Western North Carolina Ghosts -- Info for the Thorough Tourist
Oct 1st, 2003, 03:06 PM
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Western North Carolina Ghosts -- Info for the Thorough Tourist
As promised, here's a guide to the ghosts of the Asheville-Hendersonville area of Western North Carolina. Please bear in mind that these are the haunts open to, or at least visible to, the general public. There are hundreds of ghosts haunting private property here, so this is only the tiniest sampling of what's spooky in the Asheville area. Asheville is quite a scary city if you do your research.
Also bear in mind there are lots of great haunted places elsewhere in the mountains away from Asheville, like the Glendale Springs Inn and Restaurant in Glendale Springs, east of Asheville, and Western Carolina University in Cullowhee and Appalachian State University in Boone, west and north of town, respectively, just to name a couple! Here though, are the haunted places to see in Asheville-Hendersonville and nearby -- if you're visiting the area this fall, don't miss 'em!
Asheville -- Battery Park Apartments -- This Georgian-style high-rise building was once downtown Asheville's grandest hotel. Though now an apartment complex for senior citizens, the building is haunted by the ghost of a young female hotel guest who was brutally murdered here in the 1930's, and also by at least two male suicide victims who jumped from the roof and are sometimes seen plummeting toward the ground before vanishing in mid-air -- about which the Asheville Police Department occasionally receives calls from horrified witnesses.
Asheville -- Battle Mansion -- Now vacant, the former headquarters of WLOS-TV, Asheville's ABC affiliate, is neighbor to the Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa. A spirit named Alice, thought to be that of a maid who died in a fall down a staircase haunts this imposing mansion. A ghost in a lavender dress, somehow connected with the Battle Mansion, is sometimes seen walking with the Grove Park Inn's "Pink Lady" on the Inn's golf course.
Asheville -- Biltmore Estate -- Numerous phantoms stalk the elegant halls of America's largest home, including a woman dressed in black who appears on the second floor, a maid who appears to startled visitors and offers them a glass of champagne from a tray before vanishing, a headless orange cat seen in the gardens, and a maid who stands guard by a door on the third floor. Unidentified spirits, thought to be Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt, haunt the Library, Oak Sitting Room, and Billiard Room, while the sound of maniacal laughter sometimes issues from the drain of the basement swimming pool.
Asheville -- Club Fusion -- This hip Asheville nightspot occupies a former warehouse over a century old in Biltmore Village. Poltergeist activity has been reported here, and from time to time a misty white human form appears on security videotape, striding across the dance floor before disappearing. Peculiar electrical, temperature, and light phenomena seem to cluster around the dance cages.
Asheville -- Clyde A. Erwin High School -- This modern building was constructed in 1973 on a plot of land owned by Buncombe County and thought to contain a handful of graves from a small family cemetery. To their horror, engineers and county officials discovered well over a thousand graves beneath the soil, and an investigation revealed that the land was home to a long-forgotten paupers cemetery where orphans, drifters, criminals, and patients from local tuberculosis hospitals were interred. Nails, splinters, and pieces of broken bone work their way up through the soil after heavy rains and numerous grave-shaped and -sized depressions dot the school grounds. Though efforts were made to relocate all the graves, between one and two hundred bodies are believed to still lie beneath the school. Custodians are reluctant to work inside the building at night, and report being followed by heavy footsteps through the halls.
Asheville -- Estes-Winn Memorial Automobile Museum -- Located near the famous Grove Park Inn, this showplace of antique cars is home also to mysterious orbs of light, visible using infrared cameras, seen flitting from vehicle to vehicle at night.
Asheville -- Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa -- A female apparition dressed in pink appears throughout the property, especially in and around Room 545. Electrical anomalies and inexplicable temperature changes have been recorded throughout the historic Main Inn, and guests report being tickled and pinched by unseen fingers, and are sometimes even hugged by invisible arms. While activity is strongest near Room 545, the hotel nightclub is so haunted that years ago security refused to police it late at night after closing, and workers have been chased out of utility tunnels beneath the buildings by "things" they refuse to discuss, while guests in various rooms occasionally awaken to feel someone who isn't there crawling into bed with them. Ghosts have also appeared in various hallways throughout the hotel, and even on the resort's golf course, where the so-called "Pink Lady" is sometimes seen strolling with a phantom in a lavender gown. The Pink Lady seems fondest of appearing to police officers and to young children, with whom she holds long conversations.
