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| Photo by Michelle Krone--Source |
It's been a loooong time since I did a Weird West Virginia Wednesday, but thanks to this past Saturday's ghost tour/hunt with the Charleston Ghost Tour Company, I was inspired to bring it back! Way back in 2012, I was introduced to a very strange piece of Charleston's public art. I was taking a Historic Preservation class through WVSU, which met at the haunted Capitol Theater and was taught by Dr. Billy Joe Peyton. One class meeting involved taking a historic walking tour throughout downtown Charleston, and as we were talking about the Southside Bridge, it was pointed out to us that there was a creepy little addition to the building beside the bridge: The Southside Bridge Hanging Man!
The building in question, One Bridge Place, was originally built in the 1890's and served as the warehouse for the Lewis, Hubbard, and Company Wholesale Grocery. Today, the building is home to various offices, but has also become an integral part of Charleston's art community. Back in the early 1980's, the building went through renovations, which involved the painting of a large mural on the south side of the building, facing the bridge.
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| Can you see him up top? |
Known locally as the 'San Francisco Mural,' the side of One Bridge Place resembles a row of colorful Victorian houses. The work is by artist Bart Davies, a graduate of Penn State's Fine Arts program. The project, which employs the use of trompel'oeil (to trick or deceive the eye) was started in 1983 and took about two years to complete.
You have to look closely, but if you do, you can see that some of the windows are painted on and some are actual, functional windows. And if you look REALLY closely, you'll see that one of the faux windows holds a rather dark and macabre surprise. At the very top left, you can see what appears to be the shadowy figure of a person in the window. Look a little closer, and you'll see that there is a rope or noose coming from this figure's neck. As of this date, no one has publicly come out with a reason as to why such a creepy image was added to this otherwise bright and cheery mural. Of course, plenty of conspiracy theories abound. At the very least, the Southside Bridge Hanging Man is right up there with Mortar Man as a well-loved (albeit strange and kinda dark) piece of hidden public art, which has found a home in West Virginia's capital city!
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| Close-up of the Hanging Man |
The last month or so has been super busy! Between my personal life and SRI/Theresa's Haunted History commitments, I've been booked solid. Because of my crazy schedule and overall exhaustion, I was afraid that I would miss out on the Charleston Ghost Tour Company's October schedule. But, as they tend to do, the pieces fell into place, and I was able to grab a pretty last-minute ticket to Saturday night's Midnight Mischief Halloween tour/ghost hunt.
When my husband and I took the tour in September, we had an awesome time, walking around downtown Charleston and hearing the wonderfully told stories of the city's haunted history. Unfortunately, my husband had to work this weekend, but I still had a ton of fun as April, owner of the Charleston Ghost Tour Company, shook things up a bit with this special Halloween edition. Instead of just hearing about the ghosts of Charleston, tour guests were given the opportunity to actually try to interact with them and capture proof of their existence!
Our ghost tour/investigation began at 11:30pm at the United Bank Courtyard, where we checked in, and were given glow sticks and a choice of light-up crown or light up sunglasses. That was a fun little surprise and definitely put everyone in the mood for some Halloween party fun. The big surprise, however, was that April had gone all out and purchased a ton of ghost hunting equipment to use on the tour.
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| Brawley Walkway. Tour guests have captured alleged photos of a ghost in this doorway! This is also where we contacted the spirit of 'Darren.' |
Before we headed out, the tour group got a quick tutorial on the use of pendulums, dowsing rods, laser grids, EMF meters, spirit boxes, digital recorders for EVP work, and even a FLIR-type thermal camera! Equipment was divided up, and we headed to our first location---Brawley Walkway.
Brawley Walkway is reported to be haunted by a mischief-causing ghost that at one point, terrorized a homeless man who would sleep in the area, mainly by stealing his possessions and moving them to a different location. On previous tours, patrons had reported finding strange anomalies in their photos, especially in the doorway of one particular storefront.
As the group spread out to test their equipment and see if they could capture evidence of ghosts, I headed straight for the doorway in question. Joined by two other tours guests, one with a K-2 meter, I attempted to make contact with whatever may be in Brawley through pendulum work. According to the pendulum, we made contact with a homeless man named Darren, who originally didn't want to share his name, but agreed to if I asked nicely, lol. It's important to note that it was cold...and my hands were shaky as a result. But, even if it hadn't been cold, it's important to remember that this type of pendulum work is heavily influenced by the ideomotor effect---tiny, involuntary muscle movements that make it SEEM like the pendulum is moving on its own, but in reality, it's not. Eventually, I wandered away from the doorway, leaving the two other tour guests there to see if they could continue talking with Darren. When I met up with them later, they said that Darren had left, been replaced by a not-so-nice entity, who then left when Darren returned. Darren also lit up the K-2 meter---something he wouldn't do when I asked him to earlier, lol.
Our next location was a double stop---we explored the area of the 1921 capitol building fire, which sits directly across from the old Oddfellows building, both of which are said to be haunted. The Oddfellows building is a favorite spot on the tours, and many tour patrons have submitted photos taken of the building which seem to have human figures or shadow beings in the windows, especially one in particular. This is fairly significant, because the story that is told about the building is that a large, shadowy, humanoid figure actually attacked an unsuspecting cleaning woman one evening! And, of further interest is that when I posted the photos I took to Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page on Sunday, I had someone say they saw something in that exact window!
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| Oddfellows Building. Do you see anything? |
Despite that particular building's potential, I focused the majority of my time spent in that location trying to contact the ghosts associated with the capitol building fire. It is believed the fire that brought down West Virginia's fourth capitol and killed two people was the result of a poker game gone bad. When an argument erupted and a lantern was knocked over, the night watchmen who was responsible for this secret attic activity felt so bad that he is said to come back to the spot, trying to save the two people who were lost because of him. I chose to do some EVP work, but upon analyzing the recording, haven't found anything of note.
Further stops on the tour didn't afford much opportunity for ghost hunting, but it was fun to rehash some of the tales we heard on the first tour, such as the mysterious Mortar Man figure, the ghosts of the Capitol Theater, and the firemen still trying to put out the fire at the old Woolworth Building. I was pleasantly surprised to also hear about the ghost that likes to play with the vintage elevator in the old Masonic Lodge building, as well as the 'Southside Bridge hanged man.' I've been meaning to blog about the strange addition to the mural, seen from the Southside Bridge that has a hidden figure of a man hanging himself, since I first learned about it back in 2012, but never had an opportunity to stop and get a photo! So...be looking for that in the near future.
Anyway, it was well past 1am when we finally wrapped up the tour with one last tale--the strange disappearance of a colony of settlers along the Kanawha River. I was worn out, a little damp from the misty rain that never quite completely cleared up that night, but thrilled to have rang in the Halloween holiday sharing the spooky history of West Virginia's capital city with other ghost enthusiasts.
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| Do you see the hanging shadow man? More info coming soon! |
Obviously, ghost hunting outside in downtown Charleston, especially on the Saturday before Halloween, isn't exactly an ideal set-up for legitimate evidence, but that's not really the point. I had an awesome time hearing the stories of each haunted location and seeing the excitement of other tour guests when they seemingly 'got a hit' on a piece of equipment! It was a really cool introduction to various tools of paranormal investigation and a really fun way for those who don't do this kind of thing regularly to get a taste of what it's like and some hands-on experience in a fun and laid-back setting. I can't say enough good things about this tour and I'm so happy that Charleston has such a fun, spooky activity available. After this weekend, I'm even MORE excited for the November tour route, which will feature haunted locations in Charleston's East End.
For more information on upcoming tours and events: