Category: North Carolina

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Newsworthy Hauntings 11/24/12

I’m still working on settling in after my transition home after working in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, but I’m still collecting news.

USO of North Carolina, Jacksonville Center
9 Tallman Street
Jacksonville, North Carolina

Organized at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the United Service Organizations (USO) was created in 1941 to provide recreation to military personnel during the dark days of World War II. The first facility in the United States opened in Fayetteville, North Carolina. After the war, the facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina remained open due to the concerted efforts of volunteers and this facility is the oldest continuously open USO facility. Since the “Great War,” the organization has expanded its efforts from just providing support to military personnel to including their families as well. It seems, however, that this facility may be providing support to those on other planes as well.

A fund-raising ghost hunt was held in the 70-year-old building on Halloween night and led by Dave Tango (a guest investigator from the show Ghost Hunters) and members of the SEPIA (Southeast Paranormal Investigative Association) team. The SEPIA team had previously investigated the building and discovered evidence that there may be paranormal activity in the center. Returning Halloween night for the investigation with the public, they encountered quite interesting activity.

Perhaps the most dramatic bit of paranormal activity was the scratching of one young woman. An avowed skeptic, the young woman had requested that the spirits not touch her. Moments later, she “felt like someone put Icy-Hot across my back.” After complaining that it itched, her sister discovered that she had scratch marks on her back. Generally, the activity reported in the building and witnessed by the paranormal team has been far less malevolent and includes distant music and the moving of small objects.

Sources

  • Daily News Staff. “’Ghost Hunters’ to check out USO of NC.” Jacksonville Daily News. 26 October 2012.
  • “Our History.” USO-NC. Accessed 23 November 2012.
  • Perez Rivera, Jackeline M. “Ghosts make contact at USO.” Camp Lejeune Globe. 20 November 2012.
  • United Service Organizations. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 23 November 2012.

Planter’s Hall
822 Main Street
Vicksburg, Mississippi 

It’s interesting to see a building alternate between public and private uses and it’s rare to find a building that has alternated so much as Planter’s Hall has. Built around 1834, this structure was constructed to serve as the local branch of the Planter’s Bank of the State of Mississippi. Like many other Mississippi banks, the bank failed in 1842 and the branch was closed. The building changed hands many times in the years leading up to the Civil War and it was converted into a residence in 1854, though most likely not occupied until 1861.

Planter’s Hall in a 1936 Historic American Buildings Survey photograph by James Butters. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

When the city, one of the most important cities on the Mississippi River, was laid siege to by the Union army, the house was occupied by a Confederate officer, Colonel Allen Thomas, and his staff. Following the city’s fall, the home may have been occupied by General William Dennis of the Illinois Cavalry. The home soon returned to service as a private residence and remained as such until 1956 when the building was purchased and turned into a museum. Recently, the building returned to status as a private residence, though certainly it is one of the most historic private homes in the city.

According to a recent story from Jackson, Mississippi’s WAPT News, the home’s current residents have been experiencing some possibly paranormal activity. Interestingly, the reporter in this story is doing the investigating himself. While the reporter found few things that were unexplained, the stories from the residents are quite interesting with the home’s owner being awakened to find an angry soldier looming over the bed.

Sources

  • Bagley, Clinton I. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Planters Hall. 22 February 1971.
  • “Vicksburg resident says her family shares home with ghosts.” 1 November 2012.
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Stirrings at The Hut—Cherokee, North Carolina

Cherokee Historical Association Offices
(known as “The Hut”)
564 Tsali Boulevard
Cherokee, North Carolina 

Eliza R. was only five when she had a terrible experience at the Mountainside Theatre. Her family had been picnicking at the picnic shelter below the theatre entrance and she and her cousins had ventured up into the massive and empty amphitheatre. They clung to the back of the theatre, under the shelter when something emitted a “god awful” scream near the stage below. Eliza recalled that it sounded like it may have come from an animal, though it sounded as if the animal was being tortured—the cry was filled with pain and anguish. She remarked that she could do nothing but cry, her feet rooted to the spot. A cousin had to carry her out of the theatre.

Years later, Eliza, now an employee of the Cherokee Historical Association, has rearranged her desk to avoid the spirits that stalk throughout the association’s offices. The desk in her office—located along the hall of offices on the second floor that parallels US 441 (known as Tsali Boulevard as it passes through Cherokee)—originally faced the door. Tiring of seeing things in the hallway, she rearranged her desk to face the wall. Of course, that hasn’t stifled the activity of the spirits; to her it just makes them less distracting.

The modern, grey building at the intersection of Tsali Boulevard and Drama Drive is the current home to the Cherokee Historical Association. Initially, the building was a small grass hut which served as a box office for the drama and the Oconaluftee Indian Village, both located just up the hill, thus the nickname, “The Hut.” The modern building replaced the hut in the 1970s and now houses offices for the association and possibly some spirits, too.

This unassuming building at the corner of Tsali Boulevard and Drama Drive may house a number of spirits. Most activity occurs on the second floor around the offices behind the four windows on the left side of the building. Photo 2012 by Lewis Powell, IV, all rights reserved.

To deal with the voices and footsteps that echo through the building after hours, Philenia W. has a different coping mechanism: she turns on the TV in her office. That’s usually enough to drown out the sounds. Her office—on the other side of the second floor from Eliza’s and facing the Oconaluftee River—really only seems to be plagued by voices. She describes them as the voices of men, women and children, though their words are indistinguishable. Even more interesting, she also has heard the sounds of a penny whistle. While not a common instrument among the Cherokee, the penny whistle was commonly found among European settlers, traders and British soldiers who passed through the area in the 18th century. Philenia described the music being played on the penny whistle as European and not native.

