More Ghost Hunting...still no ghosts

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.)

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).

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.

Deserted Schoolhouse?

A Tailor's Lodging Bed and Breakfast

A Tailor's Lodging is located one block off Main Street in Abingdon, VA. The home was built in the 1840's by the town tailor. Although much of it has been updated, the owners have done an excellent job keeping it as authentic as possible. There are two rooms in the main house, one upstairs and one downstairs, and a large common area on the middle floor which includes a study, the kitchen, and a sitting room. The innkeepers, Rick and Susan, are very accommodating and generous, allowing guests free run of the place. They also offer great stories about the area.

An additional room is found in this cottage located next to the main house.

The house is one block from a bike rental/shuttle business and two blocks from the end of the Virginia Creeper Trail. The Martha Washington Inn is one block the other direction with the Barter Theatre located across the street. The Tavern is located about four blocks away and several other good restaurants are within walking distance.

Since Rick and Susan have regular jobs and don't live in the home, they don't offer a traditional breakfast. They will provide either a continental breakfast or a 10% discount for no breakfast. There is a great little place called the Trail Cafe one block away that offers some great breakfast options.

Distance from downtown Greenville: 172 miles.

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Abingdon, VA

Abingdon, VA is a great little colonial town located in southwest Virginia. It's home to the Barter Theatre, a professional theatre house where many well known film actors got their start, including Gregory Peck, Ned Beatty and Ernest Borgnine.

As with any historic town, there are plenty of buildings rumored to be haunted. The most haunted (according to one local ghost hunter) is the Martha Washington Inn, a luxurious hotel located on Main Street.

Another location rumored to have ghosts galore is the oldest building in town, The Tavern. Built in 1789 it serves an upscale menu in a rustic environment. Be careful not to let your beer slide off the table though, as two centuries of settling have the left the building slightly less than level.

The next few posts will be related to the town of Abingdon. In the meantime, take a stroll down Main Street.


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Distance from downtown Greenville: 172 miles.


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Augusta St. Haunted House?

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What's up with this place? It's located a block from Main Street between the SC Children's Theatre and Smiley's Acoustic Cafe, near the baseball stadium. It could be beautiful.

Distance from downtown Greenville: 0 miles.

Stumphouse Tunnel - Ghost Hunting on Christmas Eve

Stumphouse Tunnel is a failed engineering feat leftover from the mid-19th century. The tunnel was to be part of a rail line that ran from Charleston to Ohio. Landslides caused the project to be abandoned in 1859, but it's now open to the public.

The tunnel is dark and a bit creepy especially on a rainy afternoon. Be sure to take a good flashlight and watch out for the ghosts. They're not hard to locate. The tunnel is supposedly haunted by Cherokee indians and former tunnel workers. It's rumored that if you toss a ball in the tunnel at night, it will be tossed back to you. (That's a fairly convenient rumor since the place closes at 5:00 making it difficult to test.)

My flashlight went dead as soon as I entered the tunnel so I went back to the car to grab a headlamp and more batteries for my Maglight. Even with both lights, it was very difficult to see inside the tunnel.

As you can see from the image below, I managed to capture some interesting apparitions in the tunnel. I believe this is what ghost hunters often refer to as "ectoplasma," otherwise known as a camera flash reflecting on fog. (Click on the image for a larger view.) The pentagram graffiti would be a bit more convincing if the pseudo-satanists hadn't painted it upside down.



I also managed to capture a number "ghostly orbs" as they are referred to over at GhostWeb.com otherwise known as a camera flash reflecting on raindrops. But this, combined with the eery echoes (a.k.a. moans), will certainly satisfy any true believing ghost hunter.







While there be sure to check out Issaqueena Falls.

Distance from downtown Greenville: 51 miles.


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Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve

This bridge, located in northern Greenville county, was built by Joel Poinsett in 1820. In addition to being one of the earliest settlers of Greenville, Poinsett also discovered the Poinsettia flower.

Supposedly the bridge is haunted by an old slave who was hung from it, a laborer who died building the bridge and by an indian tribe. Yet again, I witnessed no ghosts, but my wife's camera went dead as soon as she tried to photograph it. Hmmmm.....(Mine worked fine.)

Distance from downtown Greenville: 39 miles.


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Saturday Afternoon Ghost Hunting

After posting my trip to the haunted "children's" graveyard, I've continued to receive hits from others interested in the ghosts of the Carolinas. This has piqued my interest in the topic.

