Asheboro, Randolph County
North Carolina Zoological Park
4401 Zoo Parkway
Originally covered in “Haunted
North Carolina,” published 8 February 2011.
 |
| Photo 2010, by Eleazar, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
North Carolina lawyer and folklorist Daniel Barefoot has
done much to preserve North Carolina and Southern legends and ghost stories in
his books. His series, North Carolina’s Haunted Hundred provides a
single ghost story or legend from each of the state’s one hundred counties.
From Randolph County, smack dab in the middle of the state, comes the legend of
the aptly named, Purgatory Mountain, now home to the NC Zoo. The state-owned
zoo is the largest walk-through habitat zoos in the world and a major attraction
in the region.
During the Civil War, much of rural North Carolina was
resistant to seceding from the Union and, as a result, the state was the final
state to secede. Still, many citizens, including the peaceable Quakers of
Randolph County resisted joining the butternut ranks. Recruiters were sent to
these areas to nudge and sometimes force the inhabitants to join. One
particular recruiter in this area earned the nickname, “The Hunter,” for his
harsh methods. He rounded up a group of
Quaker boys, tied them roughly and marched them to Wilmington to join the army,
but a few escaped and returned, bedraggled to their rural homes. When the
recruiter returned, this group of escaped boys shot him outside of his cabin at
Purgatory Mountain. His malevolent spirit is still supposedly stalking the
crags of his mountain home.
Sources
Barefoot, Daniel W. North Carolina’s Haunted Hundred,
Vol.
2: Piedmont Phantoms. Winston-Salem,
NC, John F. Blair,
2002.
11 April 2012.
Asheville, Buncombe County
Grove Park Inn
290 Macon Avenue
 |
Grove Park Inn shortly after it opened in 1913. Photo by Herbert
W. Pelton, courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs
Division. |
Throughout ghost literature there are tales of female
wraiths. Over time many of these female spirits have acquired nicknames,
usually relating to the color of their clothing: “White Lady” and “Grey Lady”
being the most common. Of course, they do appear in other colors; Huntingdon
College in Montgomery, Alabama, for instance, has a “Red Lady, but I know of
only spirit that appears in that most feminine of colors, pink, and Asheville’s
Grove Park Inn is her home.
The legend is almost typical in ghostlore: a young flapper
in the 1920s plunged to her death from a fourth or fifth floor railing and her
spirit has been seen ever since. Time has kept her anonymity, though I’m
curious if a close scan of local papers might reveal her identity. Anonymous
she may be, though, the details of her activity seem to be well known. People
staying in rooms 545, 441, 448 and even 320 have experienced a variety of
strange activity including the appearance of a young woman wearing a pink
dress. A North Carolina police chief staying in room 448 felt someone sit on
the edge of his bed while a female journalist staying in 441 the same night had
doors in her room open and close mysteriously.
The Inn brought in writer and investigator Joshua Warren
to investigate the legend of the Pink Lady in 1996. His results, published in
his book Haunted Asheville, include some photographic anomalies, but
also a number of personal experiences. The Pink Lady still walks this 1913
edifice.
Sources
History. GroveParkInn.com. Accessed 1 November 2010.
Bordsen, John. “Room with a Boo.” The Charlotte
Observer. 25
October 2009.
Kermeen, Frances. Ghostly Encounters: True Stories of
American’s
Haunted Inns
and Hotels. NYC: Warner Books, 2002.
Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast.
Winton-Salem,
NC: John F.
Blair, 2001.
Warren, Joshua P. Haunted Asheville. Johnson City,
TN: Overmountain
Press, 1996.
Helen’s Bridge
College Street
Between Windswept Drive and Beaucatcher Road
 |
Helen's Bridge, 2008, by Molly Hare. Released
under a Creative Commons License. |
Celebrated in
legend and literature, the Zealandia Bridge, often known as “Helen’s Bridge”
spans College Street as it rises up Beaucatcher Mountain. The rustic stone
bridge was constructed as a carriageway for the Zealandia Estate in 1909. It
was designed by R. S. Smith, who worked as an architect on the building of the
Biltmore Estate. The looming structure has been threatened at least twice, once
during the building of nearby Interstate 240 when supports were added to
protect the structure during nearby blasting. In 1998 with the supports still
in place and stones falling from it the city considered demolishing the
structure. Local history buffs and preservationists won the fight and the
supports were carefully removed. The bridge was structurally quite sound and it
has recently been bought by the city to use as part of a greenway.
