Houston's Haunted Zoo

Ever since I wrote the blog post on the phantom lioness of the Cincinnati Zoo, I've been intrigued with the idea of haunted zoos.   You wouldn't believe how many zoos throughout the United States have ghost stories attached to them, but none seem as mysterious as the haunting of the Houston Zoo.

The Houston Zoo is located on the grounds of Hermann Park, and has been at this location since 1922 after the need for a larger facility to house additional animals was decided upon.  With this new location came a new employee:  Hans Nagel.  It is believed that Nagel was born in Germany in 1892.  As the son of a military officer, he was sent at a young age to Officer Training School.  However, the military life was not in the cards for Nagel; he went AWOL and literally jumped off a ship, only to be rescued by an animal collector working with Hagenback Gardens.  Nagel had found his calling and quickly learned the animal training trade.

His journey to America and specifically to Texas is a shady one, but the important this is, he made it and was quickly given employment with the Houston Zoo.  Nagel was a showman; his lion-taming feats, among other amazing shows, were constantly featured in newsreels and publications of the day, bringing in numerous guests to the now-thriving zoo.

Before long, Nagel was made head keeper/director of the facility, and it was a job he took very seriously.  He was known to patrol the grounds of the zoo with his 9mm Luger pistol, keeping it safe from intruders...and the occasional rogue animal.  The city of Houston once awarded Nagel a gold medal for shooting to death a Bengal tiger that was attacking one of the zoo officials.  The city also awarded Nagel a commissions as a special police for the zoo.

That distinction was pulled from Nagel in 1929 by Mayor Walter Monteith on the recommendation of the City Park Commission over issues that Nagel was abusing his authority.  But, a lack of title wasn't going to stop Nagel from protecting his beloved zoo.  Unfortunately, six bullets would.

Hans is on the left

On a Monday afternoon in November of 1941, a police officer patrolling the area of the zoo noticed Nagel hiding in some bushes, spying on a car of teenagers.  The officer asked the teens if they knew they were being watched, which was an obvious 'no.'  The officer then attempted to handcuff Nagel and bring him to the station to discuss the matter of jurisdiction.  At this point, things get a little sketchy.  Nagel apparently resisted arrest, and the officer claims he went for that famous Luger pistol he always kept at his side.  Before he could reach the pistol, the officer shot Nagel six times, killing him.  The officer was acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.

Those six bullets may have stopped Nagel's body, but even they couldn't stop his spirit.  Many believe he is still keeping a watchful eye over his zoo.  Unexplained occurrences have been noted in the Denton A. Cooley Animal Hospital, but the majority of ghostly activity is associated with the Commissary building.  The Commissary is where all the food for the animals is stored and prepared.  Staff reporting to work in the building between 5 and 6 am have reported hearing voices and seeing the shadowy figure of a man walking around.  The ghost stories are such an integral part of the zoo's history that they are extensively covered in the zoo's official blog.  Further, amateur ghost hunters on staff at the zoo routinely take turns spending the night in the building in hopes of collecting evidence of Nagel's presence.  So far, a couple of really good EVPs have been caught (which can be heard on the link below) but I personally think they sound like a woman's voice.

But why would Hans choose the haunt the Commissary, a building that wasn't even built at the time of his death?  Zoo staff believe they have solved that mystery; according to police reports, Nagel was shot "about 300 feet from the Outer Belt Road and on a gravel road leading West to East."  When they compared old maps of the zoo, they found that this area coincides with the current location of the Commissary building.

Sources:

Official Houston Zoo Blog

Houston Chronicle article by Craig Hlavaty

Houston Museum District

The Cleveland, TX Ghost Photo

Original

I just wanted to preface today's blog by saying I definitely learned something...I had no idea there was a Cleveland, Texas.  Anyway, I have another post dedicated to a fraudulent ghost photo.  Unfortunately, the boom in popularity for Facebook groups and pages ran and frequented by people with very little experience in the paranormal research field has led to a boom in fraudulent and fictional stories and photos to flood the web. Just recently this one popped its head back up.