My pal Tom over at Random Connections, read my post then did his own investigation of the graveyard, posting a much more detailed analysis. (Tom and I have never actually met but we share a lot of the same interests.) Yesterday Tom posted a review about a new book by local author John Boyanoski titled More Ghosts of the Upstate. This is a sequal to his first book Ghosts of the Upstate. I picked up the sequel last night, not having read the original. Despite being a total skeptic (and a bit of a cynic) about such things, today I decided to go check out some of these so-called haunted sites for myself, partially using the book as a guide and in large part using the Google Earth KMZ file created by Tom.

It was an enlightening day. The creepiest location by far was the Alston/Honour House, primarily because the ghost of Aaron Burr's daughter who inhabits the residence appears to have really odd taste in landscaping and she apparently collects ice cream trucks as well. The top image is the site of the lynching of Willie Earle. He supposedly haunts the area, but I didn't see him.

The second image is from the Colony Theatre in Easley. I didn't see any ghosts there either but I did pick up Boyanoski's first book at a swanky little bookstore nearby. I didn't realize Easley had anything that was swanky, but across the street from the book store I also discovered a really nice little pizza joint.

In Abbeville I discovered the best evidence yet for the existence of ghosts. I didn't actually see any but Abbeville itself is a virtual ghost town. I've never understood what keeps it going. Practically everything was closed, which is typically the case when I'm there, and many buildings are vacant, yet somehow the town lives on. I had hoped to have a beer in the tavern located in the basement of the Belmont Inn (seen on the left) but it was closed...on a Saturday night. The Belmont is supposedly overrun with ghosts. Maybe they don't like to work on Saturday evenings.

From there I ventured over to the Abbewood Bed and Breakfast which supposedly has a ghost who was released after a hidden room in the inn was discovered. But it appeared to be a private residence so I wasn't able to enter it either. I also snapped a shot of the Abbeville Opera house which supposedly houses a mysterious patron who materializes in the upper balcony.

On second thought, maybe the dozen or so people I saw walking around the square in Abbeville were all spirits from beyond.  Wow, they looked so real, well except for one guy.

By far the most interesting place I explored was the Fox & Hound Pub located in the Inn on the Square in Greenwood. I was pleased to find that this pub had a great atmosphere with paneled walls, leather chairs, good food and a full bar. According to Boyanoski's latest book, the inn is haunted by Bill, a real prankster. Unlike most ghosts, Bill doesn't know how to walk through walls so sometimes he gets locked in the pub causing him to bang on the doors. Rumor has it that Bill likes to tap newcomers on the shoulder and watch them jump, so I was a bit disappointed that by the time I finished my dinner Bill had not bothered to introduce himself to me. Turning to leave though I discovered the most chilling sight of my day. Before me, larger than life, was solid evidence that things were oddly amiss in this dark little pub. A strange glow was coming from one of the pub walls. I started to dismiss it as the work of an overactive imagination, but as I looked closer I could not deny what I saw coming from the glowing object. Flordia 30 - Tennessee 6.  If strange things were not afoot in that little bar then someone please explain to me how a washed up team like UT managed to score against the Gators.

I must admit, I'm now a little less skeptical.

Distance from downtown Greenville:

1-60 miles.

Haunted Children's Graveyard

Regularly I like to check my go-stats page to see what people are Googling to find this blog. "Coal Fired Pizza" and "Swamp Rabbit Trail" are two popular phrases that lead people here. But last October, a number of people Googled the phrase, "Haunted Children's Graveyard, Greenville, SC" or something similar. This usually led them to this post about Graveyard Fields in North Carolina. Recently I noticed a few more hits from this search phrase so I decided to Google it myself and see what this was all about.

It turns out that there is a graveyard near Furman University with tomb stones dating back to the 1700's and supposedly it's haunted and supposedly it contains mostly children. So I decided to stop by and check it out. What I found was disturbing. First I should say that it appears that the tombs were for people of all ages, not just children although most of them were impossible to read so maybe I'm wrong. Also I should say that I saw no ghosts. Maybe they were hiding or maybe they just don't show up for skeptics. What I did witness was massive vandalism of the graveyard. In addition there was a large amount of trash which consisted mostly of beer cans and items of clothing, making me wonder what kind of people were partying there.

I also found a grave that someone had clearly robbed, for God knows what reason.









If this kind of thing interests you then you may find the following of interest as well:
Haunted Asheville Ghost Tour
Charleston Ghost Tours

Also check out local blogger Tom's Ghost Towns of South Carolina. Also Tom has created a cool KMZ file that opens up in Google Earth showing the various so-called haunted sites around town: South Carolina Hauntings

Distance from downtown Greenville: 5.3 miles.


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