Most cities or areas have a “bridge story.” It is some variation of a baby or child being thrown off a bridge and they or their mother are haunting the bridge or the area around it, and Hartselle, Alabama is no different. However, it doesn’t mean that any of these stories aren’t true.
Cry Baby Hollow is hidden deep in the woods of Hartselle, and houses one of these legends. It is said that during the Civil War, a wagon was turned over on the bridge, and a baby fell to it’s death. Some say that it was Union soldiers doing it on purpose, but that is just speculation.
Now, this location is where many people go to try and hear the cries of the child. They bring candy for the baby, and come back to see it has been opened and eaten.
I read an account told on the website Sweet T Makes Three, where a woman was running and encountered such things as empty candy wrappers, dolls tied to the trees, and remnants of satanic rituals. Even if it isn’t haunted by a child, the rituals that explorers bring have opened up this location to some dark energy.
The Redmont Hotel was built in 1925, making it the oldest hotel still in operation in Alabama. This was a place that I was not able to get to, but I still believe that it is haunted.
Guests have reported seeing the ghost of a woman wondering around the 9th floor, they have also seen Clifford Stiles, who was once the owner of the hotel, in the lobby. Guests also report weird occurrences, like lights flickering and doors opening on their own.
However, the most famous story that comes from this location is that the ghost of Hank Williams hangs around in the hotel. Celebrity hauntings is something that has always interested me. In places in Hollywood, we hear stories about the ghost of Marilyn Monroe or Frank Sinatra haunting a hotel or building. But it is odd for somewhere like this hotel to be where Hank Williams still resides. It is said that he is seen in the room he stayed in right before he died.
Maybe he felt the most comfort there and he likes to go back and visit every now and then? Either way, this hotel is full of experiences, and I hope one day I may get to experience something there too.
One of the most intriguing places to me in Florence is Sweetwater Mansion. I found it by accident. When I first moved to Florence, I was constantly using GPS to get everywhere. One day, while I was on Google Maps, I saw this little icon that said Sweetwater Mansion and it caught my attention.
After doing some research, I found out that it was a plantation home that was completed in 1835. It was built on the site of Sweetwater Creek which is just below the house. While researching, I found out that it was also haunted. The biggest story that comes from this house is once a caretaker saw a casket laid out in a downstairs room. With further investigation, she noticed that there was a man, who looked to be a Confederate solider in it.
I never got to go to this mansion, even though I wanted to. They no longer do tours because the current owners have encountered guests who have tried to take items, break items, and some even try to do Satanic rituals. There is also no road access to it any longer, and they have cameras posted all through the home and the land surrounding it.
While driving down Florence Boulevard during the winter, if you look really close you can catch an outline of the house through the trees, and I guess that is as close as I will ever get to Sweetwater Mansion.
One place that we were able to visit was Drost Park, in Huntsville, Alabama. It is nicknamed “Dead Children’s Playground” because of the unfortunate experiences that have happened there and where it is located. It is in Maple Hill Cemetery, which is Alabama’s largest cemetery.
Maple Hill Cemetery
I heard about this place through my roommate, who was told about it during the Halloween season. We decided one day to take a trip over to Huntsville. On the way up there, we researched what exactly made this place haunted and why it was given this nickname.
This playground is known to be where the deceased children come out to play. There is also a legend that during the 1960s there was a string of child abductions in the Huntsville area. It is said that the bodies of the children abducted were buried in this park.
The playground consists of a small jungle gym and a swing set. It is very small and tucked into the corner of this cemetery. While we were there, it felt very peaceful. I didn’t get any bad energy the entire time. It did feel like someone was watching our every move, as if they were cautious of us.
I didn’t get on the swing set, but my roommate did. Once she got off, we noticed every single swing was also swinging. We stuck around to see if they would eventually stop. They never did. That could obviously be debunked as she moved it or it was the wind, but I like to think that these children were happy to have a someone to play with.
Because this university was full of history and ghost sightings, I decided to break it into two parts. Honestly, I could keep going after two, but I figured it was best to explore some other parts of Alabama.
