On a precipice near the top of Stone Mountain in Johnson County, Tennessee is a flat outcropping of sandstone called Fiddler's Rock. The mysterious landmark is covered in carvings of images, names and dates; however, what makes Fiddler's Rock so infamous are the purported sounds of a ghostly fiddle playing in the distance.
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.
As the end of the Civil War became imminent, Confederate President Jefferson Davis fled his capital city of Richmond, Virginia. After leading the South for four years, he had high hopes to escape the country and rebuild a new Confederacy. So Davis took with him the entirety of the Confederate Treasury, a massive fortune of gold, silver and bullion. Yet when the Confederate President was finally captured by Union forces, this gold was nowhere to be found.
To this day, speculation runs rampant over the whereabouts and fate of that lost Confederate gold, a mystery that has grown for over a century and a half, spurring the imaginations of historians and treasure hunters alike.
In 1860, Dr. Haller Nutt began construction on a palatial estate in Natchez, Mississippi. Unfortunately the outbreak of the Civil War put a halt to progress, leaving Dr. Nutt's vision incomplete for over a century and half.
Legend says that the Bellamy Bridge in Marianna, Florida is haunted by a woman, who's life was supposedly lost to a vicious fire on her wedding night in 1837.; however, legend and history tell two different tales as to the origin of the Lady of Bellamy Bridge.
On December 3, 1864 William Henry Sketoe was hanged near his home in Newton, Alabama. Some legends claim he was a Confederate deserter, others a Union sympathizer; but for whatever the reason may be, his story has been one of Alabama's most infamous ghost stories for over a century.
The Rosewell Plantation of Gloucester County, Virginia was once the most grandiose plantation home of the British Colonies in North America; but after a fire destroyed this exquisite home in 1916, all that is left of this once great mansion is ruins.
Each year, June 1st marks the first day of the Atlantic Hurricane season; and while modern technology has helped reduced the catastrophic destruction of these storms, on the small barrier island of Pawley's Island, South Carolina, locals believe it is the appearance of an apparition known as "The Gray Man" who truly warns them of impending disaster.
On January 23, 1897, Elva Zona Heaster was found dead in her home in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. At the time, the cause was presumed natural; however, after her ghost purportedly appeared to her mother, it was soon found that the circumstances surrounding Zona's untimely death were much more sinister.
Founded in 1565 by the Spanish, St. Augustine, Florida is one of America's oldest surviving cities; and while the history of this three century old port, once instrumental in early colonization by the Spanish, is rich with tales of hauntings and folklore, one of its most infamous haunted structures is a lighthouse built by the United States Federal Government between 1871-1874
On November 12, 1966, five men digging a grave at a cemetery near Clendenin, West Virginia purportedly encountered a seemingly supernatural creature flying amidst the nearby tree line. Little did they know that this encounter would be the first of many to transform the sleepy town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia into ground zero for one of America's most infamous monsters.
Hear the legend, folklore and history of this tale on our Patreon member-ony series “Southern Gothic: The Monsters”
*Since this episode first came out more indepth research into Lake Lanier and the history of the area has been published. Consider checking out one of those works:
The creation of Georgia's Lake Lanier came at a high cost for the people who had once settled there. As waters rose to engulf everything in its path, the Georgia landscape changed and entire towns were lost.
Today, many claim that the lake is not only cursed by the remnants of the underwater town below, but also haunted by some of the spirits from its past.
Many legends claim that Lavinia Fisher was the first female serial killer in the United States. She and her husband John operated an inn just outside of Charleston, South Carolina. They named it Six Mile Wayfarer House, but their intentions behind the business were sinister. It is said the Fishers targeted wealthy travelers, poisoning them at dinner and stealing their valuables. For these crimes, the Fishers were executed on February 18, 1820. It is said that Lavinia wore her wedding dress to the gallows and when it came time for her to speak her last words she unrepentantly bellowed, “if you have a message you want to send to hell, give it to me, I’ll carry it.”
But the historical accuracy of this legend is entirely false. In fact Lavinia may not have actually murdered anyone.
The vast, dense wilderness of the Ozark Mountains have been home to rich tales and folklore dating back centuries prior to American settlement. One such tale is that of a vicious beast who is said to torment locals with a terrifying howl. However, many believe this tale might just be a hoax.
Hear the legend, folklore and history of this tale on our Patreon member-ony series “Southern Gothic: The Monsters”
The town of Cahaba was once the thriving state capital of Alabama. Yet today, over a century since it was last seen on census records, only ruins remain at the location of this once great city that many claim to be “Alabama’s Most Infamous Ghost Town.”
For centuries, the Cajun people of Southern Louisiana have told tales of a vicious werewolf-like creature from the swamp— The Rougarou.
Half-man, half-wolf, the beast purportedly stalks the swamps, fields and outskirts of Louisiana towns searching for prey… for which he knows well, because he is likely a member of these human communities by day…
Hear the legend, folklore and history of this vicious beast now on our Patreon member-ony series “Southern Gothic: The Monsters”
The city of Atlanta, Georgia was a strategic stronghold for the Confederacy during the Civil War, serving as an integral railroad hub supplying the South with men, munitions and supplies. But by the spring of 1864, as President Abraham Lincoln became desperate for a military victory, the city would become the direct target of the infamously aggressive Union General William T. Sherman and his philosophy of '“total war.”
The Red River runs for over a hundred miles through South-central Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. A tributary to the Cumberland river, it’s named after the river’s unique watercolor, caused by clay and silt deposits containing iron oxides. In 1778, Thomas Kilgore built a fort on the banks of the Red River near present day Cross Plains, but native hostility was so great he abandoned it in less than a year, a scenario that played out over and over for the next decade till unfair treaties and American coercion pressed the Native tribes west.
But it’s also during this era, in the early nineteenth century, that one of the most well documented hauntings in American History occurred, right here in Robertson County on the Red River.
A legend so infamous, it purportedly caught the attention of a future President; gripping a small Tennessee community for years, and terrorizing a family for generations.
A legend known as the Bell Witch.
