The city of Savannah created Franklin Ward in 1791, naming it for Benjamin Franklin, on land that was part of the city’s West Common. It was here in 1820, that one of Savannah’s most infamous fires began in a livery stable near Franklin Square. The fire destroyed around 500 buildings and is considered the worst conflagration in the city’s history.
In 1853, a water tower was located on Franklin Square that was eventually replaced by a large tank. In 1935, when US 17 was routed down Montgomery Street, Franklin Square was not spared as the street barreled directly through it. Only after the highway was rerouted around the historic district was the square restored. Now, under the shade of oak trees, the square features a monument honoring Haitians who fought under Casimir Pulaski during the siege of Savannah in the American Revolution.
Williams, Robin B., David Gobel, Patrick Haughey, Daves Rossell, and Karl Schuler. “Franklin Ward.” SAH Archipedia.
Garibaldi Savannah, 2025. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Garibaldi Savannah (315 West Congress Street) – Originally constructed for the Germania Fire Company, this elegant 1871 building now houses an equally elegant restaurant. Architectural historian Jonathan Stalcup reports that a large Neoclassical ballroom is behind the Palladian windows on the second floor.
During renovations a server regularly heard footsteps on the second floor when no one was up there. One evening she went out with a friend, and they decided to return to the restaurant to check on a friend who was working. The restaurant was closed by the time they arrived, though looking through a window they spied a woman walking down a hallway. Thinking it to be their friend, they tapped on the window to no avail. They phoned their friend only to discover that she was already home and that the restaurant had closed early after a slow night.
Sources
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
Stalcup, Jonathan E. Savannah Architectural Tours. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2008.
The Rail Pub (405 West Congress Street) – In 2010, The Rail Pub brought Northeast Florida Paranormal Investigations in to investigate this 1870 building. Investigators walked away having experienced the odor of perfume and flickering lights.
Congress Street Social Club (formerly B & B Billiards) (411 West Congress Street) – Partially hidden behind a beer garden, this large commercial building is believed to have been constructed in 1860, though James Caskey writes that it may be older, or at least built on a much older foundation. Over the more than 150 years this building has been standing, it has seen a variety of uses including a warehouse, grocery store, carriage shop, and even a rumored shooting range.
The first ghost stories emerged from this building after B & B Billiards opened around 2001. Staff regularly saw a man “sitting at the bar, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a tan shirt and pants, and boots,” who disappeared when he was approached. Both staff and patrons had experiences throughout the building, but especially in the ladies room. While cleaning the restroom, one staff member was shocked to see the toilet paper roll quickly unspooling itself.
Investigator Ryan Dunn explored the building with his paranormal team and collected some Class-A EVPs, including several from the infamous ladies room. One EVP caught the sound of a woman groaning, while another captured a man’s voice asking for help. While the team captured scant evidence, much of it was high quality.
Sources
Caskey, James. Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour, 2008. Savannah, GA: Bonaventure Books, 2008.
Dunn, Ryan. Savannah’s Afterlife II: More True Tales of a Paranormal Investigator. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2018.
Corleone’s Trattoria, 2025. Photo by Lewis O. Powell, IV, all rights reserved.
Corleone’s Trattoria (44 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) – According to writer and investigator Tobias McGriff, this Italian eatery has a haunted basement.
Sources
McGriff, Tobias. Savannah Shadows: Tales from the Midnight Zombie Tour. Savannah, GA: Blue Orb Publishing, 2012.
Fire Department Station No. 4 420 West 5th Street Charlotte, North Carolina
In researching and writing about ghosts, I often forget that there were real individuals behind every ghost that I encounter. When I come across something like a death certificate for someone whose activity from the spiritual plane may be witnessed by those in the living plane, it can be a bit of a shock.
Legend often conflicts with the truthful history behind a haunting, and as a legend persists and spreads, the historical details may be discarded. Though, when I went searching for the truth behind the ghost of Charlotte’s Fire Station No. 4, the actual story has survived intact, except for some minor details. My current job requires a good amount of genealogical research, so I employed those skills in sussing out the details of this ghost story.
First, the legend as told by Israel Petty of The Lantern News & Media Group:
“On April 1st, 1934, a firefighter by the name of Pruitt Black headed out in response to a call. But when he tried to slide down the fire pole, he became tangled in his heavy bunker pants and fell through the hole instead.
Pruitt fractured his skull and died on impact. His ghost reportedly still haunts the building to this day, and visitors of the museum claim to see and smell the smoke of his cigar.”
Not only does the legend provide an exact name for the victim, but an exact date of death, as well as the location of the death. A quick search of Find-a-Grave, a website that provides the details of billions of graves worldwide, pulls up a Pruett L. Black who died 1 April 1934 buried in Charlotte’s Elmwood Cemetery. Bingo! This Pruett Black died at Fire Station No. 4!
