A Haunting on Wolf Creek

Whitlock Farmhouse
Source: WV Explorer

Just outside Fayetteville (WV) sits the old Whitlock Farm. It's bordered by Rt. 16 and Wolf Creek Road, the latter being a road that parallels the actual Wolf Creek. Wolf Creek is a tributary to the New River, offering several beautiful small falls along its path...as well as a history steeped in local lore. 

Throughout the 1800s, much of West Virginia was inhabited by wolves. Our mountains and rural terrain made the perfect home for these creatures, even when neighboring states were quickly eliminating their presence. As beautiful and majestic as we may see wolves today, during the 1800s they not only were a danger to humans traveling these hills and valleys alone, but they were a menace to local farmers. A lone wolf could ruin a small farm by picking off its livestock, one by one. 

Officially, the last wild wolf in West Virginia was killed in 1897 in Webster County. But that doesn't mean the spirit of these animals ever left.  Wolf Creek was so named for the abundance of living wolves in the area at one time, but now it has become associated with one ghost wolf.  People in the area tell stories of a misty white form that prowls the fields of Whitlock farm, often around the pond area. More often, the wolf flits in front of cars passing the bend in front of the old Whitlock farmhouse. 

Arrow pointing the assumed location
of the White Wolf sighting

A personal experience involving the ghostly white wolf was submitted and published to the WV Ghosts website by Brenda Calfee on July 12, 2019. About 25 years prior, Brenda and her boyfriend were driving home from a party and decided to pull off the road at a bend in front of the farmhouse for some alone time. Brenda admits that at the time, even though she was familiar with the stories of the white wolf, she was more worried about the potential of seeing a ghostly figure staring out the window of the farmhouse. 

The farmhouse ghost didn't show that night, but the white wolf did. 

The couple sat in the car with the headlights off. In the pitch dark, Brenda noticed a white form slowly circling the car, and movement in the nearby tall grass. At first, she thought it was an illusion, caused by the dark, and further, her boyfriend hadn't seen anything. However, after telling him to be quiet and listen for a minute, an unearthly howl was heard, and the creature was directly in front of Brenda's door! She could see its eyes looking at them but was paralyzed in fear. 

Her boyfriend managed to come to his senses, start the car, and scream out of the area. They didn't stop until they were a mile away. 

But why would a ghost haunt a farm? It's possible that the animal was killed by a farmer, as so many other wolves were, and its spirit is somehow trapped in the area where it took its last breath. It may be a guardian spirit of some sort, watching over the old farm, or even the general Wolf Creek area as a reminder of man's impact on nature. Wolves once ruled the area before settlers encroached upon their land, slaughtering them by the hundreds. Or maybe...it really is just a trick of the eye. I'll let you decide!

In 2016, the abandoned farm property was purchased and is now the home of New Roots Community Farm. No word yet on if the ghost(s) has been seen in recent years. If you have any additional stories or information, I'd love to hear them. 

Sources and Further Reading:

The White Wolf of Whitlock Farm, by Brenda Calfee (WVGhosts.com)

Ben Gustafson and Danille Elise Christensen. "New Roots Community Farm." Clio: Your Guide to History. December 10, 2022. Accessed August 1, 2026. https://theclio.com/entry/159657

 

Silver Gap Railroad Ghost

Virginian 737 (Close enough, maybe?)
Source: Locomotive Fandom

Today's blog post is inspired by a true paranormal experience submitted to the WV Ghosts website by Clara Beverage and published on August 6, 2021. 

One night, the author and her friends found themselves out way past dark, walking the desolate railway tracks between Oak Hill and Dothan, WV (Fayette County). Although it was dark---VERY dark---there was enough light that they could still see the path along the tracks well enough to make it back home to the Oak Hill side. 

About midway between Dothan and Oak Hill is a small valley known as Silver Gap. It is in this area that the group had a shocking encounter. Up the hill from them, overlooking the tracks, was a wispy, gray form, about the same height as a human. The form remained motionless for some time, but as the group got the courage to hurry past it, it descended the embankment and took position on the tracks. 

Again, the form stood motionless for some time, as it seemingly watched them. Then, it began moving away from them, down the track, slowly fading until it disappeared completely in the darkness. At that point, the unearthly scream of a terrorized man echoed out over the valley. 

Understandably, the group fled and didn't slow down until they saw the lights of Round Hill Road. 

