 Local Ghost Stories?, Got any good ones? |
|
MDF3530  |
 Posted: 17-Aug-2004, 03:47 PM
|
Celtic Guardian
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 7,290
Joined: 30-Jul-2002
Zodiac: Willow
Realm: Midlothian, IL
|
Here's the most well-known ghost story in the Chicago area...
Although stories of "vanishing hitchhikers" in Chicago date back to the horse and buggy days, Mary?s tale begins in the 1930?s. It was around this time that drivers along Archer Avenue started reporting strange encounters with a young woman in a white dress. She always appeared to be real, until she would inexplicably vanish. The reports of this girl began in the middle 1930?s and started when motorists passing by Resurrection Cemetery began claiming that a young woman was attempting to jump onto the running boards of their automobiles.
Not long after, the woman became more mysterious, and much more alluring. The strange encounters began to move further away from the graveyard and closer to the O Henry Ballroom, which is now known as the Willowbrook. She was now reported on the nearby roadway and sometimes, inside of the ballroom itself. On many occasions, young men would meet a girl at the ballroom, dance with her and then offer her a ride home at the end of the evening. She would always accept and offer vague directions that would lead north on Archer Avenue. When the car would reach the gates of Resurrection Cemetery, the young woman would always vanish.
More common were the claims of motorists who would see the girl walking along the road. They would offer her a ride and then witness her vanishing from their car. These drivers could describe the girl in detail and nearly every single description precisely matched the previous accounts. The girl was said to have light blond hair, blue eyes and was wearing a white party dress. Some more attentive drivers would sometimes add that she wore a thin shawl, or dancing shoes, and that she had a small clutch purse.
Others had even more harrowing experiences. Rather than having the girl vanish for their car, they claimed to actually run her down in the street. They claimed to see a woman in a white dress bolt in front of their car near the cemetery and would actually describe the sickening thud as she was struck by the front of the car. When they stopped to go to her aid, she would be gone. Some even said that the automobile passed directly through the girl. At that point, she would turn and disappear through the cemetery gates.
Bewildered and shaken drivers began to appear almost routinely in nearby businesses and even at the nearby Justice, Illinois police station. They told strange and frightening stories and sometimes they were believed and sometimes they weren?t. Regardless, they created an even greater legend of the vanishing girl, who would go on to become Resurrection Mary.
But who is this young woman, or at least who was she when she was alive?
Most researchers agree that the most accurate version of the story concerns a young girl who was killed while hitchhiking down Archer Avenue in the early 1930?s. Apparently, she had spent the evening dancing with a boyfriend at the O Henry Ballroom. At some point, they got into an argument and Mary (as she has come to be called) stormed out of the place. Even though it was a cold winter?s night, she thought, she would rather face a cold walk home than another minute with her boorish lover.
She left the ballroom and started walking up Archer Avenue. She had not gotten very far when she was struck and killed by a passing automobile. The driver fled the scene and Mary was left there to die.
Her grieving parents buried her in Resurrection Cemetery, wearing a white dress and her dancing shoes. Since that time, her spirit has been seen along Archer Avenue, perhaps trying to return to her grave after one last night among the living.
It has never been known just who the earthly counterpart of Mary might have been, but follow this link to several suggestions that have been made.
Over the years, there have been many sightings and encounters with the ghost alleged to be ?Resurrection Mary?. Dozens of young men have told of picking up the same girl, or meeting her at the ballroom, only to have her disappear from their car. Perhaps the most believable encounter with Mary took place in 1939 and involved a young man named Jerry Palus. Click here to read about his close encounter!
The majority of the reports seem to come from the cold winter months, like the account passed on by a cab driver. He picked up a girl who was walking along Archer Avenue one night in 1941. It was very cold outside, but she was not wearing a coat. She jumped into the cab and told him that she needed to get home very quickly. She directed him along Archer Avenue and a few minutes later, he looked back and she was gone. He realized that he was passing in front of the cemetery when she disappeared.
Click Here to Read about Other Sightings of Resurrection Mary!
The stories continued but perhaps the strangest account of Mary was the one that occurred on the night of August 10, 1976. This event has remained so bizarre after all this time because on this occasion, Mary did not just appear as a passing spirit. It was on this night that she left evidence behind!
