HGB Ep. 620 - Haunted Gainesville, Georgia

Moment in Oddity - Bumpy Snailfish (Suggested by: Ruth Dempsey)

Many strange creatures lurk in the deepest depths of our oceans, many of them, yet to be discovered. In March of 2019, off the central coast of California, a new and dare-I-say adorable species of fish was discovered. The Careproctus colliculi, or common name bumpy snailfish, is a deep sea dweller in the Pacific ocean. Ruth aptly nicknamed the little guy, the 'Old Man of the Sea'. Bumpy snailfish measure in at only about 4 inches in length. They are a pale pink hue with large eyes and wide pectoral fins. Their appearance is likened to a bumpy bald headed little old man with a beard. They live at depths of over 10,000 feet. It took several years of detailed studies including DNA sequencing, CT scans and morphological comparisons in the laboratory, to ensure that the bumpy snailfish was previously unknown to science. In August of 2025, the findings were published in the journal of Ichthyology & Herpetology. If you recall a prior oddity on the blobfish, this species is considerably more cute, but it also certainly is odd.

Haunted Gainesville, Georgia (Suggested by: Veronica Martin) Synchronicity

The city of Gainesville is in the northern part of the state of Georgia and was in the heart of the Georgia Gold Rush. Yes, Georgia had a Gold Rush. This fueled the early growth of the city, but eventually textile mills and the poultry industry would drive the local economy. Several of the historic buildings in town have ghost stories attached to them. Join us for the history and hauntings of Gainesville, Georgia!

Gainesville is the county seat of Hill County in northern Georgia. European settlers arrived in the early 1800s and they named their settlement "Mule Camp Springs." On April 21, 1821, the name changed to Gainesville in honor of a war hero from the War of 1812, General Edmund P. Gaines. Gaines was also known for his road building and surveying. A few months later, Gainesville was selected as the county seat. the town stayed relatively small until gold was found in Lumpkin County in 1829. Georgia is definitely not a state that comes up when talking gold rush, but the Georgia Gold Rush was the second significant gold rush in the United States. This rush spread through the North Georgia mountains and lasted until the early 1840s. Then the gold miners headed off to California for the gold rush there in 1848. There are multiple stories as to how and when the gold was discovered including an indigenous man finding a gold nugget in 1815, a man named Thomas Bowen found gold in the roots of a blown over tree at Dukes Creek, a Frank Logan and his enslaved man found gold at Dukes Creek, John Witherood found a three-ounce gold nugget at Dukes Creek and on it goes. Clearly, Dukes Creek definitely plays some part in the beginning of the gold rush. It is estimated that Georgia produced about 870,000 troy ounces or 27060024.8 grams of gold between 1828 and the mid-20th century. With this rush, people and business moved into Gainesville. The springs here also turned this into a resort destination in 1849. Things were great until a fire ripped through in 1851 and destroyed much of the city. The Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railway arrived in 1871 and this helped to regrow the city. Textile mills were built in the 1890s and these would be the primary economic driver, particularly with cotton. After World War II, a businessman named Jesse Jewell started the poultry industry in north Georgia and Gainesville has even earned the moniker "Poultry Capital of the World." Fun Fact: Tulsa King has filmed some scenes in Gainesville, Georgia. The historic Hall County Courthouse Annex provided an authentic backdrop for several scenes. 

Not only did Gainesville have the deadly fire in 1851, but the 5th deadliest tornado in United States history hit here on April 6, 1936 and injured 1600 people and killed 203. The storm spawned 17 other tornadoes across the south. There were actually two F4 tornadoes that tore through the business district, setting off fires, one of which killed 70 employees at the Cooper Pants manufacturing company. The factory had been here since 1893 and the flames trapped 125 employees who were mostly young women. The death toll of 70 in the collapse and fire is the highest in a single building ever hit by a tornado. The factory wasn't rebuilt. Wreckage from the tornadoes was piled to 10 feet in some places. President Franklin Roosevelt toured the damage three days later and returned to rededicate the courthouse and city hall that had been destroyed by the tornadoes. But this wasn't the only time the town was hit with a tornado. There was a deadly tornado in January 1903 that killed more than 100 people. We'll talk about that a bit later.  

Blackstrap Rock Hall 

Gainesville has a ghost tour, meaning we have some ghosts in this city! It's no wonder with the tragedies that have occurred in the city. The ghost tour begins and ends at Blackstrap Rock Hall because they are the ones that came up with the idea. Blackstrap Rock Hall is a fairly new venue, having just opened in May of 2023. It is located at 852 Main Street and hosts live shows and even caters to student musicians through Let There Be Rock. They feature live rock music - no DJ stuff - and this includes heavy metal, punk, goth, alternative or grunge. There are rehearsal suites in the back that bands can rent for practicing. Their grand opening was right up our alley with handmade art, music and horror memorabilia, taxidermy, oddities, clothing and records hard to come by at "your typical flea market." There's not much out there on the history of the building. Diane did find that before Blackstrap was here, this was Southern Safety Supply.

An apparition has been seen in period clothing going inside the green room and then exiting the green room. And we have a bathroom ghost here as well, only this time it's the men's room. This spirit presents as some kind of force holding the restroom door closed. Tour guide Ryan Cadaver said, "I’ve been locked in there once myself and it feels as if you’re pushing against the weight of a person leaning against the door. We changed the locks on the door, but we still get calls to this day with people saying they are locked in the bathroom." There is never anyone leaning on or holding the door closed.

Piedmont Hotel

General James Longstreet has a strong presence in Gainesville. He was a controversial figure, being that he was General Robert E. Lee's trusted advisor. Longstreet was born in South Carolina, but spent much of his childhood in Augusta, Georgia. His uncle, who lived in Augusta, was a fervent supporter of states rights and this became extremely important to him as well. He attended West Point, where he became friends with Ulysses S. Grant, and the two men fought together in the Mexican War. When the Civil War started, Longstreet was serving in the New Mexico territory and he quickly resigned and took an appointment as Brigadier General for the Confederacy. General Lee wrote after Longstreet foiled the Union attempt to seize Richmond that "Longstreet was the staff in my right hand." Interestingly, when the war ended, Longstreet and Lee parted ways on April 12, 1865 and never spoke to each other again. Longstreet moved to New Orleans for a time. His reputation got better in the North as he wrote in support of Republicans and Grant gave him a pardon and nominated him to be the Surveyor of Customs for the Port of New Orleans. The South deemed him a scalawag. Longstreet moved to Gainesville in 1875 where he bought a farm. His wife died in 1889 and he married his second wife, who was 34-year-old Helen Dortch in 1897. He was 76 at the time, but in defense of this being a legit thing, Helen did defend Longstreet's name until she died in 1962. He passed away in 1904 and is buried at Alta Vista Cemetery in Gainesville. 

Longstreet had a strong presence in Gainesville. He served as the postmaster for a time and bought and ran the Piedmont Hotel. With the railroad coming to town in 1871, it made sense to build hotels. A man named Alvah Smith bought the property where the Piedmont Hotel stands in 1873. This was a spot strategically close to the railway stop. Smith struggled financially, so it was slow going for building the hotel. By 1875, construction came to a grinding halt because of several liens filed against him. The largest of these was filed by his own sister. He needed a partner, and fast, and that would be General Longstreet.

The agreement that the men came to was for Longstreet to buy a half interest in the hotel for $6,000. Smith told the General that this would settle the liens and get the hotel finished. Then both men would operate the hotel until Smith was able to buy back, with interest, the half that Longstreet bought. Smith was really bad with money. Not only did the $6,000 not cover the outstanding debts, but there was no way to restart construction. So Smith signed the whole hotel over to Longstreet and the General took over the remaining debt. Construction resumed and was finally completed in 1876. The General put his son, John Garland Longstreet, and his wife, Maria Louisa, in charge of managing the business. Although Longstreet remained actively involved until his death in 1904. The hotel was three stories tall with wrap around verandas on all three levels. There was a kitchen and dining room and privy. There were also stables on the grounds. This was a really fine establishment for the time. And it was the perfect place for Longstreet to run his political life through, which not included him being postmaster for the city, but he also was Ambassador to Turkey, US Commissioner of Railroads and US Marshal for the Northern District of Georgia. Many notable people came through the hotel including the author of Uncle Remus Tales, Joel Chandler Harris, Confederate Generals Joseph Johnston and William Mahone and Union General and New York Congressman Daniel Sickles. Sickles became a well known person due to him being the first person to successfully use the "temporary insanity" defense after he killed his wife's lover, Francis Scott Key's son. And future US President Woodrow Wilson and his wife Ellen were frequent guests. Their daughter Jesse Woodrow Wilson was even born at the Piedmont in 1887. Apparently, chicken was a big thing at the Piedmont and the Piedmont Poultry Federation, makes the claim that southern fried (batter fried) chicken was first served at the Piedmont.

By 1899, the hotel's heyday was over and it was leased to Rev. J.A. Bell to be used as a boys' boarding school under the name Piedmont High School. In 1900, this became the Georgia Military Institute and once that closed, it was used as a boarding house. The Longstreet family still owned it by 1918 and the building had become so rundown by then that they decided to raze it, but it was later decided to preserve the ground floor, so just the top of the hotel was taken down. The family lived in this space as a house, but it must have been abandoned or changed into some kind of business and the city forgot what it had been. 

