I've
mentioned ghost hunting outings on this blog in the past and judging by my stat records that seems to be a popular topic (especially around October). Recently I went by a few more places listed in
John Boyanski's Ghosts of the Upstate to see if I could spot something from beyond. (I have no belief in ghosts, so I really do it because I like the quirky history of these places not because I expect to see anything other worldly.)
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| Burke-Stark Mansion |
On July 4th my friend Tim and I went down to Abbeville to check out several haunted locations, all of which were closed. Some due to the holiday, some due to the fact that Abbeville has literally become a ghost town. Practically every business on the square is closed down, despite obvious efforts by the city to revitalize the place. Sidewalks are freshly poured and new walkways have been added in the past couple years, but no one is around. The first place we arrived was the
Burk Stark Mansion, which is a really cool place, and where the ghost of Jefferson Davis is said to reside. While on the grounds, we did find things a bit amiss. In front of the home we encountered something I never remember seeing before, an
Eastern Lubber Grasshopper. An omen? Perhaps. He seemed to be pointing us to a dead body that almost went unnoticed. There in broad daylight, on the front walk of the mansion lay, God bless his soul, a dead squirrel. No obvious sign of death could be found. Hmmm....
Moving on we stopped by the
Abbeville Opera House and the Belmont Inn. Both were locked and the Belmont Inn had a sign stating it was closed permanently (like almost every other business in town). Despite that fact, there was a TV on in the bar and I saw a figure dart from the room as I glanced in the window.
The following weekend I headed out the other direction. First I went by the
Walnut Lane Inn in Lyman where a former owner, a
maid and the owner's two daughters are supposedly haunting the place. It's a beautiful house. The owner was busy getting ready for a birthday party so we only spoke briefly and I didn't bother him with questions about his phantasmal residents.
Speaking of ghost towns, downtown Spartanburg has a rich history of haints. There are several dorms at Wofford, Converse and the School for the Deaf and Blind that are supposedly haunted and some private residences in town are also said to be haunted, but not having access to the inside of these places they weren't particularly interesting.
So I headed out to
a haunted bridge where it's rumored two fisherman were killed by a beast that lives under the bridge and that the fisherman can sometimes be heard. After pulling over, I found getting below the bridge was a bit tough due to the overgrown vegetation and as I walked across the bridge (it's very small) a fellow came out of nowhere and asked if I was out of gas. I explained that I was just walking around so he drove on but then slowed and turned and came back my direction, at which point I got the distinct feeling I wasn't welcome there.
From there I drove out to Walnut Grove to visit
Nesbitt Bridge where it's rumored that a female hitchhiker will ask for a ride but then suddenly vanish. The river below was far more impressive than the creek where the legendary beast resided at the last location. Again though, while walking across the bridge, a guy in a pick-up truck stopped and said, "How ya doin'?" I mentioned that I was just out taking photos (I don't want people to think I'm a nut so I don't mention the ghost hunting). "Just taking pictures huh?" he didn't quite buy it. We exchanged a few more lines and he finally seemed satisfied that I was harmless and drove off. I noticed he had a DNR sticker on his truck so maybe he just thought I was fishing without a license (although despite all the money I spend on fishing licenses I've never had anyone ask me to produce one).
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| View from Nesbitt Bridge |
If you look closely at the photo to left you can see a stray hound on the island in the middle of the frame. Ghost hound?
And speaking of haunted buildings. I recently came across this next building in Tigerville. Surely it has some ghost stories attached to it.
If you're weird like I am and have some interest in visiting some of these spots be sure to visit local blogger
Tom's Random Connections Blog and and download the KMZ file he created which makes finding many of these spots really easy.
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| Deserted Schoolhouse? |