Asheville -- "Helen's Bridge" -- Something of a local urban legend, this decrepit wooden bridge on Town Mountain connects Zealandia Castle with its grounds across a narrow gorge. In the early 1900's a woman named Helen hanged herself here in despair at news that her daughter had died in a fire at the Castle. Her tragic spirit remains at the bridge, kept company by much darker entities -- Helen's Bridge has become a popular place for the practice of black magic.
Asheville -- Jackson Building -- The upper floors of Asheville's most historic skyscraper are haunted by the despairing spirits of financiers who lost their fortunes in the stock market crash of 1929 and consequently hurled themselves from the roof.
Asheville -- The Melting Pot -- The ghosts at this popular Biltmore Village restaurant date from the building's history as a bank controlled by mobsters during the Prohibition era. One ghost is that of a man perpetually searching for a lost fortune hidden in the walls.
Asheville -- Reed House Bed and Breakfast -- Constructed for George Vanderbilt's attorney and his family, this Victorian mansion in Biltmore Village is haunted by the ghosts of its original inhabitants, including Mr. Reed, who can be heard playing billiards late at night in the game room, Mrs. Reed, and their children, who are heard laughing and bounding up and down the back staircase.
Buncombe County/Henderson County -- French Broad River -- Cherokee legend states that a murderous mermaid lives in the river that flows through Asheville and, southward, through Henderson County. She snatches the unwary who wander too close to the riverbank and pulls them in to drown.
Swannanoa -- Warren Wilson College -- One of the dormitory buildings at this small liberal arts college in the Asheville suburb of Swannanoa was originally constructed as a slaughterhouse. Sometimes the building is permeated by the odors of blood and freshly butchered meat, and teachers and students alike have encountered spectral cattle in the basement.
Weaverville -- Inn on Main Street -- This quaint bed and breakfast inn in Weaverville, an Asheville suburb, was originally the comfortable home of a local doctor. Though a competent physician, some patients died on his operating table and still haunt the house, seemingly unaware that the doctor himself died long ago as well.
Also bear in mind there are lots of great haunted places elsewhere in the mountains away from Asheville, like the Glendale Springs Inn and Restaurant in Glendale Springs, east of Asheville, and Western Carolina University in Cullowhee and Appalachian State University in Boone, west and north of town, respectively, just to name a couple! Here though, are the haunted places to see in Asheville-Hendersonville and nearby -- if you're visiting the area this fall, don't miss 'em!
Asheville -- Battery Park Apartments -- This Georgian-style high-rise building was once downtown Asheville's grandest hotel. Though now an apartment complex for senior citizens, the building is haunted by the ghost of a young female hotel guest who was brutally murdered here in the 1930's, and also by at least two male suicide victims who jumped from the roof and are sometimes seen plummeting toward the ground before vanishing in mid-air -- about which the Asheville Police Department occasionally receives calls from horrified witnesses.
Asheville -- Battle Mansion -- Now vacant, the former headquarters of WLOS-TV, Asheville's ABC affiliate, is neighbor to the Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa. A spirit named Alice, thought to be that of a maid who died in a fall down a staircase haunts this imposing mansion. A ghost in a lavender dress, somehow connected with the Battle Mansion, is sometimes seen walking with the Grove Park Inn's "Pink Lady" on the Inn's golf course.
Asheville -- Biltmore Estate -- Numerous phantoms stalk the elegant halls of America's largest home, including a woman dressed in black who appears on the second floor, a maid who appears to startled visitors and offers them a glass of champagne from a tray before vanishing, a headless orange cat seen in the gardens, and a maid who stands guard by a door on the third floor. Unidentified spirits, thought to be Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt, haunt the Library, Oak Sitting Room, and Billiard Room, while the sound of maniacal laughter sometimes issues from the drain of the basement swimming pool.
