Hauntings and Tours...

[Black Syren]

Yep getting to be my fave time of year..but the Fort Zachary post in PiP got me to thinking..How many live near haunted places, what is the history behind such? My house is haunted and I have a pic with an orb in it as well.

So im going to start this off with my town Round Rock, Texas, I live in the historical section close to Brushy Creek where the rocks in the creek still bear the tracks of the old conestoga wagons.

Sam Bass the outlaw is buried very close to my house, there is also an unmarked slave cemetary there, and bad vibes when walks in. Most of the concrete over the places of the deceased are cracked open. I have only been there once and that in daylight. Round Rock does historical ghost walking tours. Though I have yet to go on one as no one will go with me..may go by myself..

And downtown Austin has another where a man actually murdered women in a Jack the Ripper fashion, the murders actually started before Jack came on the scene and the murders in Austin stopped shortly before the Jack the Ripper murders began to occur in England. Same person or merely coincidence. Whatever the case, nothing is built on these spots and nothing grows there either.

[Misson]

I've always wanted to see a honest-to-gosh ghost town. (Not one where there are "ghosts" (of which I am skeptical in the extreme), but one of those long deserted places in the west. There is something beautiful in the austere, desolate, crumbling abandoned buildings to me.

I used to go out of my way just to drive by the long-abandoned Michigan Central Train building in downtown Detroit. (Hey, there's a Wiki entry for it! Who'da thunk? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Central_Station)

[Black Syren]

I spent a month in Montana. It is so beautiful up there, the month of summer luckily for us. From the time the sun came up till it went down we explored the mountains. There are so many mine shafts you have to watch where you walk. And the old ghost towns there..If you sit long enough and just listen you can almost imagine the people walking, the buckboards driving up and down..One of which we went to was known as The Hell Roaring Gulch and was kept up for tourists.

But my favorite was lost in the mountains and it sat all alone and utterly abandoned..a step out of time...it was wonderful.

[Mad Matt]

Don't live near it anymore, but the Whaley House in San Diego is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the US. I don't believe in ghosts and whatnot, but I do find the stories interesting.

If I had the money, I would like to take a trip to New Orleans and see their "haunted" places.

[Silkie McDonough]

I live near Philly. I live where lots of people have live for many years. There are MANY haunted sites around here. There is an entire site devoted to haunted places in NJ (New Jersey for those folks that aren't local. lol)

http://www.hauntednewjersey.com/index.html

[Misson]

But my favorite was lost in the mountains and it sat all alone and utterly abandoned..a step out of time...it was wonderful.

Yes, that's exactly the sort of thing I'm thinking of. Montana, eh? Your comments imagining the people walking around the town a long time ago is my idea of a ghost.

We had some ghost hunters out searching an old theatre where the group I work with built a haunted house one year. They had all kinds of wild ideas and suppositions and it really got to some of the teenage workers. (Some of them wouldn't work certain haunts alone - a pain when we didn't have adequate manpower. ) It did create some really good press coverage, though. Our attendance was up that year.

[Black Syren]

Eighteen miles out of Boulder is ElkHorn ghost town..you may be able to look it up on-line.

Unfortunately there is a diffrence between imagining what it looked like than really seeing things that are not there or ghosts if you will.

My personal belief is that there is something out there that what I would call a ghost, I have seen things all my life including a man standing in my home about two in the morning. He was all black and you could see through him, there was a really bad malovelant feeling about him and we finally had our house blessed.

But that is just my thoughts and my run-ins with things that I cannot explain. And things iI cannot explain like shattering glass or men fighting and knocking things off the walls and breaking furniture and then stepping into that room and finding nothing amiss..Well I have to call them ghosts..not sure what another appropriate term would be.

What a beautiful building Mission tis a shame to not restore it, I would love to go poking about in there with a metal detector and see if you can find old coins or newspapers...

