This article touches on Shepherd University. For a further examination of the hauntings on that campus, please see my guide to higher education haunts in WV.
I must sheepishly admit (pun intended) that I was not familiar with Shepherdstown, West Virginia until I stumbled across the website for Shepherd University with a recounting of its campus ghosts. Upon googling local ghosts, a marvelous article from the Shepherdstown Chronicle popped up with the above quote from a local historian. Of course, that got me excited.
Shepherdstown is located in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in Jefferson County. Of the counties in West Virginia, Jefferson County seems to be one of the most paranormally active, most certainly in the area of Harpers Ferry. Standing in the large shadow of Harpers Ferry ghosts, I imagine that is why there really isn’t much written about Shepherdstown’s ghosts.
Settlement of the area began in the early 18th century with Thomas Shepherd being granted over 200 acres in the area. He set aside a portion of that acreage for a town which was chartered in 1762 and is—“arguably” as Wikipedia says—the oldest chartered town in West Virginia. The town was named Mecklenburg and would remain under that name until after the Civil War.
One of the city’s oldest remaining structures is the ENTLER-WELTZHEIMER HOUSE, also known as the “YELLOW HOUSE” (East High Street, Shepherd University Campus) which is now owned by Shepherd University. Not only is the yellow house one of oldest in the city, but the ghost story told about it may be one of the oldest documented ghost stories in the city as well. The story was mentioned in a Shepherd College (as it was called at that point) yearbook in 1928. An article in the student newspaper, the Shepherd College Picket, in 1954 also covers the tale.
In 1910, the Yellow House was the home of a local cobbler, George Yontz and his furry companion, a cat named Ham. When Mr. Yontz’s body was found not far from the cabin, locals assumed he had been killed for his money (many thought him to be very wealthy), though none was found when the house was searched. Since his death, the cobbler’s taps of his cobbler’s tools have been heard in and around the house.
The student newspaper mentions that a family moved into the house not long after Yontz’s death and their cat heard the tapping in the attic. The cat headed up the stairs and not long after came streaking back down and out the door. The cat was not seen again.
The house is built on the site of what was a fort built in the area during the French and Indian War. The house was purchased by the university in 1926 and has been used for a variety of educational uses—including as a Home Economics Cottage—until recently. The university was recently granted money to preserve the house.
McMurran Hall, Shepherd University. Photo by Acroterion, 2012, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Just down the street and around the corner from the Yellow House is McMURRAN HALL (NE corner German and King Streets), one of the grandest buildings on the university campus. McMurran is where Shepherd College was founded in 1871 and its clock tower is featured in the university logo. This grand, Greek Revival building was constructed as the town hall by Rezin Shepherd, the great-grandson of Thomas Shepherd, the town’s founder. Construction began on the eve of the Civil War and building stood incomplete when the wounded from the Battle of Antietam (17 September 1862)—considered one of the bloodiest battles fought on American soil—began arriving in Shepherdstown. Public and private buildings were commandeered for use as hospitals including the unfinished town hall. Perhaps it is the spirit of one of these men who passed in this building that’s seen peering from the clock tower at night.
At the other end of the block, where German Street intersects Princess Street, the corner is graced with the lovely, old ENTLER HOTEL (129 East German Street), also called Rumsey Hall and now home to the Historic Shepherdstown Museum. The first building on this property was a home for the Entler family which was destroyed by fire in 1912. The subsequent buildings constructed here remain and these housed the Entler Hotel.
Entler Hotel, 2008, by Acroterion, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Shepherdstown’s location along a main road from Baltimore to the interior of the southeast, brought a great deal of traffic through the area in the early 19th century. This hotel was opened primarily to serve the wealthier travelers, though the nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places notes that there was gambling and other gaming taking place in the inn’s yard. Continuing, it notes that one businessman, having lost his money in a card game, shot himself at the back of the hotel.
This was not the only tragedy here, in 1809 after a duel just across the Potomac River, Peyton Smith was brought here. The duel was held following a card game between Smith and Joseph Holmes, both members of noted Virginia families. The wounded Smith was placed in Room 1 and cried out for his mother before he passed. His mother arrived from Winchester after her son’s passing. People in the building continue to hear Smith’s pathetic cries.
Walking south down Princess Street, visitors will find an old carriage repair shop that formerly housed the CARRIAGE HOUSE CAFE (107 South Princess Street). This building has housed a variety of businesses and the spirit of a former owner is said to remain on the property.
A bit further down East German Street, another corner is graced by a grand building in this case it is the Beaux-Arts style, the old 1906 Jefferson Security Bank. The bank was converted to a restaurant some years ago and now houses the YELLOW BRICK BANK RESTAURANT (201 East German Street). Table 25 was the scene of some activity in the 1990s when a patron reported to the restaurant’s manager that she couldn’t sit at the table because of the ghost. The bartender also reported that he had glasses fall from the glass rack and break.
Of course, for Shepherdstown, I think these hauntings are just the tip of the iceberg. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for more reports from this lovely little town.
Sources
Engle, Georgia Lee. “Restless spirit roams campus, haunts High Street Cottage.” Shepherd College Picket. 28 October 1954.
Lehman, Mary Corcoran. “Entler Hotel.” Historic Shepherdstown and Museum. Accessed 2 October 2014.
McGee, Ted. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Rumsey Hall (Entler Hotel). 6 October 1972.
Molenda, Rachel. “Town serves as home to ghosts from past.” The Shepherdstown Chronicle. 28 October 2011.
I recently had an inquiry from a friend who’s a student at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia regarding a “haunted road trip” he and his friends want to take next month. After consulting my resources, I’ve devised a suitable tour of the area’s numerous haunts.
This tour makes a circle through the Shenandoah Valley, beginning and ending in Winchester. It heads south on I-81 towards Staunton with a few stops along the way. After Staunton the tour heads east to include the famous Exchange Hotel in Gordonsville before returning to Winchester. The tour includes a range of haunted places from historic homes to government buildings, churches, battlefields, commercial buildings, cemeteries, a train depot, a former mental hospital and a cave. Some of these locations are open to the public while a few are private and should only be viewed from the street.
N.B. This article has been reworked a bit and I have begun separating these cities into their own distinct articles.
Winchester
The Winchester section of this article has been broken off into its own, separate article, “The Wraiths of Winchester.”
Middletown
1797 WAYSIDE INN (7783 Main Street) This building sits at the core of history of this small town. The motley of old buildings forming the tavern were built over a period ranging from the 18th century through to the late 19th century. The oldest portion of the building, containing Larrick’s Tavern, may have been constructed around 1750. The road in front was once part of the Great Wagon Road—the road used by settlers pouring into the American “backcountry.” In this area, the Great Wagon Road was originally a Native American trail called the Great Indian Warpath and used by a multitude of Native American tribes including the Cherokee.
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 20th 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.
Wayside Inn. Photo 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 before that time. 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.” 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.
WAYSIDE THEATRE (7853 Main Street, now closed) The sad fate of the Wayside Theatre echoes the fate of so many theatres throughout the country. The company was established in 1961, by Leo Bernstein, the owner of the Wayside Inn just down the street. The summer stock theatre provided training for actors such as Susan Sarandon, Peter Boyle, Kathy Bates and Donna McKechnie. After a precipitous drop in revenue, the theatre closed its doors in 2013.
The building was originally constructed as a cinema and it is from this period that the theatre’s ghost may come from. “George,” is supposedly the spirit of an African-American man who either worked in the theatre or was a caretaker at some point. His spirit is said to haunt the stage, balcony and basement of the building.
CEDAR CREEK AND BELLE GROVE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK (Belle Grove, 336 Belle Grove Road) Historically and architecturally, Belle Grove is one of the most important houses in the region and listed as a National Historic Landmark. It is currently owned and operated by the National Trust and most sources state that the docents are discouraged from talking about the spirits which still reside here.
