Ghosthunting North Carolina Read online

  Ghosthunting North Carolina

  COPYRIGHT © 2011 by Kala Ambrose

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any fashion, print, facsimile, or electronic, or by any method yet to be developed, without express permission of the copyright holder.

  For further information, contact the publisher at:

  Clerisy Press

  P.O. Box 8874

  Cincinnati, OH 45208-0874

  www.clerisypress.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Ambrose, Kala, 1966–

  Ghosthunting North Carolina/Kala Ambrose.—1st ed.

  p. cm.—(America’s haunted road trip)

  ISBN-13: 978-1-57860-454-8

  ISBN-10: 1-57860-454-0

  1. Ghosts—North Carolina. 2. Haunted places—North Carolina.

  I. Title. II. Series.

  BF1472.U6A45 2011

  133.109756—dc23

  2011022284

  Distributed by Publishers Group West

  Printed in the United States of America

  First edition, first printing

  Editor: Susan Roberts

  Cover design: Scott McGrew

  Cover and interior photos provided by Brandon Ambrose with the exception of the following: Star Hotel courtesy of Gary Spivey; Rebel Rose courtesy of WikiCommons; the Page-Walker, Hillcrest Tree, and Grove Park photos courtesy of the author

  To Robley, Lottie, and Sharon, who showed me the way…

  “It is the secret of the world that all things subsist and do not die, but retire a little from sight and afterwards return again. Nothing is dead. People feign themselves dead, and endure mock funerals and mournful obituaries, and there they stand, looking out the window, sound and well in some new disguise.”

  —Ralph Waldo Emerson

  ADVANCE PRAISE FOR Ghosthunting North Carolina

  “The charming and delightful Kala Ambrose has invited me on her radio program Explore Your Spirit with Kala many times, and I have always thoroughly enjoyed myself. In the pages of her fascinating new book, Ghosthunting North Carolina, she has invited all of us to join her on a haunted road trip through North Carolina, and once again, I found myself completely enjoying the journey. Kala received the “gift” of paranormal talents, including the ability to see and sense spirits, when she was only a child. She generously shares this gift with her readers as she explores a remarkable number of haunted houses and places in North Carolina. I very much appreciated Kala’s sharing the history of some of these very famous locations, as well as her psychic impressions of certain ethereal residents who have never left their beloved homes. Kala allows us to perceive her insights into a wide range of ghostly entities from the frightening to the benign, from the violent to the gentle. I highly recommend this book.”—Brad Steiger, author of more than 170 books, including Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places

  “Not everyone can write a ghost story. Luckily for us, Kala Ambrose can. In Ghosthunting North Carolina, Kala takes us on a fabulous armchair road trip featuring pirates, flaming ghost ships, haunted hotels, and spirits of every persuasion, including the friendly, the eerie, and the downright scary. Kala also provides clear, concise, user-friendly instructions on how to transform a virtual trip into an actual one. I, for one, was ready to start driving to and through North Carolina as soon as I finished Ghosthunting North Carolina. I suspect you will be, too.”—Judika Illes, author of The Encyclopedia of Spirits, The Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, and The Weiser Field Guide to Witches

  “A road trip with a difference! Kala Ambrose explores the spectacular beauty of the Tar Heel State while using her psychic skills to seek beneath the surface for the phantom soldiers, pink ladies, and lost spirits who still inhabit the houses or wander the roads of this beautiful landscape. A skillful mix of lore and legend that will linger on in the reader’s mind long after the book has been closed.”—Dr. Bob Curran, author of Dark Fairies, Vampires: A Field Guide to the Creatures that Stalk the Night, Lost Lands, Forgotten Realms, and more than 24 additional books on paranormal lore

  “If you’re into all things spooky, spectral, and spine-tingling, then Kala Ambrose’s Ghosthunting North Carolina is the book for you! Best devoured on the proverbial dark and stormy night!”—Nick Redfern, author of The Real Men in Black

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Welcome to America’s Haunted Road Trip