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

I've always wanted to see a honest-to-gosh ghost town. (Not one where there are "ghosts" (of which I am skeptical in the extreme), but one of those long deserted places in the west. There is something beautiful in the austere, desolate, crumbling abandoned buildings to me.

Two places come ta mind- The first be Toya, Texas. Just north of the freeway in the west Texas desert is all manner 'o old red brick houses an factories. There's still people livin' there but no business' that I could see. Wierd place.

The second was a ghost town near the Cal/Az border. Was goin' ta the Great Desert War in Bouse. The map given showed the path passin the Vicksburg truck stop then backtrackin' 20 miles ta the northeast ta a crossroads then backtrackin' again ta the northwest toward Bouse. Well the map at the truckstop showed a secondary road from the truckstop ta the crossroads savin' about 30 miles. The shortcut turned out ta be the worst paved road I'd ever traveled. Straight as an arrow an potholed like it been used as a gunnery target fer A-10's. At the crossroads was an old deserted town. It was far enough from the freeway not ta be stripped, signs still up an windows not all busted out. Not a soul or car in sight. No electricity, no trash, no sign of any human activity fer years Looked like a 50's monster flick scene where the plague had wiped out the town. Extremely creepy.

[Black Syren]

Morgan tis a good thing you did not break down. Actually that is a scary thing. Still I would proably be stupid enough to get out and explore.

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

I gots no qualms against walkin' if a place be too creepy

[Cheeky Actress]

Ghost towns, eh? Well, back in 2002 I had the pleasure of going to Bodie, CA. It’s about 2-1/2 hours west of Lake Tahoe, NV. When you finally get to the ‘entrance’ of the California State Park, you go through a small narrow path, which was cut through the mountain range to get to the valley on the other side.

This place is in the middle of nowhere and truly gives off an eerie feeling. The buildings which stand are left as they were...time and nature hasn't be kind though.

In 1859 a man named William Bodey discovered gold near what is now called Bodie Bluff - which is just up the hill from Bodie.

By the 1880s, the town of Bodie bustled with families, robbers, miners, store owners, gunfighters and prostitutes of all kinds. At one time there was reported to be 65 saloons in town. Amongst the saloons were numerous brothels and 'houses of ill repute', gambling halls and opium dens. Needless to say that there was entertainment for every taste.

After a long day working the claims, the miners would head for the bars and the red light district to spend their earnings and with the mixture of all this money, gold and alcohol the town earned it reputation for being an “Hell Town”. It is said that there was a man killed every day in Bodie. Gee, if you were an undertaker – you were making a killing! The famous quote, “Goodbye God, I'm going to Bodie!" only showed how bad things really were there.

The park rangers that protect and run the Bodie ghost town have a ton of stories. They've heard talking, footsteps, people whispering to them as they sleep (and yes…they sleep there!) One night, a ranger was on his rounds when he heard 'dance hall music' coming from one of the last standing saloons in town. As he made his way to the boardwalk and was about to open the side door - everything stopped. It was said that he quit his job and left the following morning.

Like many of these place, it is not wise to 'take' any piece of the structures with you...not even a nail! The rangers say bad luck will follow you if you do. As for proof of this, the local souvenir shop displays letters of tourist who had taken ‘items’ from the park and returned them to them only to realize that their lives were horribly ruined by a string of ‘unfortunate circumstances’. Additional evidence shows that once they did…their run of bad luck had stopped.

[Black Syren]

Now Im itching to really go and explore..

[BriarRose Kildare]

And downtown Austin has another where a man actually murdered women in a Jack the Ripper fashion, the murders actually started before Jack came on the scene and the murders in Austin stopped shortly before the Jack the Ripper murders began to occur in England. Same person or merely coincidence. Whatever the case, nothing is built on these spots and nothing grows there either.

Aye, Syren, dear. There are many theories concerning Jack the Ripper. One theory holds that yes, he was in America for a short time and there had been murders that resembled that which took place in England. This theory is also extended to after the WhiteChapel murders, that similar murders took place in France as well.