With this basic information, I go to search Mr. Black on FamilySearch and his profile is the first to pop up. Included among the sources is a copy of the death certificate which can help to confirm the details of the legend. The cause of death is given as “Fractured skull cause [sic] by fall on concrete floor as he attempted to come down the pole from fireman’s quarters the distance being 14 feet.” The main details of his death also match up with the legend.
Front page of Section 2 of The Charlotte Observer 2 April 1934 announcing the death of Pruett Black.
All these details are backed up in the Charlotte Observer the following day. The section 2 headline blares “CHARLOTTE FIREMAN LOSES LIFE IN FALL AT STATION.”
Pruett L. Black, Charlotte fireman, was fatally injured yesterday morning at No. 4 fire station on West Fifth street when he lost his footing and plunged headfirst through the pole opening on the second floor and dropped to the concrete floor 14 feet below. He died three hours later at St. Peter’s hospital.
…Black was killed in action. He and other members of the No. 4 fire station were answering an alarm at 7:40 o’clock. When the alarm came in, the firemen, who were sleeping on the second floor of the station, dressed hurriedly and started for the brass pole which leads from the dormitory to the first floor where the apparatus is housed. A fellow fireman said that Black started toward to the pole, drawing on his coat as he went. Just as he grasped for the pole, his foot appeared to slip, and he missed his catch and fell through the opening. His head struck the concrete below and was horribly smashed.
The detail of Black dying upon impact at the firehouse is incorrect. He was injured in the fall and died at the hospital several hours later.
Putting these records together, a portrait of Mr. Black emerges. Pruett Livingston Black was born 6 February 1906 in Long Creek Township in northern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. There are some discrepancies with his date of birth, his death certificate states 26 February 1905, putting it at odds with his grave marker which reads 6 February 1906. His wife was the informant on the death certificate, so it is unknown which date may be correct. Black’s parents were Robert Rush Black (1877-1955) and Katherine Clarinda Wallace (1881-1911) and Pruett Black had five siblings: three brothers and two sisters.
Black joined the Charlotte Fire Department 15 March 1928, meaning he had just passed his sixth year of service when he died. On 30 June 1931, Pruett married Pansy Green Fortner (1910-2002) of Mount Holly, Gaston County, North Carolina at the Lutheran parsonage in Mount Holly. On 4 May 1932, Pansy gave birth to a son, Pruett Livingston Black, Jr. (1932-2013). When her husband died just about three years after their wedding, Pansy Black was left a widow and single mother at the age of 24. She would remarry around 1938, dying in 2002 in Charlotte.
Fire Station No. 4 in 2017. Photo by BusinessEditorUSA, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Construction on Firehouse No. 4 began in 1925 “to better balance downtown‘s fire protection with close proximity to the city center and accessibility to the Fourth Ward neighborhood.” The fire house opened in 1926, serving the city as until 1972 when its bays were deemed too narrow to allow for modern fire equipment. After closure, the building housed offices and storage for the city’s sanitation department as well as several businesses, including a digital media company and an antique store before reopening in 2002 as a fire museum. The museum was forced to close in 2009 due to rising rent. Since then, suggestions have been put forth for usage of the building, though nothing seems to have come to fruition.
It seems that the first stories of the building’s ghost were published by Stephanie Burt Williams in her 2003 book, Ghost Stories of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County: Remnants of the Past in a New South. For the book, Williams spoke with several people who worked in the building discovering that smelling the odor of cigar smoke was the most common experience for people in the building. The owner of the antique shop experienced the smoke the first time he toured the building. “In 1997, I was walking through the building for the first time. It had been boarded up and no one in there for years, and my first thought was that someone had been living there because the smell of cigar smoke was so strong. It was consistent and stronger in some areas than others, but I smelled it throughout the entire time I had my business there.”
Not only did people smell cigar smoke, but several people had face to face encounters with an apparition. One quiet Sunday afternoon, the antique store owner witnessed a man wearing a bright yellow parka walk through part of his store, approaching a wall and disappearing. He said, “It unnerved me, and I left for the day.” His electrical contractor had an experience shortly after. While working upstairs where the barracks were originally located the contractor observed a man walking down the hall. He followed the man into the old barracks room, though upon entering, the mysterious man had disappeared. A moment later, the store’s owner, who was downstairs, saw the man cross the room and disappear near the location of the original exterior door.
A short time later, the owner came face to face with the same apparition in the upstairs hallway. After doing some research on the building, he found a photo of Pruett Black, recognizing him as the apparition he had encountered a short time earlier. Quickly he started saying hello and goodbye to Mr. Black, who seemed to enjoy the greetings. “We never had any conversations, and I never felt scared. I felt very protected, but I definitely felt there was someone there,” he explained.
