MADISON, N.C. — The owner of Madison Dry Goods has seen it all.
Richard Miller has owned the building since 1995 and is only the 2nd owner of the 114-year-old building. 114 years of spirits that refuse to leave.
"We've seen pictures move on the wall, pictures fall off the wall," said owner Richard Miller, "We even hear stories of a little girl that wanders the halls in a white dress, giggling."
The building is believed to be one of the most haunted in our state and arguably in the southeast. Over the years it has been everything from a hotel in the early 1900s to a hardware store and a funeral home. The latter may play a huge role in the hauntings.
"Everyone in this region of North Carolina knows the story of the Lawson family murders," continued Miller, "Charlie Lawson murdered all but one of his family including his wife and 6 of his 7 kids on Christmas Day 1929. Back in those days, it was common for hardware stores to make coffins. So, there was a hardware store in this building while the upstairs was a funeral home. It was the only funeral home close by that could handle that many bodies."
Miller has a museum in the store dedicated to the Lawson family tale.
"Even the rope pulley elevator original to the building is still here," said Miller, "It's not operable but it was the actual elevator that brought the Lawson bodies up to be embalmed."
A producer for Netflix heard about the haunting and decided to make the Madison legend one of three haunted buildings featured in their latest spooky series called "28 days Haunted" which was released over the weekend.
If you need more information on the Madison Dry Goods building check out their website.