It was not the cheerful piping of a penny whistle that Mike L. and his girlfriend heard in the 2nd floor conference room one evening. While working on college schoolwork, the couple was astonished to hear a guttural and raspy growling/moaning sound that last about 3 seconds emanate from the corner of the room near the window. The startled couple looked over towards the corner but could not determine a cause. Sometime later, Mike was taking an online test in his office with his girlfriend and the couple heard the same noise but just outside the office. His girlfriend looked at him and asked what they should do. Mike had to finish the test so they remained.

Around the same time, Mike and his girlfriend had the same dream the same night. In their dreams a man was standing at the foot of their beds. Both were terrified of the dark silhouetted figure and were frozen with fear. After laying there for a moment, both Mike and girlfriend discovered themselves sitting upright in bed fully awake. By this point the figure had vanished and they were in their respective bedrooms alone.

On Saturdays during the season, Mike will often work the box office by himself. During these days, alone at the secretary’s desk behind the box office window he’s often heard native flute music and the laughter of children in front of the elevator and in the stairwell next to it. Throughout the building he has felt the glare of spectral eyes watching him.

From his office, located just next door to Eliza’s, Mike has had a number of experiences. Just a couple days before I spoke to him, Mike heard footsteps in the hall around closing time. He was the only person present in the building, though he heard distinct footsteps walking down the hall and into Eliza’s office. Something shuffled things in her office and then it went quiet. Mike did not investigate. Like the employees, spirits also apparently like to gather at the office water cooler just outside of Mike’s office. Often, when he’s alone, he’ll hear the cooler bubble up as if it’s in use.

Of the employees in the office, it seems that Eliza experiences the bulk of the activity. She repeatedly hears voices in the early morning when she arrives and late in the afternoon after all have left. She also hears doors opening and closing when she’s alone. One afternoon, during lunch when everyone else was away, Eliza heard the sound of a child running down the hall yelling something. Moments later she heard the water cooler bubble. Assuming the child was a colleague’s son, she thought little of it until the colleague arrived back in the office. When Eliza asked where the colleague’s son was, the colleague replied that he was in school and had been there all day. One afternoon as she was leaving the office kitchen, located at the end of the hall, Eliza saw the same colleague disappearing around the corner at the other end of the hall. Hurrying to speak with her, Eliza was met with an empty hallway and the colleague sitting calmly at her desk.

Perhaps the most interesting occurrence happened in the kitchen. While on the way to a meeting in the conference room, Eliza passed the darkened office kitchen. The door was open and through the crack between the door and the hinges Eliza spied a woman sitting in the room. Eliza recalled that she had tightly curled hair and was simply staring ahead. She took a few steps down the hall and thought that maybe this was someone who was supposed to be at the meeting and had gotten lost. Backtracking, she glanced again through the crack between the door and hinges and she saw the woman still sitting there. Eliza stepped into the room to find no one there.

While speaking to a colleague just around the corner from her office just a couple weeks ago, Philenia heard an odd noise coming from her office. Looking through the doorway into her office she spied the adding machine scrolling paper by itself. When she stepped inside the door it stopped abruptly but returned to its mysterious scrolling when she stepped out again. Her colleague came down the hall to witness the scrolling as well and she stepped into the office and unplugged the machine.

The curious and playful spirits roaming the offices of the Cherokee Historical Association seem rather harmless, but they don’t make work any easier for the employees. While the intersection of Tsali Boulevard and Drama Drive has been an important intersection in Cherokee, that doesn’t adequately explain the presence of spirits in this unassuming structure. While the Oconaluftee Valley has been occupied for thousands of years by the Cherokee, no settlement was known on this precise site. Regardless, the persistent Spirit of the Cherokee lingers on.

Sources

  • Personal Interview with Eliza R., 27 September 2012.
  • Personal Interview with Mike L., 27 September 2012.
  • Personal Interview with Philenia W., 21 September 2012.
  • Personal Interview with Philenia W., 5 October 2012.
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The Warriors of Nikwasi

Nikwasi Mound
Nikwasi Lane
Franklin, North Carolina

Throughout the South and across the country, Native Americans have left a legacy, though one that has been obscured. This legacy delves deeply into our geography, language, culture and into the heart of our national identity. Certainly, the geographic legacy is the most evident with places throughout the nation bearing names derived from Native American names or descriptions. While some place names have been translated into English, often the names in their native forms (or a version thereof) have been stripped of their meanings and roots; so to most people it’s just a funny sounding name devoid of meaning.

Besides names, there are some Native American landmarks remaining, though very few. Mostly these are earthworks such as mounds that have survived the elements and the destructive nature of modern man. Franklin, North Carolina has one of these landmarks: the Nikwasi Mound, the former centerpiece for a major town of the same name. The meaning of that name has been lost to history, though the mound remains; now sandwiched between commercial buildings and the business route of busy US 441. When I visited last week, I had to drive past the landmark a few times before even picking it out amongst the urban sprawl.

There is controversy as to who actually constructed the mound. Wikipedia credits the Mississippean culture peoples as having originally constructed the mound around the year 1000 CE. Though, in speaking to local Cherokee, they take credit for it themselves. Members of the Cherokee tribe, who later used the mound up until most of them were removed from the area in the early 19th century, will often describe their origins by saying they have always been here (in the Southern Appalachians). The more academic answer is that their origins are disputed. Some believe that the Cherokee have existed in the area for much of the first millennia, while others believe that the Cherokee arrived as late as the 15th century CE. Despite these arguments, however, the mound is quite ancient.

