating to at least 1818.
Sources
Dunn, Ryan. Savannah’s Afterlife: True Tales of a Paranormal Investigator. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2014.
East Broad Street Ramp – According to author and tour guide Robert Edgerly, a well-known fisherman in this area was attacked by an alligator crushing his head in its jaws. The man’s headless spirit has been seen lurking and has been blamed for tripping people as they ascend the steep staircase to Bay Street.
Jere’s Antiques (9 North Jefferson Street) – According to author and investigator Al Cobb, phantom children haunt this antique store.
Sources
Cobb, Al. Danny’s Bed: A Tale of Ghosts and Poltergeists in Savannah Georgia. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2000.
Factor’s Walk near the Olde Harbour Inn, by Lewis O. Powell, IV, 2025, all rights reserved.
Factor’s Walk – This street between warehouses and the bluff long saw the brutal employment of enslaved people who have left their spiritual mark here.
Sources
Cobb, Al. Savannah’s Ghosts II. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2007.
On my visit to the Graveface Museum recently, this clown was chattering his teeth at me. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, 2025, all rights reserved.
Graveface Museum (410 East Lower Factors Walk) – The Graveface Museum is an oddities museum providing a “glimpse into the human condition through actual artifacts and decades worth of research on topics ranging from true crime, cults, sideshow history, 1950s roadside attractions, secret societies, and the occult.” Housed in an old, haunted warehouse, the museum displays items from notorious serial killers like Ed Gein and John Wayne Gacy, as well as objects that may come with spirit attachments, creating an atmosphere that is buzzing with spirits and paranormal activity. In fact, visitors can book an after-hours tour of the museum seeking chills and spirits.
The back of the Olde Harbour Inn on River Street. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, 2019, all rights reserved.
Olde Harbour Inn (508 East Factor’s Walk) – A fire that damaged this building either in 1892 or 1907 (sources differ) killed a man named Hank. His spirit is perhaps the most active spirit here messing with doors, faucets, and even laying down in beds with guests.
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
Cobb, Al. Savannah’s Ghosts II. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2007.
The Boar’s Head Tavern, 2019. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rightsd reserved.
Boar’s Head Grill & Tavern (1 Lincoln Street, in the Lower Stoddard Range) – As with other businesses in this building, staff and patrons of this popular eatery have encountered apparitions, spirits that like to play with the faucets in the restrooms, disembodied footsteps, and a spirit that will tell exiting diners to “have a good night!”
Sources
Dunn, Ryan. Savannah’s Afterlife: True Tales of a Paranormal Investigator. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2014.
Interior of the Cotton Exchange Tavern looking towards the table next to the door. It was here that a manager was surprised to find someone sitting after he opened. Photo by lewis O. Powell, IV, 2025, all rights reserved.
Cotton Exchange Tavern (201 East River Street) – Some years ago, a manager arrived one morning at this restaurant to open for the day. He entered the only door at the front and headed straight for the bar to turn on lights when he noticed someone sitting at the table just to right of the door. The shadowy figure rose from the table and walked into the dining room. As he peeked into the room, the figure had become a large orb drifting through the air. He quickly fled into the street where he waited for the other employees to arrive.
The Shrimp Factory, 2025. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Shrimp Factory (313 East River Street) – This Savannah institution located within an Antebellum warehouse, boasts the spirit of an enslaved man in one of its storerooms. Nicknamed “Ol’ Joe,” the spirit is harmless and has been heard rattling around in the room. He has also been accused of occasionally drinking from the beer kegs store there.
Sources
Minor, Elliott. “Georgia Ghosts.” Athens Banner-Herald. 28 August 1995.
Sea Cabins (423 East River Street) – This inn which formerly occupied this address, was known to have a mischievous entity that removed lightbulbs from guestrooms.
503 East River Street, 2025. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
503 East River Street (formerly Savannah Harley-Davidson) – Like most buildings along this street, this building was constructed as a warehouse for George Kollock in 1854. The Kollock family not only operated a business here but had a family home in the upper stories where George passed away in 1889. Standard Oil occupied the structure for many years before it was returned to its original function as a warehouse. In the late 1970s, the building was the home to the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum before it moved to the William Scarborough House in 1996. Following the museum’s move, Harley-Davidson of Savannah took over the building installing a dealership here.