Curious as to who this ghostly specter may have been, I did some cursory research. Unfortunately, I didn't uncover a whole lot. The railroad tracks between Dothan and Oak Hill were part of a new line of the Virginia Railway that opened in 1907 as a way to connect to points along the already established Norfolk and Western Line. Over the years, the area was no stranger to train wrecks, some fatal and some not, but I only found one that specifically mentioned the Silver Gap area. 

On November 9, 1948, at about 11:15 pm, Engine No. 734, a U.S. Mallet type, was carrying 10 loaded cars, 11 unloaded cars, and a caboose. It was traveling between Elmore and Page, working several mines along the way when it derailed. The engine overturned against an embankment at a 45-degree angle, leaving Engineer Bert Kelly and Fireman J. Howard Griffith shaken up, but uninjured. It took about 18 hours for crews to get things moving again, but business resumed as usual. It was believed that the 'pony truck' (a set of small lead wheels behind the cowcatcher) derailed, causing the accident. 

We understand that a haunting doesn't always need to be associated with a death. Sometimes, an event can be so steeped in emotion (good or bad) that it can leave its imprint on an environment. Perhaps the screaming the group heard that night was an echo caught in time of Kelly or Griffith, shouting for his life, assuming he was about to meet his maker. Perhaps the ghostly figure was a small piece of one of the men that was left at the site to bear witness to the area where a tragedy almost occurred...and warn others away from the same. 

Or maybe there is a death associated with the Silver Gap section of the railroad. Any number of train derailments, trains hitting a pedestrian, or other deaths in the area and being lost to history is entirely possible. I'll keep looking for more information, but until then, if you're passing through the Silver Gap between Dothan and Oak Hill on a dark night, watch out for a human-sized column of fog!

Sources and Further Reading:

Silver Gap Ghost Near Oak Hill, by Clara Beverage (WVGhosts.com)

Topographic Map of Silver Gap

11 November 1948
Beckley Post-Herald

10 November 1948
The Raleigh Register

15 July 1907
Hinton Daily News

Robert Bailey: Mysterious Death at Thurmond

Thurmond 2025
Picture by Theresa

Last weekend, I investigated West Virginia's most infamous and well-known ghost town---Thurmond. I had been to visit a handful of times, but this was the first opportunity I had to actually do a little ghost hunting (a big thank you to Appalachian Ghost Tours for hosting!) Therefore, I had to do a little digging into some of the history of this fascinating town. 

One thing I noticed is that a lot of people were found deceased in Thurmond. Like, a LOT. And, the majority of them were found in or just outside of Thurmond on the banks (or in some cases IN) the New River. Some went into the water on their own accord, either by accident or by suicide. The bridge pictured in this blog, which connected Thurmond proper to where the Dunglen Hotel was located, was a favorite spot. Others were theorized to have been tossed in, the victims of foul play. A great number of the deceased turned out to be Italian immigrants, which I've addressed in my last blog post (The Mayor Who Fined a Dead Man) and I'll surely address in future blogs. But, there was at least one man who was born and raised here in West Virginia who met his tragic end in 1937. It is unknown just how he ended up in the New River, but his official cause of death was listed as drowning. Here's his story:

Robert Dow Bailey was a thirty year old man from Price Hill, WV. He worked as an electrician for a local mine. On April 17, 1937 (Saturday), he left his wife, Flora, at Mt. Hope, saying that he had $100 and was going to Thurmond. That was the last she ever saw of him. On April 23rd, his body was found along a shallow edge of the New River, across from the C&O Depot, down by the roundhouse. An unnamed African American woman who was out at the river picking greens found the body and alerted authorities. 

Thurmond Bridge, near Round House
Turntable visible to the left
Circa 1900 
Source: WV History on View

The county coroner, E.R. Daniels, ruled the cause of death to be drowning. Local physician, Dr. G.W. Grafton, noted a bruise on Bailey's right side, but pointed out it couldn't have been the cause of death. And, the mortician, C.B. Collins, stated his opinion that the body had been in the water all six days he'd been missing. So what happened to Robert Bailey?

Sam Pugh, the proprietor of a local beer garden, claimed Bailey came into his establishment around 9pm Saturday night. Bailey was drunk and wanting to order beer, but Pugh refused him. Pugh also refused Bailey's request to leave some money with him at the establishment. Bailey then left. 

Others came forward to say they had also seen Bailey Saturday evening as he arrived from Mt. Hope. They said he told several people that he had "been picked in a poker game." Somewhere along the way, Bailey certainly did seem to lose quite a bit of money. He wife claimed he left with $100, but his body was found with only $16---a $10 check and $6 in various other forms of currency. 

