Mystery of the Brown Mountain Lights

“[Perhaps] the most famous of all the Western North Carolina hills is up in Burke County, not far from Morganton [...] known as Brown Mountain. It isn’t, in truth much of a mountain as mountains go. [...] but its fame lies in certain mysterious lights that have long hovered over it during the night.” ”

— John Harden, "The Devil’s Tramping Ground and Other North Carolina Mystery Stories"

Lights of Unknown Origin

​​Deep in the heart of the Linville Gorge Wilderness of North Carolina lies a mystery that has confounded and eluded scientists, government researchers, and locals for generations. Along the low-lying ridge of Brown Mountain, strange lights have been spotted, hovering in mid-air.

Some attribute the phenomenon to natural causes such as marsh gas or ball lightning, while others believe it could be related to ghost lights or even UFO activity. Yet despite numerous studies and investigations, the true cause of the Brown Mountain Lights remains a mystery.

ADDITIONAL LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:

Hear the song The Brown Mountain Light performed by Lulu Belle and Scotty, who informed a generaion about the mysterious lights.

Sources:

“The Brown Mountain Lights.” North Carolina Ghosts. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://northcarolinaghosts.com/mountains/brown-mountain-lights/. 

Carmichael, Sherman. Mysterious Tales of Western North Carolina. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2020.

Harden, John and Sue Harden. The Devil’s Tramping Ground and Other North Carolina Mystery Stories. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2000.

Hardy, Michael. “Our Avery Country: Digging into the history of the Brown Mountain Lights.” The Avery Journal. Last Modified October 15, 2015. https://www.averyjournal.com/. 

Jackson, Sherry. “The Mysterious Brown Mountain Lights.” Carolina Country (blog). Accessed January 24, 2023. https://www.carolinacountry.com/departments/feature-story/. 

Mansfield, George Rogers. “Origin of the Brown Mountain Light in North Carolina.” Geological Survey Circular, no. 646. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1971. https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1971/0646/report.pdf. 

Nickell, Joe. “The Brown Mountain Lights: Solved! (Again!)” Skeptical Inquirer. January/February 2016. https://skepticalinquirer.org/2016/04/the-brown-mountain-lights-solved-again/. 

Pitzer, Sara. North Carolina Myths and Legends. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield, 2015. 

Roberts, Nancy. Ghosts of the Carolinas. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2019.

Speer, Wade Edward. The Brown Mountain Lights: History, Science and Human Nature Explain an Appalachian Mystery. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2017

Wilson, Patty. Haunted North Carolina: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Tar Heel State. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2009.

The Specter of Skinflint

While most know of the California Gold Rush, few realize that the first gold rush was in North Carolina decades prior— and it is there that some say the apparition of a gold miner remains after being taken advantage of by a greedy landowner named Skinflint.

This episode of Southern Gothic is part of our Campfire Tales, a series of daily podcasts released during Halloween 2022!

General Davidson's Ghost

According to legend, an American Revolutionary War hero continues to ride into battle near his final resting place at the Hopewell Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Huntersville, North Carolina.

This episode of Southern Gothic is part of our Campfire Tales, a series of daily podcasts released during Halloween 2022!

The Rum Keg Girl

“Little Girl Buried in Rum Keg”

One of the most well-known graves at the Old Burying Grounds in Beaufort, North Carolina is that of a young girl who purportedly died at sea and was buried there in a keg of rum. Who the girl is we will never know, but her legend lives on and her spirit purportedly haunts the three-century-old cemetery to this very day.

This minisode is a companion to the episode, The Hammock House.

Additional Links From This Episode:

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

Sources:

Brown, Nic. “North Carolina’s Old Burying Ground.” Garden & Gun. April/May 2015. https://gardenandgun.com/articles/our-kind-of-place-north-carolinas-old-burying-ground/. 

“Old Burying Ground.” Beaufort Historic Site. Accessed July 29, 2022. https://beauforthistoricsite.org/old-burying-ground/. 