It was during the time this building hosted Harley-Davidson that the spirits began to make themselves known. Staff members frequently heard odd noises throughout the building including the laughter of children in the upstairs portion. In 2011, a sensitive visited stating that there was a portal behind the bathroom wall upstairs. Apparitions of a woman in a lacy dress and a man in a suit with a wide-brimmed hat have also been encountered here.
Sources
Dunn, Ryan. Savannah’s Afterlife: True Tales of a Paranormal Investigator. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2014.
Kevin Barry’s Irish Pub (117 West River Street) – Opening in 1981, Kevin Barry’s Irish Pub was a Savannah institution until its closure in 2019. Tourists and locals alike crowded this friendly pub Irish to raise a pint while taking in traditional Irish music in the music room. Inside this old warehouse, elements attesting to the building’s dark past involving enslaved laborers remain on the walls. Spirits also remain here including a mischievous entity that once threw bricks at a customer.
Sources
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
Dunn, Ryan. Savannah’s Afterlife II: More True Tales of a Paranormal Investigator. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2018.
River House Seafood (125 West River Street) – During an evening at Kevin Barry’s in 2019, I asked the bartender about ghosts in the pub and in the area. He mentioned that he had friends working at River House who had multiple encounters with ghosts and spirits.
Fire Department Station No. 4 420 West 5th Street Charlotte, North Carolina
In researching and writing about ghosts, I often forget that there were real individuals behind every ghost that I encounter. When I come across something like a death certificate for someone whose activity from the spiritual plane may be witnessed by those in the living plane, it can be a bit of a shock.
Legend often conflicts with the truthful history behind a haunting, and as a legend persists and spreads, the historical details may be discarded. Though, when I went searching for the truth behind the ghost of Charlotte’s Fire Station No. 4, the actual story has survived intact, except for some minor details. My current job requires a good amount of genealogical research, so I employed those skills in sussing out the details of this ghost story.
First, the legend as told by Israel Petty of The Lantern News & Media Group:
“On April 1st, 1934, a firefighter by the name of Pruitt Black headed out in response to a call. But when he tried to slide down the fire pole, he became tangled in his heavy bunker pants and fell through the hole instead.
Pruitt fractured his skull and died on impact. His ghost reportedly still haunts the building to this day, and visitors of the museum claim to see and smell the smoke of his cigar.”
Not only does the legend provide an exact name for the victim, but an exact date of death, as well as the location of the death. A quick search of Find-a-Grave, a website that provides the details of billions of graves worldwide, pulls up a Pruett L. Black who died 1 April 1934 buried in Charlotte’s Elmwood Cemetery. Bingo! This Pruett Black died at Fire Station No. 4!
With this basic information, I go to search Mr. Black on FamilySearch and his profile is the first to pop up. Included among the sources is a copy of the death certificate which can help to confirm the details of the legend. The cause of death is given as “Fractured skull cause [sic] by fall on concrete floor as he attempted to come down the pole from fireman’s quarters the distance being 14 feet.” The main details of his death also match up with the legend.
Front page of Section 2 of The Charlotte Observer 2 April 1934 announcing the death of Pruett Black.
All these details are backed up in the Charlotte Observer the following day. The section 2 headline blares “CHARLOTTE FIREMAN LOSES LIFE IN FALL AT STATION.”
Pruett L. Black, Charlotte fireman, was fatally injured yesterday morning at No. 4 fire station on West Fifth street when he lost his footing and plunged headfirst through the pole opening on the second floor and dropped to the concrete floor 14 feet below. He died three hours later at St. Peter’s hospital.
…Black was killed in action. He and other members of the No. 4 fire station were answering an alarm at 7:40 o’clock. When the alarm came in, the firemen, who were sleeping on the second floor of the station, dressed hurriedly and started for the brass pole which leads from the dormitory to the first floor where the apparatus is housed. A fellow fireman said that Black started toward to the pole, drawing on his coat as he went. Just as he grasped for the pole, his foot appeared to slip, and he missed his catch and fell through the opening. His head struck the concrete below and was horribly smashed.
The detail of Black dying upon impact at the firehouse is incorrect. He was injured in the fall and died at the hospital several hours later.