  Introduction

  EAST CAROLINA – The Coast and Outer Banks

  CHAPTER 1 The Haunting of the USS North Carolina Battleship, Wilmington

  The Life and Legend of Blackbeard’s Ghost

  CHAPTER 2 Civil War Ghosts of Fort Fisher, Kure Beach

  The Ghosts of Currituck Beach Lighthouse

  CHAPTER 3 The Haunted Soldiers of Fort Macon, Atlantic Beach

  The Flaming Ship of New Bern

  CHAPTER 4 The Lost Colony of Roanoke, Roanoke

  Beautiful Nell Cropsey Still Waits in Elizabeth City

  CHAPTER 5 The Enslaved Ghosts of Somerset Plantation, Creswell

  Touched by the Lady in Black

  CHAPTER 6 Southern Hospitality Extends into the Afterlife at the Blount-Bridgers House, Tarboro

  The Wandering Ghosts of Nags Head

  CHAPTER 7 Full Moon Highlights the Ghosts of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Cape Hatteras

  The Lonely Ghosts of Foscue Plantation

  CHAPTER 8 The Attmore-Oliver House and the Weeping Arch of Cedar Grove, New Bern

  CHAPTER 9 Blackbeard the Pirate and the Old Burying Grounds, Beaufort

  CHAPTER 10 The Spirited Revival of Bellamy Mansion, Wilmington

  CENTRAL CAROLINA – The Piedmont, the Triangle, and the Triad

  CHAPTER 11 Miss Deborah Still Looks After You at the Star Hotel, Star

  Devil’s Tramping Ground, Chatham County

  CHAPTER 12 Visit with the Guardian of Korner’s Folly, Kernersville

  Whispers from Beyond the Grave at Cabe’s Land Cemetery, Durham

  CHAPTER 13 Angry Ghosts Fuel the Fire at Stagville Plantation, Durham

  Haunted Tours in Greensboro, New Bern, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Asheville

  CHAPTER 14 The Flying Photographs of Mary Turk at Mordecai Plantation, Raleigh

  CHAPTER 15 Philosophical Debates from the Ghosts of the Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill

  The Brown Lady of Chowan University, Murfreesboro

  CHAPTER 16 Civil War Governor Still Working at the State Capitol Building, Raleigh

  ESP and Parapsychology at the Rhine Research Center, Durham

  CHAPTER 17 So Comfortable That Guests and Ghosts Never Want to Leave the Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill

  CHAPTER 18 The Haunting Bentonville Battlefield Driving Tour, Four Oaks

  CHAPTER 19 Prohibition and the Ghost of the Page-Walker Hotel, Cary

  WEST CAROLINA – The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Foothills

  CHAPTER 20 The Gentle Touch from the Pink Lady at the Grove Park Inn, Asheville

  The Legendary Brown Mountain Lights

  CHAPTER 21 Ghost Walking in Latta Plantation, Charlotte

  Joshua P. Warren’s Asheville Tourism Center and Free Museum

  CHAPTER 22 The Legend of Blowing Rock and the Green Park Inn, Blowing Rock

  Mass Murderer Charlie Lawson, Germanton

  CHAPTER 23 The Haunting Charm of Charlotte’s Fourth Ward and the Old Settler’s Cemetery, Charlotte

  The Sad Preacher in the Chapel of Rest, Lenoir

  CHAPTER 24 The Juxtaposition of Asheville, from Healing Resorts and Endless Views to the Mass Murderer of Asheville and the Haunted Gallows Trail, Asheville

  The Inmates of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Tunnel, Dillsbo
ro

  CHAPTER 25 The Vanderbilts Who Never Left the Biltmore Estate, Asheville

  The Mountain of Terror Haunts You Back

  Haunting Theme Parks of North Carolina

  The Mysterious Vortex of Mystery Hill, Blowing Rock

  GHOSTHUNTING TRAVEL GUIDE

  Visiting the Haunted Sites of North Carolina

  Ghosthunting Resources

  Further Reading

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Welcome to America’s Haunted Road Trip

  DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?

