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| The King Plantation House at Uriah, Ala. |
Today is Halloween, and in the spirit of that ghostly
holiday, I present you today my fifth annual list of the Spookiest Places
in Monroe County, Alabama.
As with previous editions of this list, I compiled it after
discussing the subject with a number of the county’s lifelong residents and
individuals well versed in the county’s long history. Without further ado,
here’s the list:
- Bailey’s Well: According to George Singleton’s classic book,
“Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” this well is located by an ironwood tree in
a field at Franklin and is also known as the “Well That Won’t Stay Filled.”
Curbed by old, handmade bricks, no one knows who originally dug the well, which
has supposedly been abandoned since the early 1800s. Numerous attempts were
made to fill it with rocks, track, junk and timber logs, but all of those items
disappeared without a trace, leading some people to believe that the well
connects with an underground river or that its bottom is filled with quicksand.
- Bradley Ridge: George Singleton, Monroe County’s
preeminent paranormal investigator, had numerous experiences in this once
“thriving community,” which was located off the Ridge Road north of
Monroeville. The area is supposedly haunted by the ghost of an old man carrying
a large sack who is always seen walking east near an old abandoned cemetery.
Singleton also witnessed a phantom rooster and dog in the area, smelled cooking
food, saw “several glowing balls” and heard disembodied voices, including the
voices of “several small children, laughing and calling as though they were
playing a game.”
- Butterfork Creek Bridge: Located on State Highway 59, a
mile or so west of downtown Uriah, this bridge serves as a way for travelers to
go between Uriah and the Palmers Crossroads community in south Monroe County.
More than a few motorists over the years have repeatedly reported seeing a
woman in dressed in white on the bridge. Most report seeing this ghostly woman
on the east end of the bridge.
- Claiborne Masonic Lodge: Located now at Perdue Hill on U.S. Highway 84, this
building, pictured above, is the oldest existing manmade structure in Monroe
County. Built in 1819 at Claiborne, this building was used as a courtroom, town
hall, church, school and one of the earliest Masonic lodges in the state. Visited
by Revolutionary War hero, Marquis De Lafayette, in 1825, this building was
moved a few miles east to Perdue Hill in 1884. Lafayette was the last surviving
general of the Revolutionary War at the time of his visit. This building was
also used for Ku Klux Klan meetings at one time during its history.
- The C.L. Hybart House: Located on Hybart Drive in Monroeville, this restored
1920s house is one of Monroe County’s most distinctive buildings. Built in the
manner of a Mediterranean Spanish villa, including stucco, tile and columns
made with stones from Limestone Creek. Now owned by the Monroe County Heritage
Museums and operated under the name of the “Hybart House Museum and Cultural
Center,” this reputedly haunted residence was built by the late Charlie Hybart,
a colorful local attorney who became known for holding lavish parties that were
attended by VIPs and politicians from all over the state.
- Davis Ferry: Singleton reported spending the night at the
base of a cliff near the ferry at the site of an old Indian camp on the east
side of the Alabama River. Singleton awoke in the middle of the night to see
what he called the “Night Walkers,” a number of ghosts that walked in a
single-file line by his campsite. Each carried a bundle on his back and moved down
the hill in a single-file line towards the river.
- The Devil’s Bowl: Located about three miles off of State
Highway 21 in the vicinity of the Megargel and Goodway communities, this
geological oddity is a pool that’s about 30 feet in diameter. Also called “The
Devil’s Soup Bowl,” no surface stream feeds this freshwater pool of deep, dark
water, which is said to be one of “Monroe County’s strangest sights.” Locals
claim that this pool is bottomless. Possible explanations for its existence
vary from an ancient meteor impact to the idea that it’s the shaft left behind
by dead volcano.
- Dr. Watkins House: Located on the west side of County Road 5, about 1-1/2
miles north of Burnt Corn, this house was built in 1812 and was once the
residence of Dr. John Watkins, the only doctor between the Alabama and
Chattahoochee rivers. Watkins is said to have treated the wounded from the Fort
Mims Massacre at the house in 1813, and some sources say Andrew Jackson spent
the night there when he passed through the area on his way to the Battle of New
Orleans in 1815.
The ghost of Watkins has reportedly been seen standing in the doorway to one of
the home’s first floor bedrooms and the top of the front porch is painted with
traditional “haint paint” to keep spirits from entering the home. Perhaps the
most bizarre thing to occur in the house in recent memory took place in the
wake of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 when loggers fled the house after hearing a
woman scream. Others who’ve stayed at the house have complained of the uneasy
feelings they get from artwork inside the house, including an original painting
of a woman carving a Jack o’ Lantern.
