The Madison County Grey
Private Nicodemus Kidd enlisted in the Confederate Army on July 10, 1861; however, the young private quickly fell victim to an horrendous disease while camped outside of the Confederate capital. A disease that would plague Confederate camps for the entire war, giving soldiers an horrific 1 in 5 chance of dying from illness and infection during the conflict.
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Fort Jefferson's Most Infamous
Construction of Fort Jefferson began in the early 19th century to address the growing need for America to protect its shores. The resulting massive coastal fortress is the largest masonry structure on American soil; however, its history as a defensive outpost is far overshadowed by its time spent as a prison, housing Union Army deserters and none other than the very men convicted for successfully conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.
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The Abandoned Amusement Park of Lake Shawnee
In 1926 Conley Snidow opened the Lake Shawnee Amusement Park in West Virginia, on land that many believe was once sacred to the indigenous tribes of the region. Land that these Native men even once attempted to protect through a bloody massacre of a family of settlers. Unfortunately Snidow’s amusement park would continue the location’s connection to tragedy, causing Snidow to abandon this once great amusement park for the prospering coal miners of West Virginia.
Today, almost half a century since it closed the gates, the Lake Shawnee Amusement park still sits abandoned, and exposed to the elements as what some claim is a playground for the spirits of the past.
The Seer of Shelbyville
On March 22, 1957, Simon Warner, a self-described "crime doctor," was murdered at is home in Shelbyville, Tennessee for allegedly placing a Voodoo hex on a man who had come to him for help; and while Warner was certainly not a Voodoo practitioner, many believed he held supernatural powers.
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William Faulkner's Rowan Oak
Taking Up Serpents for Salvation
The religious practice of snake handling sprung up from the isolated rural communities of Appalachia in the early twentieth century; spreading throughout the south by way of an eccentric, charismatic and often troubled group of devout pastors.
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Beautiful Nell's Tragic Tale
The Haunted History of Liberty Hall
Crossing the Chunky River
On a lonely gravel road, just southwest of Meridian Mississippi, is a rusty old truss bridge no longer open to cars or traffic. The bridge was built in 1901, but many believe it is haunted by a treacherous man who is said to walk across it's predecessor at night luring in victims with the light of his lantern.
The Lost City of Frenier
In 1915 a vicious hurricane cut through Southeastern Louisiana causing massive destruction in its ravenous wake. The storm surge topped 12 feet and the hurricane’s devastating winds swept through at 145 mph, leaving almost 300 dead. Yet nowhere was the storm’s wrath more apparent than the small settlement of Frenier.
Ghosts of the Myrtles Plantation
Legend says General David Bradford had a price put on his head by President George Washington for his role in the Whiskey Rebellion, that’s why he fled down south and built a plantation for himself in the Spanish part of Louisiana. Bradford went on to live out his days as a wealthy planter, but the legacy of the home he built has evolved into what is today known as the Myrtles Plantation — America’s most haunted home.
The Prologue: Welcome to Southern Gothic
The American South is filled with tales of ghosts.