2016 Keenan House Ghost Photo

Photo by Kim Miller

Hey, everyone!  I apologize---I need to start this blog off with a bit of bad news.  As many of you already know, my paranormal investigation group, HPIR, has spent the past 10+ years giving FREE ghost tours of downtown Guyandotte, WV.  Unfortunately, there will be no Haunted and Historic Guyandotte Walking Tours for the 2018 season for either Halloween or Guyandotte Civil War Days.

We have absolutely loved sharing the history of this community in a fun and spooky way, and have met so many great people along the way.  This is not a permanent end, but just a break to reassess how we can best serve a changing community.  For now, I encourage you to hop on over to the Haunted and Historic Guyandotte Tours Facebook page where our President and Founder, Melissa, is busy sharing plenty of stories, articles, and pictures in the interim.

And, for today's blog, I wanted to share with you ANOTHER spooky photo taken by one of our tour guests!  This photo was shared with us by Kim Miller.  The photo was taken during our 2016 tour season during one of our Civil War Days tours.  The home in question is the historic Keenan House, built in the early 1800s.  Over the years, the Keenan House has served as a home for several prominent citizens, acted as a historical society headquarters, and suffered a devastating fire that destroyed much of the interior.  It's biggest claim to fame, however, is the purpose it served over the course of November 10 through 11, 1861.

Close-up 

That year, a small Union recruitment camp and training center was set up in the then-bustling town of Guyandotte, Va., much to the chagrin of the local citizens who were largely made up of Confederate sympathizers. Late Sunday evening, on November 10th, the camp was raided by Confederate troops under the leadership of Captain (later General) Albert G. Jenkins. Surviving Union recruits and Union sympathizers throughout town were rounded up, tied together two-by-two, and held overnight at the Keenan House.  The next morning, those surviving the night were marched to Richmond to be imprisoned.

With 200+ years of life and death, combined with a good deal of suffering contained within its walls, could there be spirits still present at the Keenan House...and if so, could this photo show some of that energy?

One of the biggest things I'll miss about tours this year is the infectious excitement of our tour guests when they have an experience they cannot explain or capture a photograph they can't debunk. It's so fun to share that excitement with them and give them the opportunity to explore the haunted history of their own community...or even to introduce them to the haunted history of a new location for them!  We've actually had guests come from as far away as Israel enjoy our tours!  Keep an eye on our Facebook page, linked above.  I think we'll be back before you know it, stronger than ever!  Happy Haunting, ya'll!

2017 Ghost Tour Photo

Original Photo by Melissa Stanley, HPIR

Last Saturday, Huntington Paranormal hosted Haunted and Historic Guyandotte's Cemetery, River and Rail Tour. Despite the bad weather, we had a great turnout! Plenty of people braved the cold and the rain for a chance to learn a little about Guyandotte's haunted history and to possibly see a ghost!

Unfortunately, I don't believe anyone saw anything paranormal that night...at least with the naked eye. However, when our President and Tour Creator, Melissa Stanley checked through her photos from that night, one in particular caused her to do a double take! Behind one of our historic re-enactors there appears to be a hazy white humanoid shape. If you look closely, the shape seems to be walking behind our 'soldier,' almost in the same posture even. 

Below the original, (which is property of Melissa Stanley and may not be used without express written permission!) is a more zoomed in view. We're pretty sure our anomaly is nothing more than a combination of pareidolia and a light reflection from a nearby streetlamp....but I'd love to hear YOUR opinion!  Let me know down in the comments what you think. Is this photo easily explained away, or do you think it may actually show an otherworldly being wanting to be a part of the show?

This isn't the first strange photo that has been captured on our tours---and hopefully it won't be our last either! If you're interested in the chance to experience your own ghost and potentially capture some photographic evidence, make sure you keep up with the Haunted and Historic Guyandotte Tours Facebook page!

Cropped version, property of Melissa Stanley, HPIR

Ghostly Encounters Tour 2013

Hunter's Moon by Nightskyinfo.com

This weekend kicks off the second weekend of Huntington Paranormal's Haunted and Historic Guyandotte Tours!  In this installment of our 2013 tour season, we're bringing back our popular Ghostly Encounters Walking Tour of downtown Guyandotte!

The Ghostly Encounters tour will take visitors on a guided walking tour through Huntington's oldest, and some say most HAUNTED, neighborhood!  At a little under 2 hours and a little over a mile in distance, your Ghostly Encounters tour will take you to about a dozen of Guyandotte's most haunted locations.  History combines with legend to provide a unique experience that is sure to leave even the most skeptical shaking their heads!  Every year we change things up a tad, and every year multiple visitors report having their own paranormal experiences!  Cameras are highly encouraged as a way to document YOUR experiences!