A driver was passing by the cemetery around 10:30 that night when he happened to see a girl standing on the other side of the gates. He said that when he saw her, she was wearing a white dress and grasping the iron bars of the gate. The driver was considerate enough to stop down the street at the Justice police station and alert them to the fact that someone had been accidentally locked in the cemetery at closing time. An officer responded to the call but when he arrived there was no one there. The graveyard was dark and deserted and there was no sign of any girl.
But his inspection of the gates, where the girl had been seen standing, did reveal something. The revelation chilled him to the bone! He found that two of the bars in the gate had been pulled apart and bent at sharp angles. To make things worse, at the points on the green-colored bronze where they had been pried apart were blackened scorch marks. Within these marks was what looked to be skin texture and handprints that had been seared into the metal with incredible heat.
The marks of the small hands made big news and curiosity-seekers came from all over the area to see them. In an effort to discourage the crowds, cemetery officials attempted to remove the marks with a blowtorch, making them look even worse. Finally, they cut the bars off and installed a wire fence until the two bars could be straightened or replaced.
The cemetery emphatically denied the supernatural version of what happened to the bars. They claimed that a truck backed into the gates while doing sewer work at the cemetery and that grounds workers tried to fix the bars by heating them with a blowtorch and bending them. The imprint in the metal, they said, was from a workman trying to push them together again. While this explanation was quite convenient, it did not explain why the marks of small fingers were clearly visible in the metal.
The bars were removed to discourage onlookers, but taking them out had the opposite effect and soon, people began asking what the cemetery had to hide. The events allegedly embarrassed local officials, so they demanded that the bars be put back into place. Once they were returned to the gate, they were straightened and painted over with green paint so that the blackened area would match the other bars. Unfortunately though, the scorched areas continued to defy all attempts to cover them and the twisted spots where the handprints had been impressed remained obvious until just recently, when the bars were removed for good.
During the 1970?s and 1980?s, Mary sightings reached their peak. People from many different walks of life, from cab drivers to ministers said they had picked her up and had given her rides. It was during this period that Resurrection Cemetery was undergoing some major renovations and perhaps this was what caused her restlessness.
During the 1990?s, reports of Mary slacked off, but they have never really stopped altogether. They continue to occur today and while many of the stories are harder to believe these days, as the tales of Mary have infiltrated our culture to such a degree that almost anyone with an interest in ghosts has heard of her, some of the stories still appear to be chillingly real.
So, who is Mary and does she exist? Many remain skeptical about her, but I have found that this doesn?t really seem to matter. You see, people are still seeing Mary walking along Archer Avenue at night. Drivers are still stopping to pick up a forlorn figure who seems inadequately dressed in the winter months, when encounters are most prevalent. Curiosity-seekers still come to see the gates where the twisted and burned bars were once located and some even roam the graveyard, hoping to stumble across the place where Mary?s body was laid to rest.
Who is she? No one knows but that has not stopped the stories, tales and even songs from being spun about her. She remains an enigma and her legend lives on, not content to vanish, as Mary does when she reaches the gates to Resurrection Cemetery.
You see, our individual belief, or disbelief, does not really matter. Mary lives on anyway. I doubt that we will ever know who she really was, or why she haunts this peculiar stretch of roadway. And, in all honesty, I don?t suppose that I ever really want to know who she was. I guess that prefer Mary to remain just as she is, a mysterious, elusive and romantic spirit of the Windy City.
Resurrection Mary Information
--------------------
Mike F.May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.
|
|
|
| birddog20002001 |
Posted: 23-Aug-2004, 11:12 AM
|
Celtic Guardian
Group: Isle of Man
Posts: 663
Joined: 12-Sep-2003
Zodiac: Rowan
Realm: North Carolina
|
| QUOTE | The Devils Tramping Ground
The history of one of North Carolina's most famous mysterious places: The Devil's Tramping Ground. The article also examines scientific theories and folklore surrounding the area.
Near Siler City, North Carolina, is a strange patch of naked ground in the middle of the woods. Now, it's not unusual to see an occasional small bare patch in the woods, but this is a forty-foot circle of ground where only sparse wire grass will grow, surrounded by a narrow circular path where nothing grows. Legend has it that the animals avoid the spot, and that anything you place in the circle will be gone by morning. It's a place of mystery, and like any mystery, it's a place of folktales.