I must also add, that The case of Jack the Ripper is one of the most greatest unsolved murder cases in history. And due to the time period in which the events occured he is known as one of the first true serial killers of that time.

[Misson]

Still I would proably be stupid enough to get out and explore.

Absolutely! Nothing stupid about it IMO. "Creepy" is a feeling manufactured in our heads. Most feelings are not what I think of as being reliable guides to behavior. (Now, we could talk about intuitions, which I consider to different in that they're grounded in practical experience and learning, but this particular strain of the conversation is already off track from its original point. )

[Red-Handed Jill]

Don't live near it anymore, but the Whaley House in San Diego is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the US. I don't believe in ghosts and whatnot, but I do find the stories interesting.

If I had the money, I would like to take a trip to New Orleans and see their "haunted" places.

I've been to the Whaley House. There's definitely something going on there - I had three encounters, one that Jack experienced as well. I made a point of not reading about it and when I did, what I had encountered was what several other people had seen and felt as well.

One of the encounters was like something I experienced in New Orleans. I did go on a ghost tour there, but didn't see or sense anything at the places they took me to. However, I did have an incident in the back of a voodoo shop and in the back of a saloon. In the voodoo shop, I could move freely in the front of the shop, but when I stepped into the back room, the air suddenly compressed and I found it hard to move through it (just like in the parlour at Whaley House.) After fighting that for awhile, I gave up and moved back to the front room.

And I've been to Bodie, but many years ago. I expect it's in the same state of disrepair. When I went, there was hardly anyone there, but a friend of mine went a couple of years ago and said that since ghost towns were getting more popular, when he went it was mobbed with people. Kinda spoils the whole idea of "ghost town" for me...

[Black Syren]

My bad I was brought to attention..Therre is a diffrence between Ghosts and spirits..I believe in Spirits..

I know New Orleans before the hurricane had a Haunted ghost Pirate tour, supposedly where Pirates of the time had dealings and so forth and now haunted the areas.

["Broadside" Long]

I live about an hour from the Stanley Hotel, which was the inspiration for The Shining. Stephen King wrote a lot of the manuscript there.

The Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters did a couple of episodes at the Stanley and it was very creepy.

There are a lot of ghost towns here in Colorado as well, especially in the mountains between Denver and Durango.

Broadside

[BriarRose Kildare]

Mmmm, maybe we need to set up a field trip to go Ghost Hunting. I love to explore areas of Hauntings.

A place I would definitely recommend is Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I have been there twice and have gotten phenomenal photographic pictures of ghosts. Gettysburg is a place that you can hear, see and smell the phenomenon all around. Some of the ghosts know you are there and others are trapped in time.

When I first went there it was an experience of Dejavu' as if I had come home from a long trip. My husband and friends literally had to drag me to the car when it was time to leave. And I am often times homesick to go back. There have been mornings when I have woken up thinking I am there, then realizing it is a different time and place for me.

[Boots MacGee]

I have been there twice and have gotten phenomenal photographic pictures of ghosts.

I would love to see the photographs. I spend alot of time at Gettysburg, but I never caught anything on film.

[Zephaniah W Nash]

First off, I'm a filthy, filthy skeptic, so I never expect to actually experience anything even when I can find a claimed haunted place. I didn't even see a monster when I visited Loch Ness, dash it all...

I've actually been researching a bit, just curious about myths, hauntings, etc. in my area (west of Fort Worth -- since there've been a couple of other Texas posters on this thread). Can't find anything.

I can only find two (one of several "glowing tombstones" and the Witches Tomb in Weatherford) mentioned online -- at least that I've ever heard of. I guess ghosts just don't like it 'round these parts. And a mention of the Crazy Water Hotel in Mineral Wells being haunted by a ghost or three (accounts vary). Being born there, I guess there could have been a ghost that I missed...