One of
Asheville’s favorite sons, writer Thomas Wolf, walked under the bridge many
times while growing up and included it in a passage in his most notable work, Look Homeward, Angel. But it is perhaps
the lore of the bridge that draws most. The legend speaks of a woman named
Helen who lived near the bridge with her beloved daughter. After she lost her
daughter in a fire the distraught Helen hung herself from the bridge. Her
anguished spirit is said to still appear to motorists and curious teens out for
a scare.
The legend has
many versions, sometimes including a date or approximate date and providing
more of an identity to the mysterious Helen. Some versions associate Helen with
Zealandia, the nearby estate built for Pennsylvanian John Evans Brown who made
his fortune raising sheep in New Zealand, thus the estate’s name. One version
places the fire resulting in the death of Helen’s daughter taking place there
while another version has Helen as the mistress of the estate’s owner who hung
herself after she became pregnant. Researchers have found nothing to document
the existence of an actual Helen, regardless, there still are stories of
dauntless teens having interesting experiences there.
Sources
Ambrose, Kala. Ghosthunting North Carolina. Cincinnati,
OH: Clerisy Press,
2011.
Asheville
Community News. “Savings Helen’s Bridge.” 1999.
Bordsen, John.
“Find the most haunted place in these Carolina towns.”
Dispatch-Argus.
31 October 2010.
Brown, Alan. Stories from the Haunted South. Jackson,
MS: University
Press of Mississippi, 2004.
Burgess, Joel.
“City acquires historic bridge.” Asheville
Citizen-Times.
25
November 2009.
Tomlin, Robyn.
“Zealandia Bridge Repairs Completed; Fixing historic
bridge cost much less than originally
forecast.” Asheville Citizen-Times.
1
June 1999.
Warren, Joshua.
Haunted Asheville. Johnson City, TN:
Overmountain
Press, 1996.
Balsam, Jackson County
Balsam Mountain Inn
68 Seven Springs Drive
 |
| Photo 2009, by Brian Stansberry, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
Passengers
departing from their trains in Balsam, North Carolina just after the turn of
the century were met with an inviting and palatial hotel overlooking the
station. They would enjoy the cool mountain air from the double porch with
views of the town below. Though the train no longer brings them, visitors today
can enjoy the same air and views and, if they stay in room 205, perhaps a nice
back rub from a spirit. One guest staying in this room with her husband had a
bad back and was awaken by a back rub from him, until she realized he was sound
to sleep next to her. The unidentified ghost on the second floor of this hotel
which opened in 1908 also rattles doorknobs of rooms on that floor.
Sources
Bordsen, John. “Room with a Boo.” The Charlotte
Observer. 25
October 2009.
Kermeen, Frances. Ghostly Encounters: True Stories of
American’s
Haunted Inns
and Hotels. NYC: Warner Books, 2002.
Turnage, Sheila. Haunted Inns of the Southeast.
Winton-Salem,
NC: John F.
Blair, 2001.
Beaufort, Cartaret County
Old Burying Ground
Ann Street
Among the
oldest cemeteries in the state, Beaufort’s Old Burying Ground lies in a verdant
peace under ancient oaks. Created in the early 18th century, this
burying ground holds a number of interesting graves including that of a young
girl who died at sea. To preserve her body, it was placed in a barrel of rum
and it was the same barrel that she was buried in. She may be the spirit of a
little girl that has been reported walking among the graves.
Sources
Ambrose, Kala. Ghosthunting North Carolina. Cincinnati,
OH: Clerisy Press,
2011.
Bordsen, John.
“Find the most haunted place in these Carolina towns.”
Dispatch-Argus.
31 October 2010.
Cashiers, Jackson County
High Hampton Inn
1525 Highway 107, South
Originally covered in “Haunted
North Carolina,” published 8 February 2011.
 |
| Photo 2006, by Richard Kenni, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
Set amid some 1400 acres in the Appalachians, the High
Hampton Inn looks over a sheer mountainside that rises above a 55 acre lake.
When I visited a few years ago, I was struck by the serenity and beauty but
also the old-fashioned charm that seemed to envelop the resort. That same
beauty and charm have given rise to a legend concerning a white owl.
High Hampton began as a hunting lodge for the wealthy
Hampton family of South Carolina and in 1922, an inn was constructed on the
property and the grounds opened to the public. Prior to the ownership of E.L.