James Mooney, the late 19th and early 20th century ethnographer who preserved much of the Cherokee’s knowledge, history and legends in his seminal work, History, Myths and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee states that some believe the mound was built as a townhouse mound to protect the townhouse (which served as a the center of village life) from flooding. According to Mooney, these mounds were constructed by piling earth atop the grave of a prominent chief or priest or possibly the remains of chiefs or priests from each of the seven clans. Along with these burials were included other sacred objects including an eagle feather (the eagle was one of the more sacred creatures to the Cherokee). The earth would be lain over these things and a hollow cedar log placed in the center of the mound to protect the sacred fire that will burn in the townhouse.

The townhouse served as the focal point of village life. Within this seven-sided building (seven being a sacred number to the Cherokee) business was conducted: legal, social, governmental and religious business and it was here that all the members of the village could sit. In the center of the building, under a small hole in the center of the roof acting as a chimney, burned the sacred fire from which all of the fires in the village were kindled. These fires at the hearths of local homes were kept burning throughout the year but were extinguished before the ceremony of the Green Corn. At that time, all the fires were extinguished and hearths swept clean. Embers from the eternal fire in the council house were taken to create new home fires. During this ceremony of renewal all debts and sins were erased and all started anew with a clean slate, so to speak. Mooney states that it is possible that the truly everlasting flames were only found in the larger towns like Nikwasi and nearby Kituhwa (near Bryson City, NC and considered by the Cherokee to be the “center of the earth”).

The Nikwasi Mound, 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

It was here in 1730 that Sir Alexander Cumming, a Scottish trade envoy, crowned Chief Moytoy of Tellico as “Emperor of the Cherokee.” The town, and likely the townhouse with it, was destroyed in 1761 in hostilities that included the massacre of peace chiefs at Fort Prince George (in the Province of South Carolina) and the siege of Fort Loudon (in what is now Tennessee) all leading up to the expedition of Henry Timberlake (which included Sgt. Thomas Sumter and trader John McCormack) to the Cherokee to sue for peace in 1762. The town was again destroyed during the in 1776 by American General Griffith Rutherford as part of the Chickamauga Wars. Nikwasi was rebuilt but then ceded to the white man in treaties signed in 1817 and 1819. While some Cherokee in the area escaped in the mountains, they were later resettled on the nearby Qualla Boundry.

The city of Franklin was created in 1819, following one of the Cherokee treaties and the Nikwasi Mound remained outside the city as a curiosity. The old mound was part of farmland and in discussion with a local Cherokee historian I was told that a man with a plow and a team of horsemen took a week to plow the mound down in the early 20th century. So much for preserving history!

When the mound was threatened by a developer just after World War II, a prominent local attorney, Gilmer Jones, raised $1500 in pennies from local school children to purchase the mound. The mound was deeded to the Town of Franklin to be preserved for posterity, though the property only consists of the mound and the adjoining properties have been developed commercially. The mound has been sitting quietly under a historical marker until recent years. Or has it?

The mound from a different angle, note the dead grass and the commercial sprawl around it. Photo 2012 by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved.

Cherokee legend speaks of the mound as being inhabited by the Nunne’hi, the race of “immortals” whose name translates, according to James Mooney, as “people who live anywhere.” The Nunne’hi (pronounced nun-eh-HEE) are similar to the Yunwi Tsunsdi, or the “Little People,” in that they are also spiritual defenders of the Cherokee, though the Little People are small as their name indicates while the Nunne’hi appear as regular humans when they wish to be seen. The Nikwasi mound is believed to be one of their homes. This became known many moons ago during a pitched battle when the Cherokee found themselves losing against a fierce enemy. This invader had fought their way through many villages and was now moving into the mountains. As their numbers waned in the heat of battle, the Cherokee defending Nikwasi had begun to fall back. I’ll allow Mooney to take it from here:

…suddenly a stranger stood among them and shouted to the chief to call off his men and he himself would drive back the enemy. From the dress and language of the stranger the Nikwasi people thought him a chief who had come with reinforcements from the Overhill settlements in Tennessee. They fell back along the trail, and as they came near the townhouse they saw a great company of warriors coming out from the side of the mound as through as open doorway. Then they knew that their friends were the Nunne’hi, the Immortals, although no one had ever heard before that they lived under Nikwasi mound.

The Nunne’hi poured out by hundreds, armed and painted for the fight, and the most curious thing about it all was that they became invisible as soon as they were fairly outside of the settlements, so that although the enemy saw the glancing arrow or the rushing tomahawk, and felt the stroke, he could not see who sent it.

The invaders were sent fleeing with the Nunne’hi in full pursuit. When the attackers attempted to take cover behind rocks and trees, the arrows followed and found their targets. Only half a dozen were left to return to their villages with the awful news of their comrades’ deaths. These survivors sat down some distance from the battlefield and cried. As they wept, the Nunne’hi chief approached and explained that they deserved this terrible defeat for attacking a peaceful tribe. The attackers fled and the Nunne’hi returned to their mound unscathed.

Legend holds that the Nunne’hi may have also appeared during the Civil War when a contingent of Federal troops were supposed to make a surprise raid against the town of Franklin. The town was supposed to be guarded by only a small force of Confederate troops. When the Federals arrived, they spied a large group of defenders and did not attack. Perhaps the Nunne’hi had taken to wearing butternut grey?