After he was sent some antique fire equipment and uniforms, the store owner displayed them in the old equipment room. Frequently, he found himself having to fold the uniforms as the spirit liked them hanging on the old pegs in the room.
While so many legends are recounted with questionable historical details, in this case, most of the historical details have been preserved. If you find yourself passing the old fire house and you happen to smell cigar smoke, be sure to wave hello to Pruett Black, I’m sure he would appreciate it!
Sources
Charlotte fireman loses life in fall at station. Charlotte Observer. 2 April 1934. Section 2, page 1.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/75659356/pruett_l-black accessed October 31, 2024), memorial page for Pruett L. Black (6 Feb 1906–1 Apr 1934), Find a Grave Memorial ID 75659356. Citing Elmwood Cemetery, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by JJH 47481859.
Portillo, Ely. “A Carolina Panthers player’s uptown restaurant building got named to the National Historic Register.” Charlotte Observer. 23 March 2017.
Price, Mark. “He died in the line of duty. Now he reportedly haunts his old Charlotte fire station.” Charlotte Observer. 24 October 2017.
Williams, Stephanie Burt. Ghost Stories of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County: Remnants of the Past in a New South. Winston-Salem, NC: Bandit Books, 2003.
Wootson, Cleve R., Jr. “Fire Museum closing its doors.” Charlotte Observer. 5 April 2009.
Quayside Art Gallery
17 East Zaragoza Street
Pensacola, Florida
At one corner of Plaza Ferdinand VII in downtown Pensacola is an old firehouse that was converted into an art gallery many years ago. The Germania Fire House was exactly a hundred years old when work began to transform the building into the art gallery in 1973. Since that time, the Quayside Art Gallery has provided space to display and sell the works of many local artists.
The old Germania Fire House before its transformation into the Quayside Art Gallery, as seen from Plaza Ferdinand VII in 1968. Photo taken by Ray Malinowski for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
The building harbors a spirit that visited a pair of firemen in 1892, a visit that garnered an article in the local newspaper.
Pensacola News 2 December 1892 Page 4
A Haunted Truck House. A Ghost Visits the Night Watchmen of the Germania Hose Company.
For quite a while the boys who sleep at the Germania truck house have been complaining of hearing ghostly noises about their cots regularly two or three nights in the week. They would lock the truck house and hunt in every nook and cranny without finding any visible cause for the sounds, which would be resumed as soon as they would lie down.
The back door seemed to be heavily charged with the spirit presence, and it would crack and shake at such a fearful rate that the boys’ nerves would become all unstrung.
The boys talked the matter over among themselves and came to the conclusion that this must be the ghost of Jeff Lowe, the negro who was hanged in Pensacola several years ago.
Others thought that this could not be; that the spirit was that of some departed member of the hose company.
The matter remained thus all undecided, and the noises continued, but the climax came at midnight Wednesday.
Geo. Saurez and Willie Britson were alone in the truck house lying upon their cot with the doors all tightly locked. The rapping and ghostly sounds were moving about the room from one side to the other and the back door was clattering like the teeth of a man with a severe chill. The town clock slowly tolled out the hour of midnight, then a queer thing happened.
A faint blue light appeared in the room, out of which was evolved the shadowy form of a man arrayed all in white. It moved slowly toward the cot, and as it advanced it seemed to float through the air instead of walking, as a being in flesh would have done.
The boys were paralyzed with fear, being too badly frightened to cry out. They turned over, burying their faces in the cover and clasped each other so tightly around the necks that each one was complaining yesterday of having sore throats.
The ghost came up to the side of the cot and put its icy hands upon their faces and necks, chilling the blood in their veins and leaving them nearer dead than alive.
The boys remained with their faces hid for what they say was fully half an hour before they recovered sufficiently to peep out, then they found that the mysterious visitor had disappeared as silently as he came.
These facts were gathered last night from George Saurez himself by a representative of THE NEWS.
Mr. Saurez says he does not think it was the ghost of Jeff Lowe, for he was not here when Lowe was hanged. He thinks it was the spirit of a white man.
Since the frightening vision witnessed by George Saurez and Willie Britson, there have been no other publicized reports of paranormal activity from the old firehouse, though the gallery seems to sit on an active place in the city paranormally speaking. Across the street is the former Escambia County Justice Center, which originally housed the county’s jail and courts, as well as serving as the site of executions, including that of Jeff Lowe who is mentioned in the article. This building has been converted into the Pensacola Cultural Center though the negative energy and bad juju that accumulates in places like this remains. See my article on the playhouse phantoms of Pensacola for more information.