McKee, who built the inn, the property was owned by noted surgeon, Dr. William
Halstead. Halstead did much to expand the property, purchasing nearby land and
farms, among them the property of Louisa Emmeline Zachary. Zachary had married
Hannibal Heaton and her property had passed to her husband who sold it to
Halstead despite his wife’s threats to kill herself if he did. Shortly after
the sale, Heaton discovered his wife’s body hanging in a barn with a large barn
owl flying about. A legend has sprung up about a large white owl, a barn owl is
part white and part brown, seen around the grounds of the High Hampton Inn.
Sources
Encyclopedia. Accessed
8 February 2011.
Williams, Stephanie Burt. Haunted Hills, Ghosts and Legends
of Highlands
and Cashiers, North Carolina. Charleston, SC:
History Press, 2007.
Chapel Hill, Orange County
Horace Williams House
610 East Rosemary Street
An interest in
phrenology, the study of how the shape of the head affects intelligence and
character, led to the interesting octagon design of the Horace Williams House.
Construction on the home was begun in the 1850s by University of North Carolina
chemistry professor Benjamin Hedrick. The book, A Home for All or the Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building, by
phrenologist Orson Fowler influenced Hedrick’s design. Fowler preached that the
design of the home affected and influenced harmony between those living in the
home. Subsequently, this book was important in the building of many octagon
homes throughout the nation.
The home passed
through a few hands until it ended up with Professor Horace Williams, a beloved
professor of philosophy. Upon Williams’ death in 1940, the home and contents
were left to the university and the house has been preserved as a museum.
Activity in the home includes the apparition of a professorial gentleman, most
likely that of Williams. Native American and Civil War artifacts discovered
around the house indicate that other spiritual activity may be caused by a
range of people who have inhabited the property in the past.
Sources
Ambrose, Kala. Ghosthunting North Carolina. Cincinnati,
OH: Clerisy Press,
2011.
Bordsen, John.
“Find the most haunted place in these Carolina towns.”
Dispatch-Argus.
31 October 2010.
Chimney Rock, Rutherford County
Chimney Rock State Park
431 Main Street
 |
Photo 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights
reserved. |
The spectacular
Hickory Nut Gorge in southwestern North Carolina was considered sacred to the
Cherokee and Catawba who once inhabited the area. Chimney Rock stands as a
sentinel above this gorge and extends, thumb-like, from Chimney Mountain above
the modern resort villages of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock. When developers came
to this remote area in the late nineteenth century, they saw the immense
natural beauty of the area and the tourist bucks the area could draw. Part of
the gorge was flooded for Lake Lure and the area around Chimney Rock was
purchased as a tourist attraction. The park remained in the Morse family for
most of the twentieth century and was sold to the state of North Carolina as a
state park in 2007.
While there are
no documented modern ghost stories about Chimney Rock, there are two incidents
that were recorded in the early nineteenth century. In 1811 a group of beings
were seen ascending from the sides of the mountain towards the stone pillar of
Chimney Rock. These beings were then moving towards the rock where they
ascended to heaven in groups of three. This was witnessed by an entire family,
one of their neighbors and “a negro woman.” Five years after that, an elderly couple
living nearby witnessed two spectral armies in the sky pitted in battle on
winged horses. Both of these accounts were recorded in newspapers of the
time.
Sources
Carden, Gary
and Nina Anderson. Belled Buzzards,
Hucksters & Grieving
Specters: Appalachian Tales, Strange, True and Legendary. Asheboro,
NC
Down Home Press, 1994.
Mooney, James. History, Myths and Sacred Formulas of the
Cherokee.
Asheville, NC: Bright Mountain Books,
1992.
Russell, Randy
and Janet Barnett. Mountain Ghost Stories
and True Tales
of Western North Carolina. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1988.
Accessed
5 May 2011.
Four Oaks, Johnston County
Harper House
Bentonville Battlefield State Park
5466 Harper House Road
Originally covered in “Haunted
North Carolina,” published 8 February 2011.
 |
| Photo 2009, by Straitgate, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
It’s hard to imagine what John and Amy Harper and their
family thought when the war that had been so distant suddenly was being fought
around their home. The wounded were brought into their home and the Harper’s
sanctum was violated with the screams and cries of the wounded; blood stained
the floor and piles of amputated limbs stacked up outside. The Harpers
abandoned their home not long after the battle and perhaps it was because of
the screams and cries that locals said were still heard in the house at night.