Of course, one of my favorites that I found online some time ago (and can't seem to find again -- if anyone else has heard of this one, let me know) is the infamous herd of Devil Cattle around Weatherford Lake. Shudder.

I grew up in the area, never heard of such a thing, but came across it online. Supposedly, there are ghostly, red-eyed, evil Devil longhorn cattle living in the huge swamps around Weatherford Lake. Of course, that doesn't really take into account that the huge swamps (as described on the website) don't actually exist. Maybe a swampy fifteen or twenty feet right after a rain, but...

I even traded e-mails with the creator of the site, who -- from hearing from a friend of a guy who travelled through Weatherford once or something -- knew more about the area that I did.

[SilasTalbot]

Regarding Montana...which is where I grew up...as a senior in High School (about 300 years ago...) my girlfriend and I used to sometimes camp out in a genuine, non-tarted-up-for-tourists mining town. It was in Maiden Canyon and many of the 19th century buildings were still standing, but long since abandoned. It wasn't easy to get to, and had no modern conveniences at all - but it was still incredibly cool. Never encountered any ghosts, spirits, ha'ants or the like, though.

More recently, I used to perform in and/or direct Halloween events in Salem, MA. Again, I never personally encountered any ghosts, spirits, etc...but I was sometimes taken for one. These weren't typical "haunted house" events, these were more storytelling/parlor theatre performances in some of the historic houses. Rather cool to BE the tormented, guilt-ridden fratricidal killer in the Crowninsheild-Bentley House...especially since that house is specifically named as the location of the rather icky climax of H.P. Lovecraft's story "The Thing on the Doorstep". I may also have been responsible for a poor young lady...umm, shall we say "befouling herself" when I was performing behind the Old Salem Jail. The building is next to a 17th century burying ground - supposedly the location where Giles Corey was pressed to death. This young lady and her friend were "exploring" the burying ground and had decided to try to crawl through the fence to get to the Old Jail...right into my "staging area" where I would wait for the next audience group. I don't know what the poor girl convinced herself that she saw as I stood there in my black greatcoat and slouch hat, but amid several shrieks and curses she quickly took her leave.

Salem, of course, has a couple of "haunted" trolley tours and walking tours, as does Boston. The "most haunted site" in Boston is said to be the Parker House Hotel (now the Omni Parker House). In their 138 year history they have seen as guests Charles Dickens, John Wilkes Booth, and John F. Kennedy - all of who are said to sometimes haunt the place.

What I want to know is...have any boaters or seamen seen anyone haunting Nix's Mate out in Boston Harbor?

[Black Syren]

Hey Captain Nash I have heard about the Cattle but I heard it was only one..Anyhow here is a link to some Texas hauntings...If you look in the W's you will see lots of weatherford hauntings and possible some in your area.

Haunted Texas

Another intresting link I have saved

Haunted places in Texas

And I have seen the Saratoga Lights, I grew up in Beaumont so we used to drive down on the weekends..Really intresting and make your hair stand up..lol

And too I live in Round Rock so Sam Bass the outlaw was killed by the Lawman Grimes who also died from the shoot out. Sam Bass is buried within walking distance from my house..will have to go take a picture and post it..

[Lady Alyx]

Always wanted to check this out, but after looking at a listing...there are lots of them out there that are just ruins.

Ghost Towns _ Calico

sorry the link is not for calico but for one of the abandoned ones that is just ruins.

[Honour Bright]

If I had the money, I would like to take a trip to New Orleans and see their "haunted" places.

Mad Matt--

Mad Jack and I have to take you to a Creole townhouse at 1140 Royal Street in the French Quarter.

We both (not at the same time) have stood across the street from it late at night.

Jack, get those day-old beignets and be ready to throw them at Madame LaLaurie.

And then run like hell.

[Red-Handed Jill]

Ah - the LaLaurie house. Stopped there as part of the aforementioned haunted tour. She wasn't there at the time...