Putting these records together, a portrait of Mr. Black emerges. Pruett Livingston Black was born 6 February 1906 in Long Creek Township in northern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. There are some discrepancies with his date of birth, his death certificate states 26 February 1905, putting it at odds with his grave marker which reads 6 February 1906. His wife was the informant on the death certificate, so it is unknown which date may be correct. Black’s parents were Robert Rush Black (1877-1955) and Katherine Clarinda Wallace (1881-1911) and Pruett Black had five siblings: three brothers and two sisters.
Black joined the Charlotte Fire Department 15 March 1928, meaning he had just passed his sixth year of service when he died. On 30 June 1931, Pruett married Pansy Green Fortner (1910-2002) of Mount Holly, Gaston County, North Carolina at the Lutheran parsonage in Mount Holly. On 4 May 1932, Pansy gave birth to a son, Pruett Livingston Black, Jr. (1932-2013). When her husband died just about three years after their wedding, Pansy Black was left a widow and single mother at the age of 24. She would remarry around 1938, dying in 2002 in Charlotte.
Fire Station No. 4 in 2017. Photo by BusinessEditorUSA, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Construction on Firehouse No. 4 began in 1925 “to better balance downtown‘s fire protection with close proximity to the city center and accessibility to the Fourth Ward neighborhood.” The fire house opened in 1926, serving the city as until 1972 when its bays were deemed too narrow to allow for modern fire equipment. After closure, the building housed offices and storage for the city’s sanitation department as well as several businesses, including a digital media company and an antique store before reopening in 2002 as a fire museum. The museum was forced to close in 2009 due to rising rent. Since then, suggestions have been put forth for usage of the building, though nothing seems to have come to fruition.
It seems that the first stories of the building’s ghost were published by Stephanie Burt Williams in her 2003 book, Ghost Stories of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County: Remnants of the Past in a New South. For the book, Williams spoke with several people who worked in the building discovering that smelling the odor of cigar smoke was the most common experience for people in the building. The owner of the antique shop experienced the smoke the first time he toured the building. “In 1997, I was walking through the building for the first time. It had been boarded up and no one in there for years, and my first thought was that someone had been living there because the smell of cigar smoke was so strong. It was consistent and stronger in some areas than others, but I smelled it throughout the entire time I had my business there.”
Not only did people smell cigar smoke, but several people had face to face encounters with an apparition. One quiet Sunday afternoon, the antique store owner witnessed a man wearing a bright yellow parka walk through part of his store, approaching a wall and disappearing. He said, “It unnerved me, and I left for the day.” His electrical contractor had an experience shortly after. While working upstairs where the barracks were originally located the contractor observed a man walking down the hall. He followed the man into the old barracks room, though upon entering, the mysterious man had disappeared. A moment later, the store’s owner, who was downstairs, saw the man cross the room and disappear near the location of the original exterior door.
A short time later, the owner came face to face with the same apparition in the upstairs hallway. After doing some research on the building, he found a photo of Pruett Black, recognizing him as the apparition he had encountered a short time earlier. Quickly he started saying hello and goodbye to Mr. Black, who seemed to enjoy the greetings. “We never had any conversations, and I never felt scared. I felt very protected, but I definitely felt there was someone there,” he explained.
After he was sent some antique fire equipment and uniforms, the store owner displayed them in the old equipment room. Frequently, he found himself having to fold the uniforms as the spirit liked them hanging on the old pegs in the room.
While so many legends are recounted with questionable historical details, in this case, most of the historical details have been preserved. If you find yourself passing the old fire house and you happen to smell cigar smoke, be sure to wave hello to Pruett Black, I’m sure he would appreciate it!
Sources
Charlotte fireman loses life in fall at station. Charlotte Observer. 2 April 1934. Section 2, page 1.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75659356/pruett_l-black accessed October 31, 2024), memorial page for Pruett L. Black (6 Feb 1906–1 Apr 1934), Find a Grave Memorial ID 75659356. Citing Elmwood Cemetery, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by JJH 47481859.
Portillo, Ely. “A Carolina Panthers player’s uptown restaurant building got named to the National Historic Register.” Charlotte Observer. 23 March 2017.
Price, Mark. “He died in the line of duty. Now he reportedly haunts his old Charlotte fire station.” Charlotte Observer. 24 October 2017.
Williams, Stephanie Burt. Ghost Stories of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County: Remnants of the Past in a New South. Winston-Salem, NC: Bandit Books, 2003.
Wootson, Cleve R., Jr. “Fire Museum closing its doors.” Charlotte Observer. 5 April 2009.