In the Harper House and throughout the battlefield, visitors and staff have
encountered odd and possibly paranormal phenomena.
One of the most interesting encounters was experienced in
1990 by a family who visited the Harper House. The family was guided by a woman
through what they believed was a living history reenactment with wounded
soldiers being brought into the house and treated as well as a civilian man who
appeared as John Harper. When the family described what they saw to the staff
at the visitors center, they were told that there was no such living history
exhibition at the house.
Sources
Barefoot, Daniel W. North Carolina’s Haunted Hundred,
Vol.
2: Piedmont Phantoms. Winston-Salem,
NC, John F. Blair,
2002.
Toney, B. Keith. Battlefield Ghosts. Berryville,
VA:
Rockbridge
Publishing, 1997.
Greensboro, Guilford County
Biltmore Hotel
111 West Washington Street
Built in 1895,
the building that now houses the Biltmore Hotel was the first in the city with
indoor plumbing, electricity and an unmanned elevator. It opened initially as
an office building for one of the local mills but became the headquarters of
the post office just after the turn of the 20th century. In the
1920s, the building opened as a luxury hotel, but it fell on hard times after
the stock market crash of 1929. After that, legend holds that some rooms were
rented to ladies of the evening. The building was remodeled in the late 1960s
following a disastrous fire and remains a luxurious boutique hotel.
Among the
spirits that roam the halls of the Biltmore is that of a young woman, quite
possibly one of the ladies of the evening that “haunted” the halls and local
street corners in the early 20th century. She is said to haunt one
particular room and the staff works to keep her satisfied. They will often
leave gifts to appease her and activity will quiet down for a short time.
Sources
Biltmore Hotel.
“
About Us.” Accessed 9 January 2012.
Bordsen, John.
“Find the most haunted place in these Carolina towns.”
Dispatch-Argus.
31 October 2010.
Kernersville, Forsyth County
Körner’s Folly
413 South Main Street
Originally covered in “Haunted
North Carolina,” published 8 February 2011.
 |
Photo taken for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS),
courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs
Division. |
In the mode of the most recent advertising campaign for
Snapple, “The Strangest House in the World just got stranger.” After a
paranormal investigation of Körner’s Folly revealed evidence that the house may
be haunted the 85-year old granddaughter of the home’s builder Jule Körner,
stated that, “he would be thrilled to death to know this was haunted. He always
liked things that were out of the ordinary.” Indeed, Körner’s legacy is unique.
The house was begun in 1878 and “completed” in 1880, though Körner continued to
remodel the house until his death in 1924. Jule Körner made his name as an
advertising painter for Bull Durham Tobacco but was also talented as a designer
and he put his talents on display throughout the house in a town name for him.
It is believed that a number of spirits may dwell within
this unparalleled edifice. Visitors and staff have spotted a woman as well as a
child in Victorian clothing, but much of the activity is aural. During some
recent paranormal investigations digital recorders have picked up a number of
voices. One voice responded with curiosity to an investigator asking about
setting up for EVPs, “What is EVP?” Another recorder picked up a voice saying.
“Hauuuuunted.” According to the house museum’s paranormal advisor the spirits
in the home are curious and happy to remain in this unique place. Strange
stuff, indeed.
Sources
Ambrose, Kala. Ghosthunting
North Carolina. Cincinnati, OH:
Clerisy Press,
2011.
6 February
2011.
“Paranormal News: Korner’s Folly Certified Haunted.” Ghost
Eyes: Most
Haunted Places in America Blog. Accessed 6 February
2011.
Renegar, Michael and Amy Spease. Ghosts of The Triad: Tales from the
Haunted Heart of the Piedmont.
Charleston, SC: History Press, 2011.
Kure Beach, New Hanover County
Fort Fisher
1610 Fort Fisher Boulevard, South
Originally covered in “Haunted
North Carolina,” published 8 February 2011.
 |
| The sea face of Fort Fisher following the Union capture, 1865. |
Fort Fisher was one of the linch-pins that kept the
Confederacy together. Guarding the approach to Wilmington harbor, the fort
allowed for blockade runners that kept the Confederacy alive even after so many
other ports had been blocked. After the fall of Mobile, Alabama, Fort Fisher became
a major target of Union forces. The first onslaught against the fort on
Christmas Day 1864 was a dismal failure, but regrouped Union forces launched a
second, more successful onslaught resulting in the fort’s capture the next
month. The fort was used to house Confederate prisoners and some of those
prisoners as well as the Union soldiers guarding them died when the powder
magazine exploded. Some 200 men lost their lives. Wilmington fell shortly after
and the Attmore-Oliver House there (see later on in this article) was used as
Union headquarters.