- Franklin: “Ghost lights” have been reported in this
community north of Monroeville for years, and on May 6, 1971 Singleton reported seeing a “mysterious
ball of fire” that was “in and around the area across Flat Creek on the right
of Highway 41.” Singleton saw “almost at tree-top level” a “glowing ball of
reddish blue flame, floating southward at a lazy pace.” It was about 12 inches
in diameter and looked like a “clear, plastic balloon with some type of light
inside.” Similar “ghost lights” have also been reported in the Finchburg
community.
- Gin House Bottom: Located north of Monroeville, near the intersection of the
Ridge Road and State Highway 41 (formerly called the Camden Highway), there
were once a number of stores and family residences in this area, which took its
name from a local cotton gin.
Also in this area, a tale sprung to life about a headless horseman that was
seen by a number of county residences.
“On moonlit nights, when one could see, the headless rider could be seen riding
the road along Gin Bottom Road,” George Singleton wrote in one of his Monroe
Journal columns. “This was a common sight to the men who had to travel the road
late at night after a hard day at the cotton gin. I have been told that on
several occasions, the horse and rider would pass so close to a traveler that
he could try to reach out and touch the headless rider.”
- King Plantation House: Featured on two episodes of the Travel Channel’s “The
Dead Files,” this 9,000-square feet Greek Revival Style house was originally
located at Packer’s Bend in the northwest corner of Monroe County. Built by the
nephew of U.S. Vice President William Rufus King in the late 1850s and early
1860s, it was moved to Uriah by former state legislator Eugene Garrett in 1965.
Creepy tales abound about this house, where supposedly a number of the King
family passed away within its walls from yellow fever that was brought home by
a family member who served in the Civil War. In “The Dead Files” the house’s
owner said she feared her life was in danger from being attacked by the evil
spirit of a man who once lived in the house.
Located on State Highway 59, about half a mile from the intersection of Hwy. 59
and State Highway 21, it’s said that this house has the broadest façade of any
plantation house in Alabama.
- Klepac’s Old Store: This old store was once located near the intersection of the
“old Franklin road” and the Ridge Road, and also known as the “Oak & Ash”
for a giant oak and an ash tree that grew side by side and was one of the
better known landmarks in the area. The trees are gone now, but were so close
together that a horse could barely be rode between them. In the early 1900s, a
man was hung from the oak tree.
- Louisville and Nashville Railroad Train Tunnel at Tunnel Springs: This
abandoned train tunnel is now home to hundreds of thumb-sized bats. Completed
in 1899, this 840-foot-long tunnel was built by four crews of 15 men each
working day and night using simple equipment. One crew is said to have worked
from the north side while the other worked from the south. The story also goes
that a number of workers died during the construction of this eerie tunnel.
- McConnico Cemetery: Large cemetery, located off Monroe County Road 1 at
Perdue Hill, containing some of the count’s oldest graves. According to
“Haunted Places: The National Directory” by Dennis William Hauck, this cemetery
is the setting for the county’s best known ghost story.
“The phantoms of 12 Union horsemen have been seen riding near this old
graveyard,” Hauck wrote. “Captain and Mrs. Charles Locklin witnessed the
ghostly parade in autumn of 1865. The Locklins were in their carriage early one
morning when two columns of six soldiers on gray horses passed by on each side
of them.
“Each member of the eerie troop wore white gloves, with his hands crossed on
the pommel of his saddle, and every one wore a white bandage wrapped tightly
around his head. The two respected citizens were certain they had been victims
of Confederate solider Lafayette Sigler, who ambushed Northern patrols, killed
them and cut off their ears. Sigler’s collection of Yankee ears was said to
have been quite impressive.”
This first encounter with the ghost soldiers is also said to have occurred on
Mount Pleasant Road and sporadic sightings were reported over the hundred
years.
- Midway Cave: Large limestone cave located near the Midway
community in northeast Monroe County, located near the Midway Fire Tower, about
200 yards off the road. Singleton says that the cave is 50 feet across and 20
feet deep with a roof blackened by the smoke of a thousand cook fires.
- Monroe County Public Library: Located on Pineville Road in Monroeville,
this building houses over 60,000 volumes and is located in the former LaSalle
Hotel. The library has been in this location since 1984, but the building is
located on one of the oldest parcels of land recognized for continuous usage in
Monroe County. In the past, the property has been used as a stable, various
homes, a Methodist parsonage and as the LaSalle Hotel. Its famous guests
included actor, Gregory Peck, who visited Monroeville during the 1960s.
More than a few library patrons have claim to have had unusual experiences on
the library’s second floor.
“Once you leave the bright, sunny ground floor and climb the stairs to the
second floor, where many of the former rooms were located, you just get a
creepy feeling all over. Like most hotels, this building probably saw its fair
share of visitors from all over, and I think that a few of them just decided to
stay.”
