Alabama – Page 4 – Southern Spirit Guide

July 25, 2016May 27, 2019

Those Old Campus Spirits—University of North Alabama

On a cold day in January of 1830, a small Methodist school was carved out of the North Alabama wilderness and named LaGrange College. The college was built in the community of LaGrange, near what is now Leighton in Colbert County. With 70 male students and 3 professors, the college was fairly successful. Twenty-five years after opening, the Methodist conference decided to move the school to Florence, renaming the school Florence Wesleyan University. A large, Gothic structure, named Wesleyan Hall, was constructed for the school and it was here that Union General Sherman stayed as he and his forces passed through the city during the Civil War.

Harrison Plaza Bibb Graves Hall University of North Alabama ghosts haunted Florence Alabama — Harrison Plaza and Bibb Graves Hall, the school’s administration building. Bibb Graves Hall is said to be haunted. Photo 2007 by Burkeanwhig, courtesy of Wikipedia.

The school struggled during and following the war. In 1870, the Methodist conference offered the school to the state of Alabama. After the state’s acquisition, the college became a teachers’ college and has operated successfully under a series of different names until it took on the current name in 1974. Operating on a campus designed by the sons of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, and within a mix of historic and modern structures, the university has over 7,000 students, over 350 faculty members, and a number of spirits.

Off Campus Bookstore
472 North Court Street

Occupying a corner of the intersection of North Court Street and East Irvine Avenue, the Off Campus Bookstore is a part of what could very well be named the most haunted intersection in Florence. Just next door to the bookstore is the Edward Asbury O’Neal House, the haunted home to two state governors. Across North Court is historic and haunted Coby Hall, then across East Irvine is the modern and haunted hulk of Norton Auditorium with antebellum Rogers Hall (also known as Courtview) next door. While Rogers Hall is purported to be haunted, there is little documentation.

In the presence of these grand buildings, the Off Campus Bookstore, located in an early 20th century bungalow, may seem out of place, but its story is perhaps the saddest and most terrifying. The story began with the young daughter of the family living here being bitten by her dog. The dog was foaming at the mouth, and when the little girl extended her hand, it bit her, infecting her with rabies. With no treatment options at that time, the child died painfully in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

Since the girl’s death, she has continually been seen both in and around the house, sometimes in the presence of her beloved pet. Debra Johnston recounts an evening once, during the time that this house served as the Kappa Sigma fraternity house, when some brothers in conversation were interrupted by the apparition of a small girl asking, “Have you seen my dog?” In the 1980s, while the house was being renovated for use as a bookstore, a gentleman in the house witnessed a floating pink mist accompanied by the sound of a child walking barefoot.

Store employees still see the little girl around the store and note that candy often turns up missing when the store is opened in the mornings. Passersby still see the little girl looking from the windows of the bookstore at night and sometimes report hearing a child inquiring about her dog.

Directly across the street from the bookstore stands graceful COBY HALL which served as a private residence until the early 1990s when a school benefactor bought the house and donated it to the university in memory of his wife. Originally named Courtland Mansion, the home was constructed in the 1830s, and it has had an interesting history. During the Civil War, the house was occupied by troops of both sides including Confederate General John Bell Hood. The home is now an events space for the university.

Coby Hall, 2006 by Burkeanwhig, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Many staff members and students working in the house have experienced paranormal activity. The apparition of a woman wearing a navy skirt and white blouse has been seen on the first floor of the house, though her identity hasn’t been established. Jessica Penot reports that the spirit of Margaret Patton Simpson, wife of John Simpson who built the home, is still in residence here and dislikes disorder and chaos within her former home.

Across East Irvine from Coby Hall sits modern NORTON AUDITORIUM. During construction of this auditorium in the 1960s, tradition holds that a worker was killed in a fall and subsequently remains in the building in spirit. Interestingly, this common feature in ghostlore can also be related to two other Southern college theatres: Price Theatre, LaGrange College, LaGrange, Georgia and Van Meter Hall, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

While the exact identity of the spirit remains unknown, the spirit has been named “George” by those working in the auditorium. George has become notorious for causing odd sounds throughout the building and messing with the lights. Two young men spending the night in the building actually witnessed all the lights in the building turning on at once, though the main electrical breaker was switched off. Members of the staff of the campus newspaper, The Flor-Ala, were able to communicate with George via a Ouija board in 2011 (not something I can recommend for amateurs).

Behind the auditorium Oakview Circle branches off of North Pine Street. Along this street of gracious old Southern homes is the PHI GAMMA DELTA HOUSE (523 Oakview Circle) where the brothers of the Phi Upsilon Chapter reside along with a female ghost named Ella. According to legend, Ella fell down the stairs here and died. Her screams are sometimes heard here and the spirit acts out when brothers bring their girlfriends into the house.

Phi Gamma Delta House, 2007 by Burkeanwhig, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Continuing down North Pine Street, the long, International Style LaGRANGE HALL stretches off to the right just after the bridge. This 1960s era residence hall has been the scene of some paranormal activity. A recent article from The Flor-Ala recounts the experiences of a student in this residence hall during the 2014-2015 school year. She reported a feeling of being watched in the bathroom and seeing stall doors open on their own.

Towards the east side of campus along North Wood Avenue is the oldest building on campus, WESLEYAN HALL, where the pathetic form of a young boy still wet from his fatal swim has been observed. At times, the young boy’s wet footprints have been seen on the floor, but questions still linger as to the youngster and how he downed. Tradition holds that the boy is Jeremiah, a young Union drummer boy, and the son of one of General Sherman’s officers. Sherman is traditionally thought to have occupied the building during the Civil War.

In some versions of the legend, young Jeremiah was kidnapped by locals and used as a pawn to prevent Sherman from burning the town. After Sherman threatened to do that very thing if the boy was not returned, the boy was returned unharmed. In other stories, the boy simply went for a swim in a nearby creek and drowned.

Wesleyan Hall, 2007 by Burkeanwhig, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Wesleyan Hall is considered a magnificent example of Gothic Revival architecture and was constructed in 1855. During the Civil War, troops of both sides occupied the building. An investigation conducted by the staff of the Flor-Ala, the campus newspaper, in a number of haunted buildings on campus in 2011 turned up doors opening and closing by themselves here, and a computer turning itself on and off.

A product of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, WILLINGHAM HALL was constructed as a men’s dormitory in 1939. It has seen a variety of uses in the years since and currently houses offices for history, English and political science faculty. It was an English instructor who had a fearful experience here late one night a few years ago. He had returned to his office to retrieve a book when he heard a loud pounding that seemed to come from the basement. Looking in the basement, the instructor saw nothing and returned to his office. The pounding started up again accompanied by male voices. At that point the instructor calmly fled the building.

Willingham Hall, 2007 by Burkeanwhig, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Willingham Hall sits on what was the site of the Locust Dell Academy which was operated by Nicholas Hentz. Local historian and ghost author Debra Glass noted that Hentz was known to play music very loudly into the night. Perhaps he is still responsible for the spectral racket that is heard here.

Towards the center of campus sits the massive GUILLOT UNIVERSITY CENTER. Built in 1986, this structure replaced O’Neal Hall which had originally stood on this site since 1913. The resident spirit of O’Neal Hall was Priscilla, who legend holds committed suicide by hanging herself in an elevator shaft. The reasons behind her pain have been lost to history, though her form was seen a number of times within the old building. In 1984 a student locking up the building after a fraternity meeting was drawn by the sounds of a woman sobbing. Venturing upstairs, the young man encountered the diaphanous form of a young woman weeping. He fled.

Guillot University Center, 2007 by Burkeanwhig, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Author and local ghost expert Debra Johnston has recounted that while giving tours in front of the Guillot Center after hours the elevator doors were seen to open and close despite no one being inside the building. The front door of the building then opened by itself, though the building was locked for the night. She ventured that perhaps Priscilla had come out to hear her own ghost story.

Sources

Delinski, Bernie. “UNA possesses lion’s share of ghost stories.” Times-Daily. 31 October 2015.
“Haunting at UNA.” The Flor-Ala. 27 October 2011.
Honeycutt, Lauren. “Ghost encounters on campus.” The Flor-Ala. 22 July 2016.
Johnston, Debra. Skeletons in the Closet: True Ghost Stories of the Shoals Area. Debra Johnston, 2002.
Johnston, Debra. Skeletons in the Closet: More True Ghost Stories of the Shoals Area. Debra Johnston, 2003.
Lindley, Alex. “University of North Alabama (UNA).” Encyclopedia of Alabama. Accessed 22 July 2016.
Penot, Jessica. Haunted North Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010.
Tew, Kaitlyn. “UNA alumna, faculty recount campus ghost stories.” The Flor-Ala. 31 Oct 2013.
University of North Alabama. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 22 July 2016.
Willingham Hall. UNA. Acc. 30 Jun 2015.

November 11, 2015December 19, 2018

Some Alabama Hauntings, Briefly Noted

This entry was originally posted 16 January 2013, it has been edited and expanded a bit.

Bama Theatre
600 Greensboro Avenue
Tuscaloosa

Architect David O. Whilldin employed a theme of simplicity versus the exotic in his design for the Bama Theatre. The façade of the theatre utilizes limestone (a stone that may conduct paranormal energy) cut in the simplified geometry of Art Deco and Moderne lines. Step into the lobby, and a patron will find themselves immersed in the exuberance of an Italian Renaissance courtyard modeled on that of the Davanzati Palace in Florence. Perhaps Whilldin’s theme was meant to illustrate the condition of so many Americans during the Great Depression: leading simple and austere lives on the outside while their inner selves are vivacious, imaginative and highly cultured. Opening in 1938 and built with funds from the Works Progress Administration, the Bama Theatre can be considered one of the last of the great American atmospheric movie palaces.

Marquee of the Bama Theatre, 2010, by Carol M. Highsmith. Courtesy of the George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

The identities of the spirits at the Bama Theatre are unknown. While research into the theatre’s past has revealed no deaths to link to the haunting, this may be a case of residual energy remaining after years of audiences and performers in the theatre. One particularly interesting story involves an employee who arrived early one morning. As he was making coffee, he heard the elevator moving. He stood at the doors expecting to greet the passenger, but when the doors opened, a blast of icy air greeted him, this is perhaps the most chilling of the paranormal events in this building.

Others working in the building have reported shadow figures, odd lights, and the distinct feeling of being watched. The building was probed by the Alabama Paranormal Research Team in recent years, though little evidence to support a haunting was uncovered.

Sources

Alabama Paranormal Research Team. Investigation Report on The Bama Theatre, Tuscaloosa, AL. Accessed 29 November 2012.
Higdon, David & Brett J. Talley. Haunted Tuscaloosa. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2012.
“History.” The Bama Theatre (bamatheatre.org). Accessed 4 March 2013.

Bluff Hall
405 North Commissioners Avenue
Demopolis

The fortunes of Demopolis’ Lyon family reflect the rise and fall of the entire state during the 19th century. While the family owned a large plantation, Bermuda Hill, outside of town, it required a home in town for business and social functions. This home, Bluff Hall, was constructed in 1832 by Allen Glover for his daughter Sarah and her husband, Francis Strother Lyon.

Bluff Hall, 2008, by Altairisfar. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

The revised WPA guide to the state describes the house as “fortress-like in its strength and severity,” an apt description for the magnificently sited home. Occupying one of the bluffs above the Tombigbee River, the home illustrates the Lyon family’s remarkable and powerful position in the region. Francis Lyon, the home’s first owner, served in the Alabama State Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Confederate Congress, all the while running his plantation at Bermuda Hill. The home remained in the Lyon family until just after the turn of the 20th century when another family purchased it as a residence. The Marengo County Historical Society purchased the home in 1967 and restored it to its antebellum glory.

Since its purchase by the historical society, evidently no one had stayed the night in the home until 2003. A group of people staying overnight encountered odd sounds during the evening. When the President of the local Chamber of Commerce went to investigate, she was confronted with the apparition of a child on the stairs. Local historians have suggested that the child was the spirit of Leonidas Mecklenburg “Merk” Polk, Francis Lyon’s grandson and grandson to Confederate General Leonidas Polk, who passed away in the home of scarlet fever in 1877.

Sources

“Area rich in ghost stories, folk lore.” Demopolis Times. 30 October 2008.
Bluff Hall. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 14 December 2012.
Francis Strother Lyon. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 14 December 2012.
Hendrix, Barry H. “Image may have been real.” Demopolis Times. 5 November 2003.
Walker, Alyce Billings. ed. Alabama: A Guide to the Deep South, New Revised Edition. NYC: Hastings House, 1975.

Interstate 65
Between Evergreen and Greenville

This roughly 40-mile stretch of I-65 between Evergreen, in Conecuh County, and Greenville, in Butler County, is the setting for a legend. Like much of the state of Alabama, this area was initially part of the vast nation of the Muscogee, or Creek, people. After Alabama’s creation in 1819, land-hungry white pioneers flooded the area and tensions rose as the Muscogee watched the theft and degradation of their homeland. Skirmishes between the two groups brought violence and orders of removal from Washington. Thousands of Muscogees were forcibly removed from their rich and fertile homeland and resettled in the dry and barren Oklahoma territory.

The Muscogee left behind villages, farmland, hunting grounds, trails, and the bones of their ancestors. According to legend, I-65 cuts a swath through part of this sacred Muscogee territory and, as a result, this section of interstate is cursed. One commonly quoted statistic on this stretch of road states that “between 1984 and 1990, there were 519 accidents, 208 injuries, and 23 deaths on this 40-mile stretch of highway, though the road is straight, even, and well maintained.”

Many of these accidents are supposedly caused by something, possibly a human figure, darting across the road. A 2002 Birmingham News article says that Native American spirits have been seen in this area, “some as tall as 50 feet, towering over the pine trees in the interstate median.” Other reports involve mysterious, bright lights temporarily blinding drivers. Then again, this may just be another old Indian curse legend.

Sources

Granato, Sherri. “Haunted America: Interstate 65 in Evergreen, Alabama.” Yahoo Voices. 24 October 2011.
Hauck, Dennis William. Haunted Places: The National Directory. NYC: Penguin, 2002.
Haveman, Christopher. “Creek Indian Removal.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 23 February 2012.
MacDonald, Ginny. “Boootiful Alabama: Don’t let night catch you driving alone.” Birmingham News. 31 October 2002.

November 10, 2015August 13, 2019

A Southern Feast of All Souls—Feast Wrap Up

The feast is done, the table has been cleared, the guests have left, the spirits have quietly returned to their rest, and the veil between our world and the next has been restored. This season has been great for articles about the haunted South so, I’m wrapping up this Southern Feast of All Souls with a look at some of the new (to me) haunted places that were covered in the news media.

Colby Building
191 North Foster Street
Dothan, Alabama

An investigator from Circle City Ghost Hunters said of the Colby Building in downtown Dothan, “Somebody once upon a time put their heart and soul in the building.” Perhaps that soul is still here. According to an October 29^th article in the Dothan Eagle, this group investigated the building after numerous reports of paranormal activity in the building surfaced.

