Читать книгу Ghosthunting Virginia - Michael J. Varhola - Страница 5
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Welcome to America’s Haunted Road Trip
CHAPTER 1 Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington)
Many locations at this burial ground for America’s military personnel are said to be haunted by the spirits of those who have fallen over the past two centuries in the service of their nation.
CHAPTER 2 Bunny Man Bridge (Fairfax Station)
This site is reputed to be linked to a serial killer, whose spirit is said to make itself known if Bunny Man is uttered three times. Bunny Man Bridge has also influenced scenes in at least one movie and one video game.
CHAPTER 3 Gadsby’s Tavern (Alexandria)
A beautiful young woman who died at this historic tavern nearly two hundred years ago is sometimes still seen there, as are strange occurrences like lanterns that glow without being lit.
CHAPTER 4 Manassas National Battlefield Park (Prince William County)
Site of the first major battle of the Civil War, ghosts of fallen soldiers have long been seen roaming the fields where they fell during the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history.
CHAPTER 5 Historic Occoquan (Occoquan)
This charming waterfront village is reportedly home to a number of ghosts, including a murdered Indian who haunts a restaurant and whose likeness has been seen in the restaurant’s chimney smoke as well as in the mirror of the ladies’ restroom.
CHAPTER 6 Rippon Lodge (Woodbridge)
The oldest house still standing in Prince William County, this tragic lodge was the scene of more than one murder, and spirits who should have moved on to another world, are said to linger there.
CHAPTER 7 Weems-Botts Museum (Dumfries)
Originally the home of Mason Locke Weems, who fabricated the story of George Washington and the cherry tree, this site is now a museum and is said to be haunted by the ghosts of two sisters who both lived their lives in misery there.
CHAPTER 8 Berry Hill Road (Pittsylvania County)
Creepy under ideal conditions, this seven-and-a-half mile stretch of road and the surrounding areas are home to ghosts, abandoned farmsteads, blighted woodlands, gravitational anomalies, and “Satan’s Bridge.”
CHAPTER 9 Civil War Hospital Museum Exchange Hotel (Gordonsville)
Once a hotel that served as a battlefield hospital during the Civil War, this site is now a museum that is said to house the spirits of soldiers who died from their wounds during the bloody conflict.
CHAPTER 10 Edgar Allan Poe Museum (Richmond)
Not far from where Edgar Allan Poe lived and worked, this museum is located in a historic house and contains a shrine to the troubled American author. Though the museum’s curator is skeptical, others have seen evidence of hauntings, including prankish ghosts who pinch and toss things at visitors.
CHAPTER 11 Trapezium House (Petersburg)
This house contains no parallel walls, having been so constructed according to the guidance of a West Indian servant who advised that building it in this way would ward off evil spirits. According to some, however, the house is nonetheless haunted by the ghosts of former inhabitants.
CHAPTER 12 Wreck of the Old 97 (Danville)
Immortalized in the first recorded song to sell a million copies in the United States, the Southern Express train No. 97 plummeted into a ravine in 1903, killing eleven people and injuring seven others on board. The ghosts associated with its story, however, may not be those of people who were actually on the train.
CHAPTER 13 Assateague Lighthouse (Assateague Island)
Assateague Island’s rich history, rugged coastline, and population of wild horses is interesting enough, but the lighthouse, which was originally constructed in 1867 and later rebuilt, is said to be haunted by its former keeper and perhaps Spanish sailors who drowned near the islands’s shores.
CHAPTER 14 1848 Island Manor House (Chincoteague Island)
Built by two affluent professionals in 1848 as an impressive manor house, this home played an important role during the Civil War and is today the most historic B&B on Chincoteague. No fewer than three ghosts are believed to haunt its chambers.
CHAPTER 15 Colonial Williamsburg (Williamsburg)
One of the oldest municipalities in the United States, Colonial Williamsburg is the site of numerous 18th-century buildings said to be haunted by ghosts—a female ghost who fled a party, losing one shoe along the way, another female ghost who was hit by a speeding carriage, and even George Washington himself (or is that just another man in a wig and frock coat?).