  If you are like 52% of Americans (according to a recent Harris Poll), you do believe that ghosts walk among us. Perhaps you have heard your name called in a dark and empty house. It could be that you have awoken to the sound of footsteps outside your bedroom door, only to find no one there. It is possible that you saw your grandmother sitting in her favorite rocking chair, the same grandmother who had passed away several years before. Maybe you took a photo of a crumbling, deserted farmhouse and discovered strange mists and orbs in the photo, anomalies that were not visible to your naked eye.

  If you have experienced similar paranormal events, then you know that ghosts exist. Even if you have not yet experienced these things, you are curious about the paranormal world, the spirit realm. If you weren’t, you would not now be reading this preface to the latest book in the America’s Haunted Road Trip series from Clerisy Press.

  Over the last several years, I have investigated haunted locations across the country, and with each new site, I found myself becoming more fascinated with ghosts. What are they? How do they manifest themselves? Why are they here? These are just a few of the questions I have been asking. No doubt you have been asking the same questions.

  The books in the America’s Haunted Road Trip series can help you find the answers to your questions about ghosts. We’ve gathered some of America’s top ghost writers (pun intended) and researchers and asked them to write about their states’ favorite haunts. Each location they write about is open to the public so that you can visit it for yourself and try out your ghosthunting skills. In addition to telling you about their often hair-raising adventures, the writers have included maps and travel directions so that you can take your own haunted road trip.

  People may think that North Carolina is nothing more than beautiful green mountains and miles of sandy beaches, but Kala Ambrose’s Ghosthunting North Carolina proves that the mountains are home to shadowy entities that are seen only for an instant before disappearing among the trees, and spirits that leave no footprints in the sands. The book is a spine-tingling trip through the state’s various regions with stops at inns, plantations, churches, lighthouses, historic sites, and cemeteries, and even a battleship—all of them haunted. Ride shotgun with Kala as she seeks out Civil War–soldier ghosts at Fort Fisher and the spirits of sailors who served aboard the USS North Carolina. Travel with her to Asheville’s Grove Park Inn, where the Pink Lady still roams the halls, or sit for a spell in the gardens of the Biltmore mansion and watch for the ghostly—and incredibly rich—members of the Vanderbilt family to stroll by. And can that swaggering spirit stalking the moonlit beaches near Beaufort really be the ghost of the infamous pirate Blackbeard? Hang on tight; Ghosthunting North Carolina is a scary ride.

  But once you’ve finished reading this book, don’t unbuckle your seat belt. There are still 49 states left for your haunted road trip! See you on the road!

  John Kachuba

  Editor, America’s Haunted Road Trip

  Introduction

  WELCOME TO Ghosthunting North Carolina!

  As your travel guide to the haunted state of North Carolina, it seems appropriate to let you know who is traveling with you on this journey. For as long as I can remember, I’ve seen ghosts. I was also born psychic, as well as an empath. As a child with these abilities, I didn’t quite understand what was happening to me. In large crowds or during the holidays, I would feel the intensity of emotions around me until I would experience severe stomachaches as I absorbed the emotional energy of the people around me.

  Later, as I understood what I was experiencing, I learned how not to absorb as much of the energy. I also was able to define the energy that I was feeling, whether it was coming from a person who was upset, or if I was in an area that was holding a significant amount of negative energetic residue. I also learned how to detect if there was a noncorporal entity or spirit around me.

  During this time, I also discovered that I had the psychic ability of psychometry, the ability to read the energy imprint that resonates from an object while holding it in your hand or touching it directly. I found that when I put an object in my hand, I could feel its connection to the person who owned it, and sometimes I would see an image of what they had been doing when wearing or using the object.

  The first time I became aware of this ability, I was at my grandmother’s house and she had let me play with her jewelry. As I went through the jewelry box, I tried on her bracelets, watches, and rings. As I slipped on one of her watches, I had a vivid image of my grandmother with my grandfather when they were much younger. It was like seeing a film clip of them.

  I ran to my grandmother and said, “I know what you used to do with Grandpa,” and described the scene to her. She asked me who had told me this, and I explained that when I put her watch on my wrist, I saw it. That evening, when my grandfather came home from work, I heard my grandmother ask him if he had told me the story that I had related to her.

