ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — The historic town of Asheville is the perfect setting for ghostly tales and eerie encounters. With a rich history dating back to the 1700s, it’s no surprise Asheville has its share of haunted locations. If you’re looking to explore the darker side of the city, here’s a list of some of the most haunted places that are sure to give you chills.
Chicken Alley
Sometimes those who walk near Chicken Alley at night have reported hearing the tapping of a cane on the cracked concrete and seeing a ghostly man wearing a 1900s duster coat and wide-brimmed hat. Tales say Dr. Jamie Smith was murdered in the alleyway more than a century ago when he stepped in to help a man who had been injured in a fight – and he was stabbed through the heart by the attacker.
Church Street
Church Street — lined with some of Asheville’s oldest churches — was built over a graveyard. In 1918, many Asheville residents and visitors died from Spanish influenza. Mortuaries were said to be flooded with bodies as they ran out of space for coffins. The remaining bodies were buried in unmarked graves in the area that is now Church Street. A nun and a woman dressed in period clothing are among the spirits who have been spotted in the area.
Church of the Redeemer
Dr. Francis Willis built St. Philip’s on his estate near Woodfin in 1887-88. The church was later named The Church of the Redeemer. Witnesses have reported seeing a woman walking down the stairs that lead to the church’s cemetery. The apparition then goes down the hill, crosses the road and disappears into the river. She has also been seen making her way toward Craggy Prison.
Helen’s Bridge
Helen’s Bridge was built of quarried stone in 1909 to provide access to the nearby Zealandia Mansion, often called the castle on the mountain. Legend has it that a woman named Helen lived at or near the mansion with her infant daughter. After her daughter died in a fire, the distraught mother hung herself from the bridge. It is said that Helen has been seen frantically looking for her child. People who have attempted to raise Helen’s spirit by calling her name have been said to experience car trouble when they try to leave.
Jackson Building
Some people believe the Jackson Building is home to at least one ghost, including a man who jumped to his death on the day the stock market crashed.
Battery Park Hotel
In 1936, 19-year-old Helen Clevenger was shot to death in the hotel. A 22-year-old African-American bellhop named Martin Moore was arrested and executed for the crime. But with little evidence against him and a forced confession, he is considered by many to have been an innocent man. The spirits of Clevenger and Moore are said to haunt the hotel that is now apartments for senior citizens. Witnesses have also reported seeing the ghosts of at least two men who died after jumping from the roof.
Omni Grove Park Inn
The Pink Lady is reported to have been seen and felt in the halls of the inn for nearly 100 years. She is said to be the spirit of a young woman who fell to her death from a balcony on the fifth floor in the 1920s. She is usually seen in the form of a pink mist, or sometimes as a full-fledged apparition of a young woman in a pink ball gown.
Highland Hospital
The main building of Highland Hospital is no longer standing, but rumor has it that some of the patients remain. On March 10, 1948, Zelda Fitzgerald was scheduled to undergo an electroshock therapy treatment at the facility. While locked in her room, a fire broke out in the kitchen area. The flames quickly traveled up the dumbwaiter shaft and spread throughout the building. Nine women, including Fitzgerald, died in the fire. Part of the hospital now serves as a recovery home for teens and young adults. It is said Fitzgerald’s spirit roams the campus.
Riverside Cemetery
One of the Civil War’s last battles was fought on the property that is now Riverside Cemetery. Along with many soldiers, authors Thomas Wolfe and William Sydney Porter are also buried there. Visitors have reported hearing gunshots, cannon fire and even seeing Confederate soldiers marching around.
Basilica of St. Lawrence
Since the building designed by Rafael Gustavino also contains a crypt at the rear of the chapel, many believe Guastavino’s spirit still lives in the building. A priest who died in the church is also believed to still be there.
Erwin High School
In 1973, officials chose to build Clyde A. Erwin High School on the same land as Country Home Cemetery. That meant there was a mass exhumation of the bodies. Reports say as many as 600 bodies were re-interred in a new County Home Cemetery. Though efforts were made to relocate all the graves, between 100 and 200 bodies are believed to still lie beneath the school.
Asheville City Hall
Local legend has it that the ghost of a businessman who committed suicide after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 has been spotted in various areas of the building, including in the area where the snack bar was. The fellow has also been blamed for ransacked offices and general mischief.
Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria
Barley’s Taproom is said to still ring with the echoes of one the bloody night in 1906 when escaped convict Will Harris went on a rampage. Harris shot and killed two police officers and then began shooting random passersby, including a man killed near the corner of Biltmore Avenue and Eagle Street. Harris escaped into the night, but a posse hunted him down and shot him dead near Fletcher.
The area near Barley’s was also the site of the city’s gallows.
French Broad River
Cherokee legend states that a murderous mermaid lives in the river that flows through Asheville and, southward, through Henderson County. She snatches the unwary who wander too close to the riverbank and pulls them in to drown.
Stony Fork Picnic Area, Candler
Stony Fork Picnic Area, also known as the Haunted Picnic Area, is off N.C. 151. Some reports say the area was once a Native American burial ground and that locals refer to it as “the body dump” because it was used as a place to dispose of bodies during Prohibition.
Lewis Memorial Park Cemetery, Asheville
Workers have reported a ghostly horse and rider, followed by a phantom dog. Some believe the rider may be the spirit of Robert J. Lewis, who created the park in 1927.
Henderson County
Calvary Episcopal Church, Fletcher
The grounds at Calvary Episcopal Church are said to be haunted by the Phantom Rider of the Confederacy — a young woman whose husband was killed during the Civil War. Reports of her appearance date to 1865, when the ghost led 23 Union soldiers into an ambush.
Mansouri Mansion, Flat Rock
The Mansouri Mansion, formerly known as the Woodfield Inn, is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of Capt. B.T. Morris, who was stationed there during the Civil War with his Confederate soldiers.
Historic Henderson County Courthouse, Hendersonville
People frequently report seeing faces in the windows of the old courthouse. The faces have also been captured in photos people have taken while attending events on the lawn.
Skyland Hotel, Hendersonville
The Skyland Hotel has housed many prominent American figures, including author F. Scott Fitzgerald and former President Ronald Reagan, and some residents in its present-day condos say the building is filled with paranormal activity.
Jump Off Rock, Laurel Park
Legend has it that more than 300 years ago, a young Cherokee Indian maiden climbed to the edge of the rock and jumped after learning her young Indian chief had been killed in battle. The story says that on moonlit nights the maiden’s ghost can be seen at the scenic overlook.
PLEASE NOTE: Some of these places may be on private property, so get permission before exploring.