Colby Building Dothan Alabama ghosts haunted — The Colby Building, 2015, by Michael Rivera. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

While working on my recent book about haunted Alabama, I had a heck of a time trying to find anything on the Dothan area. As the seventh largest city in the state by population, there should be more information on hauntings in the area, sadly there was nothing reliable. Therefore, I was rather excited to see this article appear. The Colby Building was built in 1938 as a J.C. Penney’s Department Store and has since hosted a number of businesses. The building was redeveloped by a private/public partnership in 2008 and currently houses two restaurants, Colby’s on North Foster Street and Bella’s in the back of the building on West Troy Street.

Employees and guests have had experiences in the building including things moving on their own and seeing figures. Others have had their names called and the employees have nicknamed the spirit “’Rachel’ because all kinds of crazy stuff happened.” (I’m presuming this a reference to the television show Friends.) The owner of the restaurants was delighted to host an investigation when Circle City Ghost Hunters inquired about investigating there. The article notes that the activity is explained by a story involving the death of a young woman on the building’s third floor in the 1950s.

N.B. As of 2019, it appears that Colby’s has closed, though Bella’s remains open.

Sources

Ingram, Debbie. “Plans unveiled for $2.4 million Penney building project.” Dothan Eagle. 18 August 2008.
Sailors, Jimmy. “Circle City Ghost Hunters conducting investigation in downtown Dothan.” Dothan Eagle. 29 October 2015.

Suntan Arts Center (Don Vicente Building)
3300 Gulf Boulevard
St. Pete Beach, Florida

Adjoining the Don CeSar Beach Resort, a palatial pink Jazz Age dream, is the Don Vicente Building which was built just prior to the grand hotel to serve as offices during the construction. Over the years, the building has seen many incarnations serving as offices for the hotel, a bank, and even a firehouse. The building has housed the 50 year old Suntan Arts Center for many years. The center provides classes and support for the local arts community.

The center hosted a ghost tour this year highlighting the paranormal activity that has been experienced in the building. For many years people here have encountered the spirit of a man in a white suit. As this building did serve as an office for Thomas Rowe, the hotel’s founder, this spirit has been identified as him. During an investigation of the building in 2013 by SPIRITS of St. Petersburg, the group got a response when Rowe’s name was mentioned. Besides Mr. Rowe’s white-suited spirit there may be other spirits here as well.

Sources

“Self-guided ghost tour departs from Suntan Arts Center.” TBN Weekly. 28 September 2015.
SPIRITS of St. Petersburg Paranormal Investigation Group. “Report for Suntan Arts Center.” Accessed 8 November 2015.

Porter Hall
Mercer University
Macon, Georgia

Porter Hall, a residence hall on the campus of Mercer University, one of the oldest private universities in Georgia, possibly has something mysterious residing on its fourth floor. One student reported that she “heard things like chairs being dragged across the pine, like a hard pine floor.” The fourth floor is not accessible to students and used for storage. Reportedly, only the dorm’s resident advisor has access. When students complain of noise from that floor, the resident advisor will check it out and find the floor empty of living beings.

Sources

Kachinsky, Noelle. “Mercer University has its share of haunted locations across campus.” 30 October 2015.
“Top 5 Hauntings of Mercer University.” Gateway Macon. Accessed 23 October 2015.

Westover Terrace (private)
905 West Main Street
Richmond, Kentucky

When the current owners of Westover Terrace began restoration on the house after they acquired it in 1995, the house was severely dilapidated and vandals had defaced parts of the interior. A pentagram had been painted upstairs, walls and windows had been smashed, and the mantelpieces and radiators had been stolen. Local kids occasionally prowled the creepy house in search of ghosts in this former funeral home. The new owners did not realize they acquired ghosts with this magnificent 1881 home.

As work progressed, the owners and contractors began to have odd experiences including loud crashes and bangs that sounded like sledge hammers being used and heavy furniture being moved. The voice of a little girl was heard asking workers what they were doing and warning them on occasion. While doing repair work on a staircase, one particular board was removed several times. After the owner used a hydraulic nail gun to attach the it, the board disappeared entirely. When the owners finally moved into the home in 2005, the activity seemed to quiet down. Evidently, the ghosts are pleased with the renovations. This is a private home, please respect the owners’ privacy and observe the house from the street.

Sources

King, Critley. “The haunted history of Richmond.” Richmond Register. 29 October 2015.

Green Light Bridge
Green Light Road
Winnsboro, Louisiana

An article about Louisiana hauntings from the Shreveport Times highlighted this very interesting location near Winnsboro in Franklin Parish in the northeast portion of the state. The origin of the road’s odd name has been lost to history, but is possibly related to the paranormal green light that is supposed to emanate from underneath the bridge and along the banks of the stream here. The article does not name the creek, but after looking at Google maps, it seems that the road only crosses one stream, Turkey Creek, in its course from LA-15 to its termination at Dummy Line Road.

The possible reasons for the odd green light are varied. A church once existed on one side of the creek and sometime in the mid-20^th century a man was hung from a tree in front of the church. A fatal car accident that occurred here may be related to the activity as well. A woman lost her life when her car crashed into a tree. There is also speculation that the woman was frightened by the mysterious green light.

Sources

“’Haunted’ Louisiana: Tales of Terror from Shreveport and beyond.” Shreveport Times. 30 September 2015.

Glen Burnie Regional Library
1010 Eastway
Glen Burnie, Maryland

Librarians at the Glen Burnie Regional Library have been spooked by something within this 1969 library for many years. Odd sounds have been heard by staff when they have closed the building at night while books have been pushed to the floor by unseen hands. Staff called in the Maryland Ghost Trackers to investigate. During the investigation, the investigators made contact with a number of male spirits who are apparently hanging around and enjoy making a bit of trouble now and then.

Sources

Bottalico, Brandi. “Glen Burnie library resource for all—even ghosts.” Capital Gazette. 23 October 2015.
“Maryland Ghost Trackers called to Glen Burnie Library.” 28 October 2015.

Ole Tavern on George Street
416 George Street
Jackson, Mississippi

There are several ghosts still patronizing the Ole Tavern on George Street according to a Halloween article from Jackson, Mississippi news station, WAPT. The article highlights a recent investigation of this establishment by the Mississippi Paranormal Research Institute. Employees of the popular eatery have had several eerie encounters with a few possible spirits here.

One employee saw a woman sitting at the bar one morning as he opened up. He had just removed the padlock from the door when he saw the woman. Realizing that no one was in the building, the employee returned to his car until someone else arrived. This spirit is believed to be the spirit of a prostitute who once worked in the building and committed suicide here in the 1970s. The investigation produced evidence that this woman may remain in the building with some other spirits.

Sources

“Ghost hunters seek answers from ‘Bitter Hooker.’” 31 October 2015.

October 12, 2015March 6, 2019

Southern Spirit Guide’s Haunted Alabama

Mid 19th-century era illustration of the attack on Fort Mims. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

In the hot, humid August air of a Deep South summer in 1813, the stench of blood mingled with smoke at Fort Mims. A pall of shocked silence hung over the bodies of men, women and children; a mix of races, Muscogee Creek, white, enslaved Africans; all laying together among the burning ruins of the frontier stockade where they sought shelter. The Red Stick Creeks who attacked the fort had been victorious and still exclaimed their glee in war cries as they disappeared back into the thick scrub forest surrounding the forest.

As the town of Athens, Alabama was sacked by Union troops in May 1862, 16-year-old Nannie Donnell lay in her bed suffering from scarlet fever. On the lawn of her family’s house, now known as the Donnell House, the noisy soldiers drank and caroused despite pleas from the family to allow the child to sleep in peace. Nannie Donnell soon left this world accompanied by Yankee music, but does she still return to the room where died?

The Donnell House, 1935, by Alex Bush for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

On December 1, 1888 Richard Hawes took his daughter, Mary, to East Lake in Birmingham. A few hours later he left without his daughter. Her limp, lifeless body was discovered a few days later under the cool waters of the lake. Her father was arrested not long after for her murder as his train pulled into the city with his new bride. After it was discovered that his wife and other daughter had been murdered as well, Birmingham exploded in outrage. Hawes left this world from the end of a rope, but his daughter’s frail spirit may still linger by the lake.

State Attorney General-elect Albert Patterson left his office in the Coulter Building in downtown Phenix City on the evening of June 18, 1954. Known as “Sin City, USA,” Phenix City had been rife with corruption and organized crime for years and Patterson had pledged to clean it up. He walked to his car in the small parking lot between his office building and the Elite Café. Shots rang out and Patterson stumbled to the sidewalk in front of his office building where he collapsed and died.

With each of these events they entered not only the annals of the history of Alabama but the state’s folklore as well. Folklore speaking of ghosts and spirits has developed around each of these historic sites and many others throughout the state. My first book, Southern Spirit Guide’s Haunted Alabama: A Gazetteer to Ghostlore, Legends and Haunted Places, explores, county-by-county, location-based ghostlore throughout the state of Alabama. Each entry is based on the most reliable sources including interviews with eyewitnesses to paranormal activity at many locations. Explore haunted Alabama with Southern Spirit Guide and get your copy today! Available on Amazon!

October 3, 2015December 19, 2018

A Southern Feast of All Souls—The Souls of Sloss

Sloss Furnaces
20 32^nd Street, North
Birmingham, Alabama

Perhaps one of the most iconic haunted places in the state of Alabama, this National Historic Landmark site is reminiscent of Birmingham’s history. Birmingham was built on industrial facilities like this producing iron during the latter half of the 19^th and into the 20^th centuries. While the facility opened in 1882, nothing remains of the original furnaces. The oldest building on this site dates to 1902 with much of the equipment installed and added in later years. This facility closed in 1971, and local preservationists began work to save the facility soon after. Their efforts paid off, and the facility is open as a museum and events facility.

Sloss Furnaces, 2011, by Matthew Gordon. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

There is always a chance for death in industrial sites, even more so around molten metal in a furnace. In 1887 Theophilus Jowers assistant foundryman at the Alice furnace (one of the first furnaces on this site), fell to his death into the molten iron in the furnace. Some of his remains—his head, bowels, two hip bones and some ashes—were fished out of the molten iron. Jowers’ death remains one of the most spectacular and grisly, though many more men died throughout the time that the furnaces were in operation.

After Jowers’ death, his spirit was observed by co-workers. Kathryn Tucker Windham quotes one former employee, “We’d be getting ready to charge the furnace, and we’d see something, something like a natural man walking around on the hearth. Just walking slow and looking around like he was checking to make sure everything was all right.” Windham describes the first time that Jowers’ son saw his father’s spirit in 1927. The grown son took his own son for a drive over the First Avenue Viaduct and there, while watching the action at the furnace, they observed a man walking through the showers of sparks and flames.

Two more spirits are believed to be in residence at this site, but their stories are less historically based. A white deer that has been seen on the grounds is believed to be the spirit of a pregnant girl who committed suicide by throwing herself into the furnace. The other “apocryphal”—as Alan Brown describes him—spirit is that of a fiendish foreman named James “Slag” Wormwood. Like Jowers and the pregnant girl, Wormwood supposedly fell to his death into one of the furnaces, though it is suspected that he was really pushed by an angry employee. It is Wormwood’s angry spirit that is responsible for pushing employees and visitors even today.

The furnaces are known as a hotbed of paranormal activity and were investigated for the first time in 2005 by Ghost Chasers International out of Kentucky. They were joined by psychic Chip Coffey who would soon make his name working on the A&E show, Paranormal State. During the investigation, Coffey made contact with the spirit of a man who had lost a limb in an accident there. Moments after losing contact with the spirit, team members noticed blood on Coffey’s hands. After investigating him for scratches or another injury that could have produced blood, nothing was found. Over the past 10 years of paranormal investigations at the site, a slag heap of evidence has been captured here.

Sources

Brown, Alan. Haunted Birmingham. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2009.
“History.” Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. Accessed 12 June 2015.
Parks, Megan. “Sloss Fright Furnace: The haunts heat up in Alabama.” USA Today. 14 October 2014.
Windham, Kathryn Tucker. The Ghost in the Sloss Furnaces. Birmingham, AL: Birmingham Historical Society, 2005.

July 30, 2015April 28, 2020

Montgomery, Alabama’s Haunted Five

N.B. This article was edited and revised 18 May 2019.

Alabama’s state capital, Montgomery, appears to play second fiddle to Birmingham, the largest city in the state. But Montgomery has a complex history that has put it often at the forefront of many historical movements in the South. Starting as a frontier trading post, the city served as the first capital of the young Confederacy until the rebel government moved to Richmond, Virginia.

After the Civil War, the city became known for technological achievements in the form of an electric trolley system, and in 1910, a flying school opened by the Wright brothers. In the mid-20^th century, the city’s sad racial history placed it at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement presenting us with a mighty lion in the form of a petite seamstress named Rosa Parks.

bird's eye view of Montgomery Alabama ghosts haunted Southern ghosts — 1887 Bird’s Eye View of Montgomery by H. C. Davidson.

Paranormally speaking, the city has a fascinating panoply of spirits, many of which have been covered in two recent books: Faith Serafin’s Haunted Montgomery and Shawn Sellers and Jake Bell’s Montgomery: A City Haunted by History, both published in 2013.

Capital Towers Apartments
7 Clayton Street, private

On February 7, 1967, fire ravaged the swanky restaurant on the top floor of this building. Dale’s Penthouse restaurant was one of the most fashionable dining options at the time in Montgomery. As the fire broke out on this frigid February night, rapidly moving flames blocked the elevator and the stairwell, trapping and killing 26 patrons including several well-known politicians and local personalities. While some conspiracy theories exist as to the origin of the fire, the official explanation points to a lit pipe left in a coat pocket.

haunted Capital towers apartment building Montgomery Alabama Dale's Penthouse fire ghosts haunted Southern ghosts — The headline of the Montgomery Advertiser on 8 February 1967 report the fire at Dale’s Penthouse.

Capitol Towers Apartments Montgomery Alabama haunted — Capitol Towers Apartments in October of 2016. Photo by Lewis O. Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The building itself only received slight damage and the penthouse that once housed the restaurant is now a private residence. Former residents of the building have reported hearing screams of “help,” while residents in the penthouse have spotted misty, black forms. Shawn Sellers notes that passersby near the building have smelled smoke and heard screams coming from near the top floor.

Sources

Hull, Christine Kneidinger. “26 died in Dale’s Penthouse fire in Montgomery 44 years ago today.” AL.com. 7 Feb 2011.
Sellers, Shawn & Jake Bell. Montgomery: A City Haunted by History. Shawn Sellers, 2013.
Serafin, Faith. Haunted Montgomery, Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.

Chris’s Hot Dogs
138 Dexter Avenue

While the hot dogs are legendary around these parts, the good food is not the only reason Montgomery citizens still flock to Chris’ Hot Dogs, it’s the atmosphere; an atmosphere still punctuated by spirits. Founded in 1917 as the Post Office Café, this restaurant has become an institution in its 98 years of business. For three decades, this café was a popular late night hotspot serving hot dogs and liquor and attracting the likes of country singer, Hank Williams.