An edge of Plaza Ferdinand VII across the street from the Quayside Art Gallery (the pinkish building on the far right) with the Pensacola Museum of History and the Cultural Center in the background. Photo 2008 by Ebyabe, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Besides the art gallery and the cultural center, Plaza Ferdinand VII, a National Historic Landmark, is crowded by sites that all seem to be paranormally charged. These locations include the Pensacola Museum of History which is located inside the old city hall. The old United States Customs House and Post Office is now occupied by the Artel Gallery, a contemporary art gallery, and supposedly the spirit of a woman who committed suicide here many years ago. Seville Quarter, an entertainment complex consisting of a number of bars and restaurants and located just off the plaza, is apparently haunted by the spirit of former bartender who passed away in one of the coolers.
Sources
About. Quayside Art Gallery. Accessed 27 August 2022.
Among the oldest cities in the Deep South, Mobile was founded in 1702 by brothers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, of whom the latter is considered the founder of New Orleans and Louisiana. The city’s location on the well-protected Mobile Bay, led to the city becoming a major port for exportation. That strategic location, however, made it a major target during the Civil War, which brought economic devastation to the city; that devastation would last for many decades. Through the 20th century, the port city’s fortunes have been restored and the city has become a major tourist destination with beautiful and large historic districts which are, of course, brimming with spirits.
The genteel ghosts of Mobile have been explored in a number of sources, including three books by Elizabeth Parker: Mobile Ghosts (2000), Mobile Ghosts II (2004), and Haunted Mobile (2009). In this blog, I have covered a few sites in the city including the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion, the Richards DAR House, and the Phoenix Fire Museum.
Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa
26 North Royal Street
Considered one of Alabama’s premier hotels, the Battle House is the fourth hotel on this site, though only the second called the “Battle House.” In 1825, as floods ravaged the state capital at Cahaba, Daniel White moved his inn to Mobile using flatboats. That hotel opened as the Franklin House and operated until a fire destroyed it in 1829. A larger hotel, the Waverly Hotel, was constructed on this site only to be destroyed by fire in 1850. Led by James Battle and his brothers, a group of prominent locals created a company to build a large hotel on this site, and the Battle House opened in 1852.
Throughout the second half of the 19th century, this hotel served many luminaries including presidential candidate Stephen Douglas, who was here the night he lost the presidential election to Abraham Lincoln. That hotel burned in 1905, and it was replaced by the current hotel building which opened in 1908. Among the prominent figures who have stayed in this building are President Woodrow Wilson who stayed here in 1913. The hotel went through a difficult financial period in the 1970s and closed in 1974. After being closed for nearly 30 years, the hotel has recently been fully restored and reopened.
The Battle House Renaissance Hotel & Spa, 2008, by Altairisfar. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Historic hotels like this rarely do not have ghosts or, at the very least, rumors of ghosts. The Battle House spirits have not been well documented, though an article by Amy Delcambre on the website, VisitSouth.com, includes an interview with George Moore, the hotel’s resident historian. When asked, Moore disavowed a belief in ghosts, though he did recount some of the curious incidents that have taken place here.
One story Moore recounted involved a recently married couple who stayed in the hotel in 1910. The husband left his wife alone while he took care of some business outside of the hotel. When he did not return, she supposedly hung herself in the hotel’s Crystal Ballroom. After the hotel’s recent reopening, a wedding reception was held in the ballroom where a portrait of the bride was displayed on an easel. The mother of the bride noticed a strange man in a gray suit admiring the picture, when guests began to enter the room, the strange man disappeared.
Other guests here have seen mysterious lights and apparitions in their rooms on the 3rd and 4th floors.
Floyd, W. Warner. National Register of Historic Places Nomination form for Battle House Royale. 4 June 1975.
The Battle House Hotel. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 22 May 2015.
Boyington Oak
Located within Church Street Cemetery, just off Bayou Street
The legendary Boyington Oak in Church Street Cemetery, 2009. Photo by Altairisfar, courtesy of Wikipedia.
This mighty live oak growing amid the gravestones of Church Street Cemetery is a supposed sign of the innocence of Charles R. S. Boyington. In 1834, within this cemetery, the body of Nathaniel Frost was found; severely beaten and robbed of his money and pocket watch. Boyington, who had been close friends with Frost and, according to testimony, had been seen walking near here with him, was arrested for the murder and found guilty. He was hung before a huge crowd on gallows erected in Washington Square. Before his execution, however, he stated that his innocence would be proven by an oak sprouting from his heart. This tree sprouted not long after Boyington was laid in his grave. Passersby have claimed that whispers are still heard as the wind blows through the branches.
Sources
Kirby, Brendan. ”Murders, burglaries and ‘lynch discipline;’ Mobile was a lawless place in the 1830s.” com. 12 June 2013.
Windham, Kathryn Tucker. Jeffrey’s Latest 13: More Alabama Ghosts. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1982.