In the 1700s, the first white settlers who discovered the spot believed it was a place where Indians held secret tribal ceremonies. Of course, that might lead you to wonder why the grass hasn't grown back by now - after all it's been a long time since Native Americans lived on the land. One story explains that by saying that it has remained long after the Indians were gone in mute reproof of the wrongs done to the Native peoples and the same Great Spirit that keeps the ground bare also moves objects off the narrow path where Native feet once trod.
Another old legend that blames the Native Americans for the circle, says that a great Indian battle between rival tribes took place in the circle. The area was stained with the blood of the vanquished. In the exact center of the circle, they buried a great chief, Chief Croatan. The survivors of this legendary battle were said to have fled to the coast to avoid more conflict - where they appear in yet another legend, the Lost Colony. When the first colony disappeared from the Carolina coast, they left behind only the mysterious word "Croatan" carved into a tree.
Mystical explanations don't have to settle for local inhabitants. One story says that ancient Celtic Druids traveled to the area in the 1100s and performed powerful magical rituals in the spot to raise energy from the earth. Those who ascribe to this theory say that the area makes visitors nervous only because they do not understand and respect the earth.
Another story holds that it is the devil himself, pacing the ground in a circle who leaves lifelessness in his wake and causes the circle. In more recent years, UFOs, the folklore of the technological age, have been blamed for the circle - likening it to the crop circles in England.
Scientists scoff at all of these tales. They have found a high level of salt in the soil at the Devil's Tramping Ground, as well as above average acidity which causes the spot to be barren. In fact, there are signs that this was an early salt lick for deer. But what makes this spot so salty - and why would it exist in a perfect circle? Scientists have no answer for that, leaving us with a very nice mystery.
Some of those who have attempted to camp at the Devil's Tramping Ground come away with eerie tales of unnatural sounds in the night. Although you can find plenty of signs that no one is removing stuff from the center of the circle, the round path where the devil is said to pace remains clear of brush and debris even today.
You can visit the Devil's Tramping Ground if you will treat the area kindly - it is on private land now but still sees regular pilgrims to the spot. The Devil's Tramping Ground is about 10 miles south of Siler City. From Siler City, take State Road 1106 South for ten miles. This road will intersect with State Road 1100 at Harpers Crossroads; turn right. Nearly two miles down this road, you will see a gravel parking area on the left and if you search, you will find a small path to the Devil's Tramping Ground. Legend has it that it is unlucky to remove anything from the Devil's Tramping Ground but I'm sure the legend wouldn't mind if you picked up a bit of litter here and there. There is plenty of evidence that thrill seekers still camp there, apparently the landowner is pretty generous with his mysterious circle.
So if you want to visit one of North Carolina's most mysterious places, come with an open mind and an appreciation for the history of this unusual spot. And you might want to come in the daytime - no sense taking chances
|
| QUOTE | The bare rock profile named Devil's Courthouse is sinister in appearance and legend. It's "devilish" look has contributed to the many folk tales surrounding this mountain.
Within the mountain is a cave where, legend claims, the devil holds court. In Cherokee lore, this cave is the private dancing chamber and dwelling place of the slant-eyed giant, Judaculla.
|
--------------------
"when a person is prepared to die for a cause, and indeed to glory in such a death, it impossible to supress him or the cause it represents." Jawaharlal Nehru
"Only the suppressed word is dangerous." Ludwig Borne
"All of our freedoms are a single bundle, all must be secure if any is to be preserved." Dwight David Eisenhower
"All men's souls are immortal, but the souls of the righteous are both immortal and divine." Socrates
|
|
|
| Dreamer1 |
Posted: 28-Aug-2004, 10:34 AM
|
Mistress of the Hearth Fires, Dreamer of the Woods
Group: Founder
Posts: 1,405
Joined: 10-Sep-2003
Zodiac: Rowan
Realm: New England
|
Oh Freekenny, of course we have animal spirits who come back to visit us!