The Longstreet Society had been formed to honor the life of General Longstreet and they wanted to open a museum. They went to a property with some dilapidated buildings and discussed buying it and bulldozing the buildings to build a new museum. And then they discovered that the largest building was part of the previous Piedmont Hotel. They only had $400 in the bank, so they got seventeen people to sign a $10,000 loan guaranty agreement with the Gainesville Bank and Trust. This saved the hotel and they replaced and restored everything. After some financial issues later, the hotel was deeded to the Gainesville-Hall Trust for Historic Preservation with the agreement that the hotel would serve as Longstreet Society headquarters and the Society would manage the building. It runs as a museum today and has been restored to appear as the ground floor was when the hotel was open and the outside gardens got the same treatment. (Piedmont photos) Dallas Stephenson wrote an article for the UN Vanguard Paper in 2024 entitled A Toast to the Ghost and he shares this about the Piedmont, " Richard Pilcher, described paranormal activity that has appalled many guests during their stay. 'Longstreet would often visit the hotel accompanied by his wife and children that would soon pass away from pneumonia and scarlet fever,' Pilcher said. It is said that they still frequent the hotel after their passing. A man and his wife stayed at the hotel in the “Wilson room.” One night, the man was going back to his room after supper and saw a woman in his room. He soon discovered that woman was not his wife. It was later determined that he had seen Longstreet’s wife in a long white gown. When the lights were turned on, she disappeared. When Longstreet and his children stayed at the hotel, it was common for the children to play with marbles. Late at night many said they heard marbles falling to the ground alongside child laughter. Amongst all these stated accounts, there were never any children staying in the hotel during that time." 

Gainesville Train Station 

Longstreet loved to walk down to the train station when trains arrived, so he could greet visitors and drum up business for the hotel, or even just the dining room. He spent so much time at the train station that perhaps he left an impression in the ether there. People claim to have seen his apparition waving at the train station. And a figure resembling General Longstreet has been seen standing in the steam from the locomotive, but when the train pulls out and the steam clears, there was no one there. Now interestingly, this train station is not the original one that was built here because that was damaged in the 1903 tornado. The current one was built in 1910, six years after Longstreet passed away. Today, Amtrak uses the station and there are some offices inside and the local Eagles also use it. 

Gainesville Cotton Mill

The Gainesville Cotton Mill is said to be one of the most haunted buildings in the city. The original mill was built and opened in 1897. This was a time where there were practically no safety laws, there was no OSHA. And child labor was encouraged. Most families had to have everybody working to put food on the table. Children started working at the mill as young as eight-years-old. Accidents happened quite often, ranging from crushed arms to falls and even death. Workers went hours without a break or food. Depending on the weather, the factory could be extremely hot or very cold. During the hot summer of June 1903, the first deadly tornado to hit Gainesville would strike. Destruction was widespread with $750,000 worth of property damage. More than 100 people were killed and 300 more injured. Eighty of the dead were at the cotton mill, which had it's top two levels ripped off.  Had it not been for the interference of the cotton warehouse in the rear, the mill would probably have been totally demolished.Many of the mill families lost their homes and were homeless too. Operations ceased and the doors were closed in 1989. Today, the mill is 400,000 square feet and was bought by Bob Adams to house his two storage companies, Adams Transfer & Storage and Adams Data Management. He did millions of dollars of renovations and officially moved into the building in 1993. Bob saved the floors, which were 4-by-6-inch pine laid on a diagonal and the 39-inch-thick walls are made from brick. There are also the original, rounded-topped windows and a towering smoke stack and concrete anchors for an old water tower. The building actually sits on water and they still have to pump water out of it today. Bob said the building is really only suitable to being a mill and wasn't built that well, but he loves it. The only thing they really changed about the building were adding two cooling towers in the back.

The fourth and fifth floors have the most paranormal activity. Glen Eddins, the general manager of the storage company told the Gainesville Times, "There's definitely a ghost. In 1903, there was a tornado that tore and collapsed the roof on the fifth floor; part of the fifth collapsed on the fourth floor. In 1903 this was a full-steam-ahead cotton mill and there was a day care center here and a lot of children were killed in that tornado. You get a kind of a chill of being watched and the hair stands up on the back of your neck." There have been many reports of children running and laughing on the top floors through the years. The elevator would go to the top of the building on its own and people could hear footsteps walking out. And there have been apparitions that people thought were real people until they disappeared. 

Brenau University

Brenau University was founded as a private women's college in 1878 and called Georgia Baptist Female Seminary. The term seminary was weird because it wasn't actually religious. In 1900, a man named H. J. Pearce purchased the institution and renamed it Brenau, which comes from two words from two languages. There's the German brennen, meaning "to burn" and the Latin aurum, meaning "gold". This is proved out with the college's motto, "As Gold Refined by Fire". Brenau College was privately owned until 1911. Men were invited to attend classes in the late 1960s. Brenau College became Brenau University in 1992. One of the coolest buildings in the city is located at 202 Boulevard NE. This is the Pearce Auditorium, which is part of the Brenau University's campus. It was built in the Second Empire style in 1878 as an opera house and features a mansard roof, a beautiful stained glass window and four pairs of arched doors that serve as entrances. The exterior is painted a pinkish color and this happened by accident. They were cleaning ivy off the outside and it had grown into the brick, so quite a bit of brick flaked off and they had to putty it, which also meant they had to paint it and they chose white and you can guess how the pink happened. The theater seats 720 people and at the time it was built, it was the largest of its kind in the South. The theater gets its name from H.J. Pearce, who was president of the Uuniversity.

Dallas Stephenson wrote this about Brenau University, "Brenau University, known as the women’s college in the 1800s, is a known location for unearthly occurrences. Alyson Boyko, the host of the annual ghost tours at Brenau, described the experiences that happened on campus. 'Strange things have happened here in the girls rooms at the dorms like red writing all over the walls when no one is home.' A boy dubbed “Little Red” often frequents the girls’ dorms at Brenau. 'If you leave a red marker or pen out in Wilkes or Yonah Hall, Little Red will come and write on your walls with the red marker, hence the name.' 

Pierce Auditorium in Brenau University is known for the haunting of Agnes who took her own life there. In the 1920’s, another student at Brenau known as “Agnes” took her life in the Pierce Auditorium. People have different ideas of what happened to her. Some say Agnes took her life because she did not get into the sorority she wanted and hung herself from the balcony in the auditorium. Others claim she was heartbroken or lost the love of her life and she hung herself over the high dive swimming pool in the basement of the school. Agnes is said to still haunt the college as a friendly ghost. 'Agnes likes to play with the lights in the auditorium,' Boyko said. 'Before shows, people running lights will leave the light board in the tech box for Agnes to mess with before the show so she feels included.' Many students have also reported that they would leave penny jars in their dorms. When the students came back from events, the penny jars would be knocked over with all the coins face up." Theater directors have closed up and locked everything at night and come back in the morning and the lights are all on.

Gainesville seems to have a reason to be hosting a ghost tour. Sounds like a good place to hear some great music and run into a ghost or two. Is Gainesville, Georgia haunted? That is for you to decide! 

HGB Ep. 590 - Lake Lanier

Moment in Oddity - Coffin Hideaway Inspires Profession

Recently I came across an old newspaper article about a man named Tom Williams who grew up in a little town in Vermont. He describes how he came to be an undertaker as his profession. As a child, Tom lived next door to an odd older gentleman by the name of Wilson. Wilson was a cabinet maker by trade and he had some unconventional thoughts about death and burial for the times. His skills in woodworking were something to be admired. The craftsmanship and care he put into his work were stunning. Wilson had said that when his time came, he was not about to go into the earth in a misfit coffin that was poorly made. So Tom's neighbor created a gorgeous coffin of mahogany, with solid silver plates and handles for his personal use. Wilson's coffin was stored in his barn. A location where Tom and his friends would often play hide-and-seek around. One day Tom thought that the coffin which was so nicely furnished, would be a fantastic hiding place. The interior was so plush and comfortable and certainly none of the other boys would think to look within it. Tom would hide in Wilson's coffin many times and actually fell asleep in it once for several hours. Tom loved that coffin and his experience with it as a child is what led him into the undertaker business. When Wilson passed away, Tom prepared his quirky neighbor's body and buried him in the coffin in which Tom used to sleep. There are many strange and unusual places where kids hide while playing hide-and-seek, but choosing to hide in a coffin and subsequently falling asleep, certainly is odd. 

This Month in History - Train Crash in Bangladesh

In the month of June, on the 4th in 1972, an express train crashed in Jessore (JOSH-or-ee), Bangladesh. The Deputy Commissioner of Jessore reported that 10 coaches were destroyed by the impact and many others were thrown from the tracks. In the terrifying accident, at least 76 people were killed and more than 500 were injured. The train was loaded far beyond capacity which was not uncommon in Bangladesh. The express train was traveling from Khulna, a southern port town, when the train-station operator threw a switch to the wrong track as it was passing by the station. With no safeguards in place to avoid such an error, devastatingly, the passenger train slammed full speed into a freight train that was stopped at the station. Not only were passengers killed and injured, but also many people who were standing on the platform. Sheik Mujibur Rahman (RAYh-man), the Prime Minister at the time, ordered emergency relief measures and sent officials for an inquiry. 

Lake Lanier (Suggested by a bunch of listeners)

Lake Lanier in Georgia is an extremely popular recreational area. This is a man-made lake that was created when the Buford Dam was built in 1956 and covers 50,000 acres. Many lakes across America have been fashioned in this way without causing hauntings. That's not true for Lake Lanier. What is it that makes this lake so haunted? Was it the destruction of the black community of Oscarville? Could it be the handful of cemeteries that were supposedly relocated before Lake Lanier was filled? On this episode, we are joined by the hosts of the Spirits Uncorked Podcast, Elizabeth Grimes and her sister Erica. This duo also started Lanier Ghost Tours and they are here to talk the history and hauntings of Lake Lanier! 

One of the sunken towns under the waters of Lake Lanier is Oscarville. Oscarville got its start during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. A large number of former slaves came to the area to start farms and it was very prosperous. There were over 1,000 residents and many owned or rented farms. Others were tradesmen. Atlanta had a race riot in 1906 and these tensions boiled over to Oscarville, which was north of Atlanta. In 1912, a series of racial conflicts erupted in the town. The first was the Ellen Grice Incident. Ellen was a 22-year-old woman who accused two black men of attempted rape. Five black men were arrested and it was thought that perhaps Ellen was in a relationship with one of the men and that it had been discovered and she was covering her tracks by lying about the attempted rape. Why five men were arrested when she said there were two is beyond us. 