WNCT-TV 9 On Your Side. “People and Places with Pierce: The Rum Keg Girl.” YouTube Video, 2:39. November 3, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMfHjC-QC1w.

The Hammock House

“The house today is as solid as it was then, though there are no inhabitants living in it - at least no human inhabitants. The children of the area are strictly cautioned to give a wide berth to the house because, to this day, some very strange things happen there.””

— Charles Harry Whedbee, "The Flaming Ship of Ocracoke & Other Tales of the Outer Banks"

From Ghostly screams to unseen swordfights…

For many of the early mariners traveling to Beaufort, North Carolina they were reliant upon physical landmarks to help guide them safely through the shoals and into the harbor entrance. Some of the early maps and charts of Port Beaufort indicate that one such landmark was the “White House.” 

Little remains that offers insight into the origin of Beaufort’s White House, but tradition maintains that what was once the White House is now the historic Hammock House. Identified as one of, if not, the oldest home in North Carolina, the Hammock House is full of history and tragedy from visitors both law-abiding and nefarious in the reputations.

As a result, the Hammock House has acquired more than its fair share of legends over the years, and according to local lore, the spirits of some of these guests still remain to this very day, everything from the echoes of ghostly screams to the clashing sounds of unseen sword fights.

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Additional Links From This Episode:

• Hear Brandon on The Unseen Paranormal Podcast.

• Purchase the Feminine Macabre, Vol. 3.

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Sources:

Ambrose, Kala. Ghosthunting North Carolina. Cincinnati, OH: Clerisy Press, 2011.

“The Bloody Story Behind the Haunted Blackbeard Hammock House.” Anomalien. August 8, 2020. https://anomalien.com. 

Crosswell, Jack. “Beaufort House is Older Than Nation.”  The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), March 6, 1949. Newspapers.com

Diehl, Daniel and Mark Donnelly. Haunted Houses: Guide to Spooky, Creepy, and Strange Places Across the USA. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2010.

“The Duel at Hammock House.” North Carolina Ghosts. Accessed June 1, 2022. https://northcarolinaghosts.com/coast/hammock-house-duel/. 

Gray, Deran. Haunted Plantations of the South. Self-published, 2019.

“The Hauntings of the Hammock House.” True Hauntings of America (blog.) December 2007. http://hauntsofamerica.blogspot.com/2007/12/haunting-of-hammock-house.html. 

Hudson, Jane. “Blackbeard among historic home’s former guests.” Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, NC), June 27, 2004. Newspapers.com. 

Johnson, Scott A. “Hammock House.” Dread Central (blog). October 13, 2017. https://www.dreadcentral.com/cold-spots/5018/hammock-house/. 

Rogers, Dennis. “Dark legends of Beaufort house yield to restoration.” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), May 7, 1981. Newspapers.com. 

Warshaw, Mary. “The Hammock House.” Beaufort North Carolina History (blog). July 2015. http://beaufortartist.blogspot.com/2015/07/hammock-house-was-built-in-1800.html. 

______.  North Carolina: A Unique Coastal Village Preserved. Atlantic Beach, NC: Eastern Offset Printing, 2015. 

______.  “White House and Hammock House.” Beaufort North Carolina History (blog). November 2006. http://beaufortartist.blogspot.com/2006/11/house-that-guided-early-mariners.html. 

“Weenie Roast.” The Beaufort News (Beaufort, NC), August 3, 1922. Newspapers.com. 

Welch, Jane A. “Townsfolk overcome by fear (and fun.)” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), June 29, 1979. Newspapers.com. 

Whedbee, Charles Harry. The Flaming Ship of Ocracoke & Other Tales of the Outer Banks. Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1971.

Young, Norwood. “Visit Beaufort On Your Vacation This Summer.” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), June 1, 1952. Newspapers.com. 

Zepke, Terrance. Ghosts and Legends of the Carolina Coasts. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 2005.

Refuge in the Great Dismal Swamp

The dreariest of places…

It was in 1619 that the first enslaved Africans arrived on the shores of Virginia Colony. Over the next two and a half centuries, as the colonies expanded, so too did the number of enslaved persons. Also on the rise were the number of men and women willing to risk everything in an attempt for freedom.