- Mt. Pisgah Cemetery: Located off Wildfork Road (Monroe County Road 18)
between Frisco City and the Wildfork community, this cemetery serves as the
final resting place of hundreds of former community residents. Variations of
the story exist, but more than a few people have reported parking at this
cemetery late at night and when conditions are just right a mysterious red ball
of light will emerge from the tree line on the east side of the cemetery. The
ball of light is most often described as “basketball-sized” and reportedly
travels from the trees towards the parked vehicle.
- Mount Pleasant: Site of Monroe County’s only Civil War
“skirmish” and said to be the site of a mass grave of 40 to 50 Confederate
soldiers. The area is now supposedly haunted by the ghost of Mary Watkins, who
roams the countryside with a lantern and shovel searching for the body of her
husband, Cpl. Ezekiel Watkins. She’s also said to wear an old Rebel overcoat over
her shoulders.
- Nancy Mountain at Haine’s Island: Located off Monroe
County Road 17 at Franklin, this locale is the site of one of the county’s most
enduring ghost stories, the story of “Crazy Nancy.”
Variations of this story exist, but the most common version says that the ghost
of a woman, “Crazy Nancy” or “Aunt Nancy,” can be seen walking up and down the
hill to Davis Ferry in hopes of meeting her son and husband who were claimed by
the Civil War, never to return. Witnesses say that this female phantom is seen
walking with a lantern (or long walking stick) in one hand and with a bucket of
water in the other.
According to George B. Singleton’s book, “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,”
you’ll know this spirit by her long, gingham dress, her old bonnet and the
long, white hair that hangs out the back of her bonnet and all the way down to
her waist.
- Nettles Auditorium at Alabama Southern Community College: Located in
Monroeville, this building seats almost 900 people and is often the preferred
venue for large community events. Former students and workers at the college
claim to have heard unusual sounds at odd times as well as the unexplained
malfunction of lights and other electrical devices. Others claim to have heard
an unseen “entity” walking down the aisles, making his (or her) presence known
by the scraping of their feet along the carpet. Witnesses have also reported
hearing the loud pop of a seat back being slapped by unseen hands as well as
the unexplained unlocking of door locks that should have been secured.
- Old Claiborne Cemetery: Located off of U.S. Highway 84 at
Claiborne, Singleton remarked that almost everyone buried there was under the
age of 50 at the time of their death. Cemetery includes many yellow fever and
small pox victims, including Emily N. Bagby, the wife of Alabama governor
Arthur P. Bagby. She was 21 years old when she died of yellow fever during a
visit to Claiborne in May 1825.
- Old Frisco City High School Building: Located on School
Street in Frisco City, this building was constructed in the early 1920s and
served the community for decades before closing in 2009. Some passersby claim
to see lights on inside the building late at night when no one is there. Others
claim to have heard strange noises coming from the tunnel that runs beneath the
school’s main building.
- Old Monroe County Courthouse: Nicknamed “America’s Most Famous Courthouse,”
this building was constructed in 1903 and is now one of the most often
photographed buildings in the state. From 1903 to the construction of a new
courthouse in 1963, this building housed most county offices and was the center
of the county’s court system. It’s most famous for being the model of the
courtroom seen in the trial scenes in the movie version of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Now the home of the Monroe County Heritage Museums, frequent quests say that
the upstairs part of the building can get very creepy on quiet nights. “Things
blow in the breeze but there is no breeze,” one man said. “You hear sounds that
don’t belong, and I have smelled pipe tobacco smoke when no one was smoking or
even there to be smoking.”
- Pine Orchard: Located in northeast Monroe County, this
community is the home of the “Mystery Stones.” These 12 circular stones found
near Lone Star Church. Singleton theorizes that the site was a “huge,
prehistoric Indian village” and that the stones may have been part of some
ancient calendar.
- Rikard’s Mill: Located about five miles north of Beatrice,
this fully restored 19th century grist mill is currently owned and operated by
the Monroe County Heritage Museums. Constructed over Flat Creek, multiple
witnesses have reported seeing “shadow figures” pass in front of the mill’s
windows when the mill was completely empty and no one else was in the area.
Other witnesses have reported the unexplained sighting of a woman floating down
the creek in a pink coffin.
- The Robbins Hotel Site: Used for years as a hunting club,
this historic former hotel located in downtown Beatrice, adjacent to town hall,
burned down in October 2012. Listed on the National Register of Historic
Places, this hotel was located just off the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
and was operated for many years by Miss Minnie Robbins. The hotel’s patrons
were largely made up of railroad travelers, and the hotel featured 14 rooms,
each with a fireplace.
Before I close this think out, I want to make perfectly
clear that more than a few of the places mentioned above are located on private
property, so if you get the idea to visit any of these places (especially at
night), you’d better get permission first or run the risk of trespassing. Also,
if you plan to visit any of these places, especially cemeteries, respect your
surroundings.
In the end, contact me if you know a good local ghost story
or have information about a spooky location in Monroe County. 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.