Several days later, an eighteen-year-old white woman named Mae Crow was found raped and unresponsive in the woods outside Oscarville. She was in a coma for two weeks before finally passing from the head trauma she had suffered. A confession was coerced out of 16-year-old black male named Ernest Knox. Four other black residents were arrested as accomplices. One of them was Rob Edwards who was shot by a white vigilante group of 2,000 who broke into the jail. They dragged his body to the town square and hung him from a noose. Ernest Knox and another man named Oscar Daniels were found guilty and sentenced to hang. This was illegal at the time, so the judge ordered that the hangings take place behind a blind. The blind was burned down the night before, but the hangings went forward with 8,000 people watching. It was believed that none of these people were responsible for what happened to Mae Crow. 

Then came the night riders who were white vigilantes that attacked black communities in Forsyth County. Oscarville was fire bombed several times and many of its residents died during these night rides. By the end of 1912, many of the black residents of these communities in Forsyth County had left. 98% of Oscarville's black community had left. A very sad statistic is that the expulsions of blacks in North Georgia were the most successful in the nation. Eventually the land that made up Oscarville was sold over time to the government and in 1950 the remains of the town were flooded. 

The Buford Dam was built in 1956 to dam the waters of the Chattahoochee River to form Lake Lanier, which was named for Confederate veteran and poet Sidney Lanier. Twenty cemeteries had to be relocated and 250 families were displaced as 50,000 acres of farmland was destroyed. The lake itself covers 38,000 acres. Construction was stunted several times as funds ran dry and the mayor of Atlanta had to keep returning to Washington, D.C. to pressure for more funds to ensure a water supply for residents of Atlanta. Through the years, the lake has saved the Chattahoochee from drying up during droughts. There have been ongoing fights over water rights, but the creation of lake Lanier seems to have more positives than negatives. Unless one looks at the deaths. There have been at least 500 of them. It's easy for people to get caught in the sunken buildings and other debris. These deaths, along with the destruction of twenty cemeteries has led to hauntings. 

There is the Curse of Brown's Bridge: The "Curse of Browns Bridge" refers to a series of tragic accidents and paranormal incidents reported near Browns Bridge on Lake Lanier, according to Atlanta Ghost Tours. The story centers around two young women, Delia Parker Young and Susie Roberts, who disappeared after a car crash on the bridge in 1958. Subsequent deaths and unexplained occurrences have fueled the belief that the area is haunted, with stories of apparitions, sudden car trouble, and eerie presences.

The Lady of the Lake: It is believed that Delia Young appears as a full-bodied apparition in a blue dress near the lake. 

Spirits of unrecovered bodies from drownings and unmoved bodies from the cemeteries.  

Lydia Rose 003 wrote on Reddit in 2018, " One night while I was swimming in the lake, my aunt uncle and dad up on the camp site, I started to swim to the inner part of the lake, the park where all the rotting buildings are and cars underwater. I was playing by myself when I felt a pull. Something was tugging my leg, it wasn’t a seaweed like plant that grew there, it felt like a hand. Two to be exact, I started to scream and struggle to stay on top, I was too far out for anyone to hear me. I was only 7 but my swimming was pretty strong for a seven year old. I started trying to kick the thing that was underneath me trying no no avail. I gave up. I let it take me under water. I started to drown, when I felt something pull my arms and pull me up I was back to shore somehow and I started to cough and looked up at the man. He looked like a kindly African American person. He wore a hat with no shirt on and swimming trunks. The only problem, my family and I where the only ones camping since it was a Sunday night and I didn’t have school the next day. I thanked the man me coughed up the water. He said it was no problem and started to walk to the camp site. I followed him and asked my dad and uncle who where making hot dogs on the grill, 'that man saved my life' i told them and they looked at me like I had two heads. 'Lydia, what man?' My dad asked confused and I stopped. 'The man that just saved my life and walked up to the camp site he was.' I looked and he was gone. I told them what happened and they looked spooked. My skin was still cold from the water and oxygen or lack thereof." 

To join Lanier Ghost Tours: https://lanierghosttours.com/ 

Check out the Spirits Uncorked: Under the Water Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5c4IIEYI2WWmHWZPSv6pvr?si=2876580191634691 

 

HGB Ep. 562 - Andrew Low House

Moment in Oddity - Crowley Lake Columns (Suggested by: Ruth Dempsey)

Crowley Lake Reservoir, located in the Eastern Sierras in California, was completed in 1941. Shortly thereafter, strange columns were discovered on the eastern shore of the lake. They are said to remind one of Moorish temples with the columns rising 20 feet in height and their tops forming arches. Various theories as to how the columns came to be have been pondered over the years. Geologists from U.C. Berkley analyzed the Crowley columns using several methods to try to solve the mystery. The composition of the columns were found to consist of minerals that are fairly impervious to erosion. The area is believed to have suffered an enormous volcanic eruption that was greater than 2,000 times that of Mount Saint Helens back in May of 1980. It is surmised that the eruption created the Long Valley Caldera which surrounds the reservoir. The Crowley Columns, however they were formed, are majestic and unique and they certainly are odd.

This Month in History - Founding of Mission San Juan Capistrano

In the month of November, on the 1st, in 1776, Junipero Serra founded Mission San Jaun Capistrano in Orange County, California. San Jaun Capistrano was the seventh mission established out of the twenty one built by the Spanish in California. The building of the mission initially began in October, 1775. However, due to a Kumeyaay [KOO-Me-Eye] warparty attacking Mission San Diego, the soldiers at San Jaun Capistrano were ordered back to San Diego and the priests had to go with them. The purpose of the Spanish missions in California was to expand the territories of Spain as well as to spread Christianity to the indigenous Acjachemen (Ah-HAWSH-eh-men) of the area. The Spanish brought new ideas, technology, beasts of burden and livestock who multiplied and devastated the indigenous plants and animals of the California region. The Spanish also unintentionally brought diseases that were uncommon to the native people causing widespread outbreaks of pneumonia, tuberculosis, measles and syphilis. With the arrival of the Spanish, the indigenous people were forced to find new food sources and they were offered the option of joining the missions. To do so meant changing everything about their lives. They were required to change their culture, language, religion, clothing, food, and the list goes on. From 1770 to 1830, it is said that the native population declined by 74% due to these factors. The mission had begun its downswing in 1812 and in 1845, the Governor of Alta California, Pio Pico, sold Mission San Jaun Capistrano to John Forster who was the Governor's brother in law. The mission became a private ranch for the Forster family for the next 20 years. In 1850, California officially became a state and Catholic bishop, Joseph Alemany, petitioned to have all the missions returned to the Catholic Church. Today, Mission San Jaun Capistrano serves as a museum and the Serra Chapel inside of the property is used by the mission parish.

Andrew Low House (Suggested by: Bailey Landrum)

The Andrew Low House is located in Savannah, Georgia and is a beautifully restored 19th century home that sits in the heart of Savannah's historic district. A sculpted and well-cared-for garden leads guests to a door that opens in to a part of the history of a Scottish immigrant, Andrew Low, who left his mark on the city and also the woman who founded the Girl Scouts, his daughter-in-law Juliette Gordon Low. Now in the afterlife, it seems that both of these individuals are still connected to the house. On this episode, we are joined by our friends Bailey and Lizzie, who are not only tour guides in Savannah, but they've had their own paranormal experiences in the Andrew Low House.

Here is the transcript of our conversation:

Diane Student: Kelly, Bailey and Lizzie joined us on our Dixie House investigation, and they are joining us on this episode. They're tour guides in Savannah, Georgia, and they also host the podcast Knowmore, which is spelled KNOW. MORE. How are you 2 ladies doing.

Bailey Landrum: Good! How are you? We've been waiting for this.

Diane Student: Yeah, What the listeners don't know is that we had it scheduled once, and then we had Hurricane Helene and so we had to cancel, and then we scheduled it again, and then we had Hurricane Milton and had to cancel again.

Bailey Landrum: It's been both of us. Yeah.

Diane Student: Yeah, so it was kind of like crossing our fingers. Do we dare set another date, or are we gonna have another hurricane.

Bailey Landrum: It was. It was just luck of the draw.

Diane Student: Yeah, I'll say so. Both of you have been tour guides in Savannah, Georgia, Bailey. How long have you been doing that for.

Bailey Landrum: Since I moved down here. So about 3 years it was the 1st job I had, and I tried quitting it. I worked at a hardware store, but it just kept calling me back.

Diane Student: Nice. Love it. Very good at storytelling.

Bailey Landrum: Thank you.

Diane Student: And how about you, Lizzie? How long have you been doing? Tour guiding.

Bailey Landrum: Ghost. Thank you. You're welcome. I was about to complicate it, but it's okay. Now, when she feels all the hair on the back of her neck stand up as if someone was standing very close to her. But before Vanessa could turn around the group of guests, all just gasped and screamed. She turns around. Nothing!

Diane Student: Wow!

Bailey Landrum: Not the 1st time her group has done that to her, not just inside the house but Vanessa also used to work for our other trolley tour and the second stop was like the Colonial Park cemetery and she would tell the story about like a Mr. Baker story, and he's a guy he got beaten up in the cemetery. Yeah, and he haunts the cemetery. But there was one time she was telling that story, and sure enough, Mr. Baker just showed up behind her, and no one said anything. They just went like I don't know.

Diane Student: Good.

Bailey Landrum: The one getting sacrificed to the ghost, for no reason.

Diane Student: I've heard that story so many times from Tour guides when they're like, Yeah, I was telling the story. And then all of a sudden I noticed that my tour group, like their faces, all went, and I was like, I don't want to turn around and see what's behind me.

