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| Old Beulah Cemetery. |
Halloween is just 12 days away, and in the spirit of that
ghostly holiday, I present to you today The Courant’s eighth annual list of the
“Spookiest Places in Conecuh County.”
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:
Church’s Chicken: Located on West Front Street
in Evergreen, this is one of Evergreen’s best places to stop for fried chicken.
However, former employees say the restaurant’s haunted and what many readers
may not know is that the restaurant was built on land once occupied by a large,
two-story house that served for many years as Evergreen’s only funeral home.
The house, which saw an untold number of funerals, was torn down decades ago to
make way for the restaurant building.
Conecuh County Department of Human Resources
Building: Built on the site of the county’s old poor house, convict farm and a
former World War II German prisoner of war camp, DHR workers claim to hear
unexplained footsteps in the halls, especially in the building’s north wing,
late in the day and after hours. Other employees have had their hair “blown
back” by unexplained forces, and others claim to have seen the ghost of a “lady
in a long, drab skirt.” Others claim to have seen the ghosts of “women walking
with laundry” and the unexplained sounds of “clanking dishes.”
Conecuh County High School Building: Former
teachers at this Castleberry school claim to have heard, after school hours,
the unexplained sound of running footsteps in the building’s attic when no one
else was in the building. Built in 1936, this building now houses the Conecuh
County Junior High School.
Evergreen-Conecuh County Public Library:
Employees at the library have had all sorts of unusual experiences in the
building, which is on Cemetery Avenue in Evergreen. Unusual occurrences at the
building include unexplained temperature changes, thumping noises and the sound
of someone coming up the stairs when no one is there. Staff members have also
found lights on that should have been off and 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. Other
library workers claim to have 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.
Greasy Bottom Cemetery: Located near the
intersection of U.S. Highway 31 and Jaguar Drive in Evergreen, this cemetery is
said to contain between 300 and 500 graves, most of which are unmarked. Several
of these graves are surrounded by “spirit cages” that are painted with light
blue “haint paint” and are believed to keep ghosts near their graves. Oddly,
most Evergreen residents are unaware of this large cemetery despite its size
and location near one of Conecuh County’s busiest highways.
Hawthorne House Site: This residence, which was
located in Belleville and burned down in 2003, was used as a hospital for
individuals injured in a train collision in October 1862 and as a hospital for
Confederate soldiers hurt near the end of the Civil War. Many in the Belleville
community believed that the Hawthorne House held the lingering spirits of
countless Confederate souls. Lights, televisions and other modern conveniences
in the home would often malfunction for no apparent reasons.
Interstate 65: The 40-mile stretch of the
interstate between Evergreen and Greenville was designated “The Haunted
Highway” in the book, “Haunted Places: The National Directory” by Dennis
William Hauck. Book claims that this section of highway is haunted by the
spirits of displaced Creek Indians and has resulted in an “accident rate that
is well above average.”
Murder Creek Bridge on I-65: Site of numerous
unusual accidents over the years, including several that have resulted in
fatalities and catastrophic fires. One truck driver said that he struck the
bridge after a ghostly horse-drawn carriage crossed the interstate in front of
him. Others have reported seeing large, panther-like cats cross the highway in
this area.
Old Croom House: Located on North Main Street in
Evergreen, this antebellum house is said to be haunted by the “Grey Lady,” the
ghost of a woman who supposedly has haunted this house for almost a century. In
recent years, at least two women visitors to the house have reported seeing the
ghost of a woman standing in the bathtub in the home’s master bathroom. Others
claim to hear ghostly music in the house while others have heard tales of a
ghostly woman who sings softly while rocking in a rocking chair.
Stoddard House: Said to be the most haunted
location in all of Conecuh County, this one-story brick house is located south
of Evergreen on U.S. Highway 31, near the Alabama Department of Transportation
office. Former residents claimed to have endured a wide variety of unexplained
experiences, including the sound of footsteps in the attic, knocking on walls,
a baby crying, disembodied voices and seeing ghostly figures. Members of the
Delta Paranormal Project’s Alabama Chapter investigated the home in January
2013 and reported that they believe the house is haunted by at least one spirit
and maybe as many as three.
Bloody Bones Well: A short distance north of the
Old Flag Tree on Old Town Church Road in the Old Town community, you’ll find an
old home place with an old-style well in the backyard. Local tales about this
site have been passed down for at least the past half century and say that a
creature known as “Bloody Bones” lives in the well. Supposedly, if you venture
too close to this well at the wrong times of the day or month, “Bloody Bones”
will drag you down into the darkness.
The Evergreen Courant Office: Located on Rural
Street in one of the oldest buildings in downtown Evergreen, unexplained noises
can be heard during the day and after hours. Long time employees at The Courant
jokingly say that the noises are just former employees who don’t know that
they’ve passed their final “deadline.”
Flat Rock: Purported to be the home of
Pukwudgies, that is, two-to-three-foot-tall troll-like creatures from Indian
folklore that resemble humans. Witnesses say that they have large ears, fingers
and noses and smooth, grey skin. Native Americans believed it best to leave
these creatures alone because they were said to shoot poison areas, start fires
and lure people to their deaths.
First Evergreen Cemetery: Small cemetery located
in Evergreen, just off Main Street, about a 1/4-mile south of the old Evergreen
High School location. Contains some of the city’s earliest graves, including
several unusual-looking unmarked vaults made with handmade bricks. Many of the cemetery’s
graves are unmarked.