Chris' Hot Dogs Montgomery Alabama ghosts haunted Southern ghosts — Chris’ Hot Dogs, 2016, photo by Lewis O. Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Shawn Sellers and his investigation team explored the restaurant and discovered that the staff has countless stories about employees still working their shifts from beyond the grave. Perhaps Hank Williams can be heard still singing under the green and white striped awning?

Sources

Cumuze, Greg. “My Immutable Heaven.” Chris’ Hot Dogs History. Accessed 26 May 2015.
Sellers, Shawn & Jake Bell. Montgomery: A City Haunted by History. Shawn Sellers, 2013.

Downtown Montgomery’s Lady in White

Dexter Avenue fountain Montgomery Alabama Lady in White ghosts haunted Southern ghosts — Montgomery’s main street, Dexter Avenue, from the fountain looking up towards the state capitol on Goat Hill, 2016. Photo by Lewis O. Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The identity of this mysterious woman is unknown, but her apparition is quite frightening. Seen throughout downtown Montgomery, the Lady in White is dressed entirely in white with long and dark hair and animal-like, ferocious teeth. In a 2013 article, Shawn Sellers is quoted as saying, “She’s actually the most reported ghost of anywhere in downtown Montgomery. She’s always seen outside. She’s never looking at anybody. She’s just always walking up the street, and people say they feel her before they see her. She’s just a creepy, creepy energy.”

Sources

Sellers, Shawn & Jake Bell. Montgomery: A City Haunted by History. Shawn Sellers, 2013.
Sutton, Amber. “Ghosts, curses and more: Take a walk on the supernatural side with Haunted Montgomery Tours.” AL.com. 2 Oct 2013.

F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum
919 Felder Street

In Fitzgerald’s classic novel of the Jazz Age, The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan remarks on the birth of her daughter, “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” Some suspect that Fitzgerald’s Montgomery-born wife, Zelda, may have made a similar remark on the birth of their daughter. Zelda, whose zest for life strongly influenced her husband as well as legions of young women, lived her life as the epitome of the “foolish” Flapper.

Zelda and her husband lived in this house for a scant five months—October 1931 to February 1932—but during that time F. Scott Fitzgerald completed his novel, Tender is the Night, while Zelda outlined her one and only novel, Save Me the Waltz. The house was saved from demolition in 1986, and later opened as a museum to the literary couple. The upper floor of the house now has several private apartments, and residents there have reported hearing faint jazz music and disembodied footsteps. The museum’s director has reported that Zelda’s “foolish” spirit has remained active in the house and is believed to be the spirit responsible for flinging a painting from the wall while a staff member watched.

Sources

Curnutt, Kirk. “Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 15 Mar 2007.
Herbert, Katherine. “Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 14 Aug 2014.
Sellers, Shawn & Jake Bell. Montgomery: A City Haunted by History. Shawn Sellers, 2013.
Serafin, Faith. Haunted Montgomery, Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.

Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium
200 Coosa Street

Home to the Montgomery Biscuits, the city’s minor league baseball team, Riverwalk Stadium is located on the site of a former Civil War prisoner of war camp. During the war, this site was occupied by a cotton warehouse. After the Battle of Shiloh in April of 1862, Union prisoners were housed in the warehouse in reportedly deplorable conditions until they were moved to Tuscaloosa in December of that year. Faith Serafin notes that some 200 prisoners died while in captivity at this site.

Riverwalk Stadium Montgomery Alabama ghosts haunted Southern ghosts — The field at Riverwalk Stadium, 2008. Photo by markcbrennan, courtesy of Wikipedia.

According to Shawn Sellers, before groundbreaking took place for the ballpark, this site was occupied by a hotel. Maids would sometimes find rooms disturbed after they had cleaned them, while guests observed mysterious figures in their rooms. After the hotel closed, the building was occupied by offices where similar activity was reported. The stadium may host activity including shadow figures, the sounds of weeping and screaming, and the occasional apparition.

Sources

Sellers, Shawn & Jake Bell. Montgomery: A City Haunted by History. Shawn Sellers, 2013.
Serafin, Faith. Haunted Montgomery, Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.

Other Montgomery Hauntings

Several other Montgomery hauntings have been covered elsewhere in this blog. Coverage of Alabama’s State Capitol Building can be found in my “Southern Spirit Guide to Haunted Alabama.” Two locations at Huntingdon College have been covered: Houghton Memorial Library in my “Guide to the Haunted Libraries of the South –Alabama,” and Pratt Hall as the representative haunting for Montgomery County in my “Alabama Hauntings–County by County, Part VI.”

June 13, 2015December 14, 2021

Birmingham’s Haunted Five

After my recent entry on Alabama, I had a comment on Facebook, “Interesting, but there’s more than the library in Birmingham…” Indeed.

I’ve previously covered two magnificent Birmingham theatres: the Alabama and Lyric; and the Tutwiler Hotel, in addition to the Linn-Henley Library which I covered in the Haunted Alabama entry. So here are a few more locations to add to the Birmingham list.

When Alan Brown wrote his 2009, Haunted Birmingham, he noted that this city’s ghostlore “is not nearly as rich as that found in much older cities.” Certainly, Birmingham is the youngest of Alabama’s large cities, having only been founded in 1871. Still, the city has some very interesting ghostlore including the iconic Sloss Furnaces.

Sloss Furnaces
20 32^nd Street, North

Perhaps one of the most iconic haunted places in the whole state, this National Historic Landmark site is iconic of Birmingham’s history. Birmingham was built on industrial facilities like this producing iron during the latter half of the 19^th and into the 20^th centuries. While the facility opened in 1882, nothing remains of the original furnaces here. The oldest building on this site dates to 1902 with much equipment installed and added in later years. This facility closed in 1971 and local preservationists began work to save the facility. Their efforts paid off and the facility is open as a museum and events facility.

Sloss Furnaces, 2006. Photo by Timjarrett, courtesy of Wikipedia.

There is always a chance for death in industrial sites, even more so around molten metal in a furnace. In 1887, Theophilus Jowers, assistant foundryman at the Alice furnace (one of the first furnaces on this site) fell to his death into the molten iron in the furnace. Some of his remains—his head, bowels, two hip bones and some ashes—were fished out of the molten iron. Jowers’ death remains one of the most spectacular and grisly, though many more men died throughout the time that the furnaces were in operation.

After Jowers’ death, his spirit was observed by co-workers. Kathryn Tucker Windham quotes one former employee, “We’d be getting ready to charge the furnace, and we’d see something, something like a natural man walking around on the hearth. Just walking slow and looking around like he was checking to make sure everything was all right.” Windham describes the first time that Jowers’ son saw his father’s spirit in 1927. The now grown son took his son for a drive over the First Avenue Viaduct and there, while watching the action at the furnace, they observed a man walking through the showers of sparks and flames.

Two more spirits are believed to be in residence at this site, but less historically based. A white deer that has been seen on the grounds is believed to be the spirit of a pregnant girl who committed suicide by throwing herself into the furnace. The other “apocryphal”—as Alan Brown describes him—spirit is that of a fiendish foreman named James “Slag” Wormwood. Like Jowers and the pregnant girl, Wormwood supposedly fell to his death into one of the furnaces, though it is suspected that he was really pushed by an angry employee. It is Wormwood’s angry spirit that is responsible for pushing employees.

Sources

Brown, Alan. Haunted Birmingham. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2009.
“History.” Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. Accessed 12 June 2015.
Parks, Megan. “Sloss Fright Furnace: The haunts heat up in Alabama.” USA Today. 14 October 2014.
Windham, Kathryn Tucker. The Ghost in the Sloss Furnaces. Birmingham, AL: Birmingham Historical Society, 2005.

East Lake Park
400 Graymont Avenue, West

On the 1^st December 1888, Richard Hawes accompanied his daughter to the newly built lake here. Sometime later, he left without the seven-year-old. On December 4^th, two boys playing on a boat in the lake discovered the child’s half-naked body in the water. The discovery caused a sensation among the citizens who thronged the funeral home where she was taken to view the body. Eventually, she was identified as May Hawes. As his train pulled into Birmingham, Richard Hawes, May’s father, was arrested.

May Hawes’ body as pictured in a local paper, 1888.

Richard Hawes was aboard the train with his new bride and still in his wedding suit. He told investigators that he had divorced his wife and was paying for the support of the children. His new wife, from Columbus, Mississippi, was described as being prostrate with grief after finding that her new husband was suspected of murder. Hawes’ wife Emma and daughter, Irene, age six. As newspapers stirred the city’s emotions, Emma’s body was found in a lake in the Lakeview neighborhood. Outrage overtook countless Birminghamians who gathered outside the city jail demanding Hawes be brought to justice immediately. A militia that had been called out to protect the jail eventually opened fire on the crowd killing ten including the city’s postmaster and wounding many others. A few days later, the pathetic body of Irene Hawes was found in the same lake where her mother had been found.

Postcard of East Lake from the roller coaster that once perched on the shores, 1909.

After a swift trial, Richard Hawes faced the gallows and was hung for the murder of his wife and two daughters. Hawes’ second wife was granted from her depraved husband. The lake in Lakeview where Emma and Irene were drowned is now a golf course while East Lake is the centerpiece of East Lake Park, which became a city park 1917. Little May Hawes is still seen in and around the lake where she is sometimes called the “Mermaid of East Lake.”

Sources

East Lake Park. Accessed 12 June 2015.
Jones, Pam. “The Hawes Murders.” Alabama Heritage. Spring 2006.
Kazek, Kelly. “’Tis the season: Haunting tales from ghost tours in 3 Alabama cities.” com. 2 October 2012.

Arlington Antebellum Home & Gardens
331 Cotton Avenue

Described as the “Birthplace of Birmingham,” Arlington is the oldest remaining home in Jefferson County. The core of this house was constructed in 1822 with additions being made to the house in 1842. As it served as the headquarters for Union General James H. Wilson during the closing months of the Civil War, the house was spared while the orders for the destruction of the University of Alabama, the arsenal at Selma and iron works throughout the region were issued from this home. As can be expected in a house of this age, there is some paranormal activity. Alan Brown notes that docents have heard doors slamming and witnessed rocking chairs rocking on their own accord.

Arlington by Jet Lowe. Photo for the Historic American Buildings Survey, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Sources

Brown, Alan. Haunted Birmingham. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2009.
Floyd, W. Warner and Mrs. Catherine M. Lackmond. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Arlington. 9 September 1970.

Carraway Methodist Medical Center
1600 Carraway Boulevard

This defunct hospital was, for many years, one of Birmingham’s leading medical facilities. In the 2000s, the hospital was plagued with financial difficulties that lead to its closure in 2008. The facility has been deteriorating since and it has attracted homeless people, vandals, copper thieves and some ghost hunters. A November 2014 article by Kelly Kazek reports on an investigation conducted by investigator and author, Kim Johnston. After touring the facility with the owner, Johnston reported that the Emergency Room had a “palpable heaviness.” Her group did have the experience of hearing muffled voices in the cardiac surgery area of the third floor. Even after bringing in local police, no one was found to be in that area. This building is closed and tresapssers will be prosecuted, please only observe from a distance.

Sources

Carraway Methodist Medical Center. Acc. 6 Jun 2015.
Kazek, Kelly. “Abandoned Alabama Part 2: The ghost of cities past.” com. 28 Nov 2014.

Hotel Indigo Birmingham Five Points South (formerly The Hotel Highland at Five Points South)
1023 20^th Street, South

Originally constructed as the Medical Arts Building in 1931, this building served as offices for surgeons and dentists for many years. In the 1980s, a former cardiac surgeon renovated the Art Deco structure into a hotel, the Pickwick Hotel. During this time, stories emerged of a nurse still making rounds on the eighth floor. Sheila Turnage quotes a former director of sales who said that the elevator would mysteriously be called to the eighth floor unexpectedly. The hotel was transformed into a boutique hotel in 2007.

Sources

Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2001.
“History of the Hotel” The Hotel Highland at Five Points South. Accessed 18 May 2015.

June 4, 2015November 20, 2024

Southern Spirit Guide to Haunted Alabama

N. B. This article was overhauled 8 December 2019.

Shortly after starting this blog, I created a series of articles covering each state. When I moved this blog, I removed those articles and I have slowly, but surely reposted edits of these articles. The only article to remain intact is the one I created for Washington, D.C. Some of the edited articles have been reposted for Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

After publishing my Haunted Alabama book as an eBook in 2015, I redid the haunted Alabama article using entries from the original manuscript. When I republished the book in print, the text received a major overhaul, though this article wasn’t updated. Now, in 2019, I’m finally getting around to updating this article.

Alabama State Capitol
600 Dexter Avenue
Montgomery

One of the most important sites in the entire state stands on a place called Goat Hill. This building is the second capitol building on this site, the first having been destroyed by fire in 1849. The current building opened in 1851 and has witnessed a panorama of much of Alabama’s history. It was here in 1861 that representatives of six Southern states met to create the Confederate government. Later that year, Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens were inaugurated here, respectively, as the President and Vice President of the Confederacy. A little more than a hundred years later, Martin Luther King, Jr. would lead a civil rights march to the steps of this building.

With such history, it’s no surprise that spirits may still wander the capitol’s corridors. One legend concerns a Confederate widow. Desperate to find where her husband had died and the location of his grave, she made inquiries, but no information was forthcoming. She continued haunting the corridors in life and, evidently, in death. Security guards and staff members have seen this desperate woman and continue to hear her footsteps.

haunted Alabama State Capitol Montgomery ghost — Alabama State Capitol, 2006, by Jim Bowen. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

A security guard is quoted in a 1994 Birmingham News article as having seen a female spirit standing near the statue of Governor Lurleen Wallace. The woman was wearing white opera-length gloves which are reminiscent of the gloves Wallace is wearing in her official state portrait.

Faith Serafin notes in her book Haunted Montgomery, Alabama that bathroom sinks near the offices of the state board of convicts are often found with the water running. This activity may be related to a 1912 murder that occurred here. When a property dispute did not turn out in his favor, Will Oakley shot and killed his stepfather, P. A. Woods, in the offices of the president of the convict board. Legend holds that Will Oakley’s spirit may still be trying to wash the blood off his hands.

Sources

Lindley, Tom. “Ghosts or good stories haunt Capitol’s halls: This Confederate widow will never tell.” The Birmingham News. 27 November 1994.
Schroer, Blanche Higgins. National Register of Historic Place nomination form for the Alabama State Capitol. 29 September 1975.
Serafin, Faith. Haunted Montgomery, Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.

Bear Creek Swamp
County Road 3
Prattville

On Halloween of 2014, twenty-one dolls tied to bamboo stakes appeared in Bear Creek Swamp. The Autauga County Sheriff’s Office thought they were simply a harmless Halloween prank, but after reports of the dolls began to spread through the media, the sheriff’s office decided to remove them. The reason for the dolls’ placement in the swamp remains mysterious, but then again, Bear Creek Swamp abounds in mystery.