Bailey Landrum: Yeah, but that was the last story. But, as you can tell, the Andrew load is not a simple like, it's not a simple. Oh, there's kids walking to the walls, the dolls talk. It's something different for every person. And I think that's what kind of makes it so new, unique. And that's what this was such a fun episode to do, because it was a personal. It has my 1st ghost experience, and also some of Lizzie's. But it just holds a deep with the spiritual so friendly. You just hold a deep part in your heart.

Diane Student: Yeah. And there's so many different ones there that are manifest in different ways, different ways.

Bailey Landrum: Oh, yeah, something we don't even know about.

Diane Student: We need to get there. We need to get inside that now. Do they ever let people investigate there or.

Bailey Landrum: Unfortunately not. No, they're the Colonial dames are very very amazing women, but they have certain rules they have to follow for their society and whatnot, and also keep. Keep the museum up and running, and also keep the Feng Shui of it all. Yeah, but.

Diane Student: That's true. You don't wanna bring stuff in. That's not all. There.

Bailey Landrum: Yeah. And people have, and the house is not like it. No.

Diane Student: Gotcha.

Bailey Landrum: It's like, literally, there's times where, you know. Sometimes people have a ghost that follows them. And sometimes that goes. Man, this is nice. I think I want to stay here, and you can just feel the disturbance of the fort.

Diane Student: Across, the.

Bailey Landrum: Yeah. And I just know it's either Mary Mosiana or Mr. Miller going. No, you get out of here.

Diane Student: Out kind of like that. Get off my lawn. Speaking of the outdoors, I just saw that other picture Bailey that you sent that's taken the garden, but taken like from the front steps.

Bailey Landrum: Beautiful.

Diane Student: Down gorgeous. Not anything that I was able to appreciate. From the outer gate sidewalk area.

Bailey Landrum: That was one of the last photos I took of the house when I was touring there, and I'm like, I never get to see this, I'm going to take advantage of it.

Diane Student: Yeah, yeah, I love it.

Bailey Landrum: So much. And just to think that Juliet, like she sat up the stairs and probably set set on those steps and just enjoyed the view. It just kind of has a nice, like peaceful vibe to it.

Diane Student: Definitely, and you could see the lions there at the bottom of the stairs, too, just.

Bailey Landrum: Yeah.

Diane Student: Me. This is very cool.

Bailey Landrum: I heard a story. I don't know how true it is, but I want to believe it because it's cute. She, Juliet, we used to pet the lion's manes, but now we have sad faces on it, because she's not there anymore.

Diane Student: Oh!

Bailey Landrum: Yeah, but I don't know how true that is, but it sounds like something Juliet would do. She loved animals.

Diane Student: All right, Lizzie, you need to go pet their manes. Oh.

Bailey Landrum: Alright! Let's just go ahead and break the rules.

Diane Student: Inspired. What happened? It's like all smooth in this one area.

Bailey Landrum: No, actually, I actually technically had a breaker rule, but it was for the greater good. I had.

Diane Student: Now you are admitting this.

Bailey Landrum: Yeah, be careful.

Diane Student: On a recording.

Bailey Landrum: But also it's already documented. So it's it's fine. I had this one guest on my trolley, who
very much spirited, if I shall say. And he was like, I'm not feeling well inside the house doing. Do you mind? I stand out in the courtyard. I'm like, Yeah, that's fine. Just stay out there. Get some, you know. Fresh air, whatever. and next thing I know, I look out the window of the towards the garden. and there's just a man standing in the middle of it. I like in the front yard. Yeah, in the front yard. I'm like. Oh, my God! It's the guys run outside around the building, because, of course, I couldn't go through the front doors. and I've had to scold this man going. Please get out of here. He's like, well, it's so beautiful like it. There's no lights out. If you fall. That's on me.

Diane Student: Yeah. And when you said he was spirited I thought that maybe he consumed some spirits, and I thought you were gonna say, a whole nother thing.

Bailey Landrum: Oh, yeah, he wants feel of those kind of spirits. Yes. But yeah, it was just like a.

Diane Student: Okay.

Bailey Landrum: Thank you very much.

Diane Student: Doing to that beautiful garden.

Bailey Landrum: He's a happy, he's a happy spirit. He was very much the oh, yes. guarded. Yeah. Just taking in the whips like he did. He was like smelling the flowers. I'm like as much as I appreciate. You're not destroying this. You need to leave.

Diane Student: At least he didn't lose his spirits in that beautiful car. because that's where my head went.

Bailey Landrum: Yeah.

Diane Student: What a fabulous place! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Thank you.

Bailey Landrum: And thank you for the museum. Of course, too.

Diane Student: Yes, absolutely. And I think it's great that even though they don't have people who investigate there that they're, you know, not like. Don't mention that we have some ghosts here, because some places, you know, are real worried about getting that word out right.

Bailey Landrum: There are some places like that in Savannah. It's like you're. I know you're haunted just the ground the way you look is haunted, but they're like, Nope, we're perfectly fine here. No spirits. It's like. It's okay.

Diane Student: And it helps with tourism. Really.

Bailey Landrum: It does. Yeah.

Bailey Landrum: Well, it's not for everybody pretty much. Yeah.

Diane Student: Wears, yeah, yeah.

Bailey Landrum: We're like New Orleans. Yeah.

Diane Student: Exactly. I mean, you just walk into the city, and you could just feel it.

Bailey Landrum: Yeah.

Diane Student: Alright. Well, thank you so much for joining us, and we look forward to hooking up with you guys again in the future we'd love to do some investigating again.

Bailey Landrum: I know some places here in Savannah that's really fun to investigate. So if y'all ever come this way, we can do it.

Diane Student: Very cool. Sounds good.

The Andrew Low House is beautiful and has some very cool items inside. Could there be some ghosts inside as well? Is the Andrew Low House haunted? That is for you to decide!

HGB Ep. 409 - Gaither Plantation

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Moment in Oddity - Coffin in Golf Course Pond Complete with Skeleton and Axe (Suggested by: Mike Rogers)

Just another day out at the golf course...until you find a coffin in a pond and well, it wasn't empty. The coffin was discovered in 2018 in a pond at a golf course in Lincolnshire, England. Archaeologists estimated that it dated back to the Bronze Age. The coffin was made from a hollowed out oak tree trunk. The even more amazing part was what was found inside the coffin. The remains of a 4,000 year-old man, who was of high status, were inside along with a well preserved axe. And this was no ordinary axe. It was very rare, one of only twelve discovered in Britain. The coffin and axe are on display at the Lincoln Collection Museum. The Tetney Golf Club also has a tribute to the discovery made on the property. They have a photograph of it up on the clubhouse wall. An axe makes a pretty unique golf club and finding one in a coffin with a 4,000 year old skeleton, certainly is odd!

This Month in History - Cherry Valley Massacre

In the month of November, on the 11th, in 1778, the Cherry Valley Massacre took place. Cherry Valley was just east of Cooperstown, New York and a man named Colonel Ichabod Alden was in charge of the 7th Massachusetts Regiment there. He had a long career in the military. He served in the Plymouth militia and then served in the 25th Continental regiment after the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775. But when it came to this moment during the Revolutionary War, he was out of his element. Alden had been warned that Native Americans were preparing to attack, but he ignored them. Chief Joseph Brant showed up with 600 Iroquois. He was joined by 200 Loyalists serving under Major Walter Butler. Alden had less than 300 men and they were quickly dispatched. Forty Patriots were killed, including Alden and all the members of the Wells family, and seventy were taken prisoner. The attack came to be known as the Cherry Valley Massacre and was one of the most horrific frontier massacres of the war. A monument was dedicated at Cherry Valley on August 15, 1878.

Gaither Plantation

Covington, Georgia is nicknamed Hollywood South due to the number of movies and television shows that have been filmed there. One location that not only hosts weddings and other events, but has also served as a set for films and TV shows is the Gaither Plantation. The house dates back to 1850 and there are two cemeteries on the property along with other historic buildings, one of which is an old church that was moved to the property. Several of the buildings, especially the main house, have paranormal activity. Join us as we explore the history and hauntings of the Gaither Plantation!

Covington, Georgia is about twenty-six miles east of Atlanta. This is the seat of Newton County and was incorporated in 1854. The city is named for United States Army Brigadier General and United States Congressman Leonard Covington, who was a hero of the War of 1812. General Sherman marched through the city on his March to the Sea in 1864 and several buildings were looted and burned, but a few antebellum homes were spared, one of which was the Gaither Plantation. The plantation is now known as Gaither's at Myrtle Creek Farm. 

The Gaither Family has a long history in America with most descendants tracing their roots back to John Gater who arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1620. Dr. Henry Gaither passed 875 acres to his son, William Hubert Gaither who built the farmhouse on the property in 1850. Gaither married Cecilia Billups Wood in 1855 and the couple had four children: Sara Clara, Mary Jane, Henry and William Jr. Tragedy struck for the family when Sara Clara died at the age of nine. She was buried in a plot in the family cemetery on the property. The farm was set up as a cotton plantation and the family owned 130 slaves. The plantation did very well for years, even after the Civil War, when the slaves were freed. 

In 1888, the Gaithers son Henry got into a deadly conflict with a neighbor named George Smith. We have read two versions, but both end with George Smith dead. One version claims that Henry destroyed some turkey nests on Smith's property and the men fought with Henry using a big stick to club Smith. The other version claims that Smith was clearing land with fire and accidentally burned some of the Gaither turkey nests that were scooped up in the brush heaps. When Henry found out about it, he grabbed a shovel and hit Smith over the head, killing the man. Regardless of what the facts were, Henry went on the run and ended up in Texas somewhere, never to be seen again. 

In 1890, William Gaither died and the property passed to Cecilia. She had him buried in the family plot next to their daughter Sara Clara. Cecilia only stayed with the property for a few years after her husband's death, moving into Covington proper in 1906 with her son William Jr. Boll weevils hit in the early 1900s, devastating the cotton crop. This is a little grayish beetle with a long snout. These traveled up from Mexico to the United States in the late 1800s and by the 1920s, they were in all major cotton-producing areas. At the time, one third of the insecticide used in the US was just to go after the boll weevil. The boll weevil has been eradicated in all states except Texas. The Gaither Plantation couldn't make their tax payment in 1921 and had to declare bankruptcy. The Gaithers lost the family farm over twenty-eight dollars.