A few years after my hubby and I were married my parents called one day to let me know that our family's dog (Ginger) was very ill. The vet had said there wasn't anything else he could do for her, and that she would only have more pain and humiliation ahead. She was almost 19 years old, and had developed acute arthritis a couple of years earlier. She'd been on meds that had taken care of her pain until then, but the condition had gotten severe and caused her to start losing control of bodily functions and loss of strength. My parents knew that they had to make that very difficult decision. They called us to let us know, and I asked them if they could wait just two days so that I could drive up and see her once more. They did, I went up to see her and tell her good-bye, and then they let her go.
The next time my hubby and I went home to visit (about a month later, I think), I started to walk down the main hallway into the kitchen (where everyone else was) when I heard Ginger walking behind me -- her toenails clicked on the floor, and I knew she was there. I turned around and softly told her "hello" and that I loved her and missed her. After a moment or two I went on into the kitchen, but she didn't follow me. I think she just wanted to let me know she was still with us.
She was a wonderful, sweet, loving but spirited dog who could be very stubborn when she wanted to be! I still miss her, but I'm sure that we will someday be reunited, with all our loved ones.
Dreamer1
--------------------
Look with the eyes of a child. 'Hope guides me. It is what gets me through the day, and especially the night.' -- A Knight's Tale "I talk to you as I talk to my own soul...and, Sassenach,” he whispered, “your face is my heart.” -- Jamie Fraser, "Dragonfly In Amber" by Diana Gabaldon  @Dremnghrt on Twitter, Dreamnghrt on tumblr - come say Hi! |
|
|
| freekenny |
Posted: 30-Aug-2004, 11:53 AM
|
Celtic Guardian
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 724
Joined: 07-Jul-2004
Zodiac: Willow
Realm: Beaches of North Carolina & Mountains of Kentucky
|
O'siyo Dreamer,
~feeling the tears streaming down my cheeks~ Wow, what a beautiful story..Of course, I mean that with the latter part where you hear/feel her, Ginger, behind you! How glorious is that!..I believe one of the most difficult things we have to deal with is putting one of our 'babies/animals' down..but, it is always for their best interest..I had to put my oldest baby Mystica, a cat, down right before I bought my home..  He had developed FUTS (feline urinary tract syndrome), after 2 surgeries and many meds he seemed to be doing alright..the vet told me that if the 'symptoms' were to return that there would be nothing she could do..well less than a year later I noticed he was 'acting' the same way as he did previous..I begged with all my might for him to hold on until I could get him moved to his new home but, he couldn't..I took him to the vet and the 'deed' was done..Oh the guilt I felt because I promised Mystica I would have him a big home with stairs so he could play..I was heartsick, couldn't eat, sleep..I was in a horrible state..after I buried Mystica out on the farm, I signed my papers for this home and moved..The entire time I was moving into this home I kept 'talking' to Mystica..I would say, 'Oh Mystica, mamma bought this house just for you..if you could only see it..you would love playing on the stairs'...I just know that on more than one occassion I have 'seen' Mystica running up and down the main staircase..I just KNOW it!  There was one day when I lost a very dear O'ginalli (friend) and I was sitting on the stairs crying when I felt Mystica looking at me..I looked up on the first landing and caught a glimpse of a black cat..Mystica always would sit on my lap and literally, with his paws, wipe the tears from my eyes so, he knew I needed him and well, he came to me and I believe he is still around 
Ni Ya We for sharing your story! because, for some reason today, I needed to share that about Mystica..  And you are so very correct Dreamer when you say someday you will be reunited!  I just know we will see all of our 'babies' again! And I thank the Great Spirit everyday for allowing me to 'see' the ones I have 'lost' here on Mother Earth
~~Sty-U 
|
|
|
| dragonboy3611 |
Posted: 06-Nov-2004, 04:50 PM
|
A Friend to who needs one.
Group: Ireland
Posts: 743
Joined: 01-Nov-2004
Zodiac: Birch
Realm: USA, New York
|
I live in an area of the Us in NY were there are many housed, with many ghosts. and various battles went on here in the revolution.
