October is finally here, and this month is one of the best of the year, especially for newspaper reporters.Thanks to Halloween, it’s about the only time of the year in which we can legitimately write news feature stories about local legends, ghosts and haunted houses.
I’ve always enjoyed a good ghost story, and I’ve found that writing about them can be even more fun. Since first coming to The Courant four years ago, I’ve had a number of people share local ghost stories with me and what follows are some of the best.
A former Chamber of Commerce employee once told me that she believes that the Old Depot in downtown Evergreen is haunted. She said that she often heard unexplained noises while working there, and it was common for her to hear, usually late in the day, the sounds of people talking and walking around in an adjacent room. When she’d go to check, no one would be in the room or anywhere else in the building.
Another time, I had a former county coroner tell me that he believes that the stretch of I-65 between the Evergreen and Castleberry exits is cursed. He said that an unusually high number of accidents have occurred in this area over the years and that some motorists claim to have seen an unusual “creature” dart in front of their vehicles on this part of the highway. His theory was that the distraction caused by the creature might have been the cause of so many of these accidents.
One thing that is interesting about this tale is that it’s also mentioned in a 1996 book called “Haunted Places: The National Directory: Ghostly Abodes, Sacred Sites, UFO Landings and Other Supernatural Locations” by Dennis William Hauck. On Page 3 of this book, you’ll find an entry for “Evergreen: I-65” and here’s what else the book has to say.
“A section of this modern highway is haunted. Engineers built the highway over sacred Creek Indian burial grounds. The hills around Evergreen remain the Creeks’ spiritual home, and many believe that their ghosts haunt the white man’s highway that runs through the middle of it. The Creeks loved the land so much that they said goodbye to every tree and hill when they were forced to leave the area in the 1830s. Of the fifteen thousand Creeks marched to a reservation in Oklahoma, over 3,500 died along the way. Between 1984 and 1990, there were 519 accidents, 208 injuries and 23 deaths on this 40-mile stretch of highway. The road is even, straight, and well-maintained, but the accident rate is well above average.”
The book goes on to say that “The Haunted Highway is a 40-mile stretch of I-65 that runs between the towns of Evergreen in Conecuh County and Greenville in Butler County, in south central Alabama.”
On another occasion, a retired schoolteacher told me that she had a number of unusual experiences at Conecuh County High School in Castleberry. A number of times while working late after school hours, she claimed to have heard the sound of running footsteps in the building’s attic and on each occasion she knew that she was the only person in the building.
The Conecuh County High School building, which now houses Conecuh County Junior High School, was constructed in 1936.
Last, but not least, I’ve had present and former staff members at the Evergreen-Conecuh County Public Library tell me that they’ve had several unusual experiences in the building, which is located on Cemetery Avenue in Evergreen. These experiences include cold temperatures even when the thermostat’s turned up, unexplained thumping noises throughout the building and finding lights on that should have been off. Staffers have also found books “turned topsy-turvy” or misplaced on shelves as well as items on the floor, even though things had been in their proper place when they closed the building the day before.
They say that this unusual activity has increased now that the building’s second floor has been opened for public use after recent renovations. Workers there also say that strange sounds have been on the rise, including the sound of someone coming up the stairs even when no one is there.
All of this aside, some library employees also claim to have actually seen a ghost outside on the library grounds. They describe this ghost as a young girl, wearing what looks like turn-of-the-century clothing and riding breeches, standing next to a phantom horse. The girl has her arm draped around the horse’s neck, witnesses said.
According to local historians, as many as three houses were once located on the corner where the library property sits today, so maybe this ghostly girl once tended her horse there decades ago.
I say all of this to say that if you’ve got a ghost story to tell, I’d like to hear it. If you know a good local ghost story, call me and tell me about it. You can reach me by calling 578-1492, by e-mail at courantsports@earthlink.net or by mail at The Evergreen Courant, ATTN: Lee Peacock, P.O. Box 440, Evergreen, AL 36401.
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