As always, this tour is being offered to the public for FREE, and is led by knowledgeable guides eager to make your tour experience one you'll never forget.  Tours leave from the Guyandotte Branch Library on Richmond Street and early ticket distribution begins at 6 pm.  This year, the library is holding a special movie night in conjunction with our tours!  Arrive at 5 pm for a FREE horror movie and popcorn while you wait for your tour to start.  Bring your camera and flashlight, and be sure to wear comfy shoes and join us this Friday and Saturday, October 18th and 19th for Ghostly Encounters!

An interesting side note:  Friday's tour falls on the 2013 Full Hunter's Moon!  The Hunter's Moon is the full moon immediately following the Harvest Moon, which is the full moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox.  Sometimes referred to as the Dying Grass Moon or the Travel Moon, the Hunter's Moon signified the start of the time when hunters began stocking up on meat for the upcoming winter.  It is believed to have gotten its name from Native American origins, but the first mention of it comes from a 1710 edition of British Apollo, which states that its the name the country folk used to describe the October full moon.  Some believe that a full moon can actually increase paranormal activity, but either way, it'll be a hauntingly beautiful and somewhat spooky experience as we tour the town under the light of the full moon!

I'd also like to take a moment to thank all of our volunteers and all of our guests!  HPIR has been offering these free ghost tours since our inception at the 2008 Guyandotte Civil War Days.  We truly enjoy offering this service to our community and have gotten wildly positive feedback.  We often say that the best way to teach history is through a good ghost story and I've personally seen this in action year after year as some of our regulars can quote, nearly verbatim, Guyandotte's early history up through the Civil War!  We hope you continue to enjoy our tours as much as we love giving them.  Hope to see ya out this weekend, and please see our website for full details on the Ghostly Encounters Tour, and the rest of our season's schedule!

www.GuyandotteGhosts.com

Upcoming Tour Dates:

October 18th and 19th-Ghostly Encounters Walking Tour

October 26th-Guided Ghost Hunt

November 1st and 2nd-Civil War Haunted History Tour

Strange Photo Taken from a Previous Tour

Skeleton Found 50 Years After Battle of Guyandotte

FOUND SKELETON 

OF HUMAN BEING 

Probable Victim of Civil War Battle

Believed to Have Been Killed in Flight During Burning of Guyandotte

Guyandotte Cemetery, Photo by Melissa Stanley

While walking near 31st Street and the Ohio River Sunday, Richard White unearthed portions of a human skeleton that is believed to be the remains of one of the victims of the battle which took place when the town of Guyandotte was burned during the Civil War. A skull unearthed by slipping of the soil led to a search and several other parts of the skeleton were found.

Its state of decomposition removed all suspicions of murder that could have been committed within recent years.  

The theory was then advanced that some soldier wounded in the encounter of Confederate soldiers under General Jenkins and Federals under Colonel Zeigler, had crawled away from the battlefield to perish without the knowledge of his comrades.  Or perhaps had been buried and the marks of his grave obliterated in the lapse of years.

-Huntington Advertiser, 27 March 1911

I was looking up some unrelated information and came across this newspaper article in the Huntington Advertiser.  I often talk about how I have the good luck to come across some really interesting items in my research.  This little tidbit is no exception, and is particular interest to my work with HPIR's Haunted and Historic Guyandotte Tours!  HPIR started its tour business with haunted history tours held each year during Guyandotte Civil War Days, an annual festival that commemorates the raid, and subsequent burning' of Guyandotte, which in November of 1861 was home to a Union recruitment camp.

While our tours have grown, and we now offer several different options throughout the year, our yearly Civil War Days tours are still our favorite...giving us the perfect opportunity to share the rich, Civil War history (and associated haunts, of course) with our guests.  A big part of that history does involve the Confederate attack on the town, much of which did actively take place on the old suspension bridge leading out of town.  We do know that there are several deaths associated with the bridge, as men both fought valiantly against the raiders coming across...but also tried to flee by jumping into the icy waters and swimming to freedom.

What I find particularly interesting about this article is the lack of any follow-up.  I scanned the newspapers for the next few weeks, but found no mention of where the bones were taken, or if they were ever identified.  However, digging into some of the historical accounts of the battle, and other documents concerning those who lost their lives that night, I hope to help uncover this mystery!

Please join me and the other members of HPIR's Haunted and Historic Guyandotte Tours this fall to hear MY theories on who this unfortunate soul could have been...plus many other fun, historical facts and NEW ghost sightings/evidence concerning Huntington's oldest neighborhood.  Mark your calendars now because its gonna be a spooky ride!

Tour dates will be announced soon!
www.guyandotteghosts.com