Central Fire Station 701 St. Francis Street
Firefighters were shocked in 2010 when the Gamewell Alarm System here lit up. Of course, as firefighters, they should always be prepared, but they’re not usually prepared for dealing with the supernatural. The alarm system was last used in the 1960s, and the system was not connected to a power source, so there was no reason it should be lit up.
The old Gamewell system is displayed on the second-floor museum of this active fire station. Some firefighters have suggested that the system lights may be just more evidence of the presence of Laz Schwarz, a former mayor for whom this facility was dedicated when it opened in 1925. The shadowy figure of a man has been seen here for years and is believed to be the shade of the Mayor Schwarz.
Sources
Dials, Renee. “South Alabama re station haunted?” WISH TV. 17 August 2010.
Hough, Jere. “New re station museum in Mobile is trip back in time.” com. 26 April 2009.
Brown, Alan. The Haunted South. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2014.
Malaga Inn 359 Church Street
One of Mobile’s finest inns, the Malaga Inn is noted as being haunted, though the specifics are harder to discern. Elizabeth Parker, the author of three books on haunted Mobile, notes in her blog that she spoke with a few guests who had haunting experiences in this inn that occupies a pair of 1862 townhomes. One guest reported smelling a flowery, perfume-like scent in her room while another guest was physically touched by something she could not see. A different guest awoke to find the apparition of a man standing at the end of his bed.
Sources
“Ghost-berfest, Day 31: Ghostober Notebook and Happy Hallowe’en.” Mobile Ghosts Blog. 31 October 2010.
Mobile Carnival Museum 355 Government Street
Housed in the historic 1872 Bernstein-Bush House, the Mobile Carnival Museum displays artifacts from the history of Mobile’s Mardi Gras celebration, the oldest in the nation. Prior to the building’s use as the Carnival Museum, this building contained the Museum of Mobile which did not experience much paranormal activity besides having a men’s patent leather shoe mysteriously appear on the staircase of the carriage house. The staff arrived one morning to find this very nice shoe sitting on the stairs. There was no sign of an intruder, and the building had been tightly secured.
The Mobile Carnival Museum, 2008 by Altairisfar, courtesy of Wikipedia.
An unseen entity, dubbed “Ralph” by the museum’s staff, is known to make adjustments to displays. After the Carnival Museum began to install its exhibits in 2005, one mannequin was repeatedly found to be lying on its side. Lights throughout the building often turn themselves on after they have been turned off for the night. One of the more mysterious incidents involved a Mardi Gras crown that was found to be missing from an exhibit. After a frantic search, the curator found the crown sitting on a chair next to her desk the following Monday morning. None of the staff fessed up to knowing anything about the missing object. No one is sure who Ralph may be, though the building did house a funeral home for some decades.
Sources
Parker, Elizabeth. Haunted Mobile: Apparitions of the Azalea City. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2009.
Parker, Elizabeth. Mobile Ghosts: Alabama’s Haunted Port City. Apparition Publishing, 2001.
Classic Center
300 North Thomas Street Athens, Georgia
Classically, ghosts are supposed to rattle chains, and the spirit haunting Athens’ Classic Center continues this classic spectral occupation. Firemen working in this old firehouse regularly heard the rattle of the chains hanging in the basement. Even after the building was taken over by the chamber of commerce, employees would hear the rattle of chains and the chamber’s executive vice president ventured downstairs once to find the chain “swinging back and forth, not just a little motion, but very noticeably.”
Firehouse No. 1, now the Classic Center, 2011. Photo by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.
Initial designs for Athens’ new performing arts center called for the demolition of the old Firehouse No. 1 which had been built in 1912, but local residents insisted that the structure be saved. The firehouse was saved and now houses the arts center’s box office, meeting space, and the spirit of an old fire department captain, Hiram Peeler.
Born in 1861, just as the Civil War was commencing, Hiram Peeler distinguished himself in the Athens Fire Department which he joined in 1881. Still serving at the advanced age of 67 in 1928, Peeler responded to a fire at McDorman-Bridges Funeral Home with his company. Whilst searching the building, he stepped through the open doors of the elevator and fell down the shaft. He died of his injuries two days later and was buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery (which may also be haunted). He left behind a widow and nine children.
Identifying spirits is a tricky endeavor, but many who have worked in the building, from firefighters and later to arts center staff, seem convinced that the spirit is Capt. Peeler’s. One of the fire chiefs who worked in the building before the construction of a new fire station reports that his men “heard footsteps and the kitchen door creaking late at night when there was no one there and all the doors were locked.” He continues, “I really thought I heard someone on the stairs one night, and I wasn’t the only person who heard it.” The original hardwood floors of the station remain as well as original pieces of firefighting equipment.