During my research, the number one reason given for why so many took their own lives near the Thurmond bridge was cited as losing all their money gambling. It's possible that this is what happened to Bailey, but we also have to take into consideration that he was robbed and tossed into the river, or that he was simply drunk and stumbled and fell. Whichever way he left this mortal world, his memory lives on as one of the many victims of the New River at Thurmond. 

Robert Bailey Death Certificate
WV State Archives

 

Beckley Post-Herald
24 April 1937

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

Ghostly Image Appears on Window Pane in Fayette County

1880 Victorian Woman By Fresh Grave
Source: GettyImages

One night in December of 1904, Mrs. C.T. Rodgers, who lived at the head of Keeney's Creek in Fayette County, WV had a dream. She dreamed that her deceased sister came to her, asking for help. This sister had a daughter (Mrs. Rodgers' niece) who apparently had been led astray, and was not living a very moral life, according to the deceased. She begged Mrs. Rodgers to speak with the girl and convince her to change her ways. To this, Mrs. Rodgers replied that it would be useless; the girl would not listen to her. So, the deceased then asked Mrs. Rodgers to simply pray for the misguided youth instead. 

The next morning, Mrs. Rodgers was mulling over the dream in her head as she prepared breakfast. But as the smoke from the stove began to curl oddly about, she felt something weird was definitely going on. As the smoke drifted toward the window, an image began to take form on the glass pane. At first, Mrs. Rodgers just thought it was the cold, morning frost, but the image soon took on the unmistakable likeness of a blonde-haired woman in a blue dress, standing aside an open grave. Different accounts of the tale claim that the image was like that of a photograph, while others say it was more like the artwork of French artist, Gustave Dore, who specialized in woodcuts. Either way, it was a clear image of a woman beside a grave, just standing there.  However, despite the implied link between this ghostly image and the previous night's dream, the woman did not appear to be either the sister OR the wayward niece.

Mrs. Rodgers, not wanting to bother her husband with such matters, tried to quickly scrub the image off the pane, but it wouldn't budge. It was there to stay. Mr. Rodgers must not have been a particularly observant husband, because Mrs. Rodgers didn't say a word, and he never noticed the freaky image that was now permanently part of his kitchen window. That lasted all of two weeks before Mrs. Rodgers finally said something to him. After that, things kind of got out of control. Neighbor by neighbor learned of the eerie image and before long, the whole county knew. By the time different newspapers throughout the state had picked up the story in March of 1905, it was estimated that at least 2000 people had traipsed to the small Fayette County community to see the woman in blue. Among the sightseers was the Hon. J. Alfred Taylor, a politician who would later serve in Congress. A glass worker with years of experience who claimed to have never seen anything like this before, was also in attendance, along with some scientists who brought a microscope. But, just like trying to wipe the image away produced no effect, oddly, neither did the microscope. It was reported that for whatever reason, the image of the woman by the grave refused to get any bigger under the lens. 

No one ever did discover the identity of the mysterious woman in the image, nor whose grave she stood watching. And, I never did find out exactly what became of the image---whether it ever faded away, or even if the house still stands. But, one thing I DID learn was that the wayward niece whose deceased mother was so concerned about....well, after seeing the image in the windowpane for herself, she vowed to change her ways and live a moral life once and for all. So, whether or not the image actually WAS linked to Mrs. Rodgers' dream doesn't really matter; the deceased woman's plea was answered. 

Sources:

The Weekly Register (Point Pleasant, WV). 8 March 1905. Page 3

The Independent-Herald (Hinton, WV). 16 March 1905. Page 2

UPDATE November 2025

In September of 1905, the Independent-Herald ran an update to this story. It seems as if the Rodgers were too afraid to actually try to replace the glass for many months. But a week before the article was published, the glass was replaced, and the image of the woman and grave were gone. However, nearly immediately, a DIFFERENT ghostly image appeared---that of a child's face! 

The Independent-Herald
7 September 1905

The Singing Spirit Wife of Kanawha County

Source

I've got another historic newspaper article to share with you today! Although this clipping can be found in the November 8, 1886 edition of the The Mail--a newspaper out of Stockton, California, the tale told is actually from deep within the mountains of West Virginia. Cannelton, WV is now located in present-day Fayette County, with Cannelton Mountain at the boundary of Kanawha County. 

