No Cottage #13 for Lake Shawnee!

Lake Shawnee (2024)

"Somehow they [hotel guests] feel that to occupy room 13 would be to invite fate to make them the principal ingredients in a murder mystery, with hotel towels used for strangulation purposes."--Conley T. Snidow

Happy Friday the 13th! Today is a day that I love to share strange superstitions and quirky coincidences regarding Friday the 13th, and the number 13 in general being feared and thought 'unlucky.' Today's post was especially fun to share because it directly ties to one of West Virginia's most famous haunted locations: Lake Shawnee Amusement Park in Mercer County! 

Lake Shawnee has been on my mind a LOT lately, as I prepare for the first ever Haunt Fest on June 21st. Haunt Fest is an amazing paranormal and vendor convention, hosted by Appalachian Ghost Tours. Dozens of vendors, speakers, workshops, ghost hunts, and much more await those brave enough to spend the day at the site of the former park. For those who are REALLY brave (or just really tired) overnight camping will be available for an additional fee (please register with Lake Shawnee beforehand). But, unfortunately, things will look a little different than they did nearly 100 years ago. You will have to bring your own tent, as opposed to staying in the state-of-the-art vacation cottages that were such a draw when the park was in its early years. 

Lake Shawnee, or Shawnee Lake as it was more popularly known, opened in the summer of 1926 under the ownership of Conley T. Snidow and his family. Both a lake and a swimming pool were the main attractions, with a few rides added in over the years. Nightly dances were a staple and many, many groups held meetings, picnics, and other events at the park. Visitors came from miles around, and many rented out a cabin or cottage on-site to make the most of their vacation. 

The Virginian Hotel
Princeton, WV

By 1936, the park boasted thirteen...yes, THIRTEEN cabins or cottages on the property. However, in the Bug Dust column of the Beckley Raleigh Register, Snidow makes it a point to ensure potential guests that they never had to stay in the 'unlucky' Cabin 13. You see, the Snidow family reserved two of the cabins for their own use, leaving only eleven rentable cabins. 

The column further goes on to explain that this was a conscious decision on Snidow's part, due largely to Snidow's experience as a hotel owner and dealing with superstitious guests. In addition to Lake Shawnee, Snidow also owned and operated the Virginian Hotel in downtown Princeton, WV. He quickly learned that guests did not want to stay in a Room 13. To quote the article: "Somehow they [hotel guests] feel that to occupy room 13 would be to invite fate to make them the principal ingredients in a murder mystery, with hotel towels used for strangulation purposes."

Ironically, 60 years later another cabin, Cabin #13 at Babcock State Park in Fayette County, WOULD become central to a murder mystery when a preacher from Nitro, WV, Michael Flippo, murdered his wife Cheryl and tried to blame a mysterious intruder. Today, many believe that cabin to be haunted. But...that story is for another Friday the 13th. There's also a blog post in the works further exploring some legitimate bad luck associated with the Virginian Hotel, and how one tragic event may have led to a popular ghost story connected to the park. 

If you'd like to learn more about the history and the hauntings of Lake Shawnee Amusement park, you can check out my Lake Shawnee page here on Theresa's Haunted History, which will be updated significantly this summer. You are also cordially invited to come join Appalachian Ghost Tours on June 21, 2025 for the first annual Haunt Fest!  Learn about the history and the hauntings and then join us at 8pm to midnight for a ghost hunt of the park to uncover its secrets for yourself! Please see the AGT Facebook Page or Haunt Fest Event Page for more information. 

The Raleigh Register
21 July 1936

Friday the 13th's Freaky Phone Call

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH! 

A normal telephone conversation between two sisters on Friday, December 13th, 1968 turned into a rather bizarre experience!  Mrs. John Cox of South Charleston rang up her sister, Mrs. Clyde Cox, also of South Charleston to wish her a Happy Anniversary. Mrs. Clyde Cox and her husband had been married for 33 years and this Friday the 13th, were celebrating a wedding that had also taken place on a Friday the 13th. With a marriage spanning a little over three decades, one could argue that for the Cox Family, Friday the 13th wasn't the unlucky occasion superstition would lead us to believe.

However, this Friday the 13th would just be a little...weird. At least, the phone call between the two sisters would leave them scratching their heads. Both sisters were talking on their private phone lines, but had a strange series of calls break onto their line. Within 10 minutes, calls came in from two local chemical companies (FMC and Carbide), a doctor's office (Dr. Dunn), and two private calls. All five callers were wishing to speak with a Mrs. Riffe.