According to Alan Brown, one of the first incidents of
paranormal activity was witnessed in 1868 during a reunion of soldiers was held
there. Three former soldiers saw a figure atop one of the gun placements. When
they waved, the figure raised its sword into the air, revealing it to be none
other than General Whiting who had commanded the fort but had been wounded in
the second battle and died in captivity. The figure disappeared before their eyes.
Figures such the General’s have been seen repeatedly since and an investigation
of the fort in 2004 captured interesting evidence including a human shaped
figure that appeared in a photograph.
The beach just
outside of the fort was the scene of the tragic death of Rose Greenhow, known
as “Rebel Rose.” A Washington socialite at the start of the Civil War, Greenhow
used her charm and social standing to solicit plans from Union officers which
she obligingly passed to the Confederates. She was arrested and was held in
prison with her 8-year old daughter which backfired on the Union when she
became a Confederate martyr. After her release she travelled to Europe and
wrote a book about her experiences. As she returned, her ship wrecked off Kure
Beach in a fierce. Her lifeboat was overturned and legend holds that she
drowned due to the proceeds from her book that were sewed into her clothing.
Her waterlogged image has been reported on the beach near the fort.
Sources
Ambrose, Kala. Ghosthunting
North Carolina. Cincinnati, OH:
Clerisy Press,
2011.
Brown, Alan. Haunted Places in the American South. Jackson,
MS:
University
Press of Mississippi, 2002.
Fort Fisher.
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed
1 February
2011.
Wardrip, Stanley. “Fort Fisher Civil War Battlefield.” In
Jeff Belanger’s
Encyclopedia of Haunted Places. Franklin
Lakes, NJ: New
Page Books, 2005.
Lake Lure, Rutherford County
Lake Lure Inn
2771 Memorial Highway
 |
| Photo 2012, by Lewis Powell IV, all rights reserved. |
Memorial
Highway curves around above the banks of Lake Lure before a major curve in the
road. The road flattens out along the floor of the valley and it takes a turn around
a beach on the lakeshore. Above the valley Chimney Rock keeps a watchful eye
over the proud Lake Lure Inn perched on a low rise above the lake. The European
design of the hotel is immediately reminiscent of the Alps and for a moment,
one might be whisked away to the Old Country. Built in 1927, this hotel was
meant to attract the wealthy and elite to this remote location and it did. Dr.
Lucius Morse, whose dream of this mountain lake began to come to fruition in
1925 built this hotel and attracted many of the decade’s great names, but that
dream fell on hard times in the 1930s with the Great Depression.
After
experiencing a rough patch a few years after its construction, the Lake Lure
Inn was leased by the Army for convalescing soldiers. For a few years, the inn
became a mountain benediction for soldiers who had faced the worst horrors of
World War II. Since that time the resort has attracted many guests who have
fallen in love with its incredible mountain setting. Apparently, some of those
guests have stayed on into the afterlife.
A picture taken
recently in the dining room revealed a figure that was not there when the shot
was snapped. Staff members have reported hearing voices and seeing a figure in
the lobby who may very well be the shade of Dr. Morse. A legend exists of a
woman being murdered in Room 215, though no documentary evidence of this
tragedy has been located.
Sources
Baughman, Scott. “Things weren’t normal at this LL
convention.” The
(Forest City, NC) Daily Courier. 11
March 2009.
Bunch, Pam. “Guests, ghosts share Lake Lure Inn.” The
(Forest
City, NC) Daily Courier. 28 February 2007.
Accessed
22 April 2011.
DePriest, Joe. “A place that healed sore soldier’s souls.”
The
Charlotte
Observer. 23 November 2003.
“Ghost hunt a high-tech operation.” The (Forest
City, NC)
Daily
Courier. 28 February 2007.
Justice, Birchette T. “Chimney Rock and Lake Lure.” in
The Heritage
of Rutherford County, North Carolina, Vol. 1.
Winston-Salem,
NC: Hunter Publishing, 1984.
