Disappearing Lady of Mount Hope: A Friday Fright Bite

Approximately where the ghostly woman 
would end her pilgrimage.
Source: Coal Heritage Trail Clio Article

When Mrs. Leona May Harvey Parks walked into columnist Shirley Donnelly's office to get a book signed, I'm guessing she didn't expect the two would end up discussing ghost stories! But, when Donnelly realized that Mrs. Parks had lived in Mount Hope (Fayette County) for a number of years, he asked her to clarify some information on a spooky sighting in the area.

According to Mrs. Parks, the sightings began around 1909-1910. Multiple witnesses reported that when walking south along Main Street, they'd notice a woman walking in front of them. This woman would only appear on a stretch of road between the Christian Church and the steps that led off the street to the railroad tracks (approximately where the block of coal sat at the time of this telling). 

As soon as the ghostly woman reached that top step, she would simply vanish. If anyone were brave enough to try to touch her, her ghostly form would "slither away" and vanish. She was never seen elsewhere in town, and she was always headed south. Mrs. Parks noted that no one had any theory as to who the phantom could be, or why she chose to repeat this route, over and over. 

I think it's important to note that during the time of these sightings, Mount Hope was nearly completely destroyed by fire. On the morning of March 24, 1910, fire started in the Lewis & Houcks Saloon on Main Street. (THIS BLOG has a wonderful collection of articles and information on the fire.) Within a few hours, the majority of businesses along this stretch were gone, and countless residents were left homeless. Was this woman in some way connected to this tragic fire, perhaps as a harbinger of doom? Or was she the spirit of some unknown person whose life was taken in the blaze? Although the newspapers of the time claim that there were no fatalities, it is possible that an unknown woman in town was missed....

Beckley Post Herald
8 December 1973

Path of Ghost through
Mount Hope

Beckley Sky Anomaly (1965)

Mount Hope, WV
Source: Town Website

We're wrapping up UFO Week here at Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State with a two-for-one astral anomaly over the skies of Beckley, West Virginia. My grandparents lived in Beckley, so I spent many weekends and summers in the area, hearing about local ghosts and legends. My grandma even had some of her own UFO experiences near Harper Road in the late 1990s/early 2000's! Unfortunately for me, what she saw was rather tame compared to the strange sight spotted in the skies above Maxwell Hill and Mount Hope...

In the Beckley Post-Herald, dated October 10, 1965 an interesting little tidbit ran in Donald Meadows' local column. He shared the story of a couple living in the Maxwell Hill area who wished to remain anonymous. Each evening, right around dusk, the couple were seeing something pretty weird in the night sky. As 'Mrs. X' described it: "It first appears to be falling to earth, but then shoots up and spits yellow fire out of its tail. After this, it seems to wriggle like a snake."

'Mrs. X' first spotted the anomaly through the window when she got up to use the restroom, and the couple had seen it several times since. They had contacted the Raleigh Airport, who reported no reports or radar anomalies. The couple put out a plea for anyone else witnessing the anomaly to come forward.

And, someone did. Although they also chose to remain anonymous, a  nearby Mount Hope couple had also been seeing something strange in the night sky. The anonymous wife sent a two-page letter in to Meadows' column describing what she and her husband had seen. As published in in the Beckley Post-Herald from October 17, 1965, the couple enjoyed sitting on their enclosed porch after dark. One evening, they took notice of a large, illuminated ball, coming from the south and moving westward. It had a long tail of fire and was emitting sparks behind it. Less than 45 minutes later, another object appeared, moving along the same path!

The couple assumed that these objects were part of three Russian satellites recently sent into orbit, but a third object was never observed.