Belle Grove, 2013, by AgnosticPreachersKid. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
The history of Belle Grove begins in the late 18th century with the land being acquired by Isaac Hite, the grandson of Jost Hite, a German immigrant and one of the early pioneers in this area. Construction of the house began in 1794 and ended in 1797. The house remained in the Hite family until just before the beginning of the Civil War when it was bought by John and Benjamin Cooley. The first of two ghost stories begin with this family. Not long after acquiring the house, Benjamin Cooley married a local woman named Hetty. Not long after her arrival in the home, Hetty became the subject of ire from one of the slave woman working there.
Though the details are unclear, Hetty was attacked by the slave and her beaten body was thrown either into the smokehouse or the icehouse on the property. Hetty’s spirit reportedly returns frequently and has been seen throughout the house. According to two sources, she actually let a deliveryman into the house one afternoon after the home had been closed for the day. The deliveryman was returning the antique carpets which had been removed for cleaning. After arriving late, he was let into the house by a woman in a period dress who did not speak but only gestured to where the carpets should be placed. When the staff discovered the carpets had been returned and put in place, they called the cleaning company who put the driver on the phone. They were shocked to hear about the woman who let him in.
A few years after Mrs. Cooley’s death, the estate became the scene of the Battle of Cedar Creek. During that battle, Major General Stephen Ramseur of North Carolina was gravely wounded. He was taken to a room at Belle Grove where he passed away the following morning surrounded by some of his former classmates from West Point from both armies including George Custer. This scene was witnessed by a gentleman some years ago. While idly passing through the house, he glanced into a room to see a group of Civil War soldiers in both blue and grey standing around someone in a bed. Later, when he asked who had been presenting the tableaux that day, he was informed that nothing of the sort was taking place in the house.
Employees have told various paranormal writers that voices and other odd noises are regularly heard in the house, while singing is heard in the slave cemetery on the property.
Early on the morning of October 19, 1864, Confederate General Jubal Early launched an attack upon Union forces camping in the area. These forces under General Sheridan (who was headquartered at the Lloyd Logan House in Winchester, see stop #3H) had spent their time clearing the Shenandoah Valley of Confederates. Known as “The Burning,” this period included the destruction of much of the area. Early’s early morning attack was one of the last chances for Confederates to stop the decimation of the valley.
While Early’s attack was initially successful in beginning to route the Federals, Sheridan, hearing the sounds of battle from Winchester, jumped upon his horse and made a triumphant ride to Middletown to rally his troops to victory. At the end of the day, Early’s forces had been driven from the field.
The stories of spirits on this battlefield began not long after the battle ended. These stories included spectral soldiers on the battlefield both singly and in groups and even stories of headless horsemen. Michael Varhola notes, however, that the gentlemen he met working in the visitor’s center, refused to answer his questions about the battlefield being haunted.
Grottoes
Formations within Grand Caverns. Photo 2010 by P199. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
GRAND CAVERNS (5 Grand Caverns Drive) From the oldest continuously operating inn in the country to the oldest operating show cave, Grand Caverns has been open for tourists since 1806. I’ve covered this cave and its ghosts in a blog entry here.
New Hope
PIEDMONT BATTLEFIELD (Battlefield Road) Outside of New Hope, near the community of Piedmont, is an open field that was the scene of a battle, the 5th of June 1864.
Around 5 AM, June 5, 1996, a group of reenactors camping on the southern edge of the battlefield were awakened by an unusual ruckus: the sounds of wagons approaching. In an effort to greet the approaching wagons, a few of the reenactors stepped towards a nearby fence. The sounds, the creak of wagon wheels, the tinkle of chains, the clop of horses hooves and their whinnies, increased for a moment as they apparently neared the awed witnesses then they suddenly ceased. Some of those present later discovered an overgrown trace or wagon road in the woods near the spot where they’d heard the sounds. It is believed that this road may have been in existence at the time of the battle.
Of course, there’s no way to know if the sounds were related to battle or simply spiritual residue from the road’s history. Either way, the reenactors will likely tell this story for years to come.
Staunton
Like Winchester, Staunton has a myriad of haunted locales and a ghost tour. Black Raven Paranormal presents a handful of different tours; see their website for further information.
MRS. ROWE’S FAMILY RESTAURANT (74 Rowe Road) This popular restaurant has been investigated twice in the past few years after employees and guests have had run-ins with spirits. In addition to activity in the building’s attic and basement, the back dining room and men’s room have reportedly had activity. Two local news articles describe the activity as ranging from full apparitions to employees being touched.
DeJARNETTE CENTER (located behind the Frontier Culture Museum, 1290 Richmond Avenue, the center is closed and private property though one of the tours offered by the Ghosts of Staunton tours the grounds, don’t ask for further information at the Frontier Culture Museum, they can’t tell you much of anything) There’s a good deal of misinformation about this location. Of course, mental and psychiatric hospitals tend to be haunted, along with other medical facilities. Among those with a paranormal bent, there is a tendency to exploit these types of places and often repeat misinformation.
DeJarnette Center. Photo 2011, by Ben Schumin, courtesy of Wikipedia.
With the DeJarnette Center, there is a tendency to confuse it with Western State Hospital, which also may be haunted. Though their histories are intertwined, these are two separate facilities. Western State was founded early in the 19th century to handle the overflow from the Williamsburg Hospital which handled the insane and mental cases. The complex that once house Western State has recently been converted into condominiums called The Villages at Staunton.
During the first half of the 19th century, Western State was under the aegis of Dr. Joseph DeJarnette, a revolutionary figure in the field of mental health. His controversial legacy included institutionalizing a eugenics program that forcibly sterilized numerous patients throughout the state.
This facility opened in 1932 originally as the DeJarnette State Sanitarium, a private pay unit of Western State. The state assumed control of this facility in 1975 and renamed it the DeJarnette Center for Human Development. The facility experienced severe budget cuts starting in the mid-70s and continuing until the patients were moved into a newer, smaller facility adjacent to Western State in 1996. Since 1996, the site has been abandoned and waiting for the wrecking ball. Countless ghost stories have been told about the facility, though few have actually been published.
DOWNTOWN STAUNTON Like downtown Winchester, Staunton has a number of haunted places, though the information on them is not as readily available (as opposed to Winchester with Mac Rutherford’s book on its hauntings). I imagine many of these locations will be presented on the Ghosts of Staunton tour.
STAUNTON COFFEE AND TEA (32 South New Street) This building was the scene of a homicide in August of 1951. Elmer Higgins, a heavy gambler who lived in an apartment on the building’s second floor was shot in the head, execution-style. The murder remains unsolved and it is believed his spirit remains on the premises.
AMTRAK STATION (1 Middlebrooks Avenue) There has been a train station on this site since 1854. The first station was burned during the Civil War while the second station was destroyed April 28, 1890 by train. The New York Times described the event, “This morning about 3 o’clock a railroad wreck occurred at the Staunton (Chesapeake and Ohio) Station. The vestibule train, due here from the west at 1 o’clocl was two hours late. About 3 o’clock it came whirling on at a speed of seventy miles an hour, the engine having the appearance of a sheet of fire…As the train reached the passenger station the rear sleeper careened, striking the platform covering, tearing away the iron posts, and demolishing the whole platform structure.”
Staunton Amtrak Station. Photo 2009, by Ben Schumin, courtesy of Wikipedia.
The train was carrying members of a traveling operatic troupe out of Cincinnati, Ohio. The only death to occur was one of the company’s singers, Miss Myrtle Knox who was badly mangled by the accident and bled to death.
Myrtle’s sad spirit has been spotted on the platform wearing a nightgown. Women with long blonde hair have had their hair tugged and it is believed that Myrtle’s spirit may be to blame for that as well.
An old rail car at the depot once contained a restaurant. Visitors to the station have seen odd lights, shadows and heard voices around the old Pullman car. Along the tracks the apparition of a Civil War soldier has been seen. A Confederate soldier was walking these tracks after having a bit too much to drink at a local saloon. He was hit by a train and killed.
THE CLOCK TOWER BUILDING (27 West Beverly Street) This 1890 structure has been the scene of at least three deaths. Two early deaths on the premises, which was originally constructed as a YMCA facility, include a heart attack and a young woman who fell down a coal chute. Recently, someone fell to their death from the third floor in a possible suicide. These spirits are still said to linger in this old building.