This is a really interesting story of a preacher and his wife, both of whom seemed to have some rather spooky characteristics about them. When the wife passes away, she leaves a rather bizarre request for her husband to follow, which he does, much to the horror of those living in the surrounding communities. But, things get even worse for him when he decides to go back on that request and bring a new wife to his home. I hope you enjoy this strange little tale and share it with others so that together we can keep the rich, and sometimes weird, folklore of West Virginia alive. 

A SINGING SPIRIT-WIFE

The Haunted Glen in the West Virginia Mountains

Corr. Cincinnati Enquirer

There is a wild country in the rear of Cannelton mountain, in the western part of Kanawha county, West Virginia. Strange people, many of whom are nomadic in habit, strange customs and strange habitations may be found for the looking. Here the "sing-diggers," or cave dwellers, thrive in wild luxuriance; here the "Brotherhood of Prayer" and Church of God sects, whose curious rites of humility and penance recall the history of druidical worship. On the southern slope of a mountain about five miles beyond "the settlement"--as these primitive-mannered people still call the villages--Edom Smith, a free-will Baptist, pitched his tent ten years ago. His claims for preferment were speedily recognized and a following obtained. 

A rude hut was his dwelling-place, in a dense wood, never touched by sunshine, and hard by a little stream, spring-fed, and a twinkling waterfall. Here the owls hooted grewsomely in the night time. Deacon Smith was pale, cadaverous and solemn. His wife was of the gypsy type--dark, of stormy mien, alert and active. That she ruled the deacon with no gentle rod no one had reason to doubt. She held herself aloof from "his people," though taking part in the Saturday night services. He never preached save at night, and then only in the light of the moon.

The dark woman was held in veneration by the "sing-diggers," for she sang as none others could, and gave them healing potions and charms against the evil one. Once, it is said, that when Edom Smith spoke of death and the grave in his discourse, she shrieked aloud and rebuked her husband with angry words. It was known that her terror of death amounted to madness, and she had extorted an oath from him never to consign her body to the ground, but to enclose it in an oaken box, to be deposited on a specific stump near the house. For want of sunlight she fell ill of rheumatism one Autumn and died when the leaves were coming out again in the tangle of vines on the tent.

Edom Smith remembered his vow, and respected it. Within sight of the bridle-path that led to the highway a few miles beyond, on the stump that Olga had selected, the rude oak box containing her remains was placed. The people besought him to bury the remains, but he said he durst not break his word, for she had promised to haunt him for this, and always kept her word. Then they made a new path to the river that they might avoid the awful spectacle of that discolored box, where the figure in white came every twilight and wandered to the waterfall. This weird vision was a common sight, it was said, and they persistently prayed the deacon to put the coffin under ground, where the dead belong. Elfish screams were heard in the moonlight hour, it was told, and wild songs, such as Olga used to sing as she sat by the cabin door. 

All knew that strong, strangely sweet voice, and shuddered when they heard its echoes among the trees. But no one complained to the authorities of the horror, and the box remained through that Summer and one Winter undisturbed. It finally disappeared, no one knew why, and were afraid to ask concerning it. But the mystery was explained when he brought a bride to the hut. She had steadily refused to share his lot until the former wife was put away. 

But the songs went on as of old, and the awful cries of the gloaming, till they called it the haunted glen, through which belated travelers hurried to the nearest habitation. It was found that Edom Smith had carried the box to a cavern, almost at the mountain top, on the other side. How he succeeded in reaching the place without assistance was more than anybody could understand, but no one questioned that awful matter.

There on a ledge of rock in the cave may yet be seen the oaken box, over which the mosses grow and the ancient ferns, and where the dolesome nighthawks scream a mournful threnody. The rattlesnakes hiss about the place and fantastic vine drapes the mouth of the tomb with scarlet blossoms. The tale is told that Deacon Smith had never peace in the hut with his new wife, for the ghostly songs of the restless Olga, and that his Bible had bloody fingermarks throughout. So they left the place one night, going no one knew whither, leaving everything as though they would return, but they never did, none hearing from them or the cause of their hegira.

Perhaps they were murdered, say the "song-people." Who can tell? But the furniture disappeared a month later, and then a fire destroyed the house--by what means no one could say. They still say the songs may yet be heard in the twilight and the awful shrieks in the midnight hour. And they will tell this tale to succeeding generations, and warn them of the haunted cave near the mountain top, and the ghost of the lonely glen.