A newspaper article regarding the incident described the swamp as “a massive bog with a bit of a reputation locally.” The article continues, “As a rite of passage, generations of teenagers have entered the area at night looking for the creatures and haints said to roam the mist-covered realm. And it’s not unusual to hear reports of loud booms coming from its depths.”

Before the arrival of white settlers, local Native Americans knew the swamp as a place with pure water and medicinal springs. This area was once the home of the Autauga or Tawasa Indians who were members of the Muscogee Creek Confederacy. The Muscogee Creek were removed by force in the 1830s and forced west on the Trail of Tears.

Some Native spirits may have remained in the swamp. A hunter told author Faith Serafin about seeing a female apparition with- in the swamp while tracking a deer. A couple hiking through the area encountered a wild-looking woman with a gaunt face who screamed and disappeared into the underbrush when they approached. Others, including an investigation team from Southern Paranormal Researchers, have witnessed strange orbs of light in the depths of this mysterious bog.

Sources

Roney, Marty. “21 dolls on bamboo stakes found in Alabama swamp.” Hattiesburg American. 27 November 2014
Serafin, Faith. Haunted Montgomery, Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.
Sutton, Amber. “Officers remove more than a dozen dolls from Autauga County swamp.” AL.com. 25 November 2014.
Southern Paranormal Researchers. “Bear Creek Swamp—September 3, 2006.” Accessed 29 November 2012.

Belle Mont
1569 Cook Lane
Tuscumbia

Built between 1828 and 1832 by Dr. Alexander Mitchell, Belle Mont is now a house museum owned by the Alabama Historical Commission. This house represents a rare example of what is sometimes termed “Jeffersonian Classicism,” the distinctive style of Palladian architecture created by Thomas Jefferson. While most likely not directly designed by Jefferson himself, the house may be the work of one of his disciples.

haunted Belle Mont Tuscumbia Alabama ghosts — Belle Mont, 2010, by Carol M. Highsmith. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Around the time the house was completed Dr. Mitchell lost his wife and both daughters to a fever, and he subsequently sold the property. A family renting this house in 1938 had a frightening experience. Just after moving their things into the house, the family began to hear sounds throughout the house including footsteps and voices crying “help me.” Time passed with these events growing more and more frightening until one rainy night when the family watched with horror as a group of apparitions: a man, a woman and one, possibly two, small girls, appeared at the top of the staircase. The woman and children, dressed in night- clothes that were dirty and torn, wore expressions of horror as they descended the staircase and out the front door. After this frightening vision, the family continued to hear odd sounds. The last reported paranormal incident is recorded in 1968 with nothing seen or heard since.

Sources

Gamble, Robert S. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Belmont. Jan. 1981.
Belle Mont. Alabama Historical Commission. Accessed 16 December 2010.
Belle Mont (Tuscumbia, Alabama). Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 16 December 2010.
Johnston, Debra. Skeletons in the Closet: True Ghost Stories of The Shoals Area. Debra Johnston, 2002.

Bragg-Mitchell Mansion
1906 Springhill Avenue
Mobile

haunted Bragg-Mitchell Mansion Mobile Alabama ghosts — Bragg-Mitchell Mansion, 2006, by Altairisfar. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

In the years following the Civil War, General Braxton Bragg was considered one of the most inept generals to have served in the Confederate Army. Bragg had earned victories though lost tactically in battle at Perryville, Kentucky; Chickamauga, Georgia, and Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee. He lived here in the home once occupied by his brother Judge John Bragg, from 1869 until he moved to Texas in 1874. He would die in Galveston two years later having found about as much success in civilian life as he found in military life. From time to time, docents and visitors to the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion have seen the gray form of a man, believed to be the form of General Bragg. Once, as a docent was opening the house for wedding photographs, she saw a man striding across the parking lot behind the house. The strange man neared the tool shed and vanished. A thorough search of the property by the docent and the wedding party did not uncover the gentleman.

The Bragg-Mitchell House was built by Judge John Bragg in 1855. After construction, the house was the scene of gatherings by prominent Alabamians of the period and members of the Bragg family including John’s brothers: Braxton, former North Carolina governor Thomas Bragg, Captain William Bragg, and Alexander Bragg, who may have had a hand in designing his brother’s home. During the Civil War, Judge Bragg’s wife anxiously sent the family’s furnishing and many of their possessions to the family’s inland cotton plantation for safe keeping. Unfortunately, the estate was destroyed along with the contents of her city home, something from which Mrs. Bragg never quite recovered. After Judge Bragg’s death in the late 1870s, the house passed through a few different hands before being purchased by the Mitchell family who lovingly restored the home and left it to the City of Mobile.

The house has served as a wedding venue and events facility for many years. Over time, guests and docents have had many encounters with the spectral residents of the house including a ghostly feline that was first noted by Mrs. Mitchell when she owned the house. A spectral woman, possibly Judge Bragg’s wife, has been seen peering from one of the upstairs windows. Others have had more mischievous encounters including an AC installer who was locked in the attic and others who have been irritated by the ghosts turning lights on just after they have been turned off.

Sources

Coleman, Christopher K. Dixie Spirits: True Tales of the Strange and Supernatural, 2^nd Edition. Nashville, Cumberland House, 2002.
Parker, Elizabeth. Mobile Ghosts: Alabama’s Haunted Port City. Apparition Publishing, 2001.

Fort Morgan State Historic Site
51 AL 180
Baldwin County

Along with Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island, Fort Morgan guards the entrance to Mobile Bay. Construction of the fort began in 1819, following the British capture of the area in 1815, during the misnamed War of 1812. Using slave labor, this enormous masonry fort was constructed in 1834. With rising tension after Alabama’s secession from the Union, the fort was peacefully turned over to the state’s Confederate militia.

haunted Fort Morgan Alabama ghosts — Fort Morgan, 2002, by Edibobb. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

The fort saw action on August 5, 1864, during the Battle of Mobile Bay when it was attacked and besieged by Union warships; the fort surrendered a few days later. It remained in operation until it was abandoned by the military in 1924. It was then re-militarized during World War II and turned over to the State of Alabama in 1946.

Southern Paranormal Researchers investigated the fort in 2006 and witnessed a bevy of activity including disembodied voices, fleeting shadow figures, and having fully charged batteries drained. They also captured a few anomalies in photographs and one EVP. Visitors to the fort have encountered phantom smells of gunsmoke, the sounds of battle, and figures in period clothing.

Sources

Langella, Dale. Haunted Alabama Battlefields. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.
Schroer, Blanche Higgins. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Fort Morgan. 4 Oct 1975.
Southern Paranormal Investigation Team. Fort Morgan Investigation. 16 Dec 2006.

Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
11288 Horseshoe Bend Road
Dadeville

A bend on the Tallapoosa River formed an ideal site for the Muscogee Creek village of Tohopeka. During the Creek War of 1813-14—a civil war within the Muscogee Creek Nation that eventually embroiled the American government—a band of Red Stick Creeks under Chief Menawa defended this position against American troops and Native American allies under the command of General Andrew Jackson. Some 800 Red Stick warriors were slaughtered here on March 27, 1814, bringing an end to the Creek War of 1813-14 and leaving the Tallapoosa River at Horseshoe Bend stained red with blood.

With the slaughter that occurred here, it’s no wonder that visitors have reported a plethora of paranormal activity here ranging from smells and odd noises to full apparitions. A paranormal investigation by the Alabama Paranormal Research Team produced some photographic anomalies as well as the sound of someone screaming in the vicinity of the Muscogee Creek village site.

haunted Horseshoe Bend Battlefield Dadeville Alabama ghosts — The riverbank at the Horseshoe Bend Battlefield, 2015. Photo by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Sources

Langella, Dale. Haunted Alabama Battlefields. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.
Alabama Paranormal Research Team. Investigation of Horseshoe Bend National Military Park. Accessed 18 Dec 2010.
Jensen, Ove. “Battle of Horseshoe Bend.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 26 Feb 2007.

Linn-Henley Research Library
2100 Park Place
Birmingham

haunted Linn-Henley Library Birmingham Alabama ghosts — Linn-Henley Library, 2009, by DwayneP. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

This building opened in 1927 as the Birmingham Public Library and now houses archives, government documents, a southern history library, and a ghost. Blogger Jessica Penot visited in 2012 and noted the “uncanny quiet that fills the building like a tangible presence.” The spirit of Fant Thornley, the library’s dedicated director from 1953 until the 1970s, still makes occasional appearances here. The spirit has been seen by an electrician, and library staffers have smelled the smoke from his cigarettes.

Sources

Birmingham Public Library. “History of Birmingham Public Library.” Accessed 24 May 2015.
Brown, Alan. Haunted Places in the American South. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2002.
Penot, Jessica. “The Breathtaking, Haunted Beauty of the Linn- Henley Library.” Ghost Stories and Haunted Places Blog. 2 November 2012.

Monroe County Heritage Museum
(Old Monroe County Courthouse)
31 North Alabama Avenue
Monroeville

In 1903, this structure was constructed as the Monroe County Courthouse. It was here that a young Harper Lee, Monroeville’s most famous resident and author of the classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, would watch her attorney father as he argued cases. When Hollywood put the story on celluloid, the set designers replicated the courtroom on a California sound stage. This building was used by Monroe County as a courthouse until 1967.

haunted Old Monroe County Courthouse Monroeville Alabama ghosts — Dome of the Old Monroe County Courthouse, 2008, by Melinda Shelton. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

The upper floors of this building still seem to retain some of the energy from the building’s judicial use. Blogger Lee Peacock quotes one man as saying, “Things blow in the breeze but there is no breeze. You hear sounds that don’t belong, and I have smelled pipe tobacco smoke when no one was smoking or there to be smoking.” Staff members working late here often get the feeling of not being alone and have heard mysterious sounds within this storied building.

Sources

Higdon, David & Brett Talley. Haunted Alabama Black Belt. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013
Peacock, Lee. “Ten new locations make list of “Spookiest Places in Monroe County.” Dispatches from the LP-OP. 31 October 2014.
W. Warner Floyd. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Old Monroe County Courthouse. 29 March 1973.

Moundville Archaeological Park
634 Mound State Parkway
Moundville

Between approximately 1120 C.E. and 1450 C.E., Moundville was the site of a large city inhabited by the Mississippian people, predecessors to the tribes that the Europeans would encounter when they began exploring the South about a century later. At its height, this town was probably home to nearly 1,000 inhabitants. Stretching to 185 acres, the town had 29 mounds of various sizes and uses: some were ceremonial while others were topped with the homes of the elite.

haunted Moundville Archaeological Park Moundville Alabama ghosts — One of the mounds at Moundville, 1998, by Altairisfar. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Visitors and staff have often mentioned a certain energy emanating from this site. A Cherokee friend of mine visited and while atop one of the mounds let out a traditional Cherokee war cry. Afterward, he noted that there was a palpable change in the energy. Dennis William Hauck speaks of the “powerful spirit of an ancient race” that “permeates this 317-acre site” in his Haunted Places: The National Directory. Southern Paranormal Researchers notes that park staff has witnessed shadow figures, odd noises, and doors opening and closing by themselves in the buildings on the site. Higdon and Talley add orbs and cold spots found throughout the location to the list of paranormal activity here.

Sources

Hauck, Dennis William. Haunted Places: The National Directory. NYC: Penguin, 2002.
Southern Paranormal Researchers. Investigation Report for Moundville Archaeological Park. Investigated 10 February 2007.
Higdon, David & Brett Talley. Haunted Alabama Black Belt. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.
Blitz, John H. “Moundville Archaeological Park.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 26 February 2007.

Old Depot Museum
4 Martin Luther King, Jr. Street
Selma

haunted Old Depot Museum Selma Alabama ghosts — Old Depot, 2010, by Carol M. Highsmith. Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

A part of the Alabama Ghost Trail, a series of haunted places linked by the Southwest Alabama Regional Tourism and Film Office, the Old Depot Museum features a ghost that reportedly has an affinity for the museum’s elevator. The museum occupies the Romanesque Revival circa 1890 Louisville & Nashville Railroad Depot.

Sources

Besser, Susan A. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for the Water Street Historic District. March 2002.
Old Depot Museum. Alabama Ghost Trail. YouTube. Posted 19 July 2009.

Timmons Cemetery
Buxton Road
Redstone Arsenal

When the Army took over some 40,000 acres in Huntsville in 1941, it swallowed up many old farms and plantations including some 46 cemeteries. Located in the woods off of Buxton Road, the Timmons Cemetery is considered, by some, the spookiest place on the Arsenal. Guards patrolling Buxton Road at night have seen a little girl running across the road near the cemetery.

To explain the little girl’s spirit, a legend has surfaced, though apparently not backed up by historical documentation. Margaret Ann Timmons was an energetic child and sometimes difficult to control. When work required the family to be in the fields, Margaret would be tied to a chair inside the house. The energetic child wiggled out of her restraints, and kicked over an oil lamp that destroyed the house and killed the child. Now, not even death and the stone wall that surrounds the family’s cemetery can restrain her.

Sources

“Does a little girl really haunt Redstone Arsenal.” WAAY. 31 Oct 2014.
“Redstone Report: Ghost story still haunts Redstone Arsenal.” WAFF. 31 Oct 2011.

April 4, 2015January 7, 2024

Phantoms of the Operas, Y’all—13 Haunted Southern Theatres

N.B. This page was edited and revised 26 May 2020.

Among theatre folks there’s an old saying, “no good theatre, worth its salt, will be without a ghost.” The South is not immune to this phenomenon and its landscape is dotted with many theatres claiming to be haunted. The variety of theatres is astonishing; from 1920s-era movie palaces, to opera houses to performance spaces that have been created out of old buildings, and even cinemas, so many of these sites have wonderful and creepy stories to tell.

Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts
501 Broad Street
Gadsden, Alabama

This prominent corner of Broad and 5th Streets has witnessed much of Gadsden’s history. A home stood on this corner until 1860 when the First Baptist Church erected a church here with a graveyard surrounding the building. Around the turn of the 20th century, the church was sold and the graves—most of them—were relocated to nearby Forrest Cemetery. A furniture store operated on the site until the building of the Imperial Theatre which opened in 1920. The theatre changed hands a few years later, was extensively remodeled and reopened as the Princess Theatre in 1926. The Princess—a vaudeville and motion picture house—provided the citizens of Gadsden the utmost in comfort and technology until it’s destruction by fire in 1963.

Mary G Harden Center for Cultural Arts Gadsden Alabama — The Mary G. Harden Center for Cultural Arts on a grey day in October 2019. Photo by Lewis O. Powell IV, all rights reserved.

The starkly modern Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts now occupies the corner. Within its modern corridors, galleries, studios and performance spaces there are spirits. Betty McCoy reports that two visitors encountered the spirit of a child who was apparently quite confused. The spirit of a young girl appeared at the Princess Theatre just after it opened in 1920 and many patrons encountered the young and quite curious entity. The identity of this young entity has always been a mystery. Was she attached to one of the graves formerly on the site? Is she one of the spirits in the modern arts center? As long as spirits linger, the questions will remain.