So, who was Mrs. Riffe, why were so many people eager to contact her in a span of ten minutes, and how did they ALL end up breaking into Mrs. Cox's private phone line? Obviously, this little anecdote sounds more like supernatural snafu (or simply, a technical error, but that's way less interesting to write about) than it does an example of Friday the 13th being an unlucky day. But, I guess maybe it's all about perspective. Strange phone calls may not have necessarily been unlucky for Mrs. Cox and her sister...but somewhere out there was a Mrs. Riffe who no less than five people desperately needed to reach but couldn't. Sounds like it was an unlucky day for her and those trying to reach her!

I hope this Friday the 13th brings you good luck and good fortune...and maybe a phantom phone call!

The Charleston Daily Mail
13 December 1968

West Virginia's Unluckiest Man

 

The Leader (Hinton, WV)
11 May 1933

It all started on a Friday. Friday the 13th, that is. On Friday, November 13th, 1931, Edward C. Kirk, a 57 year old resident of Charleston, West Virginia would kick off a series of mishaps that would shape the rest of his life for the worse. On that day, he fell beneath a train and lost his leg. A few months later, he lost an eye in an automobile accident. 

But, his streak of bad luck wasn't over; it merely just took a break for a year or so. On May 8, 1933, as he was groping for his artificial leg, he accidentally discharged a pistol, shattering the bone of his left arm, which had to be amputated the next day. 

This poor guy just couldn't catch a break, and that bad luck POSSIBLY rubbed off on his son, as well! While I was searching for some any updates (okay, I was morbidly looking to see if this guy had any further accidents) I came across a small blurb in the Charleston Daily Mail from September 12, 1933, stating the results of a court case. A Mr. Edward Kirk JUNIOR of Charleston had sued several men over being struck by a truck on Anaconda Avenue on May 16th, 1933, barely a week after Mr. Kirk, Sr. had his arm amputated. I can't prove that this was the same family, as when I looked at the death certificate index, there were actually several Edward Kirks in Kanawha County around this time, but it makes ya wonder....

In any event, I hope YOU have a much luckier and happier Friday the 13th! 

Happy Friday the 13th!

 

Happy Friday the 13th! The last Friday the 13th we had in 2020 was in March.  That was the day West Virginia Governor Jim Justice shut down the schools for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.  That was also the day that the President of the United States finally declared Covid-19 to be a National Emergency.  With cases on the rise again, I'm afraid that the second Friday the 13th of 2020 isn't going to offer us much better news.  

So, here's a lucky black cat to spread some GOOD luck this Friday the 13th. I know my personal lil' black kitty, Ichabod, has brought nothing but good luck and joy to our family, and hopefully this lil' black kitty will bring you the same.  Here's to making the best out of the rest of 2020 and beyond!  Stay spooky, friends! 

Thirteen Club Comes to Morgantown

I absolutely LOVE this photo! I first shared it a couple of years ago on my Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page, and then shared it again last October. I felt, however, that it needed a more permanent spot here on the blog!

The photo comes from one of my favorite websites, WV History on View. It is labeled: "Friday the Thirteenth Group Dinner, Morgantown, W. Va". However, I THINK we can take it a step further and assume that this is an example of a local 13 Club! 

In the 1880s, the Thirteen Club was created to debunk the superstition of "13 at a table" being unlucky. This belief states that when 13 people are seated together at a table, one will die within a year, usually the first one to get up and leave. They met on the 13th of the month for a dinner served to 13 people at each table.

Now, I don't like to think of myself as a superstitious person, but if I were invited to one of these dinners, I'm going to be taking my good, sweet time in finishing it! 

For more information on 13 Clubs, check out this article in the Paris Review. 

Happy Friday the 13th from Miss Rose Cade!

Happy Friday the 13th ya'll! Today is the second and last Friday the 13th we'll see in 2017, so let's make it a good one. Today is usually a day filled with superstition and bad luck, but it can also be a day of fun and silliness. So, as today's Friday Night Funny Post, I wanted to share with you this rather absurd photograph of a woman in a lemon suit, standing under a calendar marked Friday the 13th!

Being so close to Halloween, I guess one could imagine that a giant lemon costume might make for some interesting party or trick-or-treat attire...but this weird get-up is no Halloween costume.  This is Miss Rose Cade, Queen of the Lemons, 1920. I assume this was some type of pageant, because in the Library of Congress description for this photo, it makes note that Miss Cade was also nominated as Southern California's 'Swat the Jinx' Girl.