Through the next several decades, the property was sold to farming families, including the McIntoshs, Siegfrieds and Welchels. The buildings on the property changed over the years. The property started with the plantation house, outdoor kitchen, barn, outhouse and slave quarters. The barn was replaced in 1950 by Ralph Welchel. (Read p. 47 from Ghosts of Atlanta, Phantoms of the Phoenix City by Reese Chrisitan.) 

Some buildings burned down or fell apart and other buildings were brought to the property, including the Harris Springs Primitive Baptist Church. The church brought some bad history with it. Legend claims that the pastor of the church caught his wife having an affair and murdered her. He then killed himself. Newton County took over the site in 1996 and they host events, weddings and tours there, as well as renting it out for film and TV production. Paranormal investigations take place here too because there are several spirits on the property.

One of the events that had been hosted at the farm were re-enactments. The Union marched on the plantation looking for Confederate soldiers they believed were being hidden there. Supposedly, Cecilia had hidden Confederates in a secret passageway. Re-enactors who have camped out on the farm claim to have seen a man's spirit walk from the fireplace to the front window in the parlor. The scene replayed itself over and over in a loop. The apparition of a solider in a gray suit has been seen in the basement appearing to be trying to hide. The re-enactors also saw someone in the windows when no one was in the house, as did people who attended the Hummingbird Festival.

East Georgia Paranormal Lead Investigator Bobby Bishop was interviewed by The Covington News in 2007 and he told the paper that he was skeptical of most ghost sightings, but Gaither Plantation was one of three sites he believed was a hotbed of paranormal activity. They have done many investigations at the property over the years. On one of their first investigations, a sensitive on their team said they were uncomfortable on the stairs leading to the attic and they later found that they had captured an EVP at that same time that said, "Don't go up the stairs."

Jerry Love was once the Chairman of Friends of Gaither and he had people who rented the property tell him that they saw a man in a grey suit down in the basement and a woman who was rocking a baby in an upstairs window. He said, "Every time someone would ask me, I would unlock the house and go and look for the person they were seeing. Sometimes it was the face of a woman in the attic window. Other times they would say they saw someone looking out of the downstairs window. There was never anyone there when I went to look." And people have claimed to hear the laughter and playing of children when no kids are around. There are three other children buried in the graveyard where the Gaither daughter was buried. And there is a slave cemetery too, so this could be where the children are coming from.

There is a handle on the indoor well that is located on the ground floor of the farmhouse and it has been seen turning on its own. The spirit of Cecilia Gaither is believed to be here, possibly because she was not buried with the rest of her family and is troubled by that. The name Celie has been heard coming through and that was nickname that the children used for Cecilia. Cecilia's room is on the second floor and is probably the most haunted area of the house. The pages of a Bible that belonged to her have been seen turning on their own and a rocking chair in the corner is rumored to rock with nobody in it and it is too heavy to be rocked by wind. This chair did not belong to the Gaithers and is on loan from another location and the legend connected to it is that the woman who owned it had lost her baby. Occasionally there have been reports of people who have seen Cecilia sitting in the chair and rocking a baby, but perhaps it was the mother.

A volunteer and caretaker were in the kitchen when they heard voices coming from the front porch. They went to the door to see who was there and when they opened it, they found the porch empty. There was no one nearby who could have made the sound of voices they heard. The show "Vampire Diaries" filmed at the Gaither Plantation. Star Nina Dobrev claimed that a piano started playing on its own during a 2010 shoot. One of the Assistant Directors hollered, "Stop! Whoever that is stop the music. We're rolling. Cameras are on." When they went into the room where the piano was located, they found it empty. Nina also had the unnerving experience of having the lights go on and off erratically while she was in the bathroom. She thought the crew or some co-stars were playing tricks on her, but everybody denied playing with the power.

The Tyler Perry movie "Madea’s Family Reunion" was shot at the Gaither farmhouse and they experienced some activity. The director had called for quiet on the set as they prepared to film a scene. Suddenly, there were loud footsteps on the widow walk. The director yelled "cut" and was not pleased. He told an assistant to go find out who was up there and tell them to come downstairs. The assistant found no one, so they started the scene over again. Footsteps interrupted once again, only this time they were coming down the stairs. The director hollered for the person to come down and quit walking around. There was no response. A couple of people went and looked around and saw that there was no one on the stairs or near them. Just before the director yelled "action" to try filming for a third time he yelled, "Will the ghost of the house please cooperate!" They managed to film the scene without any further issues.

Central Georgia Paranormal Society investigated in 2013 and captured EVPs. In one recording, the group asked if there was a spirit in the house and it answered, "Hey!" In another capture they got the voice of a child saying, "Hello." They heard an audible heated discussion between two women coming from the empty attic. The front screen door also opened on its own and slammed shut. They investigated the church too and picked female voice in an EVP saying, "Willa." The group also has heard yelling, screaming and a choir in the church.

The Ghost Hunters investigated during Season 5 on episode 6. Judy Gaither Dial, the great-great-great granddaughter of W.H. and Cecilia Gaither, met the team and told them she has encountered the ghosts before. She told the guys that the doors on the buffet open and close on their own. And this isn't because the floor is unlevel because the doors will swing shut after they have opened. Judy also thinks that she was touched by Cecilia in Cecilia's bedroom. She felt a hand on her back when she was telling some friends about her great-great-great grandmother. The rocking chair in that room also moves on its own. The attic scares her and she won't go up there. Judy took the team out to the Baptist church that was moved onto the property and she told them that the chair behind the pulpit has vibrated and had an apparition of a man sitting in it. Marty Roberts, Jr. was the caretaker at the time of the investigation and he told the guys he had seen shadow figures and heard disembodied voices at the house. TAPS heard a voice in the attic and footsteps and shuffling. Jason put flour down on the floor to see if they could catch any footprints, particularly rodent footprints. This old school technique got them three footprints. They didn't match any of the patterns on their shoes. The team captured on video, the buffet doors opening on their own.

Judy has shared other experiences that she has had. She enjoyed sitting on the front porch swing and one time when she was sitting without swinging, she felt something unseen sit down next to her and then the swing started moving. Her feet couldn't reach the ground, so she knew it wasn't her moving the swing. Judy jumped off the swing and ran inside to tell Tracy, the caretaker at the time, what had happened. She expected Tracy to be shocked, but she only said, "It's happened to me too." Judy has heard many strange sounds in the house. Judy also claimed that a decorative bowl would move around. The Georgia Paranormal Research Team out of Dublin, Georgia investigated the house and they had an experience that backed up Judy's claims about the bowl. They placed a flat piece of paper under the bowl and then went to investigate the other rooms of the house. When they returned, not only had the bowl moved, but the piece of paper was crumpled up next to the bowl. They also recorded spirits knocking to let the investigators know that they were there. 

The church is reputedly pretty haunted as well since it was the scene of a murder-suicide. Whenever women sit or stand on the pulpit and sometimes even when they just pass by it, unexplained activity will start up in the church and women feel very unwelcome. The chair in the pulpit will begin to vibrate. A man has been seen sitting in the chair and his head would move around as though vibrating too, so maybe the chair just has issues with people sitting in it. 

There is much history at the Gaither's Plantation. Are some of the family members still sticking around? Do objects and furniture on the property have attachments? Is Gaither Plantation haunted? That is for you to decide!

HGB Ep. 365 - Marshall House Hotel

Moment in Oddity - The Rock People and Houses of Kinver (Suggested by: Sandra Latham)

Starting in the late 1770s, people began living in rock houses in the United Kingdom's Kinver Edge. Joseph Heely was the first person to report about these rock houses. A storm was brewing and a family that Heely described as a “clean & decent family” took him in and he was amazed by their dwelling. These homes were carved out of the soft red sandstone in the area. They were preferable to the local cottages because they were high above the flood level and they were warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The rock houses were equipped with water and gas and earth closets provided sanitation. The homes had furniture, stoves, windows and doors. By 1861, eleven families were living in the rock houses at Kinver Edge. By the early 1900s, the houses had become famous and were a tourist attraction and tea was served at a cafe. On one day in 1905, 17,000 people came by the cafe. This closed in 1967 and the property fell into disrepair. The houses were restored in the 1990s and opened for tours in 1997 that continue today. One of these is Nanny's Cave, which had layers of carvings and graffiti on the walls with occult symbols, runes and sigils. A chimney chute at the front had been affectionately named "The Devil's Chimney" and reputedly became the means by which Satan crawled in and out of this house. Generally we think of prehistoric or cave men living in rock houses, so these rock houses certainly are odd!

This Month in History - Leicester Codex Auctioned

In the month of December, on the 12th, in 1980, a notebook penned by Leonardo da Vinci was bought at auction by American oil tycoon Armand Hammer for $5.1 million. This was the highest price paid for a manuscript at the time. A couple years early,  a copy of the legendary Gutenberg Bible had gone for only half as much. This manuscript was written in 1508 and was one of thirty books that da Vinci penned during his life on various subjects. The topic of this one was water. This book had seventy-two loose pages with 300 notes and detailed drawings. Parts of this are thought to have inspired parts of his work the Mona Lisa. He used his mirror-writing technique to pen the booklet and used brown ink and chalk. The work is officially known as the Leicester Codex.

Marshall House Hotel

The Marshall House Hotel has stood in the heart of historic downtown Savannah for nearly 170 years. This was not only a place for weary guests to the city, it also served as a hospital before and during the Civil War. A nod to the history of the Civil War can be found on the third floor. We stayed here for one night and based on the haunted reputation of the place, we decided to do a little paranormal investigating. The activity started practically the minute we walked in our room. Join us as share the history and hauntings of the Marshall House Hotel! 