Sources

Goodson, Mike. Haunted Etowah County, Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2011.
Hardin Center for Cultural Arts. “About the Center for Cultural Arts.” Accessed 18 March 2013.
McCoy, Betty S. Haints, Haunts and Hullabaloos: Etowah and Surrounding Counties. CreateSpace, 2011.

H Street Playhouse
1365 H Street, Northeast
Washington, D.C.

Things have a strange way of disappearing at the H Street Playhouse. Some believe that these odd disappearances may be linked to a spirit within the old theatre, besides, these disappearances are truly strange. Take for instance, the matter of the disappearance of the theatre’s router from the office during a meeting. Members of one of the theatre companies that uses the theatre were meeting in the building when the Wi-Fi suddenly went out. Heading back to the office, which was only accessible through the room where the meeting was being held, the router seems to have completely vanished.

H Street Playhouse, 2012, by Smallbones. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Costumes pieces and props also have a tendency to disappear right before performances. A t-shirt hanging on a rack disappeared without a trace while prop money seemed to have departed briefly from the bag it was stored in during the show. As money was required during the scene, the actors pulled together what bills they had on them to use, though when the props master opened the bag to dole out money for the upcoming scene, the prop money had reappeared.

If the kleptomaniac of the H Street Playhouse is, in fact, a spirit, then there is the question of identity. Tour guide and author Tim Krepp speculates that the spirit may either be the shade of Bruce Robey, who founded the H Street Playhouse with his wife, or perhaps the spirit of a young boy who was severely burned in a fire across the street in 1905. But, perhaps the spirit lies somewhere in the playhouse’s marvelous history.

The Romanesque Revival-styled building was built in 1928 as an automobile showroom. At the time, this particular stretch of H Street boasted so many dealerships it was called “Autombile Row.” This building served as a showroom until 1942 when the building was renovated for use as a cinema for the African-American community that occupied this area. As the social upheavals of the mid-20^th century led to the neighborhood’s decline, the building was used for a variety of purposes until its conversion to a live theatre in 2002.

The H Street Playhouse closed in 2012. A gym currently occupies the building.

Sources

Bell, T. David. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Plymouth Theatre. December 2003.
Krepp, Tim. Capitol Hill Haunts. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2012.

Coconut Grove Playhouse
3500 Main Highway
Miami, Florida

The Coconut Grove Playhouse is like a famous actor in a vegetative state. The doctors are faced with a hard choice: unplug him from life-support to let him die or revive him with an expensive, experimental treatment and hope that he makes a full recovery. As of now, the doctors are still arguing over the best course to take.

This most famous of Florida theatres went suddenly into a vegetative state in 2006 under mounting debt. Since the theatre company’s closure, the theatre has been embroiled in mounting drama between a cast of politicians, preservationists, thespians and developers. Occupying a prominent corner on Main Highway at Charles Avenue, the location has developers salivating over the money that could come from a luxury condominium development on the site. Some government officials, preservationists and thespians would reopen the playhouse as a theatre and hopefully revive its cherished name. Before its closure, the theatre was a major economic driver in the Coconut Grove, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city.

Coconut Grove Playhouse, 2011, by Ebyabe. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

As the drama fills courtrooms, offices and boardrooms outside of the theatre, faces have been seen peering from the buildings upper windows: spiritual guardians of this 1927 edifice. Ghost tours pass by the site regularly as the Mediterranean Revival structure sits forlornly with its doors locked. The theatre opened gloriously as the Player’s State Theatre on New Year’s Day 1927—a jewel in the Paramount crown. All the amenities of the best theatres were incorporated here including a huge Wurlitzer Concert Grand Organ and air conditioning. Riding high on the great Florida Land Boom of the 20s, the theatre’s fortunes ran out when the real estate bubble burst. The theatre closed in the early 1930s. It was not until 1955 that it would resume use as a theatre, but only after being transformed for use as a live-performance venue.

It struggled even as a legitimate theatre, though it did host a grand assortment of prominent actors and productions on its boards. Samuel Becket’s Waiting for Godot had its American premiere here and the stage has seen the work of such noted thespians as Jose Ferrer, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, and Ethel Merman. But, until the actors in the current drama come to a resolution, the theatre and the spirits peering from its windows will continue to wait for Godot’s eminent arrival.

Sources

Bandell, Brian. “Coconut Grove Playhouse hit with foreclosure.” South Florida Business Journal. 17 January 2013.
Feldman, Hal. “Do ghosts walk among us?” Pinecrest Tribune. 28 June 2012.
Uguccioni, Ellen and Sarah E. Easton. Designation Report: Coconut Grove Playhouse. City of Miami. 2005.
Viglucci, Andres. “Coconut Grove Playhouse board decides not to fight imminent state takeover.” Miami Herald. 2 October 2012.
Viglucci, Andres. “Plan for larger theatre at coconut Grove Playhouse remains alive.” Miami Herald. 12 March 2015.
Viglucci, Andres. “State says shuttered Coconut Grove Playhouse could be sold to private bidders.” Miami Herald. 14 December 2012.
Viglucci, Andres. and Christine Dolan. “FIU, Miami-Dade in possible deal to save Grove Playhouse.” Miami Herald. 13 March 2013.

Springer Opera House
103 10th Street
Columbus, Georgia

As a kid, the Springer Opera House was the first local haunting I was familiar with. I recall the intense jealousy I felt when my sister got invited to a birthday party at the Springer and I wasn’t allowed to tag along to “see the ghost.” As a theatre major at Columbus State University, I visited the Spring a number of times and saw a few performances, though still I was distracted by the fact that there may be ghosts wandering about the antique promenades and still taking their seats in the boxes on either side of the stage.

In school, I also began to hear stories from my friends who had worked in the old theatre. Some of the experiences seemed incredible—like the story of a sound technician being levitated in the booth—while others seemed quite credible—a friend’s encounter with a little girl in a hallway who seemingly wanted to play tag but disappeared. When I got hired to work on a book about this theatre, I was excited to possibly experience the spirits there myself.

Interior of the Springer Opera House, 1979. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

I was asked by F. Clason Kyle to work as an editor on his book, In Order of Appearance, a history of the theatre and the many famous personalities—Edwin Booth and John Philip Sousa to Minnie Maddern Fiske and Burt Reynolds—to have trod its boards. Mr. Kyle and I first began by organizing much of the archival material the theatre had. We had our own little room stuffed with boxes of old programs, promotional materials, business papers and the occasional artifact. Among the artifacts was a beaded purse once owned by famed Polish actress, Helena Modjeska. We weren’t sure where the purse was, so we went looking for it.

Before we left the archives room, Mr. Kyle and I had been sorting through the various boxes. We returned to the room after a search of about an hour and I walked straight back to the box I had been searching through. There, sitting on top of the papers within the box was an antique purse. While it was not the Modjeska purse, almost as a consolation prize, an antique pocket watch had been placed on top of the purse. Obviously, if the purse had been there as we were discussing the Modjeska purse I would have asked about it. But to appear after we returned from the search was very odd. Perhaps the Springer’s ghost is similar to the H Street Playhouse’s kleptomaniac spirit.

During my two years working on the book, I also heard footsteps on the second floor and a door slamming shut by itself during a rehearsal. But many others have had more spectacular experiences. The educational director whose office was located on the second floor regularly saw a man walking past her doorway. She also felt a strong bond, motherly really, towards the spirit of a little girl that had been reported throughout the building as well.

There is apparently a host of spirits within the 1871 building, though it seems that the male spirit and the little girl may be the more active. The theatre’s artistic director, Paul Pierce, wrote a book about many of the experiences in the Victorian theatre including his own experience. Pierce had arrived at the theatre early one morning to open the tool room for technicians who were setting up for an event. As he walked through the scene shop, Pierce realized there was a man walking next to him. “Slight of build, he was a young gentleman with a thin, unruly, Van Dyke beard and wearing an ill-fitting tweed suit.”

Pierce walked through the shop with this figure playfully mirroring his stride through the room. They turned a corner and the figure walked behind a screen leaning against the wall. The figure did not emerge from the other side.

Sources

Kyle, F. Clason and Lewis O. Powell, IV, editor. In Order of Appearance: Chronicling 135 Years on America’s Most Celebrated Stage. Columbus, GA: Communicorp, 2006.
Pierce, Paul. The Springer Ghost Book. Columbus, GA: Communicorp, 2003.

Paramount Arts Center
1300 Winchester Avenue
Ashland, Kentucky

The Paramount Arts Center gained its ghost fairly early in the theatre’s history when, as legend holds, a worker somehow became entangled in the rigging above the stage and died. If this act was an accident or suicide is unknown, but strange things began to be reported in the building. Over time, theatre staff members dubbed the entity “Paramount Joe.”

Just seven months after the Ashland Opera House was destroyed by fire in 1931, the Paramount Theatre opened as a movie palace for the citizens of the city. When the Art Moderne style theatre closed its doors in 1971, locals purchased the building as a performing arts center.

Paramount Arts Center, 2007, by YoungAmerican. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

In 1992, local musician Billy Ray Cyrus (father of Miley Cyrus) chose the theatre for the filming of the video of his hit song, “Achy Breaky Heart.” While there, he was told the story of “Paramount Joe,” and Cyrus claimed that he spoke with the spirit during a break and signed a poster for Paramount Joe. Some years later when an executive removed the poster from its place in the box office the staff returned the next day to find all the pictures had fallen from the walls some having their glass and frames broken. After Paramount Joe’s signed poster was restored, all has returned to normal in terms of the pictures.

Sources

Ball, Linda Larimore. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for the Paramount Theatre. October 1975.
Brown, Alan. Haunted Kentucky. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2009.
Conley, Caitlin. “Paranormal activity at the Paramount Theatre. The Parthenon. 27 October 2011.
Brown, Alan. Stories from the Haunted South. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.
Starr, Patti. Ghosthunting Kentucky. Cincinnati, OH, Clerisy Press, 2010.

Abbey Players Theatre
200 South State Street
Abbeville, Louisiana

The Abbey Players had its founding in 1976 when a small group of thespians staged a successful production of Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers. The theatre company was incorporated the next year with the intention of presenting quality theatre to the region. After spending a few years staging shows at various venues throughout town, the group began renting an old building on South State Street. Previously housing the Reaux Lumber Company, the building dates to 1908 and was originally opened as a saloon.

After adapting the building for use as an arena stage, the company settled in and now produces 3-4 shows per season as well as children’s productions. Additionally, company members have had experiences in the building that may be paranormal. These include the shade of an elderly woman and the voice of a young girl among other unexplained noises. An investigation by Louisiana Spirits Paranormal Investigations captured a number of personal experiences for the team as well as EVPs.

A couple of these experiences are highlighted in Chere Coen’s Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana. During the investigation, Louisiana Spirits discovered a cold spot that seemed to move around a dressing room. The investigators also heard a disembodied voice greet them with a “hi.”

Sources

Coen, Chere Dastugue. Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.
“Finding a Home: Beginnings.” Abbey Players. Accessed 3 March 2013.
Louisiana Spirits Paranormal Investigations. Investigation Summary Report: Abbey Players, Abbeville, LA. Accessed 27 February 2013.

Patapsco Female Institute
3655 Church Road
Ellicott City, Maryland

The immortal words of Shakespeare have been uttered within the walls of the Patapsco Female Institute for almost two centuries. Even with only the exterior stone walls remaining, the ruins now provide a perfect backdrop for productions by the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. Shakespeare’s numerous ghosts may even provide a camouflage for the ghosts that reside among the romantic ruins.

The Patapsco Female Institute opened in 1837 as an elite finishing school for young women. Among some of the more well known alumnae is Winnie Davis, daughter of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Sally Randolph, the great granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson, served as a headmistress. It was during this time in the balmy days leading up to the Civil War that a daughter of a Southern planter was enrolled here.

Patapsco Female Institute Ellicott City Maryland — An illustration of the Patapsco Female Institute in 1857, from The Book of Great Railway Celebrations of 1857.

The young girl hated the school, longed for home and her father would not allow her to return home. The student contracted pneumonia and her body left the school in a coffin. The student’s spirit, however, has remained to wander the ruins of her former school.

The school closed its doors in 1891 and throughout the 20^th century the building served as variety of uses including a convalescent home after World War I, a private residence and a theatre. After local officials condemned the building in the late 1950s, the owner gutted the building of its woodwork leaving just the yellow-tinted local stone walls standing. The space is now owned and operated by the Howard County Government as a historic site and an events space.

The white-gowned apparition of the former student still wanders the grounds.

Sources

Hannon, Jean O. Maryland Historic Trust Worksheet for Patapsco Female Institute. January 1978.
Hirsch, Rona S. “Ghostly images, spirited debate.” Baltimore Sun. 31 October 2001.
Norotel, Russ. Ellicott City’s Guide to Haunted Places. Cosmic Pantheon Press, 2008.
Okonowicz, Ed. Haunted Maryland. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2007.

Cinemark Movies 8
Mall at Barnes Crossing
1001 Barnes Crossing Road
Tupelo, Mississippi

Mall at Barnes Crossing Tupelo Mississippi — An entrance to the Mall at Barnes Crossing, 2015. Photo by Mike Kalasnik, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Any location can be haunted. While most people would not expect to encounter a spirit within a fast food restaurant, big-box retailer (like Wal-Mart or Toys R Us) or a recently constructed building, it does happen. In some cases, recent tragic events may spur such a haunting, but other times, there is no obvious reason at all. Such is the case of this haunted multiplex theatre. According to CinemaTreasures.org, this theatre was opened in 1992, seating 1920 people and a couple spirits. A female spirit, nicknamed Lola, quite mischievously moves things and has been seen peering into the break room trashcan. She apparently gets the brunt of the blame when things go wrong or missing. A male spirit seems to be more elusive and sticks to the projection room.

Sources

Cinemark Movies 8. CinemaTreasures.org. Accessed 27 March 2013.
Steed, Bud. The Haunted Natchez Trace. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2012.

Mountainside Theatre
688 Drama Drive
Cherokee, North Carolina

Part of my own heart lies in the mountains of Western North Carolina around Cherokee. While I was in college I spent the three greatest summers of my life working on the historical drama, Unto These Hills, which has been performed at the Mountainside Theatre since 1950. It’s a humbling experience to be able to tell the story of the Cherokee people who have existed in this area for millennia. Even more humbling is being able to tell that story surrounded by the spirits of the characters and their living descendants.

The theatre is truly a sacred space where we can commune with the spirits of the past, both figuratively and literally. From my first day here, we were always made aware of the presence of spirits in this enormous amphitheatre. Among the host of spirits are Cherokee, sacred spirits from Cherokee mythology (see my entry on my own experience with the Cherokee little people) and former cast members. Some of these spirits can be truly frightening while others provide comfort.

Entrance to the Mountainside Theatre, 2012, by Lewis O. Powell, IV. All rights reserved.