I won't say the exact location...I don't want stalkers 
--------------------
"Men at some time are masters of their fate"
Jul Caesar, Act i, Sc.2
"When sorrow comes, they come not single spies, but in battalions"
Hamlet, Act iv, Sc.5
"All that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity"
Hamlet, Act i, Sc.2
|
|
|
| Ríobhca31 |
Posted: 15-Mar-2005, 09:22 AM
|
Princess of Báisteach
Group: Ireland
Posts: 222
Joined: 04-Feb-2005
Zodiac: Alder
Realm: Wisconsin (Transplant, From Texas)
|
I got this from the "W" files:
The Power of Doty Island
Dennis Boyer's Introduction
The drive from Plainfield to the Fox Valley is only about an hour long. But the cultural distance is great. The contrasts between the small sand country community and the booming industrial belt are wide and deep.
Indeed, the Fox Valley has very little North Country feel. My earlier visit to Green Bay and Oneida had put me on the edge of this burgeoning expanse of strip malls and subdivisions. Now I was in the heart of it.
It would have been easy to reject the idea that this area could be home to "northwoods" stories. But my network insisted, as they had with Green Bay, that I would find a connection. And there were many reminder of this wild past in the many activities centered on the rivers and lakes.
Despite the population growth in the Fox Valley, the area remains a center for boating, fishing, waterfowl hunting, and even sturgeon spearing. Some observers think it is also becoming the industrial and political center of Wisconsin as southeast Wisconsin's older urban centers undergo fitful transitions.
The itinerary took me to Doty island, an urbanized isle in the mouth of the upper Fox River where it empties into Lake Winnebago. Politics (and perhaps deeper forces) conspired to divide the island on a east-west axis into Menasha and Neenah parts. It was not the first time my story collection efforts brought me to Doty Island. The tale of the ancient Culdee explorers focused on the island. Many reports of haunted houses along Nicolet Street convinced me that an odd supernatural climate existed along that municipal boundary line. The lore of the first Americans also hung heavy in secret spots of the island.
Professional obligations broke up my travels after my Plainfield visit. It was a full week before other assignments took me to Appleton.
After a restful night in a hotel, I headed to meet Sherwood, a local political activist. He requested a sunrise meeting in Doty Park. When I arrived, the ducks were stirring and a light breeze brought the smell of algae and dead fish off the lake.
Sherwood's Story
This is no ordinary ghost. Well, maybe none of them are ordinary. But it's nothing like any of the haunted house stories around here. There's a strength here. An elemental force that's way beyond the understanding of anyone in my circle. Something that is subtle in its influence and deep in its raw presence. It comes out in ways that impact every area of human life.
I know I'm going to sound paranoid here. It's going to sound like a jumble of politics, counterculture, and conspiracy stuff. Yes, I'm just a self-employed carpenter and left-libertarian gadfly in the right-wing swamp of the Fox Valley. A pre-hippie, post-beatnik, independent bohemian who's too worn-out for the New Age stuff. And yes, I did the psychedelics, the potent herbs, and all manner of chemicals. But now I go no stronger than tea.
Though I was born and raised in the area, I've always known that there was something wrong with the Fox Valley. It's just less Wisconsin than the rest of the state. Sure, we got fish fries and the Packers. But we're less progressive, less Protestant, less populist, and less libertarian. There's no place else where abortion is so reviled and the death penalty so embraced. It's like Jesuit inquisitors put something in the water.
Funny, although I'm a recovering Catholic, I leamed how to piece this all together from an old Belgian priest. He showed me how it's all connected. He convinced me that the push for mines up north, the low prices for pulp, the PCBs in the water, the throwing moms off welfare, and the get-tough-on-crime stuff all flow from the same source.
I don't know if it's some old Druid thing that the Celtic Culdees brought here a thousand years ago. Or it could have been something that the Fox tribe left behind for their French enemies. I do know that some of the most powerful men in Wisconsin are connected to it.
It's The Power, the idea of domination, control, and subjugation. It's not empowerment, it's the ability to get others to suspend their critical faculties and to get them to ignore their self interest.
The priest told me that a shaman talked of a journey to the underworld to understand The Power. You need to talk to a shaman to understand that. The explanation was that a powerful fallen angel - a demon if you will - was not only cast out by the Creator, but was eradicated. But this malevolent force was so powerful that it left a residual energy capable of considerable mischief. So what you have is one incredibly ticked-off ghost of a spirit. Weird, huh?
The shaman says it was put here on the island to keep it out of harm's way. What a mistake! Who would've figured that this would become such a populated place? And who would've figured that local elites would've figured out how to tap this ghost that appears to be on crack, steroids, and PCP? A kind of evil genie in a bomb case.
