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The Spirits of Sloss Furnaces (Revisited) Jul 12, 2021

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Built in 1881, Sloss Furnaces was the first of many blast furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama to manufacture pig iron.

The furnaces aided in catalyzing an Industrial Revolution in the postwar south. It was in Alabama, that the iron industry took off, providing the rest of the country with the material necessary to build everything from country bridges to the first skyscrapers.

But this lucrative new economy came at a high cost to the men who toiled to keep the furnace fed. A majority of furnaces workers were formerly enslaved men, willing to take any work away from the fields they were once forced to labor in. With extreme and hazardous working conditions at the best of times, it is no surprise that accidents resulting in injury or death occurred

Today, many believe that echoes of the tragedy experienced by past workers still reverberate through the tunnels and catwalks of this icon of American industry.

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The Ghost Town of Rodney, Mississippi Jul 02, 2021

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LOST TO TIME AND THE SHIFTING CURRENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER…

It was in 1828 that the town of Rodney, Mississippi was formally incorporated. Located near the Mississippi River, the town would grow to become an essential port for steamboats traveling up and down the river. Rodney became known as a bustling town and thriving entertainment center, even building the state’s first opera house.

The city survived a devastating yellow fever epidemic and was occupied by Federal forces during the Civil War. Yet the death knell first sounded in 1869 when Rodney, Mississippi was almost entirely consumed by fire. Though the town tried to recover, it was unable to.

In 1870, A large sandbar formed in the Mississippi River, causing the river’s flow to shift westwards away from Rodney. Where once Rodney was a port town, an ideal stopping point for steamer ships, just yards from the river, it was now roughly two miles away. The town had lost its port.

And without its port, Rodney lost its residents. Today, all that remains of the once thriving town are the damaged shells of several buildings.

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The Premature Burial of Octavia Hatcher Jun 14, 2021

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In 1891 Octavia Hatcher was twenty years-old. She was married to the most successful businessmen in the state of Kentucky and was awaiting the birth of her first child. There should have been nothing but excitement and hope in a bright future for the family, but that was not to be.

After the devastating loss of her child, Octavia became despondent, eventually becoming bedridden. She was pronounced dead on May 2, 1891.

Yet just days later, an odd sleeping sickness struck the town, during which the afflicted seemed dead for a time before reviving. Octavia’s husband, James Hatcher, fear she too may have afflicted with the illness. When the coffin was disinterred she discovered the horrifying truth— Octavia Hatcher had been buried alive.

Most legends are a mixture of fact and fiction, but in the the story of Octavia Hatcher the line behind history and legend is much more difficult to spot. For many in Pikeville, Kentucky, the story of Octavia Hatcher’s tragic death is complete fact, but as skeptics of the story point out, there is no known documentation to support such an event occurring.

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The Surrency Family Poltergeist Apr 23, 2021

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In October 1872, a small Georgia community was bursting with visitors and curiosity seekers in an attempt to discover the truth behind mysterious happenings at the family home of Allen Powell Surrency.

In what many consider to be one of the most documented ghost story in American history, the Surrency family home seemingly became the epicenter of a destructive entity. From the benign—doors slammed open and closed and objects floated above the ground, to the life threatening—a child thrown from bed and another beaten by unseen hands.

Today, proponents of the paranormal say that the events in 1872 have the marks of poltergeist activity. The cause of such activity at the Surrency House remains a mystery.

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Hilton Head Island's Haunted Lighthouse Apr 02, 2021

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Hilton Head Island’s Leamington Lighthouse was erected in 1880 to help guide ships away from the island and safely into Port Royal Sound; but according to local lore, the now decommissioned structure is home to the apparition of a young women in a blue dress.

Legends say that the woman is the daughter of a lighthouse keeper who tragically met his fate during a massive hurricane. As a result, she purportedly returns to warn of pending storms.

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John Henry: Steel Driving Man Mar 05, 2021

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When the Civil War drew to a close, the United States’ railway networks, particularly those in the Southern states, were in shambles. During the Reconstruction era, the rehabilitation of the southern rails and expansion of transcontinental railroads became a major undertaking, and as the importance of the railroad rose.

In the three decades after the Civil War over 170,000 miles of track were added to America’s railway system; it opened the western states for further settlement and reestablished the accessibility of the southern states. The accomplishment required a considerable workforce, and railway companies became a significant employers of thousands of men finally freed from enslavement.

The work was dangerous, physically intensive, and time consuming. It’s unknown exactly how many men lost their lives to injury or illness while expanding the nation’s railroad system during Reconstruction, but the legacy of these men lives on in one of the most enduring folk heroes in American history…the ballad of John Henry, the steel-driving man.

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Refuge in the Great Dismal Swamp Feb 19, 2021

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Along the coastal plain region of Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina lies the ominously named Great Dismal Swamp. While this unique habitat has served as home to a wide array of biological diversity for over ten thousand years, modern archaeologists are uncovering more and more evidence of a unique community of runaways slaves and their families who thrived there for over two centuries– the Great Dismal Swamp Maroons.

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The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis Jan 29, 2021

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On May 14, 1804 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on what would become a two year expedition across the western half of the United States.

Yet for all the successes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, there lies a shadow over the legacy of the famed Meriwether Lewis– for as this daring explorer was able to survive the treacherous journey into the vast wilderness of North America, his life came to an end not long after his return– a tragedy with mysterious circumstances that over two centuries later remains unsolved.

This episode also includes a special guest voiceover by Jeremy Collins of Podcasts We Listen To

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Madame Félicité Chretien Jan 15, 2021

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Just north of Lafayette, Louisiana– in the small town of Sunset– is Chretien Point, a beautiful Creole style two-story mansion that once served as the centerpiece to a vast cotton plantation known as Chretien Point. Today, the enduring legacy of Chretien Point is not in its bricks or furnishings, but in the story of its mistress, Félicité Neda Chretien. Commonly referred to as a ‘real-life’ Scarlett O’Hara – Madame Félicité Chretien was confident, strong-willed, intelligent, and beautiful. Félicité learned how to successfully run a plantation from her father, and it was she who saw Chretien Point Plantation through its most prosperous days, and it was Madame Chretien who saved it from its darkest.

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Legend of Peter Dromgoole Dec 09, 2020

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For almost two centuries the legend of the disappearance of Peter Dromgoole has been told by the students of the University of North Carolina.

In 1833 Peter Dromgoole arrived to study at the University, and although he initially failed the entrance exam Peter remained to prepare to retake the test. Yet before he could do so, Peter Dromgoole vanished without a trace.

The oft-told legend of Peter Dromgoole is one of a love story that ends in a tragedy. There is another version of the tale, one that looks at Dromgoole family letters, in an attempt to discover Peter’s path from North Carolina.

Today, centuries later, the mystery remains unsolved. What actually happened to Peter Dromgoole?

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