In recent years, the Cherokee Historical Association—which operates the drama as well as the Oconaluftee Indian Village (it’s also haunted)—has operated a “Haunted Village” attraction around Halloween. This includes a ghost walk through the theatre and cast housing. In 2013, a zombie run was held at the theatre. During this event participants were chased through the theatre complex and cast housing by a variety of zombies. This included an area just behind the theatre called the ready room. This space is a partially enclosed area where actors may wait once they have put on their costumes. On the wall here is an old pay phone.

The ready room phone, 2014, by Lewis O. Powell, IV. All rights reserved.

I was told this story last summer when I was working in Cherokee. One evening in 2013, an hour or so after the zombie run the local police department received a panicked phone call from the Mountainside Theatre. A terror-filled voice begged for help from the theatre. The Cherokee Police Department responded and sent police up the driveway behind the theatre. The theatre complex was quiet and empty without a living soul to be found. The call had been traced to the theatre pay phone. It was discovered, however, that the phone was disconnected.

This is one of countless stories that have been told about the theatre.

Sources

Connor, William P., Jr. History of the Cherokee Historical Association 1946-1982. Cherokee, NC: Cherokee Historical Association, 1983.
Powell, Lewis O., IV. “Getting Personal—Cherokee, North Carolina.” Southern Spirit Guide. 7 September 2012.
Powell, Lewis O., IV. “Mountainside Theatre—A Personal Experience.” Southern Spirit Guide. 10 May 2011.

Dock Street Theatre
135 Church Street
Charleston, South Carolina

St. Philip’s Episcopal Church aggressively pushes itself into Church Street. Its columned porches thrust out so far that the street must curve to accommodate it. Above the street, the tremendous spire rises like an upright, moral finger, a reminder of the moral duties of the citizens of The Holy City. In the next block south of the church and within the shadow of the spire sits the Dock Street Theatre grinning garishly with its whimsical columns at St. Philip’s and the stringent Gothic Revival face of the French Huguenot Church directly across Church Street.

Theatre has always thumbed its nose at the self-righteous morality of good, church-going folk while often lampooning their foibles and failures on its boards, pulling down the saints from their lofty niches. In turn, the righteous have worked to reign in and silence the heckling theatre. This certainly was the case in Colonial America, a place still reeking of the Puritanism and strict morality that afflicted and bound the earliest settlers. Theatre most certainly struggled to gain a foothold on this steep religious mountain. The original Dock Street Theatre opened its doors in 1736 as, quite possibly, the second oldest edifice devoted to theatrical performance in the colonies.

As a part of a city in its early evolution, the original structure lasted a little less than two decades before that spark of a city’s growth, fire, reduced it to a hollowed shell of brick. The theatre was rebuilt and remained a theatre through the remainder of the 18th century. In 1809 the structure became home to the Calder House Hotel (later known as the Planter’s Hotel) run by Alexander Calder—an ancestor of the 20th century American artist of the same name—to serve wealthy visitors to the city. During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration cobbled together the collection of old buildings on this site into the current reincarnation of the Dock Street Theatre which incorporates an 18th century styled theatre and possibly a few brick walls dating to the original 1736 theatre.

Dock Street Theatre, 2011. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV. All rights reserved.

The building incorporates a certain spiritual fabric within its aged physical fabric. Most sources refer to two spirits who reside within the old theatre, though I venture that with the Dock Street Theatre’s long history, there’s also quite a good bit of residual energy manifesting itself.

One of the spirits has been identified as the great British thespian, Junius Brutus Booth. Renowned for his portrayals of Shakespearean characters, Booth fathered three sons who were also destined for the stage: Junius Brutus Jr., Edwin and John Wilkes, three thespians who left their mark on the theatrical world and one who would leave a mark upon the world stage. Edwin followed in his father’s footsteps to become one of the greatest tragedians of his day whilst Junius Jr. found better success in the managing of theatres. John Wilkes earned his notoriety as Abraham Lincoln’s assassin.

According to numerous—mostly paranormal in nature—sources, Booth the elder did stay in the Planter’s Hotel and that the well-dressed gentleman’s spirit seen in and around the theatre is his shade. Though it does ask the question of why would Booth haunt this hotel of all the numerous hotels where he stayed? According to the managing director of the theatre Booth was an alcoholic and possibly mentally unstable. During a stay in Charleston Booth allegedly beat his manager with a fire iron. Just as modern actors and performers are prone to bouts of bad behavior, so were the actors and performers of old. It seems this may belong to the phenomenon of historic landmarks picking among their most famous patrons or residents in order to identify their spirits.

Nevertheless, the spirit is still seen within the theatre. A man in a tall hat and overcoat is sometimes seen in the balcony and may sit in on rehearsals. In her Ghosts and Legends of Charleston, Denise Roffe reports on a young woman who saw this gentleman standing in the balcony when she visited.

Though, other stories center on a spirit known as “Netty” or “Nettie.” Likely dating to the same time as the gentleman’s spirit, legend has it that Nettie was a “working girl” who provided entertainment to the gentlemen who patronized the hotel. The legend continues with her dying a violent death on the balcony of the hotel, just above the entrance. While she was out on the balcony one evening, the steel beam supporting the balcony was struck by lightning and she was electrocuted. According to author Terrance Zepke, her spirit form has been observed by passersby and also captured on film. Additionally, she lingers in the second floor backstage hall where she apparently appears to be walking on her knees as the floor was raised during the building’s renovations in the 1930s. Netty is still walking on the original floors.

Sources

Bull, Elias B. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for the Dock Street Theatre. 2 January 1972.
Macy, Ed and Geordie Buxton III. Haunted Charleston: Stories from the College of Charleston, the Citadel and the Holy City. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2004.
Poston, Jonathan H. The Buildings of Charleston. Columbia, SC: U. of SC Press, 1997.
Roffe, Denise. Ghosts and Legends of Charleston, South Carolina. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2010.
Zepke, Terrance. Best Ghost Tales of South Carolina. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 2004.

Paramount Center for the Performing Arts
518 State Street
Bristol, Tennessee

In 1991 at the age of 60 the Paramount Theatre, run down and virtually abandoned, rose like its “Mighty Wurlitzer” organ once did from the depths to be reborn as the Paramount Center for the Performing Arts. Opened in 1931, the theatre was meant as a cinema and its small stage had to be enlarged to accommodate live performance in the modern day. Sitting proudly on State Street not far from the Tennessee/Virginia state line, which divides this city, the theatre continues to attract people from all over the region.

Paramount Center for the Performing Arts Bristol Tennessee — The Paramount Center for the Performing Arts by Carole M. Highsmith, courtesy of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

According to a 2009 article from the Bristol Herald Courier, the site of the Paramount Theatre was previously haunted. On that site, Bristol’s first hospital stood, a building that had previously been a hotel. During its time as a hotel, a man was shot and killed there. After that, the hotel had trouble renting his room after that as patrons reported hearing and feeling odd things in that room. There is a spirit still hanging around the theatre, though no indication it is the same from the old hotel. The Executive Director has reported that footsteps are still heard in the empty building with the sound of doors opening and closing as well.

Sources

Netherland, Tom. “A Timeless Stage: Memories of the Paramount Center.” Originally published in Bristol Herald Courier, 17 February 2009. Republished in A! Magazine for the Arts, March 2013.
Paramount Center for the Arts. CinemaTreasures.org. Accessed 5 March 2013.

Cameo Theatre
703 State Street
Bristol, Virginia

State Street divides city of Bristol and marks the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The Cameo Theatre, on the north side of the street, is in Virginia while the Paramount Center for the Performing Arts, just a few blocks down, sits on the south side of the street in Tennessee. The division between the theatres also marks a gulf of fortunes between them as well. While the Paramount Theatre remains open as a performing arts center the Cameo is currently for sale. Two years older than the Paramount, the 1925 theatre was opened as a vaudeville house and recently served as an arts facility, hosting arts classes for children. Sadly, finances did not allow that to continue and the theatre was put up for sale in 2010.

According to V.N. Phillips’ book, Ghosts of Bristol: Haunting Tales from the Twin Cities, the Cameo replaces The Black Shawl, Bristol’s most infamous brothel. Pocahontas Hale, the establishment’s madam, is said to notoriously patrol the sidewalk in front of the Cameo Theatre. Her shade has been spotted wearing the black clothes and wrapped in the black shawl that she always wore in life.

Sources

McGee, David. “Cameo Theatre annex’s inventory being sold off to make way for new owner.” Bristol Herald Courier. 16 June 2010.
Phillips, V.N. Ghosts of Bristol: Haunting Tales from the Twin Cities. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010.

Old Main
Campus of Marshall University
Huntington, West Virginia

With a cornerstone laid in 1869—just 32 years after the founding of Marshall Academy on the same spot—Old Main continues to carry Marshall University towards the horizon of the future. The structure’s nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places contains the sentimental statement that “alumni consider Old Main and school itself to be identical. Old Main is Marshall University and Marshall University is Old Main.” Not only does this monumental Tudor structure carry students and faculty forward as a university centerpiece and administration building, but it carries a spirit or two as well.

Old Main, 2013, by WVFunnyman. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Old Main embodies the history of the school itself in its walls. It is not actually a single building, but five buildings that have been joined over time. Originally one of these building contained an auditorium, though the space has been unused since 1990. School legend relates that a well-dressed man was sometimes seen back stage during performances. Actors and crew back stage would see the man who would be gone with a second glance. This man was identified as a theatre director from the 1920s. The director supposedly disappeared after it was discovered he had embezzled money from the school.

Sources

Bleau, Edward R. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Old Main—Marshall University. 28 December 1972.
Bozzoli, Carlos. “Old Main Building.” Marshall University Architectural Guide. Accessed 14 March 2013.
Donahue, Kelly. “Untitled article.” The Parthenon. 29 October 1996.

March 9, 2015December 17, 2021

13 More Southern Rooms with a Boo

This is the second half of my two-part article on Haunted Hotels and Inns of the South that I created just after the blog was first posted in 2010. It was my first really big (almost too big) article and I have attempted over the years to revisit it with the hope of updating, revising and completing it (I originally left off Virginia and West Virginia when I got tired of writing). This article with my article, 13 Southern Rooms with a Boo, is the replacement.

This article is just a sampling (2 from each of the 13 states that I cover here) of the vast array of haunted lodgings throughout the South. My article, “Dining with Spirits” is a companion piece to this article. Enjoy!

Tutwiler Hotel
2021 Park Place
Birmingham, Alabama

The Tutwiler Hotel, like a ghost, has risen from the dead, almost. When it opened in 1914, the Tutwiler was the finest hotel in the city and was at the heart of its social scene hosting events such as actress Tallulah Bankhead’s wedding reception. The hotel was originally constructed to serve visiting steel company executives in this city that was built on the steel industry. When the industry began to die in the second half of the twentieth century, the hotel fell into disrepair and the 450-room landmark with its 1000-seat ballroom was imploded a year after closing its door in 1972.

Panoramic view of the Tutwiler Hotel, 2011, by Chris Pruitt. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

With the recovery of Birmingham’s economy, the need for a luxury hotel again arose. Investors purchased the Ridgeley Apartments, a large brick building on Park Avenue that had been constructed by Major Tutwiler at the same time his grand hotel had opened. The apartment building was restored and refurbished into the new Tutwiler Hotel. Not only has the hotel returned from oblivion, but some of its former residents have returned as well. A spiritual knocker raps on the doors of the hotel’s sixth floor late at night. Of course, when the door is answered, no one is seen. Jessica Penot in her Haunted North Alabama tells of the spirit of a young girl who is also seen on the sixth floor and may be the cause of the knocking.

According to Alan Brown, the bartender of the hotel had issues with the lights in the dining room. He would turn them off and leave for the night only to find them on in the morning. After coming in one morning to discover a fully cooked feast laid out on the table, the bartender began saying goodnight to Major Tutwiler upon leaving at night. The lights have remained off. “Good night, Major Tutwiler.”

Sources

Brown, Alan. “Knocking at the Tutwiler Hotel.” WierdUS,com. Accessed 28 October 2010.
Lewis, Herbert J. “Birmingham.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 8 January 2008.
Penot, Jessica. Haunted North Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010.

The Hay-Adams
800 16^th Street, Northwest
Washington, D.C.

Marian Adams, known by her nickname, “Clover,” is at the center of two ghost stories. One tale concerns her tragic spirit haunting the fourth floor of the Hay-Adams Hotel and the other concerns her eerie grave at Rock Creek Cemetery. Clover was the socialite wife of historian and writer Henry Adams whose autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams, won the 1919 Pulitzer Prize but omitted his late wife.

The December 10, 1885 edition of the Washington paper, The Critic, briefly notes Marian Adams’ funeral: “The funeral of Mrs. Marian Adams of 1607 H Street, wife of Mr. Henry Adams, took place from her late residence yesterday. The certificate of Dr. Hagner, filed in the Health office, was to the effect that the deceased died of paralysis of the heart superinduced by an overdose of potassium.” Mrs. Adams was an amateur photographer and used potassium cyanide in developing her photographs. It was believed that she had committed suicide, though rumors swirled throughout the city as to why and even if she had possibly been murdered.

Hay-Adams Hotel, 2008, by AgnosticPreachersKid. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

The H Street home where Adams had met her death was being rented by the Adams from art collector W. W. Cochran. The couple had been renting the house while an H. H. Richardson-designed home was being built for them on 16^th Street. The home was being built next door to the home of John and Clara Hay, close friends of the Adams. Following his wife’s death, Henry Adams moved into the new house and stories came out of the couple’s old house on H Street where residents witnessed mysterious knocking and the ghost of a “sad-eyed lady.”

To mark his wife’s grave, Henry Adams commissioned the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create a fitting memorial that was not “intelligible to the average mind.” The sculptor created a bronze figure that sat atop the grave shrouded in cloth. The figure’s face is hidden under a hood and is hidden in shadow. Though neither Saint-Gaudens or Adams called it such, the creepy statue became known as “Grief.” Over the years, tales have been spun to explain the statue’s effect on people and some have reported that the figure has supernatural powers.

Adams passed away in 1918 and the graceful pair of Richardsonian mansion that had been home to Adams and his friends the Hays became the victims of “progress” in 1927. A developer demolished the homes and constructed a large Italian Renaissance-styled hotel which he named for the former owners of the property. At some point, the hotel gained a permanent guest in the form of the shade of Marian “Clover” Adams.

Clover has apparently taken over the hotel’s fourth floor. Maids in unoccupied rooms on that floor have reported hearing the sounds of a woman sobbing, asking “what do you want?” and calling their name. The hotel’s Wikipedia page cites a source as saying that the spirit of Clover Adams is accompanied by the faint smell of almonds. Potassium cyanide is extracted from almonds.

Sources

Alexander, John. Ghosts: Washington Revisited. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1998.
“Funeral of Mrs. Adams.” The Critic. 10 December 1885.
Hay-Adams Hotel. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 5 March 2015.
Rooney, E. Ashley and Betsy Johnson. Washington, D.C.: Ghosts, Legends and Lore. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2008.
Smith, Terry L. and Mark Jean. Haunted Inns of America. Crane Hill Publishers, 2003.