While the Nunne’hi are rarely visible, they are heard quite often. As they are fond of drumming and dancing, their music and merrymaking is sometimes heard near their townhouses. Though when the curious attempt to trace the source of the sounds, the sound travels. At least one source states that these sounds sometimes issue from the mounds, but I can find no specific reports of these sounds. Such sounds, however, are heard throughout Cherokee country. In conversation with a Cherokee friend, I was told that one of the Nunne’hi townhouses may be located on one of the mountains that forms the Oconaluftee River valley in downtown Cherokee, NC. He stated that people often heard the sounds of a party from this mountain which is opposite the mountain where the Mountainside Theatre is located. Incidentally, I have personally heard the sounds of a party coming from that direction while sitting at the Mountainside Theatre late at night. My friend went on to state that the sounds are rarely heard any longer as the sounds of modern life now drown them out.

Just today I spoke with some friends who had been swimming last night along the Oconaluftee River just north of Cherokee. They reported that they had heard the sounds of drumming and laughter nearby, but were unable to trace the source. They presumed that it was the Yunwi Tsunsdi and left them alone. Both spirit races are known for their music and merrymaking, though I wonder if the music they heard was issuing from an unknown Nunne’hi townhouse.

Nikwasi mound still stands, only a fraction of what it once was and now denuded of grass. Recently, the town of Franklin sprayed herbicide on the mound angering the Eastern Band of Cherokee and raising questions as to how to better care for this precious landmark. While the anger lingers, there is renewed hope that a good preservation solution can be put into place that will preserve this sacred place. If you happen by the mound late at night, roll down your windows and perhaps, over the noise of modern life, you’ll hear the ancient ruckus of a Nunne’hi party.

Sources

  • Cherokee. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 17 June 2012.
  • Dalrymple, Maria. “Nikwasi Mound deed could be transferred to create park.” Macon County News. 3 September 2009.
  • McKie, Scott. “Herbicide put on Nikwasi mound.” Cherokee One Feather. 9 May 2012.
  • Mooney, James. History, Myths and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Asheville, NC: Bright Mountain Books, 1992.
  • Moytoy of Tellico. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 17 June 2012.
  • Nikwasi. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 14 June 2012.
  • Pruett, Kimberly. “Nikwasi Mound debate continues.” Macon County News. 30 June 2011.
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Newsworthy Hauntings 5/23/2012

I’m starting a new regular segment where I’ll briefly highlight hauntings or haunted places in the news and in some of the regular blogs I read.

The NIKAWSI MOUND (Nikwasi Lane), an ancient Native American mound in Franklin, North Carolina, is still stirring up controversy a few thousand years after it was built. The City of Franklin, which owns the mound that is still considered sacred to the local Cherokee people, recently sprayed herbicide on the mound. The herbicide was sprayed because mowing of the mound has lead to some deterioration of it. Local Cherokee, however, are not pleased with the actions, have expressed their opinions and demanded an apology from the city.

The mound’s builders are not known, but scholars believe that it was built by one of the early Mississippean peoples. The Cherokee utilized the site and it became part of Cherokee mythology as one of the locations where the Nunne’hi lived. This was a mythical race of beings that lived underground. Nineteenth century anthropologist James Mooney recorded a story that during a battle near the site, the Nunne’hi emerged to defeat the Cherokee’s enemy. Roger Manley records in Weird Carolinas that the Nunne’hi may have also guarded the town during the Civil War when a contingent of Federal troops attempted to the seize the Confederate stronghold. The Federal troops retreated when they saw a huge number of troops when in actuality there were only a few Confederates guarding the town. Manley also notes that some claim to hear drumbeats within the mound.

The mound is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but there has been controversy about its preservation. Some have considered creating a park, but there is contention as to who will pay for it and control it. Hopefully, the herbicide will not adversely affect this place where the heartbeats and drumbeats of Native America may still be heard.

Sources

  • Dalrymple, Maria. “Nikwasi Mound deed could be transferred to create park.” Macon County News. 3 September 2009.
  • Manley, Roger. Weird Carolinas. NYC: Sterling, 2007.
  • McKie, Scott. “Chief: Tribe wants apology on Nikwasi Mound issue.” Cherokee One Feather. 21 May 2012.
  • Mooney, James. History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Asheville, NC: Bright Mountain Books, 1992.
  • Nikwasi. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 21 May 2012.

 

In Chesterfield, Virginia, the Chesterfield Historical Society has announced that they will be hosting ghost tours of MAGNOLIA GRANGE (10020 Ironbridge Road). The magnificent Federal plantation, one among the many famous James River Plantations, was constructed in 1821 and named for the circle of magnolia trees that once, with formal boxwoods, constituted its formal gardens. These gardens were destroyed after the Civil War.

Magnolia Grange, 2012, by James Shelton32. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

The home is now owned by the county and administered by historical society. The ghost tours are being conducted by Spirited History, a local paranormal group that is working to help local historical sites with funding by investigating and educating the public about the sites’ paranormal history. Among the activity that has been reported in the house is the appearance of a beautiful, blond woman seen standing on the steps. A photographer taking wedding pictures in the house some years ago encountered her and mentioned the woman he had seen in period clothing to the staff. The staff informed him that no one was working in period clothing. Investigations of the house have also yielded a number of EVPs.

Sources

  • Gregory, Donna C. “The past lives on at Magnolia Grange.” The Chesterfield Observer. 26 October 2011.
  • “Historical Society to host ‘Spirited History’ at Magnolia Grange May 19.” Midlothian Exchange. 17 May 2012.
  • National Park Service. “Magnolia Grange” James River Plantations. Accessed 21 May 2009.
  • Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff. National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Magnolia Grange. November 1979.

