GREENSBORO, N.C. (WFMY) -- October is here and that means all things spooky ghostly fun across the Piedmont Triad!
We’ve taken some of the spookiest stories we’ve ever told on TV and put them right here for your goosebumps enjoyment. That includes stories like Lydia's Bridge, the Devil's Tramping Ground and lots more!
If you’re looking for a thrill make sure to take advantage of Ghost tours offered all across the Piedmont Triad including in Greensboro and Winston-Salem.
Got a ghost story you want us to know about? Send an email with details to news@wfmy.com
Let’s start with a few haunts of our own.
HAUNTED LYDIA'S BRIDGE
If you grew up here, you know the Lydia's Bridge Legend -- the story of the Triad's most famous hitchhiker ghost who supposedly haunts the old bridge through Jamestown.
It is a mystery that dates back to the early 1900s.
As the story goes, a pretty hitchhiker in a white dress flags down drivers near the old Jamestown bridge, then asks for a ride. She quietly gets into their cars, tells them to take her home, then vanishes.
"Lydia was on her way back from prom. I believe she was running late. It was a foggy night, and when they ran around the corner, they got into a crash under the bridge. She got out of the car and tried to frantically wave down any driver who would stop. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful," explained haunted historian Dan Riedel of Carolina History and Haunts.
"A year after her death was the first reported haunting of Lydia. Drivers would drive down this road, claim they would see a nice girl in a dress waving down a car. She looked like a hitchhiker, so they would stop. When they got to the area of her house, they got out to open the door, and she'd be gone," Riedel explained, Riedel said.
Similar accounts over the years have been well-documented at the Jamestown Public Library.
Lydia's Bridge Legend
LYDIA'S BRIDGE TWIST
WFMY News 2 connected the Lydia legend to a real person and real tragedy and we tracked down her family.
Ghost hunter and author Michael Renegar, and his co-researcher and author Amy Greer had studied the Lydia legend for 30 years, before discovering an old Greensboro Patriot newspaper article. It said there had been a bad accident in Jamestown on a rainy summer night. Three people in the car survived, but 30-year-old Annie L. Jackson was killed. It happened June 20, 1920 beneath the old bridge. Shortly after that, the reported ghost sightings began.
"I immediately started to try to find family. I began to assume there wasn't anyone left, at least in Greensboro. Then this year, I was contacted by Robin Mitchell Taylor."
He got a Facebook message from Robin Mitchell Taylor, who claimed to be Annie L.'s great-niece. She was living in Greensboro.
But Robin, like everyone else, knew Lydia only as a ghost. Then one day, her love of history led her to research her own family background. A Genealogy report revealed her grandmother had a sister the family never talked about. Her name -- Annie L. Jackson. Cause of death -- fall from automobile.
"So I went to the local library and dug up (old newspaper clippings) and found out she died in a car accident on the Jamestown High Point Road, and I'm like that's by the bridge!"
By bridge, she meant the famous Lydia's Bridge.
HAUNTED GREENSBORO BILTMORE HOTEL
What's the real story of the Biltmore Greensboro? Is it just an old building full of creaks and shadows? Or are the spirits of Philip and Lydia keeping tabs on the guests?
A MAN NAMED PHILIP: HAUNTED GREENSBORO HOTEL
It’s said two spirits remain inside the Biltmore Greensboro Hotel. Built in 1903, it’s alive with history and possibly the dead.
“There have been many people, with good intentions and bad intentions that have walked these halls, and it’s possible some of that energy has been trapped inside,” said Brian Coleman, the Biltmore’s General Manager.
The hotel started as an office building for demin pioneers, the Cone Brothers in the 1900s. Philip, an accountant for the brothers, was found dead in an alley early one morning. His death remains a mystery. Some said he committed suicide- and was found in the alley next to the Biltmore with a piece of piano wire stuck in his throat.
Dan Riedel, owner of Carolina History and Haunts said there’s a different tale to tell.
“It’s believed he uncovered something in the company, possibly embezzlement,” said Riedel. ““Philip was strangulated to death with piano wire that was cut out of the piano in the lobby of the building. It was followed by then throwing his body out of the window in the alley way.”
Philip is said to have stuck around the Biltmore, haunting female guests in particular.
“It’s possible he may have been messing with someone he shouldn’t have been messing with before he died,” said Riedel.
A noisy spirit, guests have reportedly complained to the front desk about loud footsteps and shuffling of paper.
“We’ve had people say they have heard loud footsteps. Now, the halls of the hotel are carpet, so you would have to stomp to hear what they say they hear, sort of a shoe on wooden floor sound,” said Coleman.
Once woman reportedly complained to the front desk one late night, begging them to tell her neighbor to keep it quiet.
“They checked and told here there was no one next door to her. The room next to hers was 332 and that’s Philip’s room," said Riedel.
Some claimed they’ve seen someone standing at the edge of the bed in the room, which was once Philip’s office. The window in his room, the same one from which he met his untimely death.
“You look up and kind of back up one you realize there’s no one there,” said Coleman.