Asheville -- Club Fusion -- This hip Asheville nightspot occupies a former warehouse over a century old in Biltmore Village. Poltergeist activity has been reported here, and from time to time a misty white human form appears on security videotape, striding across the dance floor before disappearing. Peculiar electrical, temperature, and light phenomena seem to cluster around the dance cages.
Asheville -- Clyde A. Erwin High School -- This modern building was constructed in 1973 on a plot of land owned by Buncombe County and thought to contain a handful of graves from a small family cemetery. To their horror, engineers and county officials discovered well over a thousand graves beneath the soil, and an investigation revealed that the land was home to a long-forgotten paupers cemetery where orphans, drifters, criminals, and patients from local tuberculosis hospitals were interred. Nails, splinters, and pieces of broken bone work their way up through the soil after heavy rains and numerous grave-shaped and -sized depressions dot the school grounds. Though efforts were made to relocate all the graves, between one and two hundred bodies are believed to still lie beneath the school. Custodians are reluctant to work inside the building at night, and report being followed by heavy footsteps through the halls.
Asheville -- Estes-Winn Memorial Automobile Museum -- Located near the famous Grove Park Inn, this showplace of antique cars is home also to mysterious orbs of light, visible using infrared cameras, seen flitting from vehicle to vehicle at night.
Asheville -- Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa -- A female apparition dressed in pink appears throughout the property, especially in and around Room 545. Electrical anomalies and inexplicable temperature changes have been recorded throughout the historic Main Inn, and guests report being tickled and pinched by unseen fingers, and are sometimes even hugged by invisible arms. While activity is strongest near Room 545, the hotel nightclub is so haunted that years ago security refused to police it late at night after closing, and workers have been chased out of utility tunnels beneath the buildings by "things" they refuse to discuss, while guests in various rooms occasionally awaken to feel someone who isn't there crawling into bed with them. Ghosts have also appeared in various hallways throughout the hotel, and even on the resort's golf course, where the so-called "Pink Lady" is sometimes seen strolling with a phantom in a lavender gown. The Pink Lady seems fondest of appearing to police officers and to young children, with whom she holds long conversations.
Asheville -- "Helen's Bridge" -- Something of a local urban legend, this decrepit wooden bridge on Town Mountain connects Zealandia Castle with its grounds across a narrow gorge. In the early 1900's a woman named Helen hanged herself here in despair at news that her daughter had died in a fire at the Castle. Her tragic spirit remains at the bridge, kept company by much darker entities -- Helen's Bridge has become a popular place for the practice of black magic.
Asheville -- Jackson Building -- The upper floors of Asheville's most historic skyscraper are haunted by the despairing spirits of financiers who lost their fortunes in the stock market crash of 1929 and consequently hurled themselves from the roof.
Asheville -- The Melting Pot -- The ghosts at this popular Biltmore Village restaurant date from the building's history as a bank controlled by mobsters during the Prohibition era. One ghost is that of a man perpetually searching for a lost fortune hidden in the walls.
Asheville -- Reed House Bed and Breakfast -- Constructed for George Vanderbilt's attorney and his family, this Victorian mansion in Biltmore Village is haunted by the ghosts of its original inhabitants, including Mr. Reed, who can be heard playing billiards late at night in the game room, Mrs. Reed, and their children, who are heard laughing and bounding up and down the back staircase.
Buncombe County/Henderson County -- French Broad River -- Cherokee legend states that a murderous mermaid lives in the river that flows through Asheville and, southward, through Henderson County. She snatches the unwary who wander too close to the riverbank and pulls them in to drown.
Swannanoa -- Warren Wilson College -- One of the dormitory buildings at this small liberal arts college in the Asheville suburb of Swannanoa was originally constructed as a slaughterhouse. Sometimes the building is permeated by the odors of blood and freshly butchered meat, and teachers and students alike have encountered spectral cattle in the basement.