Savannah is one of our favorite cities. This was Kelly's second time here and it was her first chance to really get a feel for the city. We started with a visit to Bonaventure Cemetery and wandered around for a couple hours before heading to the Marshall House Hotel. (Kelly shares what she thought about the cemetery.) The Marshall House is located at 123 Broughton Street and is Greek Revival architecture in style. One of the first things people notice about the Marshall House is the iron veranda that is 120 feet in length and 12 feet wide and high and was placed on the hotel in 1857 by Ralph Meldrim, who was the proprietor of The Marshall House at the time. This gives it a real New Orleans feel. The minute we walked into the lobby we not only noticed the gleaming marble everywhere, but we also saw a large oil painting of Mary Marshall on the wall behind the reception desk. This work had once been owned by Jim Williams who was the main person in John Berendt’s book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  The Marshall House is named for her because she founded the hotel in 1851. The location was very important in that it was in the heart of the shopping district of Savannah. Mary remained a prominent figure in Savannah and her family's history in the city started with her grandparents. She inherited a large sum from her father and built upon that by buying property, two others of which still remain in the city: A double-tenement house found behind the hotel on Oglethorpe Square and the Marshall Row that lies on Oglethorpe Street across from Colonial Park Cemetery.

The hotel is four stories with winding hallways leading to rooms and a large library sitting room on the first floor where they host wine socials and then a restaurant area off that for the morning buffet. As stated before, there is a collection of Civil War memorabilia on the third level that is part of a self-guided tour. There are also displays of artifacts found during restorations. Our room was fairly small with antiques and some modern conveniences that included a small bathroom. It was all very quaint. It was room 203 and we were a little startled by that because we also had room 203 in Wilmington.

A yellow fever epidemic swept through the city in 1854 and the hotel was converted into a hospital to treat the sick. Over 1,000 people died during that epidemic. In 1864, the hotel was occupied by Union troops led by General William Tecumseh Sherman. They stayed for several months and then the hotel became a Union hospital until the end of the Civil War. Then the hotel reverted back to a hotel. During the Reconstruction Period, Joel Chandler Harris, author of the famous Uncle Remus Stories, lived at the hotel. In 1880, the building that was next door was annexed and became part of the hotel. The hotel closed in 1895. 

The hotel reopened in 1899 and featured electric lights and hot and cold running water. At this time it was still the Marshall House, but the name would change to Gilbert Hotel in 1933 when real estate man Herbert W. Gilbert leased the building. He would expand it so that it had a new lobby, dining room, living room, reading room, 66 guest rooms, one suite, an apartment, and six storage rooms. In 1941, he sold the hotel and it reopened under new ownership in 1946 after a complete renovation. Fire codes changed and it was too hard for the hotel to update in 1957, so the top three floors were closed and the main level was opened as shops. This was the case until 1998. The hotel was renovated once again and reopened as The Marshall House once more in 1999 and this is said to be Savannah's oldest hotel. We should mention that during these modern renovations, body parts were found beneath the floor boards. This was treated as a crime scene and everything was carefully cataloged. Tests revealed the bones were from the Civil War. These were probably amputated arms and legs and such and they were just placed under the floorboards since they had nowhere else to put them.

We went to dinner at a brew pub that was next to the hotel and then we headed off for our ghost tour with Ghost City Tours. Our tour guide was great, but we would be hard pressed to recommend the company. This was another one of those big tour companies that offers tours in several cities. Diane had a bad experience with Ghosts and Gravestones and now she's added this one too. There were supposed to be two tour guides to break our group up into two small groups of 30, but our guide was informed right before we were supposed to head out that there was a screw up with the website. So this poor woman had to take out a group of 50 people, in the age of Covid. So clearly this was not according to healthy guidelines either. And for us, any group over 40 is ridiculous anyway.

We did another session with the dowsing rods after getting back from having dinner and doing our ghost tour. (Marshall House after Tour) The next morning Diane tried her hand at the dowsing rods. (Marshall House Morning) We continued with another dowsing session and we talked about religion (Marshall House Religion) Through all of our dowsing rods sessions, we formed a picture of the young woman we were speaking with. It seems that she was a young pre-teen girl and her family was from Ireland and were indentured servants. She had siblings, at least one brother and more than one sister. She more than likely died here when the hotel was a hospital with yellow fever patients. She does not leave the hotel and her family is not with her. We never figured out what her name was. Kelly did a little research and found that there was information that backed up the possibility that Irish indentured servants were in Savannah.

The city of Savannah was pretty new when a ship wrecked off the coast on January 10, 1734. There were forty survivors, thirty-four men and six women. These people were Irish indentured servants who had been sailing for New England. General James Oglethorpe who had founded Savannah had a motto, not for self, but for others. So there was no way he was going to turn these destitute and suffering people away. He wrote of the situation, "A sloop loaded with servants was forced in here through stress of weather and want of victuals many of them were dead. Forty only remained. As they were likewise ready to perish through misery. I thought in an act of charity to buy them, which I did, giving five pounds a head. I gave one of them to each of the widows which will render them able to cultivate their lands and maintain their families. I let each of the magistrates have one at a prime cost that they might not be behind hand in their gardens and plantations by reason of their spending much of their time in the public service. Of the rest, I have allotted Mr. Lafond five to help him in building a saw mill, four to the gardens, and four to the Island Hutchinson’s." These people stayed and urged the relatives to come to Savannah as well and a rich Irish heritage took root in the city. Particularly during the Irish Potato Famine.

While Kelly was in the bathroom getting ready, Diane started having doubts about what was causing the EMF gauge to go off. She had opened the blinds and realized that the room was on the far end of the hotel, which was the corner of the block and a large traffic light was outside the window. So she took the EMF to the window and, of course, it went off. And she noticed it went off around the TV. So she decided to do a test. There was a chair in the far corner. She put the EMF on the chair and there was no signal. She asked that if there was a spirit in the room that it would make the EMF light up. Nothing. She asked several times. Nothing. Diane picked up the EMF and when Kelly came into the room, she explained what had happened. As she said that she had put the EMF on the chair and it hadn't gone off, she set the device on the chair. And it lit up like Christmas! They got a good laugh. 

We certainly are not the only people to experience strange activity here. We stayed here because of its haunted reputation. This hotel has been featured on countless lists and in countless programs. Guests claim to hear children running in the hallways when there are no children in the hallways or even in the hotel. Faucets turn on and off by themselves. Any many people claim to see full-bodied apparitions. A doctor was staying with his wife and he was awakened in the middle of the night by a tickling sensation on his feet. He looked down at his feet and saw a little girl smiling at him while she tickled his feet. She quickly vanished.

A woman wrote on TripAdvisor of her experiences at the hotel in 2006, "We were on the 4th floor. I never got much sleep while we were there I always felt very uneasy and utterly creeped-out at night in my guts and could not rest. Did hear some strange noises in the hall late at night around three am or so what sounded like a hard rubber ball rolling along the hallway and bouncing also what sounded like a marble rolling and bouncing also a VERY LOUD crash in the hall three am-ish almost like a body falling and hitting the floor and no one was out there. We also heard what sounded like walking around on the floor above us but there is only the roof. Also very unnerving feeling of being TOUCHED while in bed at night and I was completely awake...touched on the inside of my lower leg/ankle and buttock area. This made me nearly jump out of bed more than once! On the last night we stayed there we noticed a STRANGE SMELL in the room and the bathroom that we could find no source for. It was almost like a sweet burned-flesh smell combined with a slight sewery odor."

Kristin wrote in 2014 on TripAdvisor, "After a night out my girlfriend and I retired to room 409. After eating a late night snack and watching some television I had used the bathroom. Upon walking out of it I noticed the fan was off so I asked my girlfriend why she would shut the fan off on such a hot night. She replied "I didn't". I then noticed our channel was changed from watching CNN to ESPN. I asked her why she was watching the football game since I knew she had no interest. She again replied "I didn't". We searched for the remote which at one point was right next to us. The remote had gone totally missing. We threw off the sheets of the bed, and tore up the room only to be let down of finding the darn thing. At this point my girlfriend was very bugged out so I personally had asked whatever was playing tricks on us to please stop because I knew my girlfriend would have wanted to leave if she knew we were being taunted by some type of supernatural presence. As I lay my hand on her shoulder to reassure her everything was going to be ok, my black beaded bracelet was ripped off my wrist. That's right, ripped off my wrist. Not by myself nor my girlfriend. My girlfriend just starred at me with tears in her eyes as I looked back with complete shock. Needless to say we both started praying. We hopped into bed with every light on and there right before our eyes was the remote, all snug in the same spot we had just been sitting in. I held my girlfriend through the night as I watched the fan now turned back on rock back and forth till the morning. I made the woman at the front desk aware of this encounter and her reply was "Oh yea that's casper and he's sort of mischievous so it makes sense he would turn the football game on and taunt you like that." She went on to add the 4th floor is the most haunted of all the floors. Although I lost a bracelet and a night's sleep this was one of the coolest experiences of my life. I have believed in paranormal activity before but this solidified it for me. Oh and the room was beautiful too! Best wishes to you all who stay in room 409."

The strange smell is a thing many people report. It started during renovations in 1998 and people who stay in rooms 214, 314 and 414 complain often of smelling a strange odor. Not deodorizers have been able to get rid of it and neither have ozone machines. We did find a story that prayer seemed to help with rooms 214 and 314, but a radio playing Christian programs placed in room 414 seemed to be the only thing that worked in there. Clearly, people are still detecting some strange odors. The night manager's office is where the amputated limbs had been found and this is said to be one of the most haunted areas of the hotel. They hear disembodied footsteps and moaning. One manager claimed to see the spirit of a Union soldier who was missing an arm.