 

Over at the “eco-gossip” blog, Ecorazzi, two locations in the South have been featured in a list of the top 10 “naturally haunted” places in the world. While I give little credence to such lists (so many of them are just silly, unsubstantiated fluff), I was excited to see these two places in the list.

Inside the Bell Witch Cave, 2010, by Www78. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Adams, Tennessee’s BELL WITCH CAVE (430 Keysburg Road) is probably the most well-known of the two locations. Located on property once owned by the Bell family, the cave is believed to be the current residence of the famous Bell Witch who terrorized the Bell family in the early 19th century. Of the spirits in the American South, this spirits is perhaps the most well-known and certainly one of the most publicized spirits having a number of books written solely on the subject as well as a recent feature film, An American Haunting. Visitors to the cave have had a variety of experiences in and around it. The cave is privately owned and tours are given.

On the western shores of Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain, near New Orleans is MANCHAC SWAMP, home to ghosts and the French Creole werewolf, the Loup-Garou. It was here that a number of small towns were wiped off the map in the New Orleans Hurricane of 1915. Tours now travel through this haunted wetland at night by torchlight scaring up alligators and the spirits of the victims of the hurricane.

Sources

  • 1915 New Orleans hurricane. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 23 May 2012.
  • Bell Witch Cave. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 23 May 2012.
  • Coleman, Christopher K. Ghosts and Haunts of Tennessee. Winston- Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2011.
  • Freeman, China Despain. “The 10 Naturally Creepiest Places on Earth.” 23 May 2012.
  • Smith, Katherine. Haunted History Tours Presents Journey Into Darkness…Ghosts and Vampires of New Orleans. New Orleans: De Simonin Publishing, 1998.
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See the Maco Light, Onstage!

Maco Light
Seen near the old Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Tracks
Maco, North Carolina

N. B. This entry was revised 6 January 2024.

A Haunted Southern Book of Days–4 January

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.”

 

The influence of the Southern folklore extends tremendously beyond the South as evidenced by Bekah Brunstetter’s play Take Her to See the Maco Lights that premiered in Chicago in 2012. According to the notice on Broadwayworld.com, the play “follows a pair of young lovers along a dark railroad track where the past and future converge. [… the story] weaves a ghostly love story with characters who are on a crash course to a certain stretch of overgrown railroad tracks in North Carolina.” Indeed, a special May 17th performance was preceded by a local walking tour hosted by paranormal researcher and writer Ursula Bielski, whose haunted Chicago books I would highly recommend.

The play’s climax occurs on at a legendary spot just outside the small community of Maco in Brunswick County, North Carolina. For more than a century and a half, the railroad tracks attracted the curious to see the famous Maco Light. Legend holds that on the evening of 4 January 1867 a train passing on the then Wilmington and Manchester line near Maco Station had its caboose come uncoupled. The caboose had a lone crewman, Joe Baldwin, asleep inside. When the car slowed down and stopped, he was awakened. Shortly, he was horrified to hear an approaching train and fearing calamity, he grabbed a lantern and stood on the back of the caboose swinging it wildly to alert the oncoming locomotive. That train did not slow down and plowed into the caboose crushing and decapitating the unfortunate crewman. His body was recovered, though his head was not found.

Train brakeman
An 1890 engraving of a brakeman at work. Joe Baldwin was likely a brakeman.

According to some sources, strange lights were first seen in the area just days after the accident. They were a popular attraction for locals and gained some fame from a presidential sighting in 1889. Grover Cleveland told his story in Washington after seeing the lights from his presidential Pullman car. Tony Reevy recounts in his Ghost Train! American Railroad Ghost Legends what most viewers witnessed:

Viewers who saw the light always reported the same thing: the light flared up way down the track, crept towards the observer, then speeded up and began swinging side-to-side. Finally, the light stopped abruptly, hovered for a minute, retreated back to where it started from and vanished. The light always appeared three feet above the left rail, facing east. It was sometimes so distinct that you could see the metal guards of a railroad hand lantern. The light didn’t appear every night. It seemed to appear randomly according to old Joe’s whims.

The tracks were a part of the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad which was acquired not long after the accident by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The line later became the Seaboard Coast Line. Later mergers added the line to the thousands of miles of rail owned by CSX which took up these tracks in 1977. Sightings of the light reportedly ceased around that time.

But have they? A North Carolina paranormal investigation group, NC HAGS (North Carolina Haints, Apparitions, Ghosts and Spirits) investigated the area in 2007. Following up on recent reports of people seeing the light, the group investigated and captured an odd image. While most photographs taken that evening turned out quite dark with little to be seen, one photograph taken just after an investigator asked Joe Baldwin to appear shows a series of lights that seem to resemble the silhouette of a man. Is Joe Baldwin still stalking the site of the old Maco tracks? At least for now you may have to either venture out to the bug-ridden coastal piney woods of North Carolina or you may sit in an air-conditioned theatre in Chicago to answer that question.

Sources

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Weekend Pics from North Carolina

Last weekend was spectacular, thanks for asking!

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.

 

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“One of Nature’s sublimest poems”—Chimney Rock, North Carolina

Chimney Rock State Park
431 Main Street
Chimney Rock, North Carolina

N.B. Since I’m headed up here tomorrow for the weekend, I figured it would be nice to repost this entry. My writing about the area has inspired my dad to rent a cabin for the family for a nice weekend getaway. Thus, I’d like to dedicate this entry to my parents and my sisters. And I can’t forget Patrick, my sister’s husband who has recently joined the family. Thank y’all for dealing with me and accepting my eccentricities. I’m proud to be apart of such a loving, upstanding and interesting family.