In Virginia, many of those men and women who fled enslavement took refuge in the Great Dismal Swamp. From as early as 1700, those men and women, known as maroons, established settlements within the seemingly inhospitable swamp.

Knowledge about what life was like in the Dismal is uncertain. But it is certainly a place of duality, where freemen escaped to, but companies brought enslaved men to work.

Although little physical evidence remains today, it is believed that prior to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, more than 2,000 people lived in the Great Dismal Swamp.

Legend of Peter Dromgoole

A UNIVERSITY DISAPPEARANCE

For almost two centuries the legend of the disappearance of Peter Dromgoole has been told by the students of the University of North Carolina.      

In 1833 Peter Dromgoole arrived to study at the University, and although he initially failed the entrance exam Peter remained to prepare to retake the test.  Yet before he could do so, Peter Dromgoole vanished without a trace. 

The oft-told legend of Peter Dromgoole is one of a love story that ends in a tragedy.  There is another version of the tale, one that looks at Dromgoole family letters, in an attempt to discover Peter’s path from North Carolina. 

Today, centuries later, the mystery remains unsolved.  What actually happened to Peter Dromgoole? 

Hotel Brunswick's Phantom Harpist

Historic Southport, North Carolina

Southport, North Carolina began as a small settlement of river pilots who made their money guiding ships through the dangerous waters of Cape Fear River, but the town’s beautiful environs quickly positioned it as the summer destination for wealthy Wilmington families. As can be expected from a coastal town, legends of men lost at sea are common; however, Southport boasts a truly unique North Carolina ghost story.

On August 23, 1882 Italian harpist Antonio "Tony" Caselletta drowned in a sailing accident on the Cape Fear river, leaving behind a wife and child. His body was then buried in the Old Smithville Cemetery; however, many claim that his spirit continues to play his beloved instrument in the beautiful seaside mansion that once served as the Hotel Brunswick in historic Southport, North Carolina.

This episode of Southern Gothic features music written and performed by the Americana duo Harp & Plow.

Murder of the Lawson Family

On Christmas Day in 1929, North Carolina farmer Charlie Lawson murdered his entire family before turning his gun onto himself.  Almost a century has passed since this gruesome crime, but the question of motive has remained unanswered to this day.

The Devil's Tramping Ground

Just fifty miles south of Greensboro, North Carolina, amidst lush pine forests and rolling hills is a large patch of barren nothingness known as the Devil’s Tramping Ground.  This empty spot is circular in shape, roughly 40 feet across, and for as long as anyone can remember it has been completely devoid of all plant life. As a result, some legends claim this eerie location is where the devil himself comes to Earth each night to plan his wicked deeds, others that is of a unique Native American origin.

Blackbeard's Demise

Off the coast of North Carolina is one of America’s most breathtaking roadways, a 138-mile National Scenic Byway that connects a vast stretch of beautiful and historic barrier islands known as the Outer Banks.

Archaeologists believe these small islands, separating the mainland from the Atlantic Ocean, were inhabited for more than a thousand years prior to the arrival of European explorers; most likely by small branches of Native tribes like the Algonquins, Chowanog, and Poteskeet.  These were some of the tribes who initially welcomed the European explorers of the early 16th century, but their hospitality would inevitably cost them their communities, as settler migration and European-borne disease brought a sharp decline to their population.

The Outer Banks, now a major tourist destination known for its beautiful wide open beaches, also has the distinction of being home to the first European colony of North America-- the infamous Roanoke settlement, established in 1584; as well as the world famous town of Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brothers made their first successful flights in 1903.

But it’s on Ocracoke Island, one of the Outer Banks’ southernmost spits of land, accessible only by ferry, where the last stand of one of the world’s most notorious pirates occured.  A man feared by many, who terrorized ships on the high seas with his grim persona and massive displays of force.

A pirate known as Blackbeard.

A man that some claim still walks amongst the living three centuries later, forever searching Ocracoke Island for either revenge, or his head.