The Don CeSar
3400 Gulf Boulevard
St. Pete Beach, Florida

Facing the sapphire waters of the Gulf of Mexico stands Thomas Rowe’s palatial pink dream, The Don CeSar. Opened in 1928, the resort was, for a time, the heart of the Jazz Age social scene in Florida, hosting luminaries ranging from novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald to baseball legend, Lou Gehrig. The resort survived the tumult of the Great Depression but with Thomas Rowe’s death in 1940, the hotel passed into the hands of his ex-wife. When Rowe died, he had been in the process of changing his will to write out his former spouse, but as this new will remained unsigned at the time of death, the old will was executed. The ex-wife, Mary, was not a business woman and the hotel began to fall into disrepair and was taken over by the government for back taxes.

The immense hotel was transformed by the government into a veteran‘s hospital, stripped of its Old World splendor. Following World War II, the building remained in government hands and served as offices for the Veteran’s Administration and later for other agencies. In 1967, the structure was abandoned and left to the elements. Vagrants, vandals and mice roamed the graffiti painted and trash-strewn corridors. During this time, stories began to circulate of Jazz Age phantoms roaming the beach near the resort and the sound of parties echoing from the ruined patios and terraces.

With the looming threat of demolition, a citizens group banded together to save the pink landmark. The hotel was reopened in 1973 and renovation starting in the early 1980s restored and expanded the resort. Renovations and work in old structures often tends to stir up spiritual activity and such was the case at the Don CeSar. The figure of a man in a tan suit and Panama hat began to be seen poking around the building. Sometimes alone and sometimes seen with a beautiful woman, the man has been identified as Thomas Rowe.

The Don Cesar in 2006 by Porkfork6. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

The woman is connected with the legend of the hotel. According to the story, Rowe built this pink palace as a monument to his first love, an opera singer. The couple was not allowed to marry and when Rowe built the hotel, he named it Don CeSar for the male lead in Wallace’s opera, Maritana. Supposedly, Rowe’s lady love was an opera singer whom he spotted first playing the female lead in the opera. Perhaps Rowe and his love have finally found the solace in death that they could ill afford in life.

Sources

1935 Labor Day hurricane. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 29 October 2010.
Don CeSar. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 28 October 2010.
Jenkins, Greg. Florida’s Ghostly Legends and Haunted Folklore, Volume 1, South and Central Florida. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 2008.
Lapham, Dave. Ghosthunting Florida. Cincinnatti, OH: Clerisy, 2010.
Powell, Jack. Haunting Sunshine: Ghostly Tales from Florida’s Shadows. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 2001.

Riverview Hotel
105 Osborne Street
St. Marys, Georgia

The verandas of the Riverview Hotel have faced the waters of the St. Marys River for nearly 100 years inviting visitors to stay and “set a spell.” This family-owned hotel has been operated by the Brandon family since the 1920s and has seen the likes of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Admiral Chester Nimitz and Senator Richard Russell. Something, possibly not of this world, seems to occupy Room 8, even when the guest register shows it to be vacant. Innkeeper Jerry Brandon is quoted by Sheila Turnage in her Haunted Inns of the Southeast as saying that a male apparition has been spotted outside of Room 8 and people staying in that room have been touched by an unseen presence. He continues that during a power outage, the lights in the room stayed on. In St. Marys, the spirit world still leaves the light on for you.

Riverview Hotel, 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Sources

Hampton, Liz. “Living history at the Riverview.” The Florida Times-Union. 21 February 2004.
Reddick, Marguerite. Camden’s Challenge: A History of Camden County, Georgia. St. Marys, GA: Camden County Historical Society, 1976.
Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast. Winton-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2001.

Maple Hill Manor
2941 Perryville Road
Springfield, Kentucky

Some paranormal researchers speculate that ghosts may see a location as they once knew it rather than what exists now. Despite this speculation, I can imagine the ghosts looking out of the windows of Maple Hill Manor would be confused by the flocks of alpacas and llamas grazing outside. The current innkeepers, Todd Allen and Tyler Horton, raise the alpacas and llamas for their wool which may be used to make clothing, jewelry, and even teddy bears.

In addition to these exotic animals, the innkeepers appear to have a number of spirits on hand in this historic home built between 1848 and 1851. It was the home of Thomas and Sarah McElroy, their children (a few of whom died in infancy) and the family’s slaves. Some of the spirits that are still encountered may be family members, including a son who plunged to his death when a railing on the stairway gave way and the spirits of the McElroy’s slaves including “Mammy Anne” who has been seen sitting in her former room. These spirits are joined by the apparitions of soldiers who were wounded in the Battle of Perryville, fought nearby. The innkeepers have reported that activity, especially in Harriet Beecher Stowe room where the soldiers were treated, tends to spike around October 8, the anniversary of the battle.

Sources

Brown, Alan. Haunted Kentucky: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Bluegrass State. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole, 2009.
Starr, Patti. Ghosthunting Kentucky. Cincinnatti, OH: Clerisy Press, 2010.

T’Frere’s House Bed and Breakfast
1905 Verot School Road
Lafayette, Louisiana

During an investigation of T’Frere’s House Bed & Breakfast, Smoke and Mirrors Paranormal captured an EVP of a male voice whispering very gruffly, “that’s it, I want them out!” The spirits here speak a great deal in both English and French. An exterminator was working in the home’s attic when he encountered a small woman who asked him to “viens voir,” or come see. Not wanting to actually see what the mysterious woman wanted to show him, the exterminator fled.

Oneziphore Comeaux, the youngest of seven children, nicknamed T’Frere, meaning “little brother,” built his home in Lafayette in 1880. When the home’s owner, Peggy Moseley decided to open the home as a bed and breakfast in 1986, the name T’Frere’s was perfectly suited for it. When the Pastor family bought the bed and breakfast in 1994, they also didn’t realize their purchase included a ghost.

As the Pastors were moving in the family took a load of things to the house for the night. Their son had forgotten a paper needed for his math homework. He was worrying about it in his room when the sheet suddenly floated down from the ceiling. An investigation of the room did not reveal any reason that the missing paper could have just appeared.

Legend speaks of a young schoolteacher, Amelie, who died when she went to wash her face and fell in the well. When the Catholic Church judged her death a suicide, she was denied burial in the consecrated ground of the cemetery. Amelie’s spirit has been encountered throughout the house, with her mostly making her presence known by rattling pots and pans, turning lights off and on and other mischievous activity.

Sources

Coen, Chere. “Ghost hunters search for inn’s oldest ‘resident.’”IND Monthly. 18 August 2014.
Coen, Chere. Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.
Ponseti, Valerie. “Ghost Hunt at T-Frere’s.”KATC. 17 August 2014.
Rose, Christopher. “Minding her manor.” The New Orleans Times-Picayune. 19 April 1992.
“T’Frere’s House, Lafayette, LA.” Smoke and Mirrors Paranormal Investigators. Accessed 5 March 2015.
Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast. Winton-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2001.

The Wayside Inn
4344 Columbia Road
Ellicott City, Maryland

The massive three-story granite Wayside Inn on the Columbia Turnpike outside of Ellicott City can claim that “George Washington slept here,” it can also claim a ghost. While the early history of the inn is lost in the shadows, it is known that Washington, as well as other colonial luminaries passed through the area. Most likely, they would have stayed in one of the inns that lined the Old Columbia Turnpike, between Washington, D. C. and Baltimore. Little has been written on the female ghost that haunts the premises, though an article written around the time of the inn’s reopening in 2004, mentions that a friend of the innkeepers heard a door open followed by footsteps to discover that no one was present.

Sources

History. WaysideInnMD.com. Accessed 29 October 2010.
Schissler, Eleanor. “B&B’s renovation doesn’t quiet talk of reputed ghost.” Howard County Times. 3 June 2004.

Cedar Grove Mansion Inn & Restaurant
2200 Oak Street
Vicksburg, Mississippi

Cedar Grove is a house built for love. Built by John Klein as a wedding gift to his bride, Elizabeth Bartley Day, Cedar Grove was completed in 1852 following a grand tour of Europe with her. With the start of the Vicksburg Campaign during the Civil War, the house was one of the first houses in Vicksburg hit by the Union shelling of the city, in fact, a cannonball is still lodged in the wall of the parlor. Mrs. Klein, a native of Ohio, was also a relative of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman who had been a guest in the house. Sherman gave personal assurances to the Kleins that their home would be spared and he personally escorted the family to safety. Following the Kleins evacuation, the house was used by Union forces until after the fall of Vicksburg.

Foyer of the Cedar Grove Inn, 2004, by Flowerchild48. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

When the Kleins returned to the city after the war, they were met as traitors with turned backs and averted eyes. When the house was purchased in 1983 and conversion into a bed and breakfast began, the Klein’s proud house had fallen into disrepair. The owners have fully restored the house and included homes across the street as cottages including the cottage that John Klein used while the main house was under construction.

I’ve found two main sources on this inn. While there is no confusion about the history, the sources differ on the spiritual guests. Sheila Turnage mentions two spirits, a male spirit, possibly Mr. Klein, whose pipe smoke appears in the gentlemen’s parlor and a female spirit who has been heard and seen on the stairs. Interestingly, my other source, Sylvia Booth Hubbard’s Ghosts! Personal Accounts of Modern Mississippi Hauntings, provides more spirits. Hubbard mentions the possible spirit of Mr. Klein, but also includes the sounds of children playing and an infant crying. She continues by mentioning that a later owner of the home had a sister who committed suicide in the ballroom and that the sounds of a gunshot and a crash are sometimes heard there. Hubbard also indicates that the spirit of a tour guide who lead tours of the hours during the annual pilgrimage has been seen in the house as well. Nonetheless, it seems Cedar Grove has no shortage of history, charm or ghosts.

Sources

“Cedar Grove History.” CedarGroveInn.com. Accessed 31 October 2010.
Hubbard, Sylvia Booth. Ghosts! Personal Accounts of Modern Mississippi Hauntings. Brandon, MS: Quail Ridge Press, 1992.
Kermeen, Frances. Ghostly Encounters: True Stories of American’s Haunted Inns and Hotels. NYC: Warner Books, 2002.
Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast. Winton-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2001.

The Omni Grove Park Inn
290 Macon Avenue
Asheville, North Carolina

Throughout ghost literature there are tales of female wraiths. Over time many of these female spirits have acquired nicknames, usually relating to the color of their clothing: “White Lady” and “Grey Lady” being the most common. Of course, they do appear in other colors; Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, for instance, has a “Red Lady, but I know of only one spirit that appears in that most feminine of colors, pink, and Asheville’s Grove Park Inn is her home.

The legend is almost typical in ghostlore: a young flapper in the 1920s plunged to her death from a fourth or fifth floor railing and her spirit has been seen ever since. Time has kept her anonymity, though I’m curious if a close scan of local papers might reveal her identity. Anonymous she may be, though, the details of her activity seem to be well known. People staying in rooms 545, 441, 448 and even 320 have experienced a variety of strange activity including the appearance of a young woman wearing a pink dress. A North Carolina police chief staying in room 448 felt someone sit on the edge of his bed while a female journalist staying in 441 the same night had doors in her room open and close mysteriously.

Postcard view of the Grove Park Inn, circa 1914.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

The Inn brought in writer and investigator Joshua Warren to investigate the legend of the Pink Lady in 1996. His results, published in his book Haunted Asheville, include some photographic anomalies, but also a number of personal experiences. The Pink Lady still walks this 1913 edifice.

Sources

“History.” GroveParkInn.com. Accessed 1 November 2010.
Kermeen, Frances. Ghostly Encounters: True Stories of American’s Haunted Inns and Hotels. NYC: Warner Books, 2002.
Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast. Winton-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2001.
Warren, Joshua P. Haunted Asheville. Johnson City, TN: Overmountain Press, 1996.

Rice Hope Plantation Inn
206 Rice Hope Drive
Moncks Corner, South Carolina

Rice Hope Plantation’s resident spirit, Mistress Chicken, certainly ranks among the more amusing spirit names. She was born Catherine Chicken and her grandfather, James Child had founded the nearby community of Childsbury, which no longer exists. Captain George Chicken, Catherine’s father, had been a member of the Goose Creek militia and had been involved in the Yamassee War which helped to exterminate and exile the Yamassee people from the Low Country of South Carolina.

Catherine Chicken’s tale has been told for centuries in this region. After Catherine’s father’s death, her mother remarried and Catherine was placed in a boarding school in Childsbury under the care of Monsieur and Madame Dutarque. Catherine was a sensitive child who bore the strain of the Dutarque’s strict disciplinary methods and she was often punished for minor infractions. Little Catherine had been given some sewing as punishment, but as children are wont to do, she was distracted. Despite the Dutarque’s decree that no student shall possess pets, Catherine Chicken had brought a small pet turtle with her. While she sewed, the turtle had wandered away and Little Mistress Chicken dropped her sewing to pursue it.

Upon finding that the little girl had disappeared, the Dutarques were enraged and Monsieur began to search feverishly for the child. He found her and her small pet and decided to teach the child a lesson with a rather unusual punishment. The child was tied to a tombstone while the cruel schoolmaster threw the small turtle against a stone, killing it before the child’s eyes.

As darkness descended on the tombstones of Strawberry Chapel where the child had been left, the girl grew weary of struggling to cry out and free herself. A slave, out past curfew found her and alerted the locals who found the child limpid with terror and exhaustion. Her limp form was taken to her home where there was a fear she might not awaken. After discovering the culprits behind this travesty, the townsfolk considered hanging for the cruel schoolmasters. Little Mistress Chicken did awaken and exclaimed that she hoped nothing would happen to Monsieur Dutarque. The Dutarques were exiled from the settlement.

Strawberry Chapel where Catherine Chicken was tied to a tombstone. Photo circa 1940 by Frederick Nichols for the Historic American Buildings Survey.

Catherine never quite recovered from her ordeal, though she lived a long and fruitful life. Luckins Plantation, where young Catherine had spent happy days before her father’s death eventually became Rice Hope Plantation according to some sources. Joseph S. Freylinghausen, a former senator from New Jersey, purchased the plantation in the early 1920s and remodeled the house there in 1929. It is this house where Catherine is supposed to return to the Heron Room where she rocks in the rocking chair there. Her forlorn spirit is also occasionally heard still crying for help at Strawberry Chapel as well.

Sources

Chandler, Andrew W. et al. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for the Cooper River Historic District. Listed 5 February 2003.
Orr, Bruce. Ghosts of Berkeley County, South Carolina. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2011.
“Rice Hope Plantation—Moncks Corner—Berkeley County.” South Carolina Plantations. Accessed 7 March 2015.
Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast. Winton-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2001.

Magnolia Manor Bed & Breakfast
418 North Main Street
Bolivar, Tennessee

I am certain that one of the first things the citizens of Bolivar, Tennessee would like you to know is how to pronounce their name. While it is named for the South American revolutionary, Simon Bolivar, the town’s name is pronounced to rhyme with “Oliver,” Though I cannot be completely certain, I’m sure the second thing the citizens would want you to know is that Magnolia Manor has wonderful legends associated with it and quite possibly a few ghosts as well.