Originally published 5 May 2011.

My mind has been stuck in Western North Carolina recently. Since I wrote the last entry on Lake Lure, I stumbled on some interesting information on Chimney Rock, the granite large granite monolith towering above Hickory Nut Gorge and Lake Lure. In the entry on Lake Lure, I described the history of the area which is interwoven with the history of Chimney Rock itself.

Briefly, Chimney Rock was purchased in 1870 by Jerome B. Freeman with the intention of creating a tourist attraction and he opened the park to the public in 1885. The park was purchased by Dr. Lucius Morse and his brothers in 1902. It was Morse who dreamed of creating a mountain resort town based around a mountain lake. His dreams came to fruition in the 1920s with construction of a dam to create Lake Lure and the building of the Lake Lure Inn. Morse’s family owned the park until 2007 when it was sold to the state of North Carolina as a state park. At least that is the “white man’s history.”

Chimney Rock with Lake Lure in the background. Photo by Jmturner, 2008. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

This area has always contained a certain mystique. The Cherokee and the Catawba, the primary native peoples in the area, considered Hickory Nut Gorge sacred. The land beyond the stone pillar of Chimney Rock was called Suwali-nuna. This was part of a trading path that followed the Swannanoa River and then snaked through the gorge to the lands of the Catawaba and Sara in the east. This path was also used in search of tsa’lu or tobacco.

Suwali-nuna was inhabited by mythic beasts and spirits, but most notably, the Yun’wi Tsundsdi or “Little People.”  James Mooney, a nineteenth century ethnographer who recorded much of the Cherokee mythology, history and lore in his History, Myths and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees, describe them as thus:

There is another race of spirits […] who live in rock caves on the mountain side. They are little fellows, hardly reaching up to a man’s knee, but well shaped and handsome, with long hair falling to the ground. They are great wonder workers and are very fond of music, spending half their time drumming and dancing.  They are helpful and kind-hearted, and often when people have been lost in the mountains, especially children who have strayed away from their parents, the Yun’wi Tsundsdi have found them and taken them back to their homes. […] the Little People do not like to be disturbed at home, and they throw a spell over the stranger so that he is bewildered and loses his way…

In Suwali-nuna, however, these benevolent beings are not so forgiving. They were guardians of the sacred tsa’lu, or tobacco, which they kept there and took harsh action against anyone trespassing in the gorge in search of it. In the beginning of the world, there was a single tsa’lu plant for all creatures but it had been used up. In one version of the story, the plant was stolen by geese and swiftly carried to a place in the south. Nonetheless, without the power of tsa’lu men grew weak and death was imminent. Swift warriors and powerful shamans sent into the gorge in search of the sacred medicine were crushed by boulders toppled by the Yun’wi Tsundsdi. The strong winds blowing through the stone hollow would sometimes throw these braves into the turbulent waters of the river and they would never be seen again.

One young man, worried by the impending death of his father for lack of tsa’lu, traveled to Suwali-nuna in search of it. Reaching the mountains that border the gorge, the young man opened his medicine bag and brought out the skin of a hummingbird. Placing the skin over himself he transformed into the swift bird and flew, undetected into the heart of the gorge. Quickly, he gathered a few leaves of tsa’lu with some seeds and slipped, unseen, out of the gorge. Returning home he found his father very weak but with one draw from the pipe, he regained strength. The Cherokee planted the seeds and have had tsa’lu ever since.

During his explorations throughout the Southeast, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto may have passed under the watchful pillar of Chimney Rock, a sign of the deluge of white men that would flood the gorge in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The gorge became part of Rutherford County, named for General Griffith Rutherford, a military leader who led American forces against Chief Dragging Canoe and the Cherokee during the Chickamauga Wars. As settlers poured into the gorge they were awed by the Cherokee’s mystical land.

In 1806, an account appeared in the papers of the period describing an extraordinary vision witnessed by a family living near Chimney Mountain. On July 31st, an eight year old named Elizabeth Reaves spotted a man on the mountain. She brought this to the attention of her eleven year old brother, Morgan, and told him that she saw the man rolling rocks and picking up sticks. Incredulous, her brother went to where she had seen this sight and he was greeted by the sight of “a thousand things flying in the air.” They were joined by their fourteen year old sister, “a Negro woman” and their mother who also witnessed the spectacle.

The mother described a host of beings of a variety of sizes that were rising off of the side of the mountain and collecting at the top of Chimney Rock. After gathering at the rock, three appeared to lift off and rise towards the heavens. Summoning Robert Siercy, a neighbor, they all witnessed the sight together watching as the crowd eventually vanished.

Five years after the Reaves spectral vision in 1811, an elderly couple witnessed a different, though still extraordinary vision. Late one afternoon the couple, who lived near Chimney Rock Falls, witnessed the battle of a spectral army mounted on winged horses. The armies clashed and the couple heard the ping of steel upon steel and saw the glint of the weapons in the sunlight. After a battle of about ten minutes, one army was defeated and withdrew to the victorious cheers of the remaining army. It was also reported that other “respectable men” in the area witnessed the winged warriors, though not engaged in combat.