Gallows Hollow: Located north of Lyeffion near
the intersection of the CCC Trail and the Sepulga River, it’s where outlaw
brothers Irvin and Stephen Ward were hung for the murder of Allen Page on Nov.
18, 1859. After the hanging, the old
gallows were not removed following the execution and it stood for many decades
as a reminder of the tragic murder at Fork Sepulga. The location of that murder
and hanging, where the old gallows stood, was known thereafter as “Gallows
Hollow.”
King’s Crossing: This railroad crossing, located
at the intersection of West Front Street and Belleville Street in downtown
Evergreen, has been the site of countless accidents and deaths during the past
century. At one time considered the most dangerous railroad crossing in Alabama
and one of the most deadly in America, Evergreen Mayor Pete Wolff told The
Mobile Press-Register in October 2013 that the crossing was “almost like a
ghost crossing. It just invites people to run into trains, and not only do they
pull in front of them, they even run into them from the side sometimes. We’ve
had people that walked on the tracks and been run over. Sometimes a train will
come and you can’t hear it. There’s just something weird about it."
Monster Road: The traditional nickname of what
was also called the Hagood Road, which once connected Conecuh County Road 29
and Brooklyn Road, southeast of Evergreen. No one can say with any certainty
how this road came to be named “Monster Road.” In May 2012, the Conecuh County
Commission officially closed a portion of this road, three miles north of its
intersection with Conecuh County Road 29.
Old Beulah Cemetery: One of the county’s oldest
cemeteries, which contains a number of old fashioned headstones and monuments.
The cemetery is located near the intersection of Hagood Road and County Road
29, southeast of Evergreen.
Old Carter Hospital: Located on Burnt Corn
Street in Repton, this was once the only hospital for a hundred miles in every
direction. Closed in the mid-1950s, when Monroe County Hospital opened in
Monroeville, this structure has seen more than its fair share of pain, sickness
and death.
Old Castleberry Bank Building: Located in
downtown Castleberry at the intersection of Cleveland Avenue and West Railroad
Street, this building is said to be haunted by the ghost of a former bank
president who committed suicide there during the Great Depression. A former
employee who worked there in the 1980s said that she and fellow coworkers would
hear a man’s voice even when there were no men in the building and would often
catch an unexplainable whiff of cigar smoke. Objects inside the bank would also
get moved around overnight while the bank was empty, employees said.
Old L&N Train Depot: Located in downtown
Evergreen and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, this building
is over 100 years old. Thousands of people passed through this train station
during its heyday, and former employees have shared tales about hearing unexplained
noises in the building at all times of the day and night.
Old Sparta Site: According to “Shadows and Dust,
Volume II” by Kevin McKinley, this is the location of a haunted well. The story
goes that whispers can be heard coming from the well, which may have been
constructed near the burial grounds of some long since removed Indian tribe.
·
Pine Orchard: This community on the border of
Conecuh and Monroe counties is the site of multiple sightings of a Bigfoot-like
creature and witnesses, including a local minister, have reported seeing the
creature on more than one occasion. Unusual noises, rock-throwing and other
activity in the community have been attributed to the creature. This community
is also the home of the “Mystery Stones of Pine Orchard,” that is, wheel-shaped
stones of disputed, possibly Native American, origin.
Sanders Cave: Large cave located about 3-1/2
miles northwest of Brooklyn. According to the June 1, 1967 edition of The
Brewton Standard, it’s believed that Joseph Thompson Hare’s gang of robbers
buried gold in the cave. Hare’s gang, which was organized in New Orleans in
1801, robbed overland travelers from New Orleans to Pensacola. Hare was
eventually hanged in Baltimore in 1818 for robbing a U.S. Mail coach.
Sepulga River: Multiple reports of a
Bigfoot-type creature have been reported along the length of this meandering
river, especially near Travis Bridge and Staples Bridge. Reported sightings of
this creature date back as far as 2004, and multiple sightings of the creature
were reported during the 2016 calendar year, garnering attention from Bigfoot
investigators across the Southeast.
Shipps Pond: This 43-acre lake is located
between Castleberry and Brewton. In 1862, during the Civil War, plantation
owner Henchie Warren supposedly sank a chest of gold and other valuables to the
bottom of the lake to hide it from Union troops. Over the years, many have
unsuccessfully tried to find this hidden chest, and a number of people believe
that Warren’s chest of gold remains there today, waiting to be discovered
beneath layers of black mud.
Weaver Pond Road: Located near the
Conecuh-Escambia County line and Weaver Pond and L Pond, game cameras in this
area in October 2011 captured an unexplained “ghost image” of a man walking
through the wooded area. Individuals living near L Pond said the person in the
photo looks like Pott Weaver, who once lived in the area but passed away in
1984 - 27 years before the picture was taken. This ghostly image was so
mysterious that The Mobile Press-Register published a full-length feature story
about the unusual photo in its Oct. 31, 2011 edition.
Other nominees for the list have included the Baggett
Cemetery in Castleberry, the old Civil Air Patrol Building in Evergreen, the
Hampden Ridge Cemetery near Old Fort Autrey, the Old Evergreen Hotel site in
downtown Evergreen, the Old Huggins Grist Mill site at Cohassett, the old Price
Hotel-Stagecoach Stop at Owassa, the Old Pritchett Home in Evergreen, the old
Ray Brothers Store site near Travis Bridge, the Old Red Wine Bridge near
Castleberry and the Old Ward Plantation.
Before I close this thing out, I want to make perfectly
clear that more than a few of these places are more than likely 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, get up with me if you know a good local ghost
story or have information about a spooky location in Conecuh County.
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