We hit the Colonial Park Cemetery after we checked out and wandered around the River Walk for a bit too. This is another great cemetery in the heart of Savannah that also happens to be haunted. We loved our visit to Savannah and we really enjoyed the interactions with our little spirit friend. Is the Marshall House haunted? That is for you to decide!

HGB Ep. 325 - Roswell, Georgia

Moment in Oddity - The Great Emu War
Suggested by: Chelcie Williams

Imagine declaring war on Emus and then losing. That is exactly what Australia did in 1932. The term war is not used as hyperbole here. Real weapons of war were employed during this futile attempt to lower the population of emu. Apparently, emus had moved inland in record numbers to begin their breeding. This was at a time when the Great Depression was in full swing and farmers were having a hard time with their crops. Farmers complained to the government and the government decided to enlist the help of some World War I soldiers. The soldiers came ready for full battle, toting machine guns. They assumed that they would just have to fire into these huge flocks of emus and be done with the task quickly. But that's not what happened as documented by Ornithologist D.L. Serventy. He wrote, "The machine-gunners’ dreams of point blank fire into serried masses of Emus were soon dissipated. The Emu command had evidently ordered guerrilla tactics, and its unwieldy army soon split up into innumerable small units that made use of the military equipment uneconomic. A crestfallen field force therefore withdrew from the combat area after about a month." Very few emus were dispatched and they are plentiful today. So basically, the emus won the war and the fact that this was dubbed the Great Emu War, certainly is odd!

This Month in History - Idi Amin Becomes Dictator

In the month of January, on the 25th, in 1971, Idi Amin deposes President Milton Obote in Uganda. Idi Amin had been a Ugandan military officer who started his military career in 1946 when he became a cook for the KIng's African Rifles of the British Colonial Army. He quickly rose in rank and after Uganda would gain its independence from the UK in 1962, he became the Commander of the Army. He used this position to misappropriate funds and enrich himself. He found out that the president was going to arrest him for this activity and he decided to head a military coup. After deposing Obote, Idi Amin would declare himself President and start a reign that would lead Amin to being nicknamed the "Butcher of Uganda." He would rule as a dictator, not president, from 1971 until 1979. During that time, he expelled all Asians and ordered the execution of more than 300,000 tribal Ugandans. There are some who put his murderous streak at 500,000. There was political repression and rampant human rights abuses. He would finally by ousted in 1979 by Tanzanian soldiers and Ugandan nationalists.

Roswell, Georgia

In October of 2019, we met up with some listeners in the town of Roswell, Georgia and took a ghost tour. This is a charming Southern town where one can carry a Roadie as they traverse the graves in Founder's Cemetery or walk past the beautiful Antebellum mansions or roam through the ruins of mills.This town was Teddy Roosevelt's mother's hometown and played witness to some of the horrors of the Civil War. The spiritual residue is thick not only from battles, but Roswell sits alongside a deep gorge and fault line. Does the electromagnetic energy of the area attract spirits? Join us as we explore the history and hauntings of Roswell, Georgia!

Roswell Ghost Tours has been hosting tours for almost 20 years and we really enjoyed our tour guide Alice. The tour was started by a guy named Jack and then taken over by a woman named Dianna Avena and she wrote the book "Roswell: History, Haunts and Legends." Chip Coffey wrote the Forward and was going to be on the tour that ran after ours. Dianna has sold the tour, but everything about it is still based in her expertise on the town of Roswell. Kelly and I were joined by Tammie and Brian Burroughs and Christy Bacon and her family. We met under a gazebo in a park for introductions and then we were off. In the intro, we mentioned a Roadie. Roswell is one of those cities that allows to-go cups and that's their nickname for them. We opted not to carry one because, well, Kelly...and walking... This was actually my second visit to the town. I had visited back in 2014 and at that time I had just wandered through the Old Roswell Cemetery. Roswell's First Methodist Church was built on this plot in 1836.  The church was an original log cabin style structure with stone steps and the earliest pastor of the church requested that he and his wife be buried as close to the spot where the original pulpit stood and that their graves be marked by two of the stones from the steps.  The cemetery was probably founded at the same time as the church but the earliest burial that can still be deciphered was in 1846 and was that of a four month old girl.  The cemetery has 1,950 known burials. We wouldn't visit this cemetery on the tour though.

Roswell is about 30 minutes north of Atlanta and while it has a small town feel, it is actually the sixth largest city in Georgia.The architecture is unique with New England influences added to Greek Revival styling. The town gets its name from Roswell King who came to Georgia in 1788. He got involved with cotton, lumber and rice and worked as a broker. He married his wife Catherine in 1792 and the couple would have nine children. There was talk of gold in north Georgia in the early 1830s and Roswell wanted in on the action. This coincided with the Native American groups being run out via the Trail of Tears and a lot of land was up for grabs. This was a rich area that the Native Americans had referred to as "Enchanted Land." Roswell bought up land near Vickery Creek and he built a textile mill. Several other families with wealth had joined him - the Dunwodys, Pratts, Smiths and Bullochs - and they would establish a mill village. There would be a center street through town and on one side, the rich families built their Antebellum mansions and on the other side, the mill workers and slaves lived. Roswell would die in 1844 and ten years later, the town would be incorporated.

The mills were key for the South, so they could process cotton without sending it north. Mill workers were little more than servants receiving poor pay and treatment. They were paid in script leaving generations of families in debt and basically forced to work in the mills. In 1840, the Roswell Manufacturing Company would open two mills that would be burned down during the Civil War. They rebuilt and the mills were open until the 1970s. In 1853, Roswell had two cotton mills, a woolen mill, flour mill and tannery. In the middle of the Historic Mill Village, in Old Mill Park on Sloan Street, is located the Lost Mill Workers Memorial. The women and children of Roswell had to take over the running of the woolen mill near Roswell's covered bridge because the men had been sent off to fight in the Civil War. This mill was responsible for making the Roswell Grey that was material used to make Confederate uniforms. General Sherman sent General Kenner Garrard with four thousand troops to capture Roswell's covered bridge, which would threaten the Confederates downstream on the Chattahoochee River. Garrard did just that and he discovered what the mills were doing and reported this back to Sherman who ordered that the families be run out of town. Many of these families would never return to Roswell. The memorial is dedicated to the four hundred women and children charged with treason and run out of town. Some didn't survive the trip as they were forced on foot to Marietta and then shipped out by boxcar with little rations. Because they were poor, they would never be able to pay to return. Most would never reunite with husbands if they had survived the war. Many northerners were outraged by the action. The screams of the women and children seem to have locked into the mills. There are people who claim to hear these screams like some kind of residual energy. We stopped for a restroom break in this park and Alice showed us a picture taken on a tour and it looks like you can see a figure in a uniform with a sword, standing near a woman whose husband had snapped the picture. You could clearly see that she was throwing a shadow, but this figure was not.

The Union troops hung out in the city for twelve days and took over many of the Antebellum mansions. It is believed that they didn't burn the homes because they had occupied them. The mansions have been restored and many of them can be toured. We will touch on several of them. Roswell survived the war and the Great Depression and has bounced back really well. Now it is one of Georgia's largest cities, but it still has a homey feel. For a place with a small town feel, Roswell has more than its share of ghosts. Vickery Creek feeds into the Chattahoochee River and water is a great conductor of energy. But there is even more here. In our episode about Kentucky caves, we talked about these deep caves being places where spirit activity is high. The Hellier series by Planet Weird explores these theories of unexplained things hiding in the cold recesses of caverns. Roswell has deep gorges along Vickery Creek, with some areas diving 300 feet deep. Add that a fault line runs beneath Roswell and you have the beginnings for reasons to have high levels of paranormal activity. But there are also the personal ghost stories that have come about because of tragedy. This first tale is a tough one and we will try to relate it in a less graphic way.

Blanche Lowe Sr. and Jr. lived together in a home along Main Street about 300 yards from the Town Square. Apartments now stand where the home used to be located. The mother and daughter enjoyed getting dressed up in their 1940s finest and heading out for dinner and a movie in Atlanta every Saturday. Eventually Blanche Sr. got Alzheimer's disease and at the time it was hard to find care. Blanche Jr. worked in Atlanta and she always worried about her mother wandering. The two Blanches loved dogs and they took in many strays and Jr. hoped that the dogs company would help settle her mother. But if you guys know Alzheimer's Disease, people who suffer from it wander no matter what you do. Blanche Jr. decided that tying her mother to a chair would be the best alternative. Every morning, she would tie her mother in the chair and then free her when she got home. One day, Blanche Sr. cut herself and was bleeding enough that it attracted the dogs. We won't get into details, but when Blanche Jr. got home, she found her mother dead. Just tragic. And now that tragedy has left the residual image of two women dressed in their 1940s best, standing on a corner at the north end of the Town Square waiting for a taxi.

Barrington Hall

Barrington Hall was our first stop on the tour and has been named one of the "50 Most Beautiful Homes in Metro Atlanta." This mansion was built in 1842 by Barrington King, the son of Roswell King, and he chose a spot on the highest hill in Roswell. The style is Greek Revival, which is clearly visible in the fourteen Doric columns, and materials used in the construction include termite-resistant heart-of-pine and virgin pine that was aged two years. There is a three-sided piazza as well and everything was designed by architect Willis Ball. Barrington and his wife had twelve children and nine of them survived into adulthood.

Both Barrington and Roswell died in this house. An interesting story connected to Roswell is that a slave was told to sit with Roswell's body until his wake. In the middle of the night, the corpse let out a bellow that scared the poor man keeping watch so much, that he jumped up and fell out of the upstairs bedroom window breaking his neck in the fall. Barrington had died at 68 from a kick that he received from a horse. His wife, Catherine, stayed in the home and died here as well. Here daughter Eva had married William Baker, whom was a pastor, and they moved into the house to care for Catherine and then stayed until Eva's death in 1923. Eva had left the mansion to her children. They wanted to sell the place, but Eva's favorite granddaughter, Evelyn Simpson, wouldn't hear of it and she managed to raise enough money to buy the property from the rest of the family and she kept it until she died in 1960 and her sister Katharine took over care of the property and adopted a good friend named Lois Carson, so that Lois could inherit the house when Katharine died in 1995. We're not sure if there was some stipulation that the house could only go to a family member or something. Lois died in 2003 and gave the house to her friend Sarah Winner who refurbished the horse-hair plaster walls and heart-of-palm floors and restored furnishings and paintings. She then sold the house to the city with the agreement that it would always be a museum.