In the two hundred years since these amazing visions, there are no further reports of such astounding sights, these stories do set the stage for the hauntings at the Lake Lure Inn and the Lodge at Lake Lure. I suspect there are further spirits walking the scenic shores of Lake Lure and floating about Chimney Mountain’s stone spire. Silas McDowell, who recorded the testimony of the witnesses to the 1811 vision described Chimney Rock as “one of Nature’s sublimest poems, where objects are so weird, beautiful and grand that words cannot translate them, and they can only be seen and felt when we look, wonder and admire in dumb amazement.”

Sources

  • Carden, Gary and Nina Anderson. Belled Buzzards, Hucksters & Grieving Specters: Appalachian Tales: Strange, True & Legendary. Asheboro, NC: Down Home Press, 1994.
  • Chickamauga Wars (1776-1794). Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 5 May 2011.
  • Mooney, James. History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Asheville, NC: Bright Mountain Books, 1992.
  • Russell, Randy and Janet Barnett. Mountain Ghost Stories and Curious Tales of Western North Carolina. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1988.
  • Rutherford County, North Carolina. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 5 May 2011.
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Something in the Shadows–Reed Gold Mine

Reed Gold Mine
9621 Reed Mine Road
Midland, North Carolina

Last March, I posted an article about an odd video someone had taken in the famous Reed Gold Mine. While on a tour, a woman was startled to see a figure ahead of her in a corridor and captured it on video. She claimed the figure was a ghost and released the video on YouTube where it attracted a good deal of attention. The video has since been removed and some remarks, disparaging the video and the woman’s actions, were posted on this blog by someone who was anonymous.

A few days ago, a reader from Lexington, NC who had seen the posting emailed me to let me know he may have captured an odd image in some photographs he had taken in the mine. In an email the reader explained that he, his son and some of his son’s friends visited the mine last Saturday. He wrote, “It was roughly around 11:00 or so that morning, and the place was pretty much dead. We were the only people there on the self guided tour. We had actually wanted to go try our luck at panning for gold, but that part of the exhibit was shut down due to the troughs being reconstructed. Anyway, to make a long story short…we went into the mine shaft that you can tour, and I was taking some pictures with my iPhone, so I could show my wife when we got back home.”

Quickly, let me remind you of the history of this location:

The mine possesses a marvelous history beginning with Johannes Reith, a Hessian mercenary who moved with his family to the area and anglicized his name to John Reed. A different legend involves Reed’s 12-year old son, Conrad, who discovered an odd, yellow rock in Little Meadow Creek in 1799. The story tells that the odd rock served as a doorstop for a few years before Reed sold the rock to a jeweler for the princely sum of $3.50. When he discovered that he was literally sitting on a gold mine he began mining his land. The mine ran until 1912 when it was abandoned. The state of North Carolina acquired the mine later and has opened it as a historic site.

There have apparently been stories told about the Reed Mine for some time. According to Troy Taylor’s Down in the Darkness: The Shadowy History of America’s Haunted Mines, Tunnels and Caverns, there is a legend about the mine. William Mills, a Welsh immigrant, arrived in Cabarrus County with his wife Eleanor to work in the mine. The relationship between William and his wife was quite tenuous and they fought a great deal. One evening, in the midst of a fight, Eleanor tripped on the hem of her dress and pitched head forward into a bench, hitting her head on the corner. William tried to revive his wife, but she was dead. Awakened from sleep and probably hoping that the events had been a bad dream, William checked his wife’s now cold body. He heard her voice begging him to take her back to Wales.

Even though her body was cold, William continued to hear her voice begging him. He wrapped her body up and threw is down one of the unused shafts, the Engine Shaft, at the Reed Mine. The legend continues that he continued to hear Eleanor’s voice and was driven to drink as a result. Meanwhile, others began to hear ghostly screams and cries emanating from the Engine Shaft.

Besides the recent video, I’ve not seen much said of the modern haunting of the Reed Mine.

Our reader, upon pulling the photos up on his computer discovered that one had an odd figure in it. Standing at the end of a corridor is a pair of legs and what, to me, appears to be part of a torso. The rest of the figure is missing. Upon zooming in, the figure does appear to be three dimensional, but it remains strange. One odd detail that emerges is that there is a ray of light that seems to be shining onto the torso. Without having been present when it was taken, I cannot vouch for the photo myself, but it does appear very odd. Both myself and the photographer would like to hear what you think.

The original photo. The figure is the faint and grey in the center. Photo by Bobby Troxler, used with permission.
The original photo after I lightened it. All rights reserved.

 

 

Zooming in, the figure becomes more distinct. Is it a figure or just something that resembled one? Photo by Bobby Troxler, used with permission.

I’d like to thank Mr. Bobby Troxler for letting me post his picture.

Sources

  • Knapp, Richard F. “The History of John Reed’s Mine.” Reed Gold Mine. Accessed 29 May 2011.
  • Reed Gold Mine. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 29 May 2011.
  • Rettig, Polly M. National Register of Historic Places Nomination form for Reed Gold Mine. Listed 15 October 1966.
  • Taylor, Troy. Down in the Darkness: The Shadowy History of America’s Haunted Mines, Tunnels and Caverns. Alton, IL: Whitechapel Press, 2003.
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A video from Reed Gold Mine

Reed Gold Mine
9621 Reed Mine Road
Midland, North Carolina

A visitor to the Reed Gold Mine this month was startled by a figure some distance away while touring the mine. According to an article from Charlotte’s CBS station, WBTV,  Sandy Harrington captured the figure on her Flip Camcorder and realized the figure was a ghost when she downloaded the footage onto her computer.