Just before the Battle of Shiloh, which took place just two counties over, four Union generals: Logan, Sherman, Grant and McPherson, supposedly planned the battle in the Gentleman’s Parlor. (It should be noted, however, that the battle was the result of a surprise attack by Confederate forces.) But the legend continues with the ill-mannered William Tecumseh Sherman making a very disagreeable and telling remark during a meal in suggesting that all Southerners: men, women and children, should be exterminated.

Magnolia Manor’s hostess, Mrs. Miller, the wife of Judge Austin Miller, the home’s builder, excused herself immediately left the room in tears. Ulysses Grant furiously ordered Sherman to apologize. He did so begrudgingly and stormed up the staircase afterwards slashing the banister with his saber. Mrs. Miller was the first of a long line of strong women to oversee this manse and leave a spiritual mark as well—one of Mrs. Miller’s grand-daughters would become the first woman elected to the Tennessee state legislature.

Activity in the 1849 home is at such a level that paranormal investigators have been at work in the house regularly for a number of years. Therefore, being certified as haunted is really just a formality for Memphis Mid-South Ghost Hunters who have been working in the house for quite some time.

The activity in the house ranges from full apparitions to the movement of objects. Guests in the home have witnessed a woman descend the staircase and others have been touched by a female spirit in their rooms while still others have reported a woman pulling the covers from them as they slept.

Sources

Brown, Alan. Haunted Tennessee: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Volunteer State. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole, 2009.
Ferree, Lyda Kay. “Magnolia Manor Bed & Breakfast to host ghost tours.” The Jackson Sun. 27 September 2014.
Phillips, Bianca. “Bumps in the Night.” Memphis Flyer. 12 July 2007.
Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2001.

1797 Wayside Inn
7783 Main Street
Middletown, Virginia

This building essentially sits at the center of history for this small town. The motley of old buildings forming the tavern were built over a period ranging from the 18^th century through to the late 19^th century. The oldest portion of the building, that containing Larrick’s Tavern, is considered the oldest portion and may have been constructed around 1750. The road in front was once part of the Great Wagon Road—the road that helped settle the American “backcountry.” The road here, through the Shenandoah Valley, which enters the valley in Winchester, was originally a Native American trail called the Great Indian Warpath, a trail used by the multitude of Native American tribes—including the Cherokee—throughout this region.

In 1797, this collection of buildings became an inn for the many travelers passing on the road. Leo Bernstein, the garrulous personality who took over the inn the latter half of the 20^th century, would always claim that this inn was the oldest continuously operating inn in the nation. There does seem to be a good deal of truth behind his claim. It is known that this inn was in operation as war raged up and down the valley during the Civil War and that the inn served both sides.

The Wayside Inn, 2008, by DwayneP. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Like most buildings in the area, the inn has a number of Civil War related spirits, though there is the possibility that the inn may have been haunted by the time the war rolled through the region. Lord Fairfax, who had been given much the land in the area, did live nearby and died in Winchester (he’s buried at Christ Episcopal Church) is claimed as the spirit that moans on a nightly basis in the oldest portion of the inn. Bernstein describes the space in Sheila Turnage’s Haunted Inns of the Southeast, “Upstairs is about a three foot space. There was a set of steps going up there. The straw is still there.” Bernstein would like to believe that Lord Fairfax is the source of the moan, who may have been a guest here with his young surveyor, George Washington, in tow. The loft is located just above one of the bars and Turnage mentions that people gather to listen for the moan at 11:30 PM nightly.

Besides odd moans, the inn is home to numerous other spirits and employees and guests have witnessed much activity. Objects have moved on their own accord, a dishwasher had his apron untied repeatedly by unseen hands, and full apparitions have been seen including those of Civil War soldiers. Paranormal investigations have captured much evidence including EVPs of horses whinnying and photographs featuring specters.

Sources

Ash, Linda O’Dell. “Respect the spirits, ‘Ghost Hunters International’ star Dustin Pari tells Wayside Inn paranormal investigators.” The Northern Virginia Daily. 7 November 2011.
Daly, Sean. “In Strasburg, a Medium Well Done.” The Washington Post. 31 July 2002.
Middletown Heritage Society. National Register of Historic Place nomination form for Middletown Historic District. 7 May 2003.
Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2001.
Varhola, Michael J. Ghosthunting Virginia. Cincinnati, OH: Clerisy Press, 2008.

General Lewis Inn
301 East Washington Street
Lewisburg, West Virginia

Last August the General Lewis Inn was purchased by a young couple who remarked that it felt surreal owning “the iconic center of Lewisburg.” The new owners are quoted in a Charleston Gazette-Mail article as saying, “quirkiness is what makes the Inn the Inn. It’s unique; it’s not like staying in a Days Inn or a Hampton Inn.” Most certainly, that quirkiness involves the spirits of the General Lewis Inn as well. When questioned about the inn’s haunted reputation, one of the innkeepers responded, “I haven’t met the ghost. Having them or not having them is fine with me.”

The inn’s history has many layers which have contributed spirits to the site. The oldest portion of the inn was originally constructed as a residence for James Withow in 1834. It is from sometime after this time that one of the inn’s spirits, a slave, comes. Legend speaks of a slave named Reuben who was sold after showing disrespect to an overseer. As punishment, he was sold to another plantation nearby. His new owner promised to free all his slaves upon his death, so Reuben hatched a plan to murder him and make it look like an accident. He killed his new master, but was caught and returned to his former owners in Lewisburg. They opted to execute him by hanging him in one of the outbuildings.

The old Withow house was remodeled and added to in the 1920s to create the General Lewis Inn. The new addition was constructed with beams from some of the outbuildings that stood behind the Withow house, those beams included the beam from which Reuben was hung. Reuben’s shade is joined by a black-clad woman who occasionally strolls into the restaurant and takes a seat. When she is approached by a server, she vanishes. A gingham-clad little girl who may have died in the 1850s also plays throughout the inn. She enjoys stealing socks from guests among other antics and it is believed she enjoys rocking in the lobby’s rocking chairs.

Strange sounds are sometimes heard emanating from Room 206. Ghastly moans have been heard by guests both in and out of the room while guests in Room 208 have encountered a female entity.

Sources

Gutman, David. “New owners, but same (haunted?) history for the General Lewis Inn.” Sunday Gazette-Mail. 31 August 2014.
Kermeen, Frances. Ghostly Encounters: True Stories of American’s Haunted Inns and Hotels. NYC: Warner Books, 2002.
Richmond, Nancy, Tammy Workman and Misty Murray Walkup. Haunted Lewisburg, West Virginia. Privately Published, 2011.

Off Campus Bookstore 472 North Court Street

Bama Theatre 600 Greensboro Avenue Tuscaloosa

Bluff Hall 405 North Commissioners Avenue Demopolis

Interstate 65 Between Evergreen and Greenville

Colby Building 191 North Foster Street Dothan, Alabama

Suntan Arts Center (Don Vicente Building) 3300 Gulf Boulevard St. Pete Beach, Florida

Porter Hall Mercer University Macon, Georgia

Westover Terrace (private) 905 West Main Street Richmond, Kentucky

Green Light Bridge Green Light Road Winnsboro, Louisiana

Glen Burnie Regional Library 1010 Eastway Glen Burnie, Maryland

Ole Tavern on George Street 416 George Street Jackson, Mississippi

Sloss Furnaces 20 32nd Street, North Birmingham, Alabama

Capital Towers Apartments 7 Clayton Street, private

Chris’s Hot Dogs 138 Dexter Avenue

Downtown Montgomery’s Lady in White

F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum 919 Felder Street

Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium 200 Coosa Street

Other Montgomery Hauntings

Sloss Furnaces 20 32nd Street, North

East Lake Park 400 Graymont Avenue, West

Arlington Antebellum Home & Gardens 331 Cotton Avenue

Carraway Methodist Medical Center 1600 Carraway Boulevard

Hotel Indigo Birmingham Five Points South (formerly The Hotel Highland at Five Points South) 1023 20th Street, South

Alabama State Capitol 600 Dexter Avenue Montgomery

Bear Creek Swamp County Road 3 Prattville

Belle Mont 1569 Cook Lane Tuscumbia

Bragg-Mitchell Mansion 1906 Springhill Avenue Mobile

Fort Morgan State Historic Site 51 AL 180 Baldwin County

Horseshoe Bend National Military Park 11288 Horseshoe Bend Road Dadeville

Linn-Henley Research Library 2100 Park Place Birmingham

Monroe County Heritage Museum (Old Monroe County Courthouse) 31 North Alabama Avenue Monroeville

Moundville Archaeological Park 634 Mound State Parkway Moundville

Old Depot Museum 4 Martin Luther King, Jr. Street Selma

Timmons Cemetery Buxton Road Redstone Arsenal

Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts 501 Broad Street Gadsden, Alabama

H Street Playhouse 1365 H Street, Northeast Washington, D.C.

Coconut Grove Playhouse 3500 Main Highway Miami, Florida

Springer Opera House 103 10th Street Columbus, Georgia

Paramount Arts Center 1300 Winchester Avenue Ashland, Kentucky

Abbey Players Theatre 200 South State Street Abbeville, Louisiana

Patapsco Female Institute 3655 Church Road Ellicott City, Maryland

Cinemark Movies 8 Mall at Barnes Crossing 1001 Barnes Crossing Road Tupelo, Mississippi

Mountainside Theatre 688 Drama Drive Cherokee, North Carolina

Dock Street Theatre 135 Church Street Charleston, South Carolina

Paramount Center for the Performing Arts 518 State Street Bristol, Tennessee

Cameo Theatre 703 State Street Bristol, Virginia

Old Main Campus of Marshall University Huntington, West Virginia

Tutwiler Hotel 2021 Park Place Birmingham, Alabama

The Hay-Adams 800 16th Street, Northwest Washington, D.C.

The Don CeSar 3400 Gulf Boulevard St. Pete Beach, Florida

Riverview Hotel 105 Osborne Street St. Marys, Georgia

Maple Hill Manor 2941 Perryville Road Springfield, Kentucky

T’Frere’s House Bed and Breakfast 1905 Verot School Road Lafayette, Louisiana

The Wayside Inn 4344 Columbia Road Ellicott City, Maryland

Cedar Grove Mansion Inn & Restaurant 2200 Oak Street Vicksburg, Mississippi

The Omni Grove Park Inn 290 Macon Avenue Asheville, North Carolina

Rice Hope Plantation Inn 206 Rice Hope Drive Moncks Corner, South Carolina

Magnolia Manor Bed & Breakfast 418 North Main Street Bolivar, Tennessee

1797 Wayside Inn 7783 Main Street Middletown, Virginia

General Lewis Inn 301 East Washington Street Lewisburg, West Virginia

Off Campus Bookstore
472 North Court Street

Bama Theatre
600 Greensboro Avenue
Tuscaloosa

Bluff Hall
405 North Commissioners Avenue
Demopolis

Interstate 65
Between Evergreen and Greenville

Colby Building
191 North Foster Street
Dothan, Alabama

Suntan Arts Center (Don Vicente Building)
3300 Gulf Boulevard
St. Pete Beach, Florida

Porter Hall
Mercer University
Macon, Georgia

Westover Terrace (private)
905 West Main Street
Richmond, Kentucky

Green Light Bridge
Green Light Road
Winnsboro, Louisiana

Glen Burnie Regional Library
1010 Eastway
Glen Burnie, Maryland

Ole Tavern on George Street
416 George Street
Jackson, Mississippi

Sloss Furnaces
20 32^nd Street, North
Birmingham, Alabama

Capital Towers Apartments
7 Clayton Street, private

Chris’s Hot Dogs
138 Dexter Avenue

F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum
919 Felder Street

Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium
200 Coosa Street

Sloss Furnaces
20 32^nd Street, North

East Lake Park
400 Graymont Avenue, West

Arlington Antebellum Home & Gardens
331 Cotton Avenue

Carraway Methodist Medical Center
1600 Carraway Boulevard

Hotel Indigo Birmingham Five Points South (formerly The Hotel Highland at Five Points South)
1023 20^th Street, South

Alabama State Capitol
600 Dexter Avenue
Montgomery

Bear Creek Swamp
County Road 3
Prattville

Belle Mont
1569 Cook Lane
Tuscumbia

Bragg-Mitchell Mansion
1906 Springhill Avenue
Mobile

Fort Morgan State Historic Site
51 AL 180
Baldwin County

Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
11288 Horseshoe Bend Road
Dadeville

Linn-Henley Research Library
2100 Park Place
Birmingham

Monroe County Heritage Museum
(Old Monroe County Courthouse)
31 North Alabama Avenue
Monroeville

Moundville Archaeological Park
634 Mound State Parkway
Moundville

Old Depot Museum
4 Martin Luther King, Jr. Street
Selma

Timmons Cemetery
Buxton Road
Redstone Arsenal

Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts
501 Broad Street
Gadsden, Alabama

H Street Playhouse
1365 H Street, Northeast
Washington, D.C.

Coconut Grove Playhouse
3500 Main Highway
Miami, Florida

Springer Opera House
103 10th Street
Columbus, Georgia

Paramount Arts Center
1300 Winchester Avenue
Ashland, Kentucky

Abbey Players Theatre
200 South State Street
Abbeville, Louisiana

Patapsco Female Institute
3655 Church Road
Ellicott City, Maryland

Cinemark Movies 8
Mall at Barnes Crossing
1001 Barnes Crossing Road
Tupelo, Mississippi

Mountainside Theatre
688 Drama Drive
Cherokee, North Carolina

Dock Street Theatre
135 Church Street
Charleston, South Carolina

Paramount Center for the Performing Arts
518 State Street
Bristol, Tennessee

Cameo Theatre
703 State Street
Bristol, Virginia

Old Main
Campus of Marshall University
Huntington, West Virginia

Tutwiler Hotel
2021 Park Place
Birmingham, Alabama

The Hay-Adams
800 16^th Street, Northwest
Washington, D.C.

The Don CeSar
3400 Gulf Boulevard
St. Pete Beach, Florida

Riverview Hotel
105 Osborne Street
St. Marys, Georgia

Maple Hill Manor
2941 Perryville Road
Springfield, Kentucky

T’Frere’s House Bed and Breakfast
1905 Verot School Road
Lafayette, Louisiana

The Wayside Inn
4344 Columbia Road
Ellicott City, Maryland

Cedar Grove Mansion Inn & Restaurant
2200 Oak Street
Vicksburg, Mississippi

The Omni Grove Park Inn
290 Macon Avenue
Asheville, North Carolina

Rice Hope Plantation Inn
206 Rice Hope Drive
Moncks Corner, South Carolina

Magnolia Manor Bed & Breakfast
418 North Main Street
Bolivar, Tennessee

1797 Wayside Inn
7783 Main Street
Middletown, Virginia

General Lewis Inn
301 East Washington Street
Lewisburg, West Virginia