Ghosts are roaming about Old Town. Perhaps you've even seen one yourself. They seem to be everywhere. If you've seen any of the following ghosts, please be on guard. Alert the authorities and send a message to Samuel Snowden in Printer's Alley.
Top Ten 10 Most Wanted Ghosts
10. Ghost of a Spook
210 Prince Street
The identity of this Prince Street specter is a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a ... well, let's just say it remains unsolved. Some say the ghost is Michael Swope, a Revolutionary War hero from Pennsylvania. Others say the ghost John Dixon, a wealthy Alexandria merchant who was executed as a spy. Do you know the answer?
9. Legend of the Female Stranger
134 North Royal Street
Who is the Female Stranger? Generations have struggled with answering that question, posed by a famous tombstone in St. Paul's Cemetery. City Historian Michael Miller says the identity of the man who paid for the famous tombstone was known simply as Clermont, an English widow with a penchant for bailing on the tab. Some say she was a Napoleonic princess forced into exile by war. Others say they were an incestuous couple expelled from their hometown under fierce social ostracism. You may have the clue that could help solve this mystery.
8. Tragedy of Laura Schafer
107 North Fairfax Street
Walk into Candi's Candies today and you are met by the effervescent Candida Kreb, proprietress of a candy store overlooking Market Square. She's not alone. The ghost of Laura Schafer has haunted the building ever since that fateful evening when her kerosene oil lamp burst into flames. In adjacent Ramsay Alley, despondent fiance Charles Tennesson made his way into a liquor store and shot himself in the head after toasting "Here's to me and you. God save us." Kreb and others have witnessed some strange things at this house on North Fairfax Street. What have you seen?
7. Three Falling Ghosts
121 North Fairfax Street
Two turtle doves couldn't even figure this one out. Why did people keep falling off the balcony of the Braddock House Hotel? First it was an insane Union solider. Then it was a wood turner named Samuel Markell. The third and most shocking fall from grace was that of Patrick Buckley, celebrated "boy guide" of historic sites in Old Town. Who — or what — could have been at fault?
6. Yates Gardens
414 Franklin Street
Here's a ghost with an identify problem. Was this Revolutionary War solider leading the Yates sisters to hidden clues about the history buried in the back yard? Ghost historian Ruth Lincoln Kaye thinks so. She disagrees with those who say the Spring Gardens tavern was located several blocks away near the cemetery. What's your opinion on the location of Spring Gardens? And why does the ghostly patriot linger here?
5. Civil War Stories
480 King Street
310 Prince Street
118 North Washington Street
The old Marshall House is no longer around, but stories of the Civil War rivalry between Union Colonel Elmer Ellsworth and Confederate stalwart James Jackson survive. This was a time when Union soldiers burned down the Alexandria Gazette building and trashed Christ Church’s cemetery. Some say the ghost of Confederate hothead James W. Jackson and Union Colonel Ellmer Ellsworth are still roaming about the Hotel Monaco. Have you heard gunfire here?
4. Waiting at the Anchorage
550 Braddock Road
The old house at the top of Red Hill was once known as the Anchorage — the cottage home of a reclusive merchant captain and his lady love. Today the area is known as Braddock Heights, a scenic hillside set in the picturesque North Hill Neighborhood. One day, the captain failed to return to port and the despondent woman shot her self with a shotgun. North Ridge historian Frances Lide was one of many who documented the ghost of the woman with a cloak draped carelessly around her shoulder. Have you seen this woman?
3. Vault at Colross
1111 Oronoco Street
The old plantation house on Oronoco Street is long-lost, but its sad tale perseveres. This is the home of Thomson Mason, a former mayor of Alexandria and the grandson of George Mason. It’s also the location of the tragic deaths of two children who are said to haunt the block. People who lived in the old house say they the vault refused to be locked for more than three days. Are you one of those who say you've heard the sound of children playing in the block is now home to the Monarch building in the Parker Gray neighborhood?
2. Portal to the Underworld
9000 Richmond Highway
Spooky Woodlawn Plantation is a few miles south of Alexandria, where George Washington built a home for Nelly Custis and her new husband, Major Lawrence Lewis. Some say they have seen the ghost of Washington riding a horse through the bowling green. Others say an underground well in the basement is considered to be a doorway to the spirit world. What do you know about the ghosts of Woodlawn?
1. City Hall
301 King Street
Look out, City Council. A devil-bat is haunting City Hall. It lives in the belfry designed by Washington architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Lurking over all the city's official business, the devil-bat is a wily creature and one that is fiercely protective of its turf. Have you sensed the presence of the devil-bat?
For me the most compelling of all the stories is the female stranger. That is a story, at least the way I tell it, encompasses all the elements of the human experience, true love, tragedy, sorrow, the idea of an unfulfilled love reaching out beyond the grave, longing to be reunited with the love she left behind, the eternal loneliness.
ReplyDeleteI have been to her grave sight and there is something very sad and touching about it. In a lone corner, unvisited, unremembered, to have passed through this life, experienced and sacrificed all for love, and then to leave in obscurity, nothing but a nameless tombstone to mark your passing, far from family and friends who may have mourned your loss. I just find it incredibly compelling and makes me wish I could do something to reunite her with true love lost.
Larry Grey (Alexandria Colonial Tour Guide)
Well, here is my Laura Schafer story. Back when I first became a tour guide, I went in to what was then the Christmas Attic to look around. I felt more of a connection to this particular story simply because I got a chance to roam around inside the building, the store owners even let me go down into the basement to look at the foundation. The second floor at the time was filled with big, fake Christmas trees taking up a lot of space, even more ornaments, and the smell of holiday potpourri filled the air. It was a bit overwhelming up there and I found myself feeling very faint - was it the "fun house effect," too much potpourri, too much Christmas? I felt like I HAD to get out of there and I almost ran out of the room. I even broke out into a sweat. I remember this well simply because it was a very strange feeling. I also chatted with the women who worked in the store at the time. They told me that they had put up a new display and when they came in the next morning, parts had been knocked down, not the whole thing, so they said that obviously Laura didn't care for it! Things like that happened often, but they also said that they felt Laura liked having them there.
ReplyDeleteSomething I've noticed about buildings purportedly haunted is that they all have a sadness about them. Something about the light in the rooms, I always feel longing in there, a sense of something unfulfilled. Personally, I've never seen a ghost but I know people who have and they aren't ridiculous about it. Just a fact in their lives.