MARY BALDWIN COLLEGE (Intersection of Frederick Street and New Street) According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination form for this college’s main building, Mary Baldwin is the oldest women’s institution of higher learning associated with the Presbyterian Church. The school was opened in 1842 as the Augusta Female Seminary. In the midst of the Civil War, Mary Baldwin and Agnes McClung, former students of the seminary were appointed as principals. They would serve the school through the latter half of the 19th century and Mary Baldwin’s contribution would be recognized in 1895 when the school was renamed for her. The spirits of Mary Baldwin and Agnes McClung may remain on campus along with a few other assorted spirits.
In the old Main Building, one of the first buildings constructed on campus, a male spirit named Richard likes to occasionally cause trouble. McClung Residence Hall, just behind the Main Building includes the rooms where Baldwin and McClung lived during their tenure here. Students living there have reported the spirits of both women, with one student even waking up to find a white figure hovering over her as she slept. The Collins Theatre, located inside the Deming Fine Arts Center, also features a spirit, possibly that of one of Mary Baldwin’s most illustrious alums, the actress Tallulah Bankhead. The spirit in the theatre is known to mess with the stage lights.
Gordonsville
Exchange Hotel, 2008, by Rutke421. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
CIVIL WAR MUSEUM AND EXCHANGE HOTEL (400 South Main Street) The Exchange Hotel has, in recent years, become one of the Southern meccas for ghost hunters. Opened on the eve of the Civil War, this hotel became one of the premier hospitals for the wounded during the Civil War. With so many deaths here, it’s no wonder that the place is crawling with ghosts. In one of my early blog entries, I’ve covered this location. At one time, the museum offered ghost walks, but I can currently find no information about these. This haunting was also covered on the Biography Channel show, My Ghost Story, first season, episode six.
Sources
Abram’s Delight. Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. Accessed 19 September 2014.
Armstrong, Derek Micah. “A true ghost story.” The News Virginian. 22 October 2012.
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.
Austin, Natalie. “Local ghost expert shares stories of the supernatural.” The Northern Virginia Daily. 30 October 2004.
Brown, Beth. Haunted Plantations of Virginia. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2009.
Rutherford, Mac. Historic Haunts of Winchester: A Ghostly Trip Through the Past. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2007.
Shulman, Terry. “Did ghostly soldiers pay reenactors a courtesy call?” The News Leader (Staunton, VA). 10 July 2004.
Smith, Morgan Alberts & Marisol Euceda. “The Ghosts of MBC.” Up Hill and Down. January/February 2003.
Stanley, K.W. “The history of Western State and the Dejarnette Sanitarium.” The News Progress. 20 May 2008.
Toney, B. Keith. Battlefield Ghosts. Berryville, VA: Rockbridge Publishing, 1997.
Tripp, Mike. “DeJarnette’s ugly, complicated legacy.” The Daily News Leader. 22 March 2014
“Trying to get a glimpse of a ghost at Staunton’s Mrs. Rowe’s.” News Leader. 24 June 2012.
Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2001.
Varhola, Michael J. Ghosthunting Virginia. Cincinnati, OH: Clerisy Press, 2008.
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for the Cedar Creek Battlefield and Belle Grove. 24 April 1969.
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Mary Baldwin College, Main Building. 26 July 1973.
Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for the Winchester Historic District. April 1979.
The Willcox 100 Colleton Avenue, SW Aiken, South Carolina
The Willcox is so exclusive that it once turned away the Prince of Wales. Granted, it was Master’s Week while the Masters Golf Tournament was being played in Augusta, Georgia, just across the Savannah River and there was no room at the inn. Then again, having once turned away such a prestigious guest only adds to the mystique of this haunted grand hotel in horse country.
Interestingly, it was the visit of another prestigious guest that lead to national exposure for these exclusive spirits. While in the hotel during a campaign stop for presidential candidate, John McCain, a crew from NBC was alerted to possible paranormal activity in the hotel. As a result, the hotel was featured in a segment on haunted hotels on the Today Show. While taping an interview for the show, the exclusive spirits pulled some of their antics.
While interviewing the hotel’s general manager, “they asked, ‘How do you know ghosts are here?’ and—boom!—all the lights went out.” Even after changing equipment, the lights (I’m assuming the crew’s lighting, not the lights in the hotel) refused to work.
Aiken rose to prominence as a resort town for Southern planters. Before and after the Civil War, the town gained a reputation as a health resort where the ill and invalid could recover or ease the symptoms of their maladies. It was this reason that brought Louise Eustis to Aiken in 1872. An equestrian, Eustis took advantage of the mild climate to pursue her horsey pursuits and after her marriage to sportsman Thomas Hitchcock, they began encouraging their wealthy friends to visit Aiken.
The Willcox, 2012, by Bill Fitzpatrick. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
The Aiken Winter Colony, as it was known, began to attract the country’s elite. Politicians, scions of industry and business, the idle rich and fashionable began to swell the town’s population. Names like Astor, Vanderbilt and Whitney became common names around town. Noble sports like polo and fox hunting were introduced into the area with large hotels and estates constructed to house and serve the moneyed.
While the reasons for Frederick Willcox’s arrival in Aiken from his home country of England are unclear, he found success within the ashes of the Highland Park Hotel. Opened by Thomas Hitchcock, the Highland Park Hotel burned in 1898 and Willcox opened his small hotel in 1900. The Willcox built its reputation on “atmosphere, impeccable service and excellent cuisine.” The hotel’s reputation brought its guests back year after year and it served as a center of life in town during the height of the days of the Winter Colony. British politician Sir Winston Churchill, cosmetics maven Elizabeth Arden, architect Thomas Hastings and the British Army in India polo team all sought after the spacious rooms of The Willcox.
World War II cut deeply into the sparkling, carefree existence that had been experienced by many in Aiken. As the face of America had been changed by war, the upper echelons of society were changed as well and in 1957, Albert Willcox, Frederick’s son, decided to close and sell the hotel. For decades, the grand dame would sit idle and Aiken would return to a quiet existence as a small town.
With the hotel’s restoration and reopening, The Willcox has garnered awards and accolades including being named among the world’s top hotels by Conde Nast Traveler.
The exclusive spirits of The Willcox still make their presence known as well. The Georgia Paranormal Society investigated the hotel in 2006 and they described the Roosevelt Suite as one of the most active places they have encountered. Setting up equipment in this room that was occupied many times by President Franklin Roosevelt, the team captured things on tape the entire evening.
The hotel’s manager carefully pointed out in a 2007 article that most of the activity consisted of small things happening. Those things include books moving around on their own in a 3rd floor suite, a telephone ringing with no one on the other line and Christmas tree ornaments flying off the tree and landing nearby unbroken. A guest on the third floor heard footsteps and voices above her. The hotel has no 4th floor.
While it is noted that activity has been seen in most of the hotel’s rooms, it should be noted that guests have nothing to fear. The activity is simply the exclusive spirits of “swells and dandies of the Gilded Age” still living it up on the other side.
Sources
Baughman, Tony. “’Today’ show features inn’s hauntings.” The Aiken Standard. 1 November 2007.
N.B. Last Thursday, I did a presentation on Atlanta ghosts for the Atlanta History Center’s event, Party with the Past. The presentation began with the 1908 New York Times story of a ghost in the governor’s mansion. This has since been broken out into its own article here.
Atlanta doesn’t have a very good record of preserving its historic environments. Historic preservation not only preserves the historic fabric of a location, but the spiritual fabric as well. That can most certainly explain cities such as Savannah, New Orleans, Charleston, SC and St. Augustine—cities known for their ghosts.
Disturbances in the historic fabric of a location can also uncover spirits. This is evident throughout the Atlanta area as the sacred ground where many gave their lives during the Civil War is developed. One of the better documented occurrences of this phenomenon took place on a development called Kolb Creek Farm in Marietta, just north of here.
Valentine Kolb House, 2011, Photo by Lewis O. Powell IV, all rights reserved.