  To be discreet here, it was a rather romantic story and not one that my grandmother would have been open to sharing in polite company. Hearing the conversation in the other room growing more heated and animated between my grandparents, I ran into the room with the watch and climbed into my grandfather’s arms. “Here, Grandpa,” I said, “When I put the watch on my arm, it tells me a story.” I held the watch on my arm again and began to tell him what I could see. He held his arm around me and gave me a hug and said that I should take the watch and go put it back in the jewelry box on my grandmother’s dressing table. I did as I was told, and as I walked back toward the kitchen where my grandparents were still discussing the event, I heard my grandfather say that I was like him and like his mother, my great-grandmother, who was French and read tea leaves for a living. He said to my grandmother, “She has the gift.”

  My grandmother never allowed me to play with her jewelry again. Looking back at this now, I have to chuckle. In my innocence at the time, I didn’t fully understand the romantic encounter that I saw back then. Now, in my adulthood, I can sympathize with my grandmother and see why having her privacy invaded with that particular memory would be overwhelming. I can also understand, after feeling the intensity and passion of that event, why its memory was imprinted so strongly on the watch. Thus began my understanding of psychometry and my journey of feeling energy in objects.

  My first memory of a psychic prediction in childhood was about my little dog. It was bedtime for me, and I became very agitated. I explained to my parents that someone was going to take our dog that night and we needed to bring him inside. My parents tried to calm me down and put me to bed. I slept fitfully all night, sensing a stranger who was going to take our dog. The next morning, as I awoke, I ran outside to find our dog was gone and the gate was thrown wide open. I ran crying to wake up my parents to tell them. My parents have no idea who took the dog, and he was never seen again. With this experience, I began to understand that sometimes I would see or feel psychic events that I would be somewhat powerless to do anything about at the time. This continues at times today with feeling earth changes and weather movements.

  Each night before I went to sleep, I would say my prayers, and when I was done, I would often see and sometimes feel an angelic being or a spirit around me. I was raised Catholic and thought it perfectly normal that I would see my guardian angel at night before I went to sleep. I assumed everyone saw spirits and ghosts, and I talked with my angel each night before goin
g to sleep.

  Photo of Kala Ambrose with her mother in front of the window where the young ghost boy would appear (Photo by Kala Ambrose)

  The first ghost I remember seeing lived right outside my childhood home in Louisiana. In our dining room was a window that looked out to the front yard. My mother had planted orange daylilies out there, and I loved to look at them while sitting at the table in the dining room. One day while I was eating my lunch, I noticed a young boy standing there at the window, looking at me. I smiled and waved at him, and he waved back to me. A moment later he was gone. The next time he appeared, I noticed something was wrong with part of his head. I called out to my mother to tell her that he was hurt. When she looked through the window, she said no one was there, yet I could still see him standing there. I remember seeing this boy around our home for as long as we lived there. He was very shy and would not speak much. He liked my younger brother and would often appear around him as my brother played outside or in his room. I would always either see him around my brother or standing outside the dining room window in the orange daylilies.

  From that point, my experiences continued to grow, from prophetic dreams at night to waking up and realizing that my grandfather was passing away. I experienced his death empathically before anyone else knew it had happened. By the time I was seven, I remember seeing auras, sensing positive and negative energy around people and places, and seeing ghosts and spirits around people, places, and things. I had the good fortune to be raised by parents and grandparents who encouraged my spiritual exploration and education. I was allowed to attend and study almost all forms of religions and their places of worship, and I explored them in depth, beginning in my teen years. My parents also supported my unique abilities. At the age of 13, I began to study the tarot and astrology and was creating astrological charts the old-fashioned way (before computers), along with reading tarot for friends. I also began to study the symbols in dreams and dream interpretation, as I have consistently had at least three dreams a night that I can remember. I’ve classified them into three categories: teaching and prophetic dreams, which I refer to as “going to night school;” subconscious dreams, which allow us to work through situations here on the earth plane; and dreams with others, where we encounter beings from the spirit world. In my adult years, I began to study many forms of spirituality, including Eastern mysticism, esoteric teachings, earth wisdom, and many others. My connection and interest in the metaphysical, supernatural, and paranormal has only grown over the years, never diminishing.