CHAPTER 16 Fort Monroe (Hampton)
In continuous usage by U.S. military forces for more than 170 years, this coastal redoubt is the site of several hauntings and could be the inspiration for Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Cask of Amontillado.”
CHAPTER 17 Barter Theatre (Abingdon)
Opened during the Great Depression, this theatre allowed people in the isolated town of Abingdon to trade homegrown produce for tickets to live entertainment. It is believed by some to be home to the ghost of its founder, and has a “Scary Room” that puts actors on edge to this day.
CHAPTER 18 Carroll County Courthouse (Hillsville)
In 1912, a murderous spree at the conclusion of a trial claimed the lives of five people, including the sheriff and presiding judge. The site of those attacks, the Carroll County Courthouse, is believed by some to be haunted by the spirits of the slain, forever searching for justice.
CHAPTER 19 Devil’s Den (Fancy Gap)
This cold, damp cave in the Blue Ridge Mountains has a history as a hiding place—perhaps for the Underground Railway and also for some of the gunmen in the 1912 shooting at the nearby Carroll County Courthouse. It is also definitely the site of multiple unquiet spirits.
CHAPTER 20 Octagon House (Marion)
This crumbling brick edifice, built in the shape of an octagon, was home to slave-owner Abijah Thomas, who is said to haunt the place every December 1; and many say the spirits of his tortured slaves haunt it too.
CHAPTER 21 U.S. Route 58 (Lee, Scott, Washington, Grayson, Carroll, and Patrick Counties)
While it may not be actually haunted itself, the western stretch of Route 58—a mountainous road that runs along Virginia’s southern boundary—goes through numerous ghost hamlets and is a useful thoroughfare for those hunting for haunted sites in this most isolated part of the Old Dominion.
CHAPTER 22 Belle Grove Plantation (Middletown)
Once a grain and livestock farm, today Belle Grove Plantation is a tourist site. But watch out for the ghost of Hetty Cooley, who was reportedly brutally murdered by one of her husband’s slaves.
CHAPTER 23 Cedar Creek Battlefield (Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren Counties)
This battlefield has been the site of numerous apparitions in the years since one of the Civil War’s bloodiest battles was fought on it.
CHAPTER 24 Poor House Road Tunnel (Rockbridge County)
Local legends have branded this out-of-the-way tunnel as the site of horrible events in the past. Various ghosthunting expeditions have collected evidence that it might, indeed, be haunted by troubled spirits.
CHAPTER 25 Virginia Military Institute (Lexington)
Often called the West Point of the South, VMI has a wealth of ghost lore associated with it, including a weeping statue, a mural with moving figures, and the sounds of ghostly cannon fire.
CHAPTER 26 Ghosts of the Valley (Winchester)
This town at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley may very well be the state’s most haunted city, and includes numerous sites with haunted histories. These include the Fuller House Inn, the Union Bank, the Cork Street Tavern, Mount Hebron Cemetery, and virtually every historic building along its pedestrian mall.
CHAPTER 27 Wayside Inn (Middletown)
For more than 210 years, this inn in the heart of Virginia has catered to the needs of travelers. Visitors and staff members alike have had numerous experiences with the ghosts that have remained behind in its storied rooms.
CHAPTER 28 America’s Greatest Haunted City (Washington, D.C.)
An overview of haunted sites in the nation’s capital reveals it to be a city rife with ghosts and places where inexplicable events have been known to occur.
CHAPTER 29 Decatur House (Washington, D.C.)
Located near the White House on Lafayette Square, this two-hundred-year-old house was tainted by slavery and untimely death and is reputed to be one of the most haunted places in the capital city.
CHAPTER 30 Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
Ever since President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated here by actor John Wilkes Booth while attending a showing of Our American Cousin, this small, historic theatre has been the site of strange sightings and occurrences.