This house and a small family cemetery on Powder Springs Road in Marietta are all that remain of the Valentine Kolb farm where a minor battle was fought June 22, 1864, a battle leading up to the vicious Battle of Kennesaw Mountain which would be fought a few days later.
Behind this house, the farm fields have been developed into subdivisions. A couple, James and Katherine Tatum, purchased a home in the neighborhood in 1986. After a quiet first year in the house, the couple began to experience unexplained activity. The television show Unsolved Mysteries publicized their story and they were interviewed by Beth Scott and Michael Norman, interviews that were included in their 2004 book, Haunted America.
The first encounter occurred early one morning. “My husband and I had gotten up to go to the bathroom at the same time, about 2:30 AM. Our bedroom is upstairs. My husband used the bedroom bath and I went into the hall bath. The bathroom door was open. I saw a man walking down the hall in front of the open bathroom door. I assumed it was my husband looking for me since I was not in bed.”
After calling out to her husband with no response, Mrs. Tatum returned to the bedroom where she found her husband and asked if he’d been in the hall. He had not and he was disturbed by the idea that someone else might be in the out. Climbing out of bed, he retrieved his gun and searched the house to no avail, no one else was there.
Mrs. Tatum realized that the figure she had seen was wearing a hat and a coat. “I came to realize that when the man walked past me there had been no sound, as you would normally hear whenever someone is walking down the hall.”
For the Tatums, this would begin a series of odd events including something playing with an electric drill, pocket change on a dresser jingling on its own accord and a small bell ringing by itself.
Scott, Beth and Michael Norman. Haunted America. NYC: Tor, 2004.
Apparently, this isn’t the only modern house with spiritual residue possibly left over from the war, homes and businesses throughout the area have activity as well.
Among the multiple stories coming out of the area, one recent story stands out.
On the night of October 8, 2007, a gentleman and his teenage son were driving across one of the many roads that cross the battlefield at Kennesaw Mountain. They spotted something about to cross the road and were amazed to see a horse with a Union cavalry officer upon it appear in their headlights.
“I quickly locked on my brakes as the horse proceeded to come right in front of us,” the anonymous driver told 11 Alive News, an Atlanta news station. The father and son watched in awe as the figure moved across the road and through a fence opposite before fading into the night.
Keep in mind, as you traverse Atlanta’s battlefield, keep on the lookout for ghosts.
Sources
Crawley, Paul. “Ghost rider at Kennesaw Mtn.?” 11 Alive News. 1 November 2007.
The Civil War left a heavy, spiritual pall around the city, a pall that has been detected by visitors to Atlanta’s great necropolis, Oakland Cemetery.
Moving on to a happier place on Peachtree in Midtown, we find ourselves at the Fabulous Fox which may possess a handful of “phantoms of the opera.” When this building opened, Christmas Day, 1929, one of the local papers called it “a picturesque and almost disturbing grandeur beyond imagination.” The grandeur, however did not last and the theatre floundered during the Depression. Under threat of demolition in the 1970s, Atlantans banded together to save the theatre and it has since been restored.
Fox Theatre, 2005. Photo by Scott Ehardt, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Some of the mysteries among the minarets include the holy grail of ghost hunting, a full body apparition seen by an investigator. An investigator with the Georgia Ghost Hounds, Denise Roffe (who, incidentally, wrote a book on the ghosts of Charleston, SC), had to use the restroom during an investigation. In the dark she found her way to the ladies restroom and upon entering a stall was shocked to see a young woman. “She was just standing there wearing a long, period dress and a hat.”
Startled, she screamed and other members of the group quickly joined her but the image was gone.
Another popular story involves a man hired to stoke the theatre’s furnaces. He lived down in the basement with a cot and his few, meager possessions. After his death, he has possibly continued to stay in the basement. He is said to like women and when they enter the basement they will, at times, detect a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere while men are sometimes harassed by the spirit.
Underwood, Corinna. Haunted History: Atlanta and North Georgia. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2008.
Just before Peachtree crosses over I-85, visitors to the city may be surprised to see what appears to be a castle looming above the road. Built with granite supplied from Stone Mountain, Rhodes Memorial Hall was constructed in 1904 for local furniture bigwig, Amos Rhodes. After serving as the home of the State Archives the building played a haunted house for a few years in the 1980s and 90s, despite actually being haunted.
Rhodes Hall in an undated photo from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
The house was investigated by the Atlantic Paranormal Team from SyFy’s paranormal investigation show, Ghost Hunters. To aid in this endeavor, the show’s producers called in the Real Housewives of Atlanta to perhaps scare up a few ghosts with their attitudes and fashion sense. While some scant evidence was uncovered, Rhodes Hall got to show off its ghostly activity which includes the typical unexplained footsteps, doors opening and closing by themselves and apparitions, though with a sardonic sense of humor that includes a bouquet of dead flowers supposedly being left on the desk of a staff member in the house.
Sources
Merwin, Laura. “Ghost Hunters meet Real Housewives of Atlanta and nothing.” com. 2 December 2010.
Rhodes Hall. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 28 October 2013.
In terms of Atlanta hauntings, these are just the very tip of the iceberg. While some of these hauntings have been documented, I believe there are many more that should be documented from private homes to office complexes.
A MARTA train passes by Oakland Cemetery. Photo 2011, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.
I’d like to leave you with one final story. Ghosts do not just appear in old houses or buildings, but they’re also found in planes, trains and automobiles. Curt Holman in an article a few years ago from Creative Loafing Atlanta relates a story from MARTA, the Metro-Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority which operates a system of trains and buses throughout the city.
Holman relates that a young man riding on a nearly empty train on a winter’s afternoon. The young man was absorbed in the music he was listening to on his headphones and was startled to feel someone sit next to him. Looking at his reflection in the window, the young man saw a man in his 40s with dark hair and wearing a business suit sitting next to him.
Turning to speak to the man he found the seat empty.
Thank you very much and support your local ghosts!
Sources
Holman, Curt. “The hauntings of Atlanta.” Creative Loafing Atlanta. 27 October 2011.
Plant Hall—University of Tampa 401 West Kennedy Boulevard Tampa, Florida
A Haunted Southern Book of Days–5 February
This article is a part of an occasional blog series highlighting Southern hauntings or high strangeness associated with specific days. For a complete listing, see “A Haunted Southern Book of Days.”
It’s truly an incredible sight, silver-roofed minarets out of a Moorish fantasy rising above the oaks and palms of downtown Tampa. As I was researching something else, photographs of this fantasy palace called for a further look. I’m glad I did.
It does not, in any way, resemble an academic building, though that is its current use. It was constructed by Henry Plant as the Tampa Bay Hotel between 1888 and 1891. Plant—who had already constructed a rail line to this sleepy hamlet in 1884 and later a steamship line running to Havana—had dreams, like those of Henry Flagler, of turning Florida into a vacation paradise. Their pioneering ideas did succeed—look at Florida now—though it took quite a bit of time. Plant’s investments in this fine hotel were never recouped, though he did succeed in building Tampa into an exciting and cosmopolitan city.
Some of Plant Hall’s minarets. Photo 2012 by WalterPro4755. Released under a Creative Commons License.
Over the more than forty years the hotel operated it barely turned a profit while still attracting some of the best and brightest celebrities. The great French actress, Sarah Bernhardt, lounged in the hotel’s opulence while the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, danced in the corridors. The voice of William Jennings Bryan echoed through its rooms while Babe Ruth signed his first baseball contract here.
The highlight of the hotel’s illustrious, though impecunious, early history came in 1898 when the hotel served as the stateside command post for the American invasion of Cuba. The ladies and gentlemen who usually promenaded through the elegant hallways of the hotel were replaced with generals, troops and newspaper reporters. With Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt and his Rough Riders stationed nearby, Mrs. Roosevelt was booked into the 511 room hotel alongside the famous nurse, Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, who came to oversee the nursing of soldiers.
After Plant’s death, the grand hotel passed to his heirs who sold it to the city of Tampa in 1905. The hotel saw a series of lease holders until 1933, when the building was leased to the fledgling University of Tampa. Much of the hotel was converted into classrooms and offices while a small portion remained as a museum, preserving the hotel as it was in its heyday. In addition to appearing as part of the university’s logo, the unique building now serves as administrative offices for the school.