Our group took a picture in front of this mansion all together. We got to go up on the porch where the young man died and peer in the windows. The inside looked beautiful. Alice told us some of the ghost stories connected to the house. The first being about the slave who fell through the window.  Then Alice told us this hilarious story that happened to her during a tour. A woman named Lucille came to visit the property when it was still undergoing restoration and there was a giant fence around the whole thing. She and her husband circled it wishing that they could get closer to the house. While doing that. they spotted someone in the side garden. It was a woman wearing a grey dress and large white bonnet. The couple assumed that it was Lois who owned the property at the time. They were invited for tea later that day at the hall with Lois because Lois found out that Lucille was a king descendant. When the couple met Lois, they were perplexed to see her in modern clothing. They mentioned that they thought they saw her earlier in the garden and she told them she had not been in the garden and was the only person on property.

Dianna recounts the experience of a woman who was doing an investigation with her at Barrington Hall in her book. The woman wrote, "I passed through a doorless doorway and stopped dead as the sensation of a warm hand applied to my back gave me momentary paralysis. The fine hairs on the back of my neck stood on end." Dianna rushed over to her when the woman told her this and she was enveloped in chilled air. Then Dianna felt the hands touch her as well, but even more prominently as though she were being hugged from behind. The Director of the Georgia Ghost Society, Bob Hunnicutt, claims that his hand was touched while investigating the mansion and that it felt as though something squeezed it. There is an ice house out back too where many people have had experiences. Perhaps because they might have had to store bodies in there after people died. Someone died in a rocking chair in the house that is still there and people claim that it moves on its own at times. We try to get a look at it through the windows. 

There are now homes built on what used to be Barrington's property and people in those homes experience paranormal activity too. Most owners have seen the apparition of a tall black man in overalls. Perhaps the one Alice had told us about? The man who founded the Savannah Ghost Talk Ghost Walk had owned a home directly behind Barrington Hall and he said, "I can tell you I have never experienced a location with as much activity as we had in this home in just that year and a half period of time." He often heard music coming out of the woods. An overnight guest awoke one night to find a woman standing by the side of the bed who just disappeared.

Bulloch Hall

Bulloch Hall was President Theodore Roosevelt's mother's childhood home. This mansion was built in the early 1840s by the slaves of Major James Stephen Bulloch. He would live in this home with his second wife Martha and their daughter Martha would be Teddy's mother. The Major himself was one of Roswell’s first settlers. The mansion is also in the Greek Revival style and was designed by architect Willis Ball, also. A unique feature is its temple-form architecture with a full pedimented portico. The floor plan is described as "four square." The kitchen has a beehive oven and there are eleven fireplaces. The mansion stayed in the hands of the family in a similar way to Barrington, until the 1950s when it was left abandoned. The city of Roswell finally purchased it in the 1970s and refurbished it.

The Bulloch House has an interesting unexplained thing that happens when it comes to candles. The wedding Alice was referring to was a re-enactment of Teddy Roosevelt's parents' wedding that took place here. Margaret Mitchell, who wrote Gone with the Wind, wrote an article about the wedding for the Atlanta Constitution newspaper in 1923. That young girl who drowned was a fourteen-year-old black girl and is thought to have drowned in the well in the mid-1800s. The well is still here. People claim to hear a girl sobbing by that well. When Bulloch Hall is closed for the day, all the lights are extinguished. One night on a tour, the guide remarked that it was weird that the attic light was on since the lights are never on at night. One of the docents for the house happened to be on his tour that night. She said that she had turned everything off and locked up. She drove by the mansion later that evening and saw that the light was off. She was too scared to investigate then, but brought a couple people with her the next day. The security system did not indicate that anyone had been in the home the evening before.

An employee at the house saw the spirit of a man dressed in a long dark coat standing on the stairs. She started walking towards him and he disappeared. She also heard a loud banging that made her and a friend run out of the house after she remarked that she didn't think the house was haunted. The banging reminded her of iron skillets being dropped on the floor. People have also reported seeing the apparition of a young boy wearing knickers running around the front area of the house, both in the yard and along the white fence. The rocking chairs on the front porch sometimes move on their own. There are reconstructed slave quarters in the back and people say they hear disembodied voices by them. It is believed that the slaves buried their dead on the property in unmarked graves.

An Old Mill House (Katharine's Cottage)

Some crazy stuff has happened at this old mill house we passed on our way to the cemetery. Alice tells the story of all the water issues they have had. You'll have to excuse the dog barking in the background. Love the description of electricity in the walls as fire in the walls.

Founder's Cemetery

The Founder's Cemetery was established in 1840 and burials continued here until 1860. We got to go inside and wander around. The coolest thing in there for us was this really old tree stump. This was the original burial ground for Roswell and was connected to the Roswell Presbyterian Church and has 28 grave markers, mostly for the founders of Roswell and some of their slaves. There are many more unmarked graves and a geophysical survey in 1984 found 65 graves. The first burial was for Charles Irvine Bulloch who was two-years-old when he died of scarlet fever in 1841 when there was an outbreak in the town. There are also burials for John Dunwody, Roswell King and James Bulloch.

Now the key thing about this cemetery is that what is there today is about a third of the original cemetery. And there are homes all around the cemetery. So...yeah, homes are built over burials. A family lived across the street from the cemetery, but not in a place where they could see the graveyard. They decided to widen their driveway and the workmen unearthed a casket on the furthest area out. The person was given a proper burial, but the disruption to a peaceful deathly slumber seems to lead to other disruptions, with electrical things. Anytime a car is parked on this part of the driveway, the battery discharges and if the engine is running, it will stop running. The battery draining also effects electronics used in that area. Neighbors to the cemetery claim to hear disembodied talking at all times of the day and night and when they investigate, they find no one around. The cemetery is said to drain batteries too, but we didn't have any problems on the tour and took many pictures of the headstones and such.

The Public House

The most haunted place in downtown Roswell is said to be the former general store that is now known as the old Public House. The building was constructed in 1854 and carried most everything people would need for supplies, except for liquor. The Roswell Manufacturing Company ran the commissary. During the Civil War, it was a Confederate hospital. After the war, it went back to being a store. The building eventually became a really popular upscale restaurant in the 1980s and 1990s known as the Public House Restaurant and then it became J. Christopher's Restaurant. There's a story dating back to the time of the Civil War about a Union soldier named Michael and a young woman named Catherine who worked at the store. Many versions are told, but the basics of the story are that the two fell in love and that Michael dies either in battle, through being struck by lightning or is hanged by Confederates. Catherine then hangs herself. The couple are said to haunt the building. People see them dancing through an upstairs window. But they aren't the only spirits here. People claim that there are eight entities here.

A piano in the upstairs area plays by itself. When employees go to investigate, the tinkling of the keys immediately stops and they find the cover down on the keys. A bartender claimed that one night he was in the restaurant with only a manager and that he was upstairs cleaning glasses while the manager was downstairs. He finished drying the glasses and hung them in their places over the bar. He went to get his jacket and keys and when he passed the bar, he saw that every glass was standing upright back on the bar counter. Liquor bottles would also be found turned backward the following day. Employees would claim that chairs would be taken down off tables after they had been put up for the night. A woman claimed to feel a very cold air envelope her when she went upstairs and the hair on the arm of her male companion stood on end. Employees avoid the upstairs as much as possible. And this is another place with a really haunted women's restroom. Why does that always seem to be the case?

David is the new owner of the Roswell Ghost Tour. He used to manage J. Christopher's and Alice told us this. (Roswell 6) We apologize because of the traffic noises, but if you couldn't hear that real clearly, Alice said that the owner of the building found a rock thrown through a window, only it was coming from inside the building, not the outside in. Another former manager of J. Christopher's quit abruptly after an experience she had upstairs. This area was not open to customers, so she had gone up there to take a break. There were three large wing chairs there and she sat in one and closed her eyes. She heard the springs in the chair next to her squeak, so she opened her eyes to see who joined her. There was no one sitting next to her, but she clearly saw an indentation in the chair as though someone were there. Then the apparition materialized and she saw a man in a Confederate uniform. He looked at her and she screamed and ran from the building and never came back. This ghost is seen often. Another employee had brought her four-year-old with her to the building and she left her by the stairs while she went to the office. When she returned, she heard her daughter talking to someone. When her daughter saw her she said, "You just scared the nice man. He had a neat costume on with lots of buttons."

The buildings connected to the restaurant have had many unexplained things happen as well. They all used to be part of the store and hospital. And there had been a funeral parlor in one of the shops years ago. There had been an old theater in one of the upper shops that showed silent movies and a live piano player would accompany the movies. He often complained of really cold spots enveloping him. A Confederate soldier was also seen in the theater. The funeral home had been next to the theater, so many spirits wandered over from there. A former bank still has its vault in one of the shops and this is used for storage, but employees feel really uncomfortable in it. Nobody likes to be in any parts of the buildings alone.

There are a few other buildings in the Roswell historic district that have had strange things happen in them. One former mill house duplex housed a beauty salon and employees did not like being in the building alone. The house had been built in the 1840s and was the scene of two tragedies. One was a suicide in which a woman slit her own throat in front of the fireplace when she heard the Union forces were rounding up all the women and children. The other was apparently the murder of a woman by a Union soldier. People claim to see the full-bodied apparitions of women in this home. And there are other stories to be told we are sure. We had a great time on this ghost tour and recommend it if you are in the Atlanta area. Is Roswell, Georgia haunted? That is for you to decide.