Anderson Cemetery has a legend that explains a glowing headstone. So the story goes, a man came to the Morris family home and shot the whole family and the maid, then stole a horse. The family was buried here, and on the anniversary of the murder, the headstone is said to glow.
Anderson Cemetery
Riviera Restaurant
Riviera Restaurant is rumored to have had a haunt who tormented an employee for a couple of weeks by turning on kitchen appliances, tinkering with radios, and moving objects.
Peche Island Rear Range Light
The Peche Island Rear Range Light historic lighthouse had developed a severe tilt in its original location and was moved to its current spot after its deactivation. Perhaps its resident spirit was upset by the move; now an apparition is seen at night, holding a dim lantern and walking around its outer deck.
Riverside Cemetery
Riverside Cemetery has more than 13,000 graves, including authors Thomas Wolfe and William Sydney Porter (O. Henry) and influential politician Zebulon Baird Vance. Witnesses have heard gunfire and seen a phantom Confederate army marching here, perhaps toward the site of the 1865 Battle of Asheville, fought a mile away on the current site of the University of North Carolina at Asheville’s Botanical Gardens.
Miles Building
The 1901 Miles Building was a gentlemen’s club originally, and is now used as an office building. In an office for the Mountain X-Press, according to reports, a ghostly arm in a white long-sleeve shirt appears reaching toward a desk, then vanishes. The sound of a squeaky desk chair is also heard.
Merrimon and Broadway
James Sneed and James Henry were convicted of stealing a horse and hanged at this crossing in 1835, although they claimed to be innocent. Now, the phantom sounds of horse hooves, a wagon, and a gallows trap-door are heard here.
Asheville City Hall
One of the many men who committed suicide after the stock market crashed is said to still remain in the Asheville City Hall. The man’s apparition wears old-fashioned clothes and has been spotted waiting in line at the snack bar. He isn’t really noticed until he vanishes, frightening the employees and customers. Some say the ghost has been known to ransack offices during the night.
Craven Street Bridge
The ghost on the Craven Street Bridge is said to be a naked boy’s apparition. Legend has it he drowned when he jumped off the bridge to take a swim in the river below.
The Historic S & W Building
The Historic S & W Building used to house Shotzy’s Bar, where employees said a couple of ghosts hung out. A spectral girl appeared on the balcony, and a phantom waiter walked down the hall toward the kitchen. Coolers were known to open and close on their own as well. Reports say the place once held a speakeasy during the Prohibition.
First Presbyterian Church
First Presbyterian Church was built in 1841 but was burned in 1865, during the Civil War. The churce was rebuilt in its present Gothic style in 1884. Although author Thomas Wolfe’s funeral was held here, it is not his spirit who walks the halls. She is called Black Abbey, an apparition of a woman in a black dress.