A grand staircase inside Plant Hall. Photo 2009 by Gordon Tarpley. Released under a Creative Commons License.
As midnight’s darkness descends on the minarets of Plant Hall—the building’s current designation—the memories from the great building’s heyday are relived. Legend says that students still occasionally encounter servants from the Victorian era still going about their duties. Students have noted that certain parts of the building have an eerie chill and they get the feeling of being watched. A theatre professor in the building’s Fletcher Ballroom encountered an oddly shaped mist. “This cloud of mist…fog, and it was obvious there was some kind of physical shape to it. And as soon as I saw it, it literally sucked into the wall.”
A curving corridor. Photo 2009 by Gordon Tarpley. Released under a Creative Commons License.
A curious student one morning had a frightening experience. As she explored the labyrinthine structure, the student encountered a man in an old-fashioned three piece suit. When she called out to ask if she could help him he did not respond, though he began to walk towards her. At that point she realized his eyes were glowing red and she fled. As she descended a staircase, she encountered the same man calmly drinking tea. There’s no telling what else one might encounter around midnight under the minarets.
Sources
Dickens, Dorothy K. and Ralph Christian. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for the Tampa Bay Hotel. October 1975.
“The Ghosts of Plant Hall.” The Minaret. 1 November 2007.
My family rented a cabin just outside of Lake Lure, NC. My mother had actually gotten the idea of going there from me after I talked about the area while writing my two articles about the area (the one on Chimney Rock that I just reposted and one on the two haunted hotels there). Lake Lure and Chimney Rock are almost adjoining. Judging from the signs, they are really only feet apart. Both hamlets spread out on either side of U.S. Route 64 as it winds (and I do mean it’s a very winding road) through the Hickory Nut Gorge. Both Lake Lure and the town of Chimney Rock sit under the sentinel of the actual Chimney Rock.
Chimney Rock extends, thumb-like, from Chimney Mountain. Taken from just off of US 64. Photo 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.Hickory Nut Falls appears above the trees. Photo 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.
Chimney Rock rises on the left and Hickory Nut Falls appears on the right. This is the view from “downtown” Chimney Rock. Photo 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.
Chimney Rock (the rock) juts out from Chimney Mountain and has served as a landmark for centuries. It was here in early years of the nineteenth century that some locals witnessed a host of being ascending into the air from this rock. Just west of Chimney Rock, Hickory Nut Falls descends towards the Rocky Broad River which runs along the floor of the gorge. Chimney Rock Park (which encompasses the falls) was owned by a single family for most of the 20th century and was just recently acquired by the state of North Carolina as a state park in 2007. At the moment, there is still construction going on to rehabilitate the access to the rock itself, so it was closed. But we did get to the parking lot below it and had some spectacular views of the gorge from that point. In addition, the trail to Hickory Nut Falls was open and we hiked to see it. It’s amazing!
Chimney Rock from the visitors’ center parking lot, the closest I could get, unfortunately. Photo 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.The view of the Hickory Nut Gorge and Lake Lure from the base of Chimney Rock with the intrepid Southern Spirit Guide. Photo 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.Hickory Nut Falls from the base of the falls. Photo 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.
I was excited to see the Lake Lure Inn as well! When Dr. Lucius Morse dreamed of a lakeside mountain resort in the early days of the 20th century, he envisioned something that was European in style. The Inn’s architecture is vaguely European and the whole scene of the Inn and the mountains and the lake creates a view that is definitely European in feel. I had to remind myself that I was in North Carolina and not somewhere in the Alps. The area is just absolutely lovely. I’m excited to return very soon!
The 1927 Lake Lure Inn. Photo 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.
Vinoy Renaissance Hotel 501 Fifth Avenue Northeast St. Petersburg, Florida
Big news! Tween idols Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez actually stayed in a hotel somewhere!
Even bigger news! The hotel was the haunted Vinoy Renaissance Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida!
Evidently, this is what passes for news on celebrity gossip sites. But it’s enough for me to write a Haunt Brief on it.
Lately, my concentration has been drawn to Florida and I’ve noticed that much of Florida’s haunted history lies in its hotels. From wooden edifices in small towns like Apalachicola’s Gibson Inn to St. Augustine’s monstrous monuments to the Gilded Age in the forms of the Hotel Ponce de Leon, Hotel Alcazar and Hotel Cordova; all the way to the towering grandeur of the grand hotels of the 1920s such as the Biltmore in Coral Gables and the Vinoy, all of these are haunted by a myriad of spirits.
The Vinoy Renaissance, 2008, by Ebyabe. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Of the grand resort hotels from the 1920s, many have very similar histories. These hotels were built to take advantage of Florida’s burgeoning reputation as a vacation spot, a trend started by Henry Flagler in the latter days of the nineteenth century. These resorts attracted many of the great names of the period ranging from silent film stars to politicians to sports heroes. Many hotels experienced issues during the Great Depression and some were purchased by the military for use as hospitals during World War II. Some, like the Biltmore, lingered as hospitals for a while after the war. Those that reopened as hotels after the war had difficulty competing with the motels springing up to take advantage of auto traffic and the state’s new draw, Walt Disney World. Most hotels spent some time abandoned and during that stage paranormal activity was noticed in the empty structures. Recently, most of the grand palaces have been restored and returned to service as first-class luxury hotels.
Bieber and Gomez are just the most recent in a long and varied list of celebrities that have stayed in the Vinoy’s storied halls, a list that includes Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Stewart and Babe Ruth. In fact, this hotel figures into baseball history as hosting the St. Louis Browns in the 1920s when they trained in nearby Tarpon Springs. Nowadays, the hotel hosts Major League Baseball teams in the area to play the Tampa Bay Rays. Among some of these players, there are stories of the hotel’s darker reputation.
Just last year when the Florida Marlins were in town to play the Rays, relief pitcher Steve Cishek reported on his Twitter feed, “Currently crapping my pants…can’t sleep…my room is def haunted.” He later said he heard a thump in the bathroom that sounded like a bar of soap falling, though nothing was out place when he checked.
One of the first and most widely reported stories dates to 2003 when relief pitcher Scott Williamson, who was playing for the Cincinnati Reds at the time, claimed to have had a bizarre experience in his room. He awoke to see an odd light coming from the pool outside. He then experienced an odd tingling sensation. Rolling onto his stomach he said he felt that someone sat on his back, making it hard for him to breathe. He rolled back onto his back and saw a man in period clothing standing near the window. “he was just looking right at me. It was almost like he was trying to get a point across to me or something. I jumped up and turned on the lights but he was gone.”
The Pittsburgh Pirates were the next team in town to stay at the hotel. It was strength coach Frank Velasquez’s turn to experience a figure in his room. He heard and sound and looked up to see a man standing near the window of his room “just staring” at him. The coach turned his head and closed his eyes, but the figure was still standing there when he looked again. On that same trip, two other Pirates coaches had odd experiences: the hitting coach awoke to find that the door to his room was standing wide open after he had closed and locked it while the bullpen coach reported an old dime falling out of the ceiling while he showered.
In 2008, the TAPS team from TV’s Ghost Hunters investigated. Staying mostly on the fifth floor where the activity seems to be concentrated, they uncovered some haunting evidence. One of the most interesting pieces of evidence came from a room where one of the investigators slept overnight. Just after setting up cameras throughout the hotel including one in that particular room, the closet door opened by itself. The investigators made a priority of investigating this phenomena and discovered that the closet door did not open with ease, so there was no obvious explanation to the event. Even more haunting was what happened after the investigator, Jason Hawes, went to bed for the night. He was later awakened by a loud male voice demanding that he “just get out.” Hawes awoke after the voice called out which was all caught on tape. About 20 seconds later the voice again demanded that he get out.
These events are only a small part of the record of activity within the hotel. In fact, one article on the hotel mentioned that the activity was minor but quite frequent.
There are some legends that have surfaced to explain the activity. A female spirit in the hotel has been identified as the spirit of the wife of the hotel’s founder. One male spirit is said to be that of a businessman who killed himself in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash. Needless to say, there are spirits in this celebrity hideaway.