Strikler, Lon. “Ghostly Gatherings at the Lake Lure Inn.”
Phantoms and
Monsters. 21 December 2010.
Ward, Kevin Thomas. North
Carolina Haunts. Atglen, PA:
Schiffer, 2011.
New Bern, Craven County
Attmore-Oliver House
510 Pollock Street
Originally covered in “Haunted
North Carolina,” published 8 February 2011.
 |
| Photo 2007, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
During an investigation of the Attmore-Oliver House by
paranormal investigators a door slammed in the face of an investigator. After
checking the door, there was no obvious force that could have slammed it
besides something paranormal. Along with some EVPs, that was the main evidence
of paranormal activity in this circa 1790 house. Legend tells of a father and
daughter who possibly died in the attic during a smallpox epidemic, though this
cannot be confirmed through historical records, who may be responsible for the
spirit activity.
Others look towards the last resident of the house who was
known for her eccentricity. Born before the Civil War, Mary Oliver lived in
this house until her death in her 90s in 1951. After spending such a long
period in the house, it’s no surprise she might return after death.
Sources
Ambrose, Kala. Ghosthunting
North Carolina. Cincinnati, OH:
Clerisy Press,
2011.
Manley, Roger. Weird Carolina. NYC: Sterling
Publishing,
2007.
Mayer, Tom. “Opening the door on the Paranormal.”
New Bern Sun
Journal. 30 July 2006.
Orrum, Robeson County
Lumber River State Park
2819 Princess Ann Road
Originally covered in “Haunted
North Carolina,” published 8 February 2011.
 |
| Photo 2007, by Dincher, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
The swamps and lowlands of America were considered
bewitched and dangerous places to the Europeans who settled here. During the
American Revolution, patriot General Francis Marion, known as the “Swamp Fox,”
used these mysterious places to his advantage by utilizing guerilla warfare
throughout the swamps of South Carolina and even extending into North Carolina
on occasion. The land along the course of the Lumber River is mostly
undeveloped and remains much as it was when the Swamp Fox traveled along its swampy
run. An old legend from Robeson County tells of one of Marion’s officers who
loved a young woman from a Tory family and passed information on to her father.
Marion pursued a group of Tories to Tory Island along the Lumber River and
destroyed their settlement killing the traitorous officer and hanging him in
the ruins where the officer’s lover found him. The pair is still seen roaming
the island.
Sources
Barefoot, Daniel W. North Carolina’s Haunted Hundred,
Vol.
2: Piedmont Phantoms. Winston-Salem,
NC, John F. Blair,
2002.
Accessed
1 February 2011.
Raleigh, Wake County
Mordecai House
1 Mimosa Street
 |
| Photo 2010, by Mark Turner, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
Certainly one
of the grandest landmarks in Raleigh, the Mordecai House is perhaps one of the
more active locations in the city as well. This house originally was
constructed as a modest home by local tavern owner Joel Lane who was
instrumental in the creation of Raleigh as the state’s capital. One of Lane’s
daughters married an attorney, Moses Mordecai, who renovated the home into the
grand, Greek revival manse it is now. Mordecai also donated land for Oakwood
Cemetery nearby, which has been nicknamed “Hell’s Gate” for the paranormal
activity supposedly taking place within its gates.
There has also
been a great deal of activity reported within Mordecai House itself. So much
so, that the TAPS team from the reality show, Ghost Hunters, investigated the house in 2005. Their book doesn’t
mention if they got any evidence as much of the team ended up with food
poisoning and left the investigation early.
Among the
reported activity in and around the house are spectral Civil War soldiers who
possibly date to the home’s use as a Civil War hospital and a female
apparition, quite possibly that of Margaret Lane Mordecai, the wife of Moses.
Also on the property is the tavern where President Andrew Johnson was born.
Within this building lights are sometimes seen at night.
Sources
Ambrose, Kala. Ghosthunting North Carolina. Cincinnati,
OH: Clerisy Press,
2011.
Bordsen, John.
“Find the most haunted place in these Carolina towns.”
Dispatch-Argus.
31 October 2010.
Brown, Alan. Stories from the Haunted South. Jackson,
MS: University
Press of Mississippi, 2004.
Hawes, Jason
and Grant Wilson. Ghost Hunting. NYC:
Pocket Books,
2007.