Courtesy of Wikipedia
The first place I would like to talk about is Coby Hall. This was a building that I was unaware of the historical and ghost past that it had until I went on the Ghost Walk. It was originally built in the 1830s, and was a private home until a school benefactor gifted it to the university in honor of his wife during the 1990s. It is used on campus to host events and that may be the reason for the paranormal activity it holds.
Different witnesses have all claimed to see a woman walking through the first floor of the building. No one knows for sure who she actually is, but many think her to be Margaret Patton Simpson. She is the wife of John Simpson, who built the home. She seems to get upset when there is chaos or the house is disorderly.
That could explain why she pops up at certain times. Since her former home hosts events, this could be too much disorder for her to approve of. Actually, while we were there, nothing out of the ordinary happened, except for the front porch light (more of a chandelier) was saying in a very odd manner. That could have been Margaret warning us not to bring our huge group inside and bring disorder near her.
Courtesy of Wikipedia
The next story I found to be really interesting while on the Ghost Walk, was the story of Priscilla and the GUC (Guillot University Center). The GUC is one of the most common areas that students hang out and it is constantly busy. So that makes it hard to imagine that a spirit resides there.
Priscilla was a student who completed suicide in O’Neal Hall, where the GUC stands today. She hung herself in the elevator shaft. The reason for her pain is unknown. People have claimed that she was failing her classes and couldn’t handle it anymore, and others have said she was having a relationship with a professor and couldn’t hide it any longer.
Either way, her appearance in the GUC dates all the way back to 1984. A man was going to lock up and heard a woman crying, the elevator doors opened and he saw what looked to be a ghostly woman crying. While doing tours, Debra said that the elevator doors would open and close on their own, and people would get an uneasy feeling while in the women’s bathroom, as if someone was with you, even though it was empty.
I could go on and on about the experiences and buildings on this campus, that is one of my favorite things about being on this campus. Practically every building has it’s own history.
Willingham Hall is one of the first buildings I noticed when I first transferred to UNA that seemed to give me a little uneasy feeling. During the Halloween season, I went on a Ghost Walk given by local historian Debra Glass. At this tour, Debra gave listeners a background story of the building.
It was originally called Locust Dell Academy, and it was operated by Nicholas Hentz. He was known to play music on his piano through the night. Witnesses to this day say they can still hear piano music coming from the basement of the building.
As I went on the tour, nothing particular stuck out to me. I didn’t feel as quite uneasy as I have felt before while in that building. However, its not as much as I felt while in Wesleyan Hall.
Courtesy of Wikipedia
Wesleyan Hall is known as the “castle-building” around campus. Built in 1856, the building is the oldest on campus. Along with how old it is comes different stories as well.
One of the most well known ones is the story of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a young Union drummer boy in the Civil War. He was loved by everyone he met. Jeremiah’s story has different variations, but the one mostly told was that he was kidnapped by the people of Florence to use as leverage so they would not burn down the town. However, he was found drowned in a water hole near the building.It is said that you can see small wet footprints throughout the building as Jeremiah tries to return to find his father.
It is not just Jeremiah that is haunted the building. It was also used as a Civil War hospital, so we have no idea how much death and pain was seen in this building.
Not during the tour, but a few weeks after, my friend and I went to try and take our own photos of the building. It was empty, and the lights were on. As soon as we walked up to it I became extremely anxious. I didn’t want to go into the building, so we left. To this day, I’m still not sure exactly what my mind was telling me to walk away from.
Hi! My name is Jennifer, and this blog is going to be all about different haunted locations I am exploring in North Alabama.
I have always enjoyed hearing about the paranormal world, but have never truly explored it. Ever since I was little, ghosts and paranormal stories have always intrigued me.
After moving to Alabama for school, I discovered that my roommate felt the same way, so we decided to explore different places near us that we have heard that have a haunted story.
In this blog, I hope to tell you about a certain location, the history behind it, experiences others have had, and what I felt like or saw when I went there.
exploringalabamasmosthaunted.wordpress.com 