Big news! Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez may not have had any experiences within this hotel!
Oh well…
Sources
Baxter, Kevin. “Dodgers Report: Hotel isn’t one of their favorite haunts.” Los Angeles Times. 25 June 2007.
Ekberg, Aida. “Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez’s Florida Hotel is Haunted?” com. 11 March 2012.
Jenkins, Greg. Florida’s Ghostly Legends and Haunted History, Volume 3: The Gulf Coast and Pensacola. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 2007.
Klinkenburg, Jeff. “Renaissance Vinoy Resort marks 85 years of history.” Petersburg Times. 17 December 2010.
Kruse, Michael. “St. Petersburg’s Vinoy hotel haunted, major-league baseball players say.” Tampa Bay Times. 29 February 2012.
Rebman, Kimberly P. Haunted Florida: A Guide to the Departed Soul. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse, 2008.
Strikler, Lon. “A History of Hauntings at St. Petersburg’s Renaissance Vinoy.” Phantoms and Monsters Blog. 20 June 2011.
N.B. This article has been revised and edited 24 September 2019.
Dear, when in your arms I creep, That divine rendezvous, Don’t wake me if I’m asleep, Let me dream that it’s true. –“How Long Has This Been Going On?” (1928) by George and Ira Gershwin
Biltmore Hotel 1200 Anastasia Avenue Coral Gables, Florida
When grandmama whose age is eighty In nightclub’s gettin’ matey With gigolos, Anything goes! –“Anything Goes” from the musical, Anything Goes (1934) by Cole Porter
N.B. Thank you for taking time to read through this experimental entry. I have a great love for music of the 1920s and 1930s and decided to see how much they could contribute to the narrative of this entry.
Biltmore Hotel by Milan Boers, 2009. Licensed under Creative Commons.
The cover of Leslie Rule’s Coast to Coast Ghosts, a marvelous collection of ghost stories from across America, features a lovely and haunting black and white photo of a colonnaded balcony. A door is open and the wind is pulling the sheer, white curtains outward. This photograph of a balcony at the Biltmore Hotel was shown by Rule to a psychic who exclaimed, “There has been a lot of raunchy activity here! A couple was murdered here. They were having an affair and were shot by the woman’s husband.” The psychic continued saying that the woman was naked except for her jewelry.
Photo by eflon, 2009. Licensed under Creative Commons.
In the mornin’, in the evenin’, Ain’t we got fun?
Night or daytime, it’s all playtime, Ain’t we got fun? Hot or cold days, any old days, Ain’t we got fun? –“Ain’t We Got Fun?” (1921) by Richard A Whiting, Raymond B. Egan, and Gus Kahn
Photo by eflon, 2009. Licensed under Creative Commons.
The Biltmore Hotel, in picturesquely named Coral Gables, was built as a beacon for fun and sumptuous pleasure at the height of the Roaring Twenties. With its Mediterranean Revival tower modeled on the Giralda Tower on Seville, Spain’s cathedral it featured the largest swimming pool in the world, containing 1,250,000 gallons of water, where synchronized swimmers and alligator wrestlers entertained guests. Johnny Weismuller, who would go on to portray Tarzan on the silver screen, taught and showed off his aquatic prowess in the gigantic pool. Luminaries gathered in the hotel’s ballrooms where they enjoyed top tier entertainment and even illegal gambling under the watchful eyes of gangsters Al Capone and Thomas “Fatty” Walsh. Popular bands of the era pumped out popular tunes with upbeat tempos, catchy lyrics, and jaunty tunes while couples danced foxtrots, the Charleston, tangos, and the Black Bottom under blazing chandeliers or glowing stars.
Photo by Averette, 2007. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Stars fade but I linger on, dear… –“Dream a Little Dream of Me” (1931) by Fabian Andre, Wilbur Schwandt and
Gus Kahn
The hotel’s beauty began to fade when the United States War Department commandeered the hotel in 1942 for use as a convalescent hospital. Hotel rooms became rooms for patients and offices for doctors while public spaces became surgical suites. The floors were covered with linoleum, original furnishings were thrown out or painted over, windows were sealed with concrete, while the interior was painted a dismal, antiseptic green. Following the end of World War II, the hotel became an Army General Hospital and was later taken over by the Veterans Administration. Despite its utilitarian garb and atmosphere, the hospital attracted popular entertainers who performed for the patients. During its tenure as a VA hospital, the University of Miami established its medical school in the building. The grand hotel served as a hospital until 1968 when it was abandoned.
Sometimes I wonder why I spend The lonely nights Dreaming of a song. The melody haunts my reverie And I am once again with you. –“Stardust” (1927) by Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish
The now crumbling hotel sat abandoned while the City of Coral Gables attempted to save it as a historic structure. The city finally succeeded in 1973, but the building continued to sit empty while the city decided how best to utilize it. While empty, the building was used as a backdrop for the horror film, Shock Waves and can be seen briefly in the trailer. It also attracted attention for odd activity. In fact, Dennis William Hauck’s Haunted Places: the National Directory, states that, “Townspeople congregated on the golf course to observe the strange lights and eerie sounds coming from the empty building at night.”
The song is ended But the melody lingers on You and the song are gone But the melody lingers on. –“The Song is Ended” (1927) by Irving Berlin and Beda Loehner
Photo by tabitum, 2008. Licensed under Creative Commons.
While the locals who observed the activity in the abandoned building would often hear lingering melodies, that’s only part of the activity they witnessed. Greg Jenkins in his masterful three-volume series, Florida’s Ghostly Legends and Haunted Folklore, notes the witnesses as seeing windows opening and closing, figures within the building, and crashing sounds. The activity was so pronounced that in the summer of 1979 a team of policemen stormed the building in search of drug dealers and other malcontents believed to be hiding within. Their search turned up no one. When the humans failed to find anyone, a pair of police dogs was brought in only to have them flee after just five minutes, tails between their legs. After restoration began in the early 1980s, the activity increased.
Looking everywhere, Haven’t found him yet. –“Someone to Watch Over Me” (1926) by George and Ira Gershwin
Photo by Marc Kevin Hall, 2009. Licensed under Creative Commons.
A team of psychics and investigators visited the empty hulk in 1978. The psychics picked up on many energies throughout the building especially on the 13th floor and around the elevators. A recording device that was running during the investigation picked up a loud tapping that was not noticed by anyone present. Many of the psychics remarked that that floor possibly contained hundreds of spirits. Another group investigating in 1979 recorded the sounds of heavy breathing and a sigh. Could this be related to a tragedy from the hotel’s early years?
We lived our little drama… –“Stars Fell on Alabama” (1934) by Frank Perkins and Mitchell Parish
O, show us the way to the next whiskey bar. O, don’t ask why. –“Alabama Song” (1930) by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht
In the late 1920s, a local gambler, Edward Wilson, rented out the suite on the 13th and 14th floors of the hotel and opened a speakeasy, This was a place where wealthy locals could drink and gamble away from the eyes of the law. Wilson became acquainted with New York mobster Thomas “Fatty” Walsh and his friend, Arthur Clark. Both had left the city to avoid an investigation in the death of an associate.
One evening in March of 1929, Wilson and Walsh began to argue in the speakeasy with nearly a hundred patrons in black-tie. Wilson pulled a gun and shot Walsh to death. When Clark rushed to his friend’s side, he was wounded. Police rushed to the hotel but it took some time to reach the murder scene. Once there, the room had been “cleaned” of any evidence of a speakeasy. Modern researchers believe the lack of police records on this event to be evidence of a police cover-up.
Now that I have found you, I must hang around you. Though you may refuse me… –“He Loves and She Loves” (1927) by George and Ira Gershwin
One popular tale about the suite on the 13th and 14th floor involves the private elevator leading to it. A young couple exploring the hotel somehow stumbled into the private elevator and was whisked to the dark, uninhabited suite though guests must have a key to operate the elevator. The young woman stepped off and the doors quickly shut behind her, leaving her husband wildly punching buttons as the elevator quickly descended to the lobby. The husband found a bellhop who used his passkey to get them back up to the empty suite. There they found the man’s wife standing in the dark, scared and befuddled.