North Carolina State Capitol Building
1 East Edenton Street
Originally covered in “Haunted
North Carolina,” published 8 February 2011.
 |
| Photo 2007, by Jim Bowen, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
So far in my research, I’ve discovered that many current
and former state capitol buildings are haunted. Old state capitols in Georgia,
Louisiana and Virginia have ghosts as well as the current state capitols for
Maryland, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. Of these, only a few have
received any paranormal investigation. The investigation here in Raleigh was
conducted by none other than the Rhine Research Center, an organization
originally established as part of Duke University in Durham (now independent of
the university), devoted to the scientific study of parapsychology. The Rhine
Center discovered paranormal activity in the capitol including one investigator
who saw a man in nineteenth century clothing sitting in the legislative
chamber.
According to Kala Ambrose in her Ghosthunting North Carolina, the history of paranormal activity in
the North Carolina State Capitol goes back to the late 19th century.
While Capitol staff has witnessed activity, along with the occasional governor,
the security staff seems to have witnessed the most activity during their
nightly vigils in the building. Much of the activity is aural and includes the
sounds of footsteps and breaking glass, though during an investigation with a
different group, Ambrose witnessed the form of a man in the corner of one room.
Sources
Ambrose, Kala. Ghosthunting
North Carolina. Cincinnati, OH:
Clerisy Press,
2011.
Brown, Alan. Stories from the Haunted South. Jackson,
MS:
University
Press of Mississippi, 2004.
Salisbury, Rowan County
Salisbury National Cemetery
202 Government Road
Originally covered in “Haunted
North Carolina,” published 8 February 2011.
 |
Photo taken for the Historic American Buildings
Survey (HABS), courtesy of the Library of Congress,
Prints and Photographs Division. |
The treatment of prisoners by both the Union and the
Confederacy during the Civil War was atrocious and certainly has led to very
active haunted locations where the prisons operated. This is certainly evident
in Salisbury where an old textile mill was turned into a prison to house 2,000,
but eventually held some 11,000. With a number of deaths occurring on a daily
basis, a small cemetery was established a short distance from the prison which
in 1874, became the Salisbury National Cemetery. According to Karen
Lilly-Bowyer, a retired educator and the operator of the Downtown Ghost Walk,
the area around the old prison site and the cemetery are quite active and a
Union sentry has been spotted around the trenches where the prisoners were
interred.
Sources
Lilly-Bowyer, Karen. “A war-haunted landscape.” Salisbury
Post. 22
January 2011.
Wilmington, New Hanover County
Bellamy Mansion
503 Market Street
Originally covered in “Haunted
North Carolina,” published 8 February 2011.
 |
| Photo 2010, by Jcolucci1, courtesy of Wikipedia. |
A spectacular mix of Greek Revival and Italianate
architecture, the Bellamy Mansion has been restored and preserved as a monument
to history and design. Dr. John D. Bellamy, a physician, planter and
businessman began construction of the house in 1858 and it was completed in
1861, as civil war was breaking out. When Wilmington was captured by Union
troops, the house served as headquarters for the Union general. The house is
now under the purview of Preservation North Carolina and open as a museum.
The museum staff reportedly doesn’t say much about spirits
in the house, but according to Alan Brown, night managers have reported quite a
bit of activity. One night manager was called by the police twice in one night
because inside doors were opening by themselves. Another night manager has reported
seeing the figure of a man and having a wheelchair that belonged to one of the
Bellamy family members move on its own accord.
Sources
1 February
2011.
Brown, Alan. Stories from the Haunted South. Jackson,
MS:
University
Press of Mississippi, 2004.
Gallows Hill
Market & Fifth Streets
The
intersection of busy Market Street and Fifth Street was, for many years in the
city’s early history, the site of public executions. After the gallows were
moved, the area became the site of a number of fine homes including the haunted
Bellamy Mansion and a home built by Dr. William Price. Even though executions
no longer occur in the area, many spirits apparently remain. According to the
owners of Ghost Walks of Old Wilmington, paranormal activity is common all over
the block. Activity ranges from phantom smells of tobacco, candied yams (a
delicacy of the period) and fresh bread. The halls of the Dr. Price House, now
an architectural firm, are filled with fleeting shadows and the sounds of the
footsteps of the condemned.
Sources
Bordsen, John.
“Find the most haunted place in these Carolina towns.”
Dispatch-Argus.
31 October 2010.
“Gallows Hill
home called most haunted.” WWAY, News
Channel 3.
31 October 2007.