Weaverville -- Inn on Main Street -- This quaint bed and breakfast inn in Weaverville, an Asheville suburb, was originally the comfortable home of a local doctor. Though a competent physician, some patients died on his operating table and still haunt the house, seemingly unaware that the doctor himself died long ago as well.
Oct 1st, 2003, 03:29 PM
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And now, the ghosts of Henderson County and Hickory Nut Gorge(located in Henderson County that the northwesternmost tip of Rutherford County).
Big Willow -- Beaulah Baptist Church -- In the forests near this Big Willow church lurks a menacing "watching" spirit that sometimes appears as a white cloud hovering low to the ground, relentlessly pursuing anyone alone in the woods at night.
Big Willow -- Willow Road -- A wizened, bent old woman dressed in black haunts a stretch of this road near Shaw's Creek Baptist Church. Supposedly she searches for her son, who went off to serve in the Civil War and never returned.
Chimney Rock Village -- Chimney Rock Park -- Early settlers of Hickory Nut Gorge reported bizarre sights on and around the giant granite monolith towering above them, including vast battles between angels and blinding white armies on horseback, roiling in the sky.
Edneyville -- Appleola Road -- Periodically, the ghost of a man with glowing red eyes rockets past the intersection of Appleola and World's Edge roads, driving a buckboard and whipping his horses into a frenzy.
Edneyville -- Bearwallow Mountain -- Those who live on the slopes of Henderson County's tallest mountain report sightings of demons, wolf spirits, and a ghostly maiden who resides in a waterfall.
Edneyville -- "Beau's Curve" -- In the 1800's a rock quarry was located beside this sharp curve on Gilliam Mountain Road in Edneyville, in Henderson County. Prisoners from local jails were forced to mine the quarry, under the watchful eyes of prison guards. "Beau" was such a guard, murdered in a prisoner revolt. The quarry has long since disappeared beneath thick forest, but Beau remains.
Flat Rock -- St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church -- Early parishioners, interred in the walls and floor, haunt this church, which was built in the early 1800's. In addition, a phantom soldier in the churchyard can sometimes be heard playing a dirge on a bugle on rainy nights.
Flat Rock -- Woodfield Inn -- The Morris Room at this Flat Rock landmark, the oldest continually operating hotel in North Carolina, is haunted by the ghost of Confederate Captain B.T. Morris, for whom it is named.
Fletcher -- Calvary Episcopal Church -- A female specter in a gray cloak, astride a pony, has haunted this historic church, once considered the "Westminster Abbey of the South," since long before the Civil War. During that conflict, however, she lured a small group of Union soldiers to their doom in a Confederate ambush when they mistook her for a citizen out past curfew and set out to detain her.
Henderson County/Rutherford County -- Hickory Nut Gorge -- According to Indian legend all of Hickory Nut Gorge, home to the villages of Gerton, Bat Cave, Chimney Rock Village, and Lake Lure, is claimed by a race of "little people" called the "Moon-Eyed People," who predate the Cherokee and are none too happy at having to share their chosen home with anyone.
Hendersonville -- Bonclarken ARP Assembly Grounds -- The historic home that serves as centerpiece at this Presbyterian conference center is haunted by the spirit of its original owner's wife. She starved herself to death in revenge for his infidelity. The house is also haunted by an unidentified male spirit.
Hendersonville -- Comfort Inn and Suites -- Decades ago a woman was murdered at this large hotel, constructed in the 1960's. In the room where she died, doors open and close on their own, and the bathroom faucet turns itself on.
Hendersonville --Henderson County Jail -- The mysterious phantoms haunting Henderson County's jail, built in the 1990's, seem angry and also haunted the livery stable that occupied the site decades ago. The most notable sighting was captured on security videotape: a young black woman in an old-fashioned dress walked along the upstairs hall, vanishing as she suddenly plunged through the floor.
Hendersonville -- Hendersonville City Hall -- Hendersonville's historic city hall dates from the 1920's, and is so haunted that both the police and fire departments have vacated the building.