Photo by eflon, 2009. Licensed under Creative Commons.
You must realize When your heart’s on fire Smoke gets in your eyes…
Now, laughing friends deride Tears I cannot hide. –“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” from the operetta, Roberta (1933) by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach
The young woman stated that when the doors closed behind her, she began walking through the silent suite calling, “Hello?” She heard the sound of distant conversation and occasionally people laughing. The sounds of things hitting the floor echoed from around her but nothing was out of place when she turned. She also remarked that there was the strong smell of cigar smoke with her throughout this experience. The elevator is still said to rise up to the suite on its own accord on a regular basis. This luxury suite (I checked the price and it’s around $1800 a night) is often used by celebrities, and President Bill Clinton stayed here in 1994. A number of sources note that he had troubled getting TV reception for a ball game he wanted to watch. His aides were unable to find a reason why the TV would not work properly.
It was just one of those nights, Just one of those fabulous flights, A trip to the moon on gossamer wings, It was just one of those things. –“Just One of Those Things” (1935) by Cole Porter
The apparition of a lady in white is also a part of the hotel’s folklore. According to legend, a couple was staying in the hotel with their young and very curious son. The child somehow made its way onto one of the hotel’s elaborate balconies and the child’s mother, fearing disaster, ran towards him. Unfortunately, she lost her balance reaching for her son and her body hurled over the railing towards certain death. Her spirit has been seen silently racing towards the balcony and at other times walking through nearby guest rooms.
Photo by Milan Boers, 2009. Licensed under Creative Commons.
There were chills up my spine And some thrills I can’t define. –“How Long Has This Been Going On?” (1928) by George and Ira Gershwin
There’s so much more still going on in the Biltmore Hotel. Numerous apparitions, often seen momentarily and disappearing, have been reported including a dancing couple in period attire, World War II era soldiers, and a man playing the piano in a top hat. The hotel actually employs a storyteller to keep up with the hotel’s histories: recorded, legendary, and paranormal. Perhaps the spirits have finally found their own, sumptuous heaven.
Photo by Ebyabe, 2011, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Heaven, I’m in heaven And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak And I seem to find the happiness I seek When we’re out together dancing cheek to cheek. –“Cheek to Cheek” (1935) by Irving Berlin
Labor Day Weekend was wild and wooley for New Orleans with Tropical Storm Lee hitting the city at the same time as numerous revelers for Southern Decadence and other events. A friend of mine, Benjamin Lewis, was able to take pics of a handful of haunted sites and I’m most grateful to him for these marvelous images!
Beauregard-Keyes House 1113 Chartres Street
A bright spot of sunshine on a dreary day, the Beauregard-Keyes House, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.
One of the most famous homes in the city, the Beauregard-Keyes House has served as the residence for a number of famous names including Confederate General P. T. G. Beauregard, chess master Paul Morphy and novelist Frances Keyes. Events in this house have ranged from glittering balls to a bloody Sicilian mafia massacre in the early 20th century. Gun shots from the massacre are still heard, a waltzing couple seen inside while some have heard the name of General Beauregard’s Waterloo, Shiloh, being repeated over and over again. One resident even claimed to have encountered the battle of Shiloh being fought in the ballroom. I’ve covered this site in depth here.
Sign at the front of the Beauregard-Keyes House, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved,
Le Richelieu 1234 Chartres Street
Front entrance to Le Richelieu, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.
Housed in two buildings, one dating from 1845, the other from 1902, the Le Richelieu Hotel occupies the site where five French patriots were executed in the late 18th century. The spirits of these five men may still reside here.
Housed in two buildings, one dating from 1845, the other from 1902, the Le Richelieu Hotel occupies the site where five French patriots were executed in the late 18th century. The spirits of these five men may still reside here.
The two buildings that comprise Le Richelieu, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.A view of Le Richelieu from Barracks Street, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.Looking down this hallway at Le Richelieu one can almost imagine the Shining Twins appearing here. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.Courtyard and pool where a group of Spanish soldiers may have been executed. Do their spirits still wander here? Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.
Old United States Mint 400 Esplanade Avenue
Front entrance to the old US Mint, now the Louisiana State Museum, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.
From 1838 to 1909, this building housed the New Orleans Mint, producing currency in all denominations. Since its closure as a mint, the building served a variety of functions until 1981 when it became a part of the State Museum of Louisiana, the capacity in which it functions today. In the second floor gallery a man in blue coveralls has been seen rolling a cigarette. He then places the cigarette into his mouth and walks into a nearby wall.
View down the length of the facade, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.The massive old mint, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.The rear of the old mint building, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.
Old Ursuline Convent 1100 Chartres Street
Plaque on the old convent, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.
One of the oldest buildings in New Orleans, the Old Ursuline Convent has survived hurricanes, fires and the nuns have lent aid during plagues and epidemics. It’s no surprise that their old convent would house spirits. According to Jeff Dwyer, the spirits of Ursuline sisters have been seen gliding throughout the building while the spirit of a Civil War era soldier has been seen in the garden.
A brooding sky over the Old Ursuline Convent, 2011. Photo by Benjamin Lewis, all rights reserved.
Sources
Dwyer, Jeff. Ghost Hunter’s Guide to New Orleans.Gretna, LA: Pelican Press, 2007.
New Orleans Mint. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 10 September 2011.
Powell, Lewis IV. “Beauregard-Keyes House, Part I.” Southern Spirit Guide.3 December 2010.
Powell, Lewis IV. “Beauregard-Keyes House, Part II.” Southern Spirit Guide.6 December 2010.
Smith, Katherine. Journey Into Darkness…Ghosts and Vampires of New Orleans. New Orleans: De Simonin Publications, 1998.
In looking back over my previous entries, I’ve come across entries that need revamping. As I revamp some of the older entries, the original versions will be removed and completely updated. This entry, originally posted on September 27 of last year and published as a single entry, will be broken into smaller pieces. In addition to reformatting, I’m adding information from newer sources and adding a few new locations.
Auburn University Chapel Auburn University Auburn, Alabama
Originally constructed as a Presbyterian Church in 1851, this building served as a hospital during the Civil War and it was during this time that a legend was born. A young Englishman, Sydney or Sidney Grimlett, who fought for the Confederacy, died and his body buried nearby. Following the war, the building returned to its sacred purpose and was used as a church and also held classes after a fire in the main building of the college in 1887. When the church moved to new quarters, the building briefly served as a YMCA center before becoming home to the Auburn Players in 1927.
Auburn University Chapel, 2010. Photo 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.
Perhaps something during the building’s conversion to a theatre awakened Sydney’s spirit. The spirit returned to the theatre where he made his presence known with spectral sounds and the occasional appearance. According to Kathryn Tucker Windham, his name and story was discovered by students using a Ouija board in the theatre during the 1960s. When the theatre moved to new quarters in 1973, the spirit was invited to move with them and has supposedly taken up residence in the new building, the Telfair Peet Theatre. The building was renovated for use as the university chapel and now serves as a non-denominational chapel for students.
Mrs. Windham’s version of the story reveals some of the cracks in the story. First, there is some question as to when Sydney’s ghost first appeared, some sources believe he showed up when the building became a theatre, others say that he appeared in the 1960s or 70s. Even the history seems questionable. A good deal seems to be known about Sydney. In a 1998 article, the university’s reference archivist states that it is believed that Sidney served with the Sixth Virginia Cavalry and was wounded in Atlanta in 1864. Ten years later, a paranormal investigator investigating the chapel states that Sydney belonged to a Texas regiment.
Regardless, students apparently still have the occasional run-in with Mr. Grimlett in the Telfair Peet Theatre and in the University Chapel. Students during productions may have equipment fail, props disappear and they leave M&Ms candies to appease the mischievous spirit. The Alabama Paranormal Research Team investigated the chapel in 2008 and experienced some odd occurrences in the ladies restroom. Perhaps Sydney is spending his time between the theatre and the chapel where he died so many years ago.
Founders Hall Athens State University Athens, Alabama
Where Indian hunter had pursued the panting deer, and, gazing on the same moon that smiles for us, wooed his dusky bride, now arose a building of purest ionic architecture, devoted to female education. – Robert Anderson McClellan
Founders Hall, 1934. Photograph by W.N. Manning for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Founders Hall, with its four columns called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, was constructed between 1842 and 1845 (most sources are incorrect). This four-columned edifice replaced a small four room house where the female academy had originally been founded in 1822. The school became affiliated with the Methodist Church around the time Founders Hall was constructed. In 1931, the school began accepting male students and in 1975 the school became a state school.
Under the leadership of President Jane Hamilton Childs, the school survived the turbulent period during the Civil War. Union forces under the leadership of Russian native, Colonel John B. Turchin terrorized and sacked the town. An anecdote tells of President Childs confronting troops advancing towards her female academy. Producing a letter supposedly from Abraham Lincoln, she handed it to Col. Turchin. He was apparently satisfied by the contents of the letter and saved the school from the raping and pillaging that might have occurred. The story makes clear that the letter was a forgery.
The Athens State University campus has a handful of haunted structures including McCandless Hall and Brown Hall, but writers have noted that Founders Hall seems to have the most activity. One legend holds that a female student was killed when her hair caught fire from the candles she a friend were holding while trying to sneak out after curfew. Her spirit is blamed for disembodied footsteps, lights turning off and on by themselves, cold spots and a phantom figure seen at the building’s windows. This is the most common story told.
Jessica Penot’s Haunted North Alabama documents the legend of a stable boy named Bart who apparently worked for President Childs. This young man, fancied by many of the young woman at the school, was kicked in the head and killed by a horse. His mischievous spirit may still linger with that of one of the workers who helped build the hall. The worker, who was a bit of a tippler, lost his jug of whiskey in one of the columns. One version of the story has him dropping his jug inside the column when his supervisor approached. In another version, the worker left his jug sitting on a column and went to lunch. When he returned, the column had been built up encasing the jug for posterity.
Annie Pfeiffer Chapel Florida Southern College Lakeland, Florida
Few schools can offer the tremendous collection of architecture that Florida Southern College can offer with its collection of nine Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings collectively called, “Child of the Sun,” the largest concentration of Wright’s buildings in the world. Like many much larger schools, though, Florida Southern has also attracted an impressive amount of folklore, some of which is associated with the Wright buildings of West Campus. Among those buildings that have acquired stories is the chapel, the first of Wright’s visionary structures to be constructed.
Known at the time as Southern College, the school suffered a great deal during the Great Depression. The school’s president, Dr. Ludd Spivey, approached Wright with the chance to design a campus for the school. Wright embraced the idea wholeheartedly and began work. The school lacking in funds but wealthy in enthusiasm used the labor of students and professors to construct many of the buildings. In the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, legend has it that the choir screen was incorrectly installed, which has given rise to one of the legends.
Outside of Daniel W. Barefoot’s marvelous Haunted Halls of Ivy, much campus lore throughout the South and the country has been left undocumented, except that of Florida Southern. Dr. Alexander M. Bruce, an English professor and Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at the school at the time of publication, documented the school’s legends and lore in his 2003 book, The Folklore of Florida Southern College. Not only documenting ghost stories, this book records the stories about the school’s and Dr. Spivey’s relationship with Wright, lore surrounding the construction of the buildings and stories about campus issues like hazing.
The Annie Pfeiffer Chapel with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Esplanade, a covered walkway, in the foreground. Photograph for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Having discovered this book after writing the original version of this article, I was excited to read the ghost stories surrounding the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel. Barefoot records that the spirit of Wright had been reported in the chapel, still contemplating the wrongly installed choir screen. Dr. Bruce states that the story is pure bunk, but he proceeds to record ghostly tales from many of the other campus buildings including dormitories like Joseph Reynolds and Allan Spivey Halls.
While the story isn’t true, it does gloss over some very important history of this architectural masterpiece.
Ponce de Leon Hall Flagler College St. Augustine, Florida
Florida Southern College isn’t the only school with an architectural masterpiece, Flagler College in St. Augustine. Ponce de Leon Hall, the centerpiece of the campus, is an early Moorish Revival masterpiece from the architectural team of John Carrère and Thomas Hastings, leaders in the Beaux-Arts Movement. Constructed by Henry Flagler as the Hotel Ponce de Leon in 1888, this opulent hotel featured intricate woodwork and some of the earliest works by stained glass master Louis Comfort Tiffany. The hotel served many wealthy guests until the mid-60s when competing roadside motels sent its finances plummeting.
In the court of the Hotel Ponce de Leon during its halcyon days as one of Florida’s premier resort hotels. Photograph, circa 1905, published by the Detroit Publishing Company, courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
In 1968, the hotel began restoration and renovation to convert it into Flagler College, a private, four-year, liberal arts school. The development was lead by Lawrence Lewis, Jr., Henry Flagler’s grandson and the school has expanded by purchasing other historic structures for restoration as college buildings. The school is now ranked by the Princeton Review in the top tier of southeastern colleges.
Ponce de Leon Hall, 2005, by Flonight. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
While college students now roam the halls where America’s elite of the Gilded Age once walked, the occasional specter from the past still appears. The stories and legends of Ponce de Leon Hall are numerous and include not only anonymous hotel guests but the shades of the hotel’s visionary founder, Henry Morrison Flagler and two of his three wives. Legend holds that the first mysterious phenomena occurred just after Flagler’s death in 1913. He died after a fall in his home, Whitehall (which is also haunted), in Palm Beach. His body was returned to St. Augustine where his vision for Florida as a vacationer’s paradise first began to take shape. A public viewing was set in the hotel’s rotunda and while mourners stood by the massive oak doors slammed themselves shut. Shortly after the funeral, a small tile on the floor was discovered that bore a resemblance to Flagler. Students have reported run-ins with a spirit believed to be that of Flagler.
Among the more anonymous spirits are the “Lady in Blue” and the spirit of a young boy. The legend behind her sad spirit tells of a young woman having an affair with a married man. When he refused to divorce his wife to marry her she began to race up the staircase to pack her things. His foot caught on the hem of her long skirt and she tumbled down the stairs breaking her neck. The spirit of the little boy has been encountered in the hallways where he asks if students are able to come and play with him. Like the Lady in Blue, it can be assumed he was likely a hotel guest, but their identities are unknown. Then again, the phantom footsteps, spectral music and disembodied voices heard throughout the hotel simply serve to remind the modern day of the college’s Gilded Age history.
Barefoot, Daniel W. Haunted Halls of Ivy: Ghosts of Southern Colleges and Universities. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2004.
Bruce, Alexander M. The Folklore of Florida Southern College: A look at the history and mystery of Florida Southern College. Chula Vista, CA: Avetine Press, 2003.
Cook, Sandra. “Founders Hall.” Alabama Ghostlore. Accessed 19 April 2011.
Easterling, Bill. “Legend says Matthew hid the jug.” The Huntsville Times. 23 February 1995.
Flagler College. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 15 May 2011.
Fritze, Ronald H., Robert Burkhardt, Sean Busick and Sara Love. “Athens State University.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 30 November 2010.
Jenkins, Greg. Florida’s Ghostly Legends and Haunted Folklore, Vol. 2, North Florida and St. Augustine. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 2005.
Murphree, Jennifer. “For AU’s Rebel Ghost, The Play’s the Thing: Some believe Confederate soldier haunts the quarters of University’s student thespians.” Birmingham News. 31 October 1998.
Paysinger, Christopher B. “Sack of Athens.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 28 October 2008.
Penot, Jessica. Haunted North Alabama. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010.
Schmidt, Greg. “Athens.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 15 June 2010.
Whitley, Brittany. “Paranormal research team investigates AU Chapel.” Opelika-Auburn News. 30 October 2008.
Windham, Kathryn Tucker. Jeffrey’s Latest 13: More Alabama Ghosts. Tuscaloosa, AL: U. of Alabama Press, 1982.