A WOMAN NAMED LYDIA: HAUNTED GREENSBORO HOTEL
After the Cone Mills Corporation moved from the building, it changed over to the hands of a woman named Ava B. Taylor. The businesswoman reportedly ran an apartment home with only female tenants, sort of a secret brother. One lady of the night, first called Wendy and later discovered to be Lydia, also met her demise inside the hotel.
The Biltmore Greensboro is the last stop on the Nightmares Around Elm Street tour, ran by Riedel. He explained Lydia was killed by one of her clients.
“She was thrown over the balcony and landed at the end of the stairs,” he said. “They say if you stay in her room, room 223, be respectful and bring something pink.”
Lydia’s room is now painted pink; under a dresser in the room, a pink purse and hidden in the closet, pink lipsticks; gifts to keep her happy.
“At one point, people would say the light was on in the bathroom and they hear water running. They would ask the front desk to tell housekeeping to remember to turn the water off, but housekeeping hadn’t gone into the room yet,” Coleman said. “The TV would turn on without explanation. At one point, we didn’t book anyone into that room unless it was absolutely necessary.”
It’s said female guests who stay in the room will find their purses tipped over, and anything pink inside separated from the rest of it’s contents. Lydia’s perfume is also said to linger in the hallways.
The door of Lydia’s room is said to be the only one in the hotel that will not stay open.
“We’ve replaced it, we’ve leveled it, but without fail it’s the only one that will slowly creak close every time’” said Coleman.
Riedel added, "Believe it or not, but the only way to keep the door open, is to ask her, ‘Lydia, will you please let the door stay open?'"
The only person to ever claim they saw Lydia, after her death, was a young boy in 2010.
KORNER'S FOLLY HAUNTED
Korner’s Folly known as the “Strangest House in the World” got a lot more stranger after ghost hunters revealed it’s haunted. The home was built in the 1800 in Kernersville.
Ghost Hunters -- The Winston-Salem paranormal society did their own investigation of the historic home in 2009 and revealed their findings after using electro-magnetic field detectors and audio equipment.
The mansion was reported to be haunted by its former owner. The word is, there have been several encounters. The investigation revealed several disembodied voices and some mysterious specks of light.
NC'S DEVIL'S TRAMPING GROUND MYSTERY
For this one we have to travel to Chatham County, N.C.!
Down a quiet, tree-lined path just off a main road in Chatham County lies one of North Carolina's most famous ghost stories and scientific mysteries -- the Devil's Tramping Ground.
"The story goes that at midnight, the Devil comes up," explained landowner Bob Dowd.
Chatham County locals claim the 40-foot near-perfect circle in the woods along Devil's Tramping Ground Road has been barren for at least 300 years. They say anything planted in there quickly dies, and items left inside the circle overnight are found tossed outside the circle by morning.
Legend has it -- the circle is the Devil's playground. Believers say every night when the clock strikes 12, he comes up one path and stomps around in a circle -- killing all growth and life -- before going back down a second path.
Generations have passed down the story, and the unmarked circle has long been a ghost hunter's fantasy and popular tourist stop.
"It's like the hairs of your arm stand up or something. I guess cause you thinking what the saying is," said 45-year Chatham County native Reece Maness.
"Ever since we was little boys, we always heard about the Devil's Tramping Ground. But until I was 16 years old, my momma and daddy and them didn't want to talk about it, wouldn't go to it, had nothing to do with it. That was something we didn't talk about," remembered Robbins resident Tommy Hussey.
Hussey recalled the time he was 16 and went with a bunch of friends "to investigate" the Devil's Tramping Ground.
"We was gonna spend the night. We started getting this edgy feeling, so we all left," he exclaimed. "I've never been back to it since, really."
But, clearly plenty of people have been back. Empty beer bottles, campfire ash and other litter show evidence of recent trespassing. The famous land is technically private property and has been in Bob Dowd's family's name for more than 100 years.
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GHOST TOURS
- Grab a lantern and join the Salem Night Watchman on a guided walk through Salem’s streets. Visit several stops in the town, hear ghostly legends, and learn why the town of Salem needed a Night Watchman. The Night Watchman: Legends & Lantern Tours will take place on October 26, 27, 29, and 30 at 7, 7:15, 7:30, 7:45, 8, 8:15, 8:30, 8:45 and 9 p.m.
- Tours are scheduled every 15 minutes and last approximately one hour. Tours will leave promptly at tour times from the Boys School (corner of Main and Academy Streets), please arrive 15 minutes before your tour time. Participation is limited, reservations for tour times are required (walkups cannot be accommodated). Content is suitable for all ages. Comfortable shoes are suggested as the tour includes a fair amount of walking, including on some uneven surfaces such as cobblestone and brick sidewalks and some staircases are involved. For light rain or drizzle, please bring an umbrella or raincoat.
- Tickets for The Night Watchman: Legends & Lantern Tours are $40 per person, (plus applicable sales tax). Tickets are non-refundable unless event is cancelled by Old Salem Museums & Gardens (extreme weather conditions, etc.) Please purchase tickets on line at oldsalem.org or call 1-800-441-5305 to reserve a tour date and time.