Hendersonville -- Ramada Limited -- The jacuzzi suite at this Hendersonville hotel is haunted by the ghost of a woman who checked in for a week of pampering before, for whatever reason, committing suicide. Sometimes, very late on the coldest nights of January she approaches the front desk, inquires about the continental breakfast served every day, and fades away.
Lake Lure -- Bottomless Pools -- No one has ever found the floor of these unusual geological formations in the town of Lake Lure, but they likely result from water filling lava tubes from long-extinct volcanoes. The spirits of the numerous people who have drowned here over the years lurk in the water.
Lake Lure -- "Clementine's Bridge" -- Clementine, a beautiful young woman, died while waterskiing on Lake Lure in the 1960's, when she lost her balance and hurtled into a bridge abutment, where her spirit still lingers.
Laurel Park -- Jump Off Rock -- The legend that gave this Laurel Park landmark its name also explains its ghost: that of a young Cherokee maiden who threw herself from the rock to her death when she learned that her beloved had perished in battle. She appears on moonlit nights, gazing wistfully out over the valley below.
Big Willow -- Beaulah Baptist Church -- In the forests near this Big Willow church lurks a menacing "watching" spirit that sometimes appears as a white cloud hovering low to the ground, relentlessly pursuing anyone alone in the woods at night.
Big Willow -- Willow Road -- A wizened, bent old woman dressed in black haunts a stretch of this road near Shaw's Creek Baptist Church. Supposedly she searches for her son, who went off to serve in the Civil War and never returned.
Chimney Rock Village -- Chimney Rock Park -- Early settlers of Hickory Nut Gorge reported bizarre sights on and around the giant granite monolith towering above them, including vast battles between angels and blinding white armies on horseback, roiling in the sky.
Edneyville -- Appleola Road -- Periodically, the ghost of a man with glowing red eyes rockets past the intersection of Appleola and World's Edge roads, driving a buckboard and whipping his horses into a frenzy.
Edneyville -- Bearwallow Mountain -- Those who live on the slopes of Henderson County's tallest mountain report sightings of demons, wolf spirits, and a ghostly maiden who resides in a waterfall.
Edneyville -- "Beau's Curve" -- In the 1800's a rock quarry was located beside this sharp curve on Gilliam Mountain Road in Edneyville, in Henderson County. Prisoners from local jails were forced to mine the quarry, under the watchful eyes of prison guards. "Beau" was such a guard, murdered in a prisoner revolt. The quarry has long since disappeared beneath thick forest, but Beau remains.
Flat Rock -- St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church -- Early parishioners, interred in the walls and floor, haunt this church, which was built in the early 1800's. In addition, a phantom soldier in the churchyard can sometimes be heard playing a dirge on a bugle on rainy nights.
Flat Rock -- Woodfield Inn -- The Morris Room at this Flat Rock landmark, the oldest continually operating hotel in North Carolina, is haunted by the ghost of Confederate Captain B.T. Morris, for whom it is named.
Fletcher -- Calvary Episcopal Church -- A female specter in a gray cloak, astride a pony, has haunted this historic church, once considered the "Westminster Abbey of the South," since long before the Civil War. During that conflict, however, she lured a small group of Union soldiers to their doom in a Confederate ambush when they mistook her for a citizen out past curfew and set out to detain her.
Henderson County/Rutherford County -- Hickory Nut Gorge -- According to Indian legend all of Hickory Nut Gorge, home to the villages of Gerton, Bat Cave, Chimney Rock Village, and Lake Lure, is claimed by a race of "little people" called the "Moon-Eyed People," who predate the Cherokee and are none too happy at having to share their chosen home with anyone.
Hendersonville -- Bonclarken ARP Assembly Grounds -- The historic home that serves as centerpiece at this Presbyterian conference center is haunted by the spirit of its original owner's wife. She starved herself to death in revenge for his infidelity. The house is also haunted by an unidentified male spirit.
Hendersonville -- Comfort Inn and Suites -- Decades ago a woman was murdered at this large hotel, constructed in the 1960's. In the room where she died, doors open and close on their own, and the bathroom faucet turns itself on.