Perhaps those floors and equipment keep Capt. Peeler’s spirit on duty. Members of the center’s staff have seen a firefighter in an old-fashioned uniform within the building. One security guard helping to set up for a function one evening exited the elevator in the old building near a display of the fire chief’s old horse-drawn wagon. As he stepped off the elevator, he glanced towards the wagon and saw and older gentleman in a dark uniform standing next to the wagon. Continuing down the hall, he realized that no one should have been in the building. When he turned, the area was empty.
Tracy Adkins includes a particularly haunting moment from a 2012 investigation of the old firehouse in her book, Ghosts of Athens. While the investigator and her daughter explored a conference room, a Classic Center employee felt her eyes begin to burn and sting. “It was like smoke was being blown into them.” Perhaps Peeler is giving these investigators the sensation that he felt at the time of his death.
The oldest firehouse in the city, the building recalls an era when government buildings were elegantly ornamented and sometimes extravagantly designed. The 1904 building utilizes Jacobean Revival style and retains some of its interior elements including a cast iron spiral staircase fire pole, though a truck now occupies the space where horse stalls once stood. The station’s façade now bears the building’s nickname, the “Vogt Reel House,” name for a former city commissioner who donated the land the station sits upon.
Vogt Reel House, 2015, by Todd F. Niemand, published under a Creative Commons License, courtesy of Flickr.
Firefighter Henry McDonald was nearly 70 years old, but still on duty on Christmas Day in 1945. World War II, the most devastating war in history had ended just a few months previous when Japan surrendered in August. He had lived to see two world wars dominate the headlines of the Lexington Herald and the Lexington Leader (these papers would merge in 1983 to become the Lexington Herald-Leader).
That Christmas Day, he peacefully drifted off the sleep in the firehouse and would not wake. He was laid to rest in Winchester Cemetery down the road from Lexington.
At some point after McDonald’s death, things seemed to indicate that his spirit had taken up residence in the old firehouse. Some heard the sound of heavy boots treading the iron staircase while unexplainable cold breezes were felt. McDonald’s beloved cane-bottom rocking chair was even heard rocking by itself in the attic. While the activity sometimes chills firefighters working in the building, the spirit has earned their respect and affection. An article from the local NBC station, notes that McDonald’s spirit “is a pretty good ghost. So good he has earned a bump in rank.”
The firehouse’s captain remarked, “He has been promoted and now they call him The Captain.”
One of my goals with this blog is to provide coverage of ghost stories and haunted places in a comprehensive manner. Perhaps one of the best ways to accomplish this is to examine ghost stories county by county, though so far, researching in this manner has been difficult. In my 2015 book, Southern Spirit Guide’s Haunted Alabama, I wanted to include at least one location for every county, though a lack of adequate information and valid sources prevented me from reaching that goal. In the end, my book was published covering only 58 out of 67 counties.
Further research has uncovered information for a few more counties and on Halloween of 2017, Kelly Kazek published an article on AL.com covering the best-known ghost story for every county. Thanks to her excellent research, I’ve almost been able to achieve my goal for the state.
Lee County
Opelika Chamber of Commerce 601 Avenue A Opelika
Known also as the Whitfield-Duke-Searcy House for the three families that called this place home, the Opelika Chamber of Commerce may remain the residence of a child’s spirit. Stories from family members reveal that a child may have died in the house in the early 20th century. Chamber staff believes the child may still be in this 1895 home.
Opelika Chamber of Commerce, 2016. Photo by Lewis O. Powell IV, all rights reserved.
Some years ago, three employees witnessed a “bright flash of light” descend the home’s front staircase. Another staff member noticed child-sized footprints in the carpet on the back staircase when no children had been in the house. Chairs and other objects here sometimes playfully move on their own accord.
Sources
Hines, Nikolaus. “A young ghost toyingly haunts an old house.” Auburn Plainsman. 17 October 2014.
Lee County Heritage Book Committee. Heritage of Lee County, Alabama. Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000.
Houston Memorial Library 101 North Houston Street Athens
On the morning of New Year’s Eve 1879, former governor George S. Houston awoke from sleep. At that time a senator representing Alabama in Congress, Houston called out, “John, bring me my shoes. I must return to Washington!” He then closed his eyes and passed away.
While Houston did not make it back to Washington, he is believed to remain in his former home. After Houston’s death, his wife lived here until her death in 1909. The house was turned over to the city for use as a library in 1936. One of the reminders that the library was once a former residence is the chiming of the grandfather clock. This chiming occurs on occasion though no grandfather clock exists in the building.
Governor Houston House, 1934, by W.N. Manning for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Two gentlemen within this building installing central air were bothered by something in the attic some years ago. As they worked, they continued to hear a rustling behind them. At one point both men saw something standing near them out of their peripheral vision. When they turned to look directly at the figure it vanished. Exasperated, the pair told the former governor firmly that they were doing no harm. The kindly spirit allowed them to continue unimpeded.
