The Half-Haunted House of Marmet

Marmet is a small community, located along the Kanawha River, just past Kanawha City. It's a town that my husband and I often end up driving through when we're just out sight-seeing...and it's a town that is REALLY fun to hear non-locals try to pronounce. Although you might not be able to tell just from looking at it, there's a lot of history in that little town. It is the location where on August 23, 1921, miners flooded in from surrounding mining communities to start their march towards Mingo County, resulting in the largest labor dispute in history. (See: Marmet--The Beginning of the Most Significant Labor Rebellion in American History)

It's also the location (or was, at least) to HALF a haunted house. Yes, that's correct; only half of this house was said to be haunted.

The house in question was a two-story brick home, which at one time served as the Sandberg Coal Company's offices. But, by the 1950's, it had a reputation of being haunted. It was reported in the January 17, 1952 edition of the Charleston Daily Mail that several readers had claimed that the home, located on a hillside near the railroad tracks, had a ghostly past. One such claimant was a 60 year old man who said that the house was known to be haunted ever since he was a little boy, and that no one would stay on the bottom floor.

But, other locals would claim that there wasn't anything to the stories. William Coleman, a former tenant, along with Arlie Compton, who was living in the home at the time of the article, both agreed that there were no ghosts to be found, although William did say there were occasionally some strange noises. 

What's even more interesting is that the owner of the property, lawyer R.D. McCabe, claimed that the first floor fell in years prior, and the basement flooded with water. No one could live on that first floor, but not because it was haunted...but because the first floor technically didn't really even exist! But, it was assumed that if there WAS anyone occupying that space, it would HAVE to be ghost...

The Charleston Daily Mail
17 January 1952