It’s no surprise to find that someone actually captured something possibly paranormal within the precincts of this mine. There have apparently been stories told about the Reed Mine for some time. According to Troy Taylor’s Down in the Darkness: The Shadowy History of America’s Haunted Mines, Tunnels and Caverns, there is a legend about the mine. William Mills, a Welsh immigrant, arrived in Cabarrus County with his wife Eleanor to work in the mine. The relationship between William and his wife was quite tenuous and they fought a great deal. One evening, in the midst of a fight, Eleanor tripped on the hem of her dress and pitched head forward into a bench, hitting her head on the corner. William tried to revive his wife, but she was dead. Awakened from sleep and probably hoping that the events had been a bad dream, William checked his wife’s now cold body. He heard her voice begging him to take her back to Wales.

Even though her body was cold, William continued to hear her voice begging him. He wrapped her body up and threw is down one of the unused shafts, the Engine Shaft, at the Reed Mine. The legend continues that he continued to hear Eleanor’s voice and was driven to drink as a result. Meanwhile, others began to hear ghostly screams and cries emanating from the Engine Shaft.

The mine possesses a marvelous history beginning with Johannes Reith, a Hessian mercenary who moved with his family to the area and anglicized his name to John Reed. A different legend involves Reed’s 12-year old son, Conrad, who discovered an odd, yellow rock in Little Meadow Creek in 1799. The story tells that the odd rock served as a doorstop for a few years before Reed sold the rock to a jeweler for the princely sum of $3.50. When he discovered that he was literally sitting on a gold mine he began mining his land. The mine ran until 1912 when it was abandoned. The state of North Carolina acquired the mine later and has opened it as a historic site.

So far, I haven’t found much on the modern haunting of the mine. Harrington’s video, which can be viewed on YouTube, is very interesting. Judging from the stills taken from the video, the figure appears to be male, so it’s unlikely to be Eleanor Mills (who may have never even existed). Looking at the video, it can be difficult to determine precisely what you’re looking at as the shot is down a darkened hallway, but it does provide a tantalizing piece of evidence of what may exist in the Reed Gold Mine.

Shortly after writing this article, I was contacted by another visitor with a photo in which he may have captured something. See the entry here.

Sources 

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Old Ashe County Courthouse – Museum of Ashe County History

Old Ashe County Courthouse
301 East Main Street
Jefferson, North Carolina

Ashe County, North Carolina, lies in the northern corner of the state where it meets the eastern tip of Tennessee and southern Virginia. Tucked away in an Appalachian valley lies the county seat, Jefferson, the first town named for the illustrious American founding father, Thomas Jefferson in 1799. Jefferson is fairly small with a population of about 1,500 people while Ashe County can only boast around 27,000.

Over time, the county’s long history has left a few spiritual marks as well. One of the more prominent hauntings is an odd set of granite stairs carved into the side of a mountain outside of West Jefferson along North Carolina State Road 194 at the bridge over Buffalo Creek. With the menacing name, THE DEVIL’S STAIRS this formation was created during blasting for the Norfolk-Western Railroad line that once ran through the area. Legend speaks of a laborer killed during the construction and later a woman who tossed her infant into the waters of Buffalo Creek below. Since the creation of this formation, tales have been spun about people passing the area at night and encountering apparitions and even picking up vanishing hitchhikers.

Also nearby is the GLENDALE INN SPRINGS AND RESTAURANT (7414 NC-16) in the village of Glendale Springs. Built in the late nineteenth century, this grand house has served as an inn for a number of years though it was closed and put up for sale in 2008. According to Sheila Turnage, the inn is haunted by a mischievous spirit named “Rosebud.”

As interest in the paranormal has spread, paranormal groups have sprung up throughout the country and Ashe County can also boast of a group dedicated to investigating local hauntings: 3P Paranormal. A recent article in The Mountain Times highlighted an investigation by the group of the Old Ashe County Courthouse. Over the years, tales have been told of odd occurrences within this 1904 courthouse. The museum’s curator even mentions a recent incident where an intern heard a telephone ring on a floor above followed by footsteps across the floor towards the phone. This happened when the intern was alone in the building.

Ashe County Courthouse, 2012, by Jblevins47. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Unfortunately, the article only details the setup for the investigation. The group has an excellent website but it has not provided any information on the results of the courthouse investigation. The article, however, does provide a tantalizing tidbit about another local haunting: that of the nearby Old Ashe County Hospital, where the group uncovered some very interesting evidence. I look forward to hearing what the investigators discovered. It seems that this rural county may offer some haunted gems.

UPDATE 5 June 2011

When last we left the investigators of 3P Paranormal, they were wrapping up an overnight investigation of the Old Ashe County Courthouse. The results of this investigation have been revealed. The investigators had surmised that there was likely some residual energy in the 1904 courthouse and indeed, the team captured some striking evidence of it.

The team captured only audio evidence and among that evidence is a recording of a voice saying “Order!” and what sounds to be the banging of a gavel. In the same courtroom, heavy footsteps and breathing were also captured. Voices were also picked up in some of the other rooms. Certainly, it appears that there may be some residual energy in the old courthouse.

Sources

  • Ashe County, North Carolina. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 23 May 2011.
  • Barefoot, Daniel W. North Carolina’s Haunted Hundred, Vol. 3, Haints of the Hills. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2002.
  • Campbell, Jesse. “A Haunting in Jefferson? Paranormal Team Investigates the Old County Courthouse.” The Mountain Times. 19 May 2011.
  • Campbell, Jesse. “The Results Are In: Paranormal Team Reveal Signs of Possible Haunting.” The Mountain Times. 2 June 2011.
  • Jefferson, North Carolina. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 23 May 2011.
  • Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 2001.