Zoomed In

The photo in question was taken in by Marcella Davis on April 15, 2013.  Marcella took the photo around 4pm at Cleveland High School in Cleveland, TX.  According to her, she attempting to photograph her nephew.  She took one photo, but since her nephew turned, and didn't want his picture taken, she gave up.


Marcella was using a smartphone to take the photo, but admitted that she knew very little about how it worked.  Her teenage daughter was showing her how to zoom in on the photo and noticed the ghostly image of a man in a white suit with bell-bottoms.

Does this guy look familiar?  Yep, its a ghost app! I'm guessing that Marcella's daughter, before showing her mom how to zoom in on a photo, doctored it up a lil' to play a prank.

From the Facebook page, Ghost App Ghosts

A REAL Poltergeist Story from Texas

The house, according to Google Streetview, May 2011

803 Poppet's Way, Crosby, Texas:  This address, located within the Newport subdivision outside Houston, is a real life Poltergeist story:

The upscale neighborhood first began acquiring modern residents in the 1980s. Ben and Jean Williams were the first to begin reporting problems...mundane things at first like toilets flushing and lights flickering. They also had a tree in their yard covered with strange markings, and rectangular sinkholes began appearing in their backyard.

In 1983, neighbors Sam and Judy Haney began putting in a swimming pool in their backyard and unearthed two coffins containing the bodies of a man and a woman. After some research, the neighbors got in contact with an elderly man named Jasper Norton, who was formerly employed as a gravedigger. He told them the area was once the site of the Black Hope Cemetery and that as many as 60 people, many former slaves, were buried there. The two bodies uncovered in the Haney yard belonged to Betty and Charlie Thomas, former slaves who were buried in the 1930s.

The land the subdivision sits on had remained in the custody of one family from a time prior to the Civil War, to up until when the property was sold in the 1970s to real estate developers. This family owned and operated a plantation, and after the Civil War, continued to employ many freed blacks as farm hands.

It is argued that the former owners of the property did not disclose the inclusion of a small portion of the land that was deeded for use as a Potter's Cemetery, however, it is claimed that the buyer was quite aware of its presence. Eyewitness testimony states that developers bulldozed several wooden crosses and a picket fence during the early stages of development.

In any event, Ben and Jean were the first to build a home on what was the cemetery in 1980, followed soon after by the Haney's. Out of respect for the dead, the Haney's made the tough decision to rebury the Thomas' in the yard, but shortly afterward, the Haney's started reporting hauntings in their home...disembodied voices, etc. Other neighbors were also experiencing activity and began moving out, but the Williams' and the Haney's decided to stay.

Unfortunately, the Williams' began to experience more and more problems. Their grand- daughter became ill, and the sinkholes began opening up. Ben even reported seeing an apparition hovering over his sleeping wife. The Haney's were also still experiencing problems and unexplained illnesses decided to file a lawsuit against the neighborhood's developer. The jury found in favor of the Haney's but the judge overruled the decision. The Haney's, now broke, filed for bankruptcy and fled the home.

The Williams' decided to try their hand at a lawsuit, but decided to gather more evidence first. In their quest, they found an older resident who told them that the strange markings on the tree in their yard actually marked the spot where two young girls were buried. Jean started digging but when exhaustion took over, her 30 year old daughter Tina began. After no more than 30 minutes, Tina suffered a major heart attack and died two days later. The Williams simply abandoned the house after that, seven years after they had first built it, and fled to Montana. The later went on to help co-author the book based on their experiences, the Black Hope Horror.

No current residents are experiencing problems in the neighborhood as reported by a local investigation team who has investigated and researched the area.

(Above photo property of THIS excellent site on the Black Hope Horror. Please visit for more information and more photos.)

UPDATE 2012:  I'm pretty sure the first time I heard of Poppet's Way was on one of my favorite TV shows as a kid...Unsolved Mysteries.  The segment featuring this real-life Poltergeist story can be found on YouTube!  The Black Hope Horror segment appears first in the episode.