Sources
Black, Shane. Spirits of Athens: Haunting Tales of an Alabama Town. NYC: iUniverse. 2009.
Lowndesboro remains a sleepy town, lost in the haze of its past. North Broad Street, lined with historic structures, many of which date to before the Civil War, is, despite its name merely a country road passing through the community. Among those grand 19th century homes is a transplant, Marengo, which was originally built around 1835 in Autauga County but moved here sometime between 1843 and 1847. If local tradition is to be believed, Marengo’s second owner, Dr. Charles Edwin Reese, is responsible for this remarkable collection of antebellum structures surviving the Civil War.
As General Wilson and his Union troops swept through this part of Alabama destroying anything of military importance as well as other property, Dr. Reese met with the general urging him to spare the town as it was suffering an epidemic of smallpox. To provide proof, Dr. Reese brought a patient with a serious rash. Though it was all a ruse, the general was convinced and spared the town.
It seems, however, that despite the good doctor’s work in the community, his wife Sarah was fearful whenever her husband was called out to visit a patient. She never felt safe in her home, regardless of the large, brass lock that her husband had installed on the front door. Like Sarah Reese, the wife of Lindsay James Powell, Jr., a subsequent owner of the home, also felt unsafe in the house. Powell bought a gun for his wheelchair-bound wife Kathleen’s protection and peace of mind. When, in 1961, Powell discovered his wife shot to death in her bed with the same gun at her side. Kathleen Powell’s death was ruled a suicide while evidence pointed to a possible murder.
Marengo, 2012, by Rivers Langley. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Owners of the home since that time have heard the sound of a woman laughing. A psychic visiting the home confirmed that one of the spirits is that of Kathleen. Another psychic flatly stated that no one that had lived in the home had been happy adding that an additional female spirit haunts the home. The house was donated to the Lowndesboro Landmarks Foundation in 1975 and has been used as an events space for many years.
Sources
Brown, Alan. Haunted Places in the American South. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2002.
Floyd, W. Warner. National Register of Historic Places Nomination form for Lowndesboro. 1 November 1973.
Higdon, David and Brett J. Talley. Haunted Alabama Black Belt. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.
Windham, Kathryn Tucker. Jeffrey’s Latest 13: More Alabama Ghosts. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1982.
Macon County
Tuskegee National Forest
The smallest national forest in the country, Tuskegee National Forest was created from abused and eroded farmland purchased by the federal government at the height of the Great Depression. Consisting of nearly 11,000 acres, the forest provides recreational opportunities and conservation of natural habitat for the region.
During the Satanic worship scare of the 1980s, rumors spread that teens and young people were engaging in occult rituals deep in the forest here. Higdon and Talley note that some of the spirits raised by these rituals may remain in the more remote woods. Indeed, the forest may also be home to Sasquatch or Bigfoot, as well.
Sources
Higdon, David and Brett J. Talley. Haunted Alabama Black Belt. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.
Huntsville Depot 320 Church Street, Northwest Huntsville
Huntsville Depot, 2010. by Chris Pruitt. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
The Huntsville Depot has witnessed much of the panoply of railroad history in the area since its construction in 1860. The building has seen the tumult of the Civil War, and a changing transportation picture until its closure as a railroad depot in 1968. It now stands as a museum preserving one of the oldest rail depots in the nation.
As Union troops under Brigadier General Ormsby M. Mitchell swept through North Alabama in 1862, one of his primary objectives was Huntsville and its depot. With the city, Ormsby also captured some 200 ill and wounded Confederate troops. The soldiers were held on the depot’s third floor before being shipped to prisoner of war camps in the North. Graffiti covering the walls preserves some of the experiences of soldiers here.
Visitors and staff within the building have had a variety of experiences. A frequent visitor reported to Alan Brown that she felt a cold spot on the second-floor landing of the staircase. She also described how she and a group of reenactors watched an apparent Confederate soldier peer down at them from a third-floor window. Also on the third-floor, the bust of a Civil War soldier tends to turn on its own accord. A psychic passing through the building described a “cluster of ghosts” within the historic structure.
Sources
Brown, Alan. Stories from the Haunted South. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.
Gray, Jacquelyn Proctor. When Spirits Walk. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006.
Madison County Heritage Book Committee. Heritage of Madison County, Alabama. Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 1998.
Penot, Jessica. Haunted North Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010.
Marengo County
Gaineswood 805 South Cedar Avenue Demopolis
Gaineswood can be considered a historical, architectural, and paranormal treasure. According to the home’s National Register of Historic Places nomination form, Gaineswood is considered by many authorities to be one of the grandest and most important American houses built in the antebellum era. Part of the home’s uniqueness is found in its innovative and extraordinary design, which was conceived and realized by the home’s owner and builder, Nathan Bryan Whitfield. A self-taught architect, Whitfield spent much of his time and energy constructing his magnificent Neo-Classical home starting in 1842 and finishing on the eve of the Civil War in 1861.