Doty Island is like the old south's crossroads. It's a place where you can make deals with The Power. But he always collects in the end. Two very famous Americans came here to make deals for what they wanted. They're practically household names. I'm talking about Harry Houdini and Joe McCarthy.
Houdini came here at a very young age. An old fellow brought him. Little Harry had such a strong character that he was able to go away with a lot of energy without it poisoning his soul. He just used the energy for a very focused purpose. Even so, he had to pay the bill with his life when it came due. Everyone knows that it wasn't a pretty ending.
With Tailgunner Joe, it was really quite a different deal. There you had someone with a mean streak and a catalog of character flaws that made for an explosive mix when hooked into The Power. It built fires of hate so hot in old Joe that it just burned him up like an oil-well fIre.
And through Joe, it spread that fire to others and does so to this day. There was a New Orleans businessman, a fruity type who liked to wear dresses, who Joe brought up here. That fellow was one of those shadowy figures in the assassination of President Kennedy.
Then there were the FBI officials who came. Maybe as high up as J. Edgar Hoover himself. Makes you wonder about a connection here between cross-dressing, anti-communism, and deals with The Power. Once that part of the government was mvolved, the secrecy lid came down. Scientists moved in and strange things started to happen.
On one hand, there was the business side. New businesses, old businesses, utilities, and research outfits-all playing partial cover for The Power. They've even found a way to generate conventional electrical power from this.
The whole Fox Valley is one big experiment for this. They have found a way to use this energy for mind control. Look at the mercury, PCBs, and other pollution around here. Look at the crazy unchecked development. Look at the bizarre politics. Anywhere else in Wisconsin this stuff alone would cause riots.
Then there's the impact on health and mental health. Check our cancer rates. Geithe numbers from the women's shelters on wife-beating. Things that are public health crises elsewhere are ho-hum here. And they're feeding The Power with souls. They've found a way to suck them right up at the point of death. They're grabbing all the fresh spirits from Fond du Lac to Green Bay.
On the other hand, there is the cult side of this, too. This is the band of rightwing nutcakes who conjure up The Power through a combination of occult practices and technology. They still gather up at Joe's grave trying to draw energy there too. But that old boy's empty. He's in The Power now.
It's reaching critical mass here. So many souls are stuffed under Doty Island that they're bursting out. That's what's happening along Nicolet Street. They're even popping up out in Lake Winnebago. This is brought to us by the same fools who build nuclear power plants without figuring out what to do with radioactive waste. Why, they're robbing tens of thousands of an afterlife on this one.
How do they get away with it? That's simple. Even with holy hell busting loose in the local spirit world, they've managed to pacify the population. After all, if you have a constituency that doesn't mind seeing grandma's house bulldozed to make way for a convenience store, what's the problem with ghosts oozing through the storm drains? It's fair to ask how I know all these things. I use to chase ghosts like you. I know you hear lots of strange stories. The Belgian priest got me started, pointed in the right direction. He participated inside Joe McCarthy's circle. He admitted that their Cold War fanaticism allowed for an end-justifies-the-means philosophy. After all, those souls were simply soldiers in the holy war against the evils of communism. I don't know what the current rationale would be. Sort of like the military looking for a mission.
He later saw that this stuff was wrong. That it is evil to prevent a soul from uniting with its Creator. But he's still afraid to go public. He only told me because of the bond we've forged fighting the paper mills. That, and because he's dying of cancer.
So you came looking for ghosts. Tripping across the northern half of Wisconsin on a supernatural scavenger hunt. And you found some ghosts. Big whoop! You can chase your piddly little ghost stories all over the boondocks if you want. But The Power is the real story.
|
|
|
0 User(s) are reading this topic (0 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:
 Pages: (2) [1] 2
Track this topic
Receive email notification when a reply has been made to this topic and you are not active on the board.
Subscribe to this forum
Receive email notification when a new topic is posted in this forum and you are not active on the board.
Download / Print this Topic
Download this topic in different formats or view a printer friendly version.
|
Now I am just going to have to visit this site 
Ni Ya We for the information and stories 
I have two cameras handy as well as my video camera so I guess one could say I am all set 