Hendersonville --Henderson County Jail -- The mysterious phantoms haunting Henderson County's jail, built in the 1990's, seem angry and also haunted the livery stable that occupied the site decades ago. The most notable sighting was captured on security videotape: a young black woman in an old-fashioned dress walked along the upstairs hall, vanishing as she suddenly plunged through the floor.
Hendersonville -- Hendersonville City Hall -- Hendersonville's historic city hall dates from the 1920's, and is so haunted that both the police and fire departments have vacated the building.
Hendersonville -- Ramada Limited -- The jacuzzi suite at this Hendersonville hotel is haunted by the ghost of a woman who checked in for a week of pampering before, for whatever reason, committing suicide. Sometimes, very late on the coldest nights of January she approaches the front desk, inquires about the continental breakfast served every day, and fades away.
Lake Lure -- Bottomless Pools -- No one has ever found the floor of these unusual geological formations in the town of Lake Lure, but they likely result from water filling lava tubes from long-extinct volcanoes. The spirits of the numerous people who have drowned here over the years lurk in the water.
Lake Lure -- "Clementine's Bridge" -- Clementine, a beautiful young woman, died while waterskiing on Lake Lure in the 1960's, when she lost her balance and hurtled into a bridge abutment, where her spirit still lingers.
Laurel Park -- Jump Off Rock -- The legend that gave this Laurel Park landmark its name also explains its ghost: that of a young Cherokee maiden who threw herself from the rock to her death when she learned that her beloved had perished in battle. She appears on moonlit nights, gazing wistfully out over the valley below.
Oct 1st, 2003, 03:49 PM
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Very interesting!! I don't know that I'll be able to visit your area anytime soon, but when I do, I will keep this in mind! I've always (with trepidation, that is) wanted to encounter a spirit.
After my grandfather passed away in my family home, I always thought I still felt his presence around me on certain occasions.
Thanks for the great tales from beyond!
After my grandfather passed away in my family home, I always thought I still felt his presence around me on certain occasions.
Thanks for the great tales from beyond!
Oct 2nd, 2003, 01:23 PM
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Thank you, cassidy! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Now, for the rest of you, I'd love to hear about the places in your hometown, or the places where you've vacationed where a person can rub shoulders with something scary!
Now, for the rest of you, I'd love to hear about the places in your hometown, or the places where you've vacationed where a person can rub shoulders with something scary!
Oct 2nd, 2003, 03:06 PM
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It's said that the Whitney, a very high end restaurant in Detroit is haunted. Waitstaff have reported strange encounters. Here's the website:
http://www.thewhitney.com/
Also, The Holly Hotel, also a restaurant, is said to be haunted by a few specters. Here's the website for that one:
http://www.hollyhotel.com/
There's a tab dedicated to their ghosts.
http://www.thewhitney.com/
Also, The Holly Hotel, also a restaurant, is said to be haunted by a few specters. Here's the website for that one:
http://www.hollyhotel.com/
There's a tab dedicated to their ghosts.
Nov 7th, 2013, 04:43 AM
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In reply to the haunted room at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Hendersonville, NC I believe this has been confused with Quality Inn and Suites, as the Comfort Inn was built in 1990 and has never had anyone murdered on or around the property. I am the GM of this motel and love a good ghost story and would love to have a haunted room, however, it hasn't happened here yet. The Quailty Inn was built in Hendersonville in the late 1960's as a Holiday Inn and is the oldest "Franchise" property in the area, not sure about the haunted story however, have not ever heard it before
Nov 7th, 2013, 04:49 AM
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You must have been googling, Kathyb. This thread was well hidden and no one has seen it in 10 years ! Look at the date.vhowever, now you hav resurrected it and brought it to light a decade later. Nice you wanted to set the record straight, but sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie. 
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Nov 8th, 2013, 06:53 AM
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Nope not googling.....guest came to my desk wanting to checkin to the haunted room, told us read on website and provided us with the website and info and actually kind of like this kind of publicity, brings in lots of business!!
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