Stonepile Gap may look like a pile of stones, but there is much more to these rocks than meets the eye. As legend tells it, these rocks mark a grave of a Cherokee woman named Trahlyta who was told to drink from a nearby spring (Porter Springs), and (depending on the story) either the Mountain Medicine Man or the Witch of Cedar Mountain would make her more beautiful with every drink. Rumors of her beauty led Cherokee warrior Wahsega to ask for her hand, but she rejected him, so he kidnapped her and held her a prisoner until she wasted away. As she died, she asked to be buried in the mountain where strangers could pass by and drop a stone on her grave, and she would grant them the wish of being beautiful and happy. According to reports, twice when people tried to move the pile of rocks for road work, someone has died in an accident.
Stonepile Gap
Bourbon Street Grille
Ghost stories abounded when this building housed Gabee’s Cajun Kitchen and the Art Cart. Witnesses heard phantom dishes shatter and disembodied footsteps, and chess pieces moved on their own. At the Art Cart stood a chessboard handmade from gourds, with the pieces made to look like Muslims and Christians. One day he found the pieces lined up down the middle of the board, and another day they stood around the edge of the coffee table.
Lumpkin County Courthouse - Dahlonega Gold Museum
Dahlonega Gold Museum, inside the 1836 Lumpkin County Courthouse, is haunted by a ghost the staff calls Tommy. He has shown up as a tall figure in a hooded robe, seen on the balcony or through the windows. The stamp mill has inexplicably come on by itself and strange knocking sounds have been heard in the walls. When objects go missing, the staff blames their friendly ghost.
Springer Opera House
Springer Opera House’s stage has seen the likes of Oscar Wilde, Lillie Langtrey, John Philip Sousa, Ethel Barrymore, Will Rogers, William Jennings Bryan and Franklin D. Roosevelt. But that’s not all. Edwin Booth, brother of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth, is rumored to haunt the place. Other ghosts are thought to reside here as well, tinkering with props, playing pranks, and sometimes venturing out onto the stage.
Haunted Pillar
The market that once stood at Fifth and Broad streets was wiped out in a rare winter tornado in 1878, which some say was brought on by a curse from an evangelist who was denied permission to preach at there. The Haunted Pillar is all that’s left of the market, and it is the stuff of local legend. Try to move it or knock it down, or even touch it, some say, and you’ll die.
Walnut West Apartments
Local legend says that one of the Walnut West Apartments is haunted and tenants tend to move out immediately. The ghost is said to be a little girl who was killed on the same spot when the land that now holds the apartment complex was a farm.
Moravian College
Moravian College dates back to the 1700s. In the 1800s it was a girls’ seminary and hospital, and a ghostly nurse and an occasional bandage patient are said to walk the halls. Several buildings on campus are said to house ghosts as well: Alpha Sigma Tau Sorority House was once an estate house, in which the maid Alicia became pregnant by the owner. When he found out about the baby, he threw Alicia down a staircase that has since been removed. Alicia is said to haunt the building, making noises, turning on and off the attic light, and turning over pictures of men. Comenius Hall’s namesake is said to haunt his building as a light that moves back and forth on the top floor. A Revolutionary War-era nurse is said to haunt the Music Building, and three spirits of people who hanged themselves here in the 1960s are said to linger in the Rau Dormitory. At Wilhelm Dormitory, banging and scratching sounds are said to come from the walls at night.
Francis Marion Brown Theatre
Local legend has it that Francis Marion Brown Theatre is haunted by the spirit of a homeless person who died in its basement. The ghost is said to haunt the dressing rooms, rearranging objects, opening and closing doors and causing hangers to swing.
Owego Parkview Restaurant
Owego Parkview Restaurant, established in 2012 in an 1867 historic building, is rumored to be home to several ghosts whose voices have been recorded during ghost investigations. The owner found a sealed-up room while doing renovations, and mysterious things happen in the restaurant. For example, a phantom dinner bell chimes. The restaurant has hosted town Zombie Fests and Halloween events.
Elkheart Civic Theatre - Bristol Opera House
The Elkhart Civic Theatre (aka Bristol Opera House), housed in an 1897 building, is said to be haunted by ghosts who send books and papers flying off shelves, levitate small objects, run sewing machines and project moving shafts of light. Shadows and an apparition of a floating dark-haired woman have been seen by both staff members and theater guests. Staff members claim to have been grabbed by a ghost when no one else is around.
Percy, aka Percival Hilbert, is the name of a ghost believed to reside here. He was a handyman who lived in the basement with his wife and two daughters after they were evicted in the Depression era. The building manager had let them live there, but they were to keep it a secret. But sometimes the little girls would come out, seemingly from nowhere, and run around or play the piano. This, some say, may be how the ghost stories started. Although Percy and his family didn’t pass away here, some say his spirit is here now, rearranging tools or playing pranks on people. It is his spirit that is said to manifest as a moving shafts of light. He is also believed to have turned up in a photo during a ghost hunt.