After having his fortunes nearly wiped out by war, Whitfield sold the home to his son who allowed it to deteriorate. During this time a tree took root in the floor of the dining room, and goats roamed the halls. The house was restored in the 1890s and passed through a few hands before being bought by the State of Alabama in 1966 and opened as a house museum in 1971. Gaineswood was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
Gaineswood, 1939, by Frances Benjamin Johnston for the Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Besides the architectural importance of Gaineswood, the house is home to a classic Alabama ghost story originally told by Kathryn Tucker Windham. Mrs. Windham contends that after Nathan Whitfield’s wife died, he engaged Evelyn Carter, the daughter of a U.S. Consul to Greece, to care for his children. The delightful young woman was educated, musically inclined, and added a cultural touch to the home and the children’s lives. Unfortunately, she was taken ill and died during a particularly harsh winter. Miss Carter had requested that her body be returned to Virginia where she could be buried in the family cemetery, yet the harsh winter weather would not allow that. Instead, her body was sealed in a wooden casket and placed underneath the stairs until it could be shipped home.
Soon after, Miss Carter’s unhappy spirit began to roam the house noisily expressing her displeasure. Eerie melodies were heard playing on the piano accompanied by the swish of rustling skirts and disembodied voices. Even after Miss Carter’s remains were returned to her home, the spirit has remained in residence, though sources argue if she may have finally left the house.
Sources
Hand, Janice P. National Register of Historic Places Nomination form for Gaineswood. 13 September 1971.
“The Haunts of Gaineswood Plantation.” Ghost Eyes Most Haunted Places in America <www.GhostEyes.com>. 4 August 2009.
Higdon, David and Brett J. Talley. Haunted Alabama Black Belt. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.
Norman, Michael and Beth Scott. Historic Haunted America. NYC: TOR, 1995.
Windham, Kathryn Tucker and Margaret Gillis Figh. 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama, 1969.
Marion County
Pikeville Intersection of CR-21, CR-31, and CR-470
Little remains of the town of Pikeville, a small town built alongside the Jackson Military Road. The town served as the county seat of Marion County from 1820 until 1882, when the seat was moved to nearby Hamilton. The old county courthouse still stands, though it is now a private residence, and the town’s cemetery continues to memorialize the dead of Pikeville. This ghost town may also be populated with ghosts.
Marion County Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Marion County, Alabama. Clanton, AL: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 2000.
Siebenthaler, Donna J. “Marion County.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 29 June 2007.
Marshall County
Main Street Albertville
On April 24, 1908, a tornado roared through northeast Alabama killing some 35 residents and destroying a portion of Albertville including much of Main Street. According to Faith Serafin, there has been quite a bit of paranormal activity reported along Main Street including the spirit of a young boy in khaki knee-pants, a white shirt, and suspenders who has been observed running down the street at night. Residents have seen children wearing period clothing playing on the street in the evenings while business owners have reported the front doors of their businesses opening and closing on their own accord.
Main Street, Albertville, 2012, by Rivers Langley. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Sources
Maloney, Christopher. “Albertville.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 10 August 2011.
Phoenix Fire Museum 203 South Claiborne Street Mobile
Originally located on Conti Street, the old Phoenix Volunteer Fire Company No. 6 building was a state of the art rehouse when it was constructed in 1858. Slightly more than a hundred years later, the neglected building faced demolition for the construction of the Mobile Civic Center. The building was saved by the Mobile Historic Preservation Society, dismantled, and moved to its current location where it now serves as a part of the Mobile Museum of History. Artifacts relating to the history of firefighting within the city are displayed here including antique firefighting vehicles. Not on display, but present within the old building, is a spirit that has been heard stomping around the second-floor and occasionally rifling through an antique secretary located there.
Sources
Parker, Elizabeth. Mobile Ghosts: Alabama’s Haunted Port City. Apparition Publishing, 2001.
Monroe County
Rikard’s Mill Historic Park 4116 AL-265 Beatrice
Fleeting shadow figures have been spotted at this mill established in 1845. While the original structure is gone, the current mill, built in the 1860s, has been preserved by the Monroe County Museum. The mill has been probed by paranormal investigators, though little evidence of paranormal activity was uncovered.
Sources
Dewberry, Josh. “Was it a visit from Mr. Rickard or not?” Monroe Journal. 27 October 2011.
Higdon, David and Brett J. Talley. Haunted Alabama Black Belt. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2013.
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 29th article in the Dothan Eagle, this group investigated the building after numerous reports of paranormal activity in the building surfaced.
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.
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.
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.
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-20th 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.
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.
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.
