Author Topic: Ghosthunting In Galveston  (Read 2308 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Jeepgirlgina

  • The All-Seeing One
  • Moderator
  • *
  • Posts: 992
  • Reputation: 631
  • Gender: Female
Ghosthunting In Galveston
« on: Feb 13 2008 - 12:48AM »
Heather (maggpie) and I are going to Galveston.  I found this article and I am excited:

Galveston’s history is one of peculiar, tragic and untimely deaths. A catastrophic hurricane swept thousands away. Fires destroyed buildings and claimed lives. Strange accidents cut lives short. The combination of Galveston’s stricken past and its historic buildings, some relatively unchanged for a century, make it arguably one of the most active haunting grounds in the country.

Some lists rank Galveston second in the nation, behind New Orleans. Others put San Diego, Calif., and Washington, D.C., in the top spots and leave the island out all together. But despite the national fame — infamy? — not all island residents are happy about the other habitants.

John Taylor didn’t want to believe in ghosts. He’d listened casually to warnings from the tenants before him about the shop he rented on The Strand. He doubted he’d ever have a problem.

But Taylor, the owner of Jammin Sportswear, which has since moved, did have problems. He couldn’t find anyone who’d work in the store alone.

Lights that were on would switch off. He heard footsteps on the vacant floor above, mimicking his own steps. A credit card that a customer never pulled from her purse ended up hidden deep under a shelf in a box.

So he asked a friend of his who claims to see and hear ghosts frequently to go upstairs to the empty floor. She rushed out, claiming there were so many spirits in the room screaming at her, urging her to get their messages heard, that she couldn’t handle it.

The building Taylor rented is rumored to be one of the many on The Strand used as a morgue after the 1900 hurricane.

“It freaks me out,” Taylor said. “I like dead people staying dead.”

Seeking Ghosts

Others, however, aren’t alarmed by the ghosts — they seek them out.

Dash Beardsley moved to Galveston looking for the ghost of Bettie Brown, a woman said to haunt Ashton Villa.

He never found her, but the hundreds of stories he unearthed during years of research about ghosts and strange sounds in Galveston’s historic district will eventually fill a book he’s writing.

In the meantime, he’s sharing his stories. Several times a week, he dresses all in black and dons a sweeping cape, leading crowds of ghost hunters on moonlit tours of The Strand. At each stop, he explains the history and who he thinks the ghost might be.

“I truly do care about Galveston,” he said. “I have a sincere heart of preserving the story, the mystery and the myth.”

Jesse and Hollie Jacobo, Arlington residents who came to Galveston to try to see ghosts, said they’ve heard about some of Galveston’s legends for years.

They snapped pictures along the tour, hoping that, as in tours they’ve been on before, a figure they couldn’t see with their eyes might show up in the photo.

A Wounded Officer

It’s Beardsley who points to parts of Galveston’s troubled history as a reason for its ghoulish inhabitants. Jean Laffite’s ship, Civil War prisoners, plague victims and mysterious fires all left behind ghosts, he said.

One of his well-known ghost stories starts in 1920, when the building now occupied by the Mediterranean Chef, 2401 Strand St., was a bank.

Beardsley said a young Galveston police officer named Daniel was shot during a robbery but wasn’t ready to die.

Mazen Zeidan, the restaurant owner, said he’s never seen Daniel’s ghost, although he said at least one waitress saw the ghost of a police officer in a dated uniform.

Zeidan said he’s seen plates inexplicably move and had employees refuse to work the night shift after the toilet kept flushing when just a lone employee was in the building.

A Haunted Street

Beardsley said most buildings on The Strand have at least one ghost story. Some have several, and he’s learned so much about other areas of the city that next year he plans to open two tours with alternate routes.

Many of the stories come from the 1900 Storm when many of the buildings housed the dead.

“The 1900 Storm was the crescendo of it all,” Beardsley said. “There were many things before it (that caused ghosts) but that brought it all together.”

In one building on The Strand, a school marm nursed hurricane victims back to health and stored bodies in a separate room. Beardsley said the water rose so high the woman stood outside the second story and pulled people from the water.

Her ghost, seen wearing an old-fashioned, brown dress, is rumored to have been seen standing on the ledge, walking up a stairwell and along the street, he said.

The myths have spread so far, it’s hard to find a Strand district shop owner who doesn’t believe in ghosts.

Meyer Reiswerg, who runs Col. Bubbie’s Army Surplus Store, said he’s seen a ghost he named “Harold” living on the third floor of the building for the past 35 years.

He pushes things off shelves, moves things around but is mostly just mischievous.

“He’s a nice ghost,” Reiswerg said. “I’ve gotten used to him. The first time I saw him, I was scared to death.”

Haunting The Island

Beardsley said he also thinks the water surrounding Galveston contributes to its ghost-friendliness. He’s talked to people who say they saw visions of ghost ships on the horizon in the fog.

Stormy weather often makes ghosts more likely to appear, said Lisa Collier Cool, author of “Beware the Night,” and an expert on hauntings.

“Ghosts draw energy from the electromagnetic fields in storms,” she said. “They make ghosts thrive.”

She said because so many deaths occurred during the 1900 Storm, they might be more likely to become ghosts.

“There’s a law of attraction,” she said. “If there’s a sorrowful history, there might be more ghosts congregating. (Galveston’s history) would fit perfectly into that.”

Because of that, Beardsley said he never knows how many people he sees are real and how many are ghosts left wandering.

“Ghost stories are up to the person to believe,” he said. “But I’ve seen things. I don’t believe when I walk the streets of Galveston everyone is what he appears to be.”

Copyright: The Galveston County Daily News

Offline Colleen2510

  • High Priestess
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,952
  • Reputation: 1601
  • Gender: Female
  • U move the table. I'm a ghost. I ave no arms!
Re: Ghosthunting In Galveston
« Reply #1 on: Feb 13 2008 - 04:51AM »
Wow what an interesting article. Sounds like a great place for a ghost hunting trip. Is that Galveston TX?
~Colleen~
Ghost addict and Bachelors_Grove patron.
Where were you when the world ended?
I was at Bachelors-Grove.com

Offline Ghost1

  • Supreme Overlord
  • ******
  • Posts: 2,658
  • Reputation: 3220
  • Gender: Male
  • Boo
    • Bachelor's Grove
Re: Ghosthunting In Galveston
« Reply #2 on: Feb 13 2008 - 07:45AM »
Boy that sounds like a good time, I saw a story about that on the Discovery Channel.
May sure you get lot's of pictures, and just in case you don't find any ghosts be sure to bring a roll of chicken wire :*:

Just kidding..............Sound's like there are plenty of ghost there, just take 100's of pic's of everything :Y:




PS: I just thought about something, if you didn't read this post then you won't understand the joke...

How to make a ghost.
Always remember.........Just because you have never seen something, does not mean that something does not exist.

Offline Maggpie

  • Ghost runner
  • Shaman
  • ****
  • Posts: 465
  • Reputation: 246
  • Gender: Female
Re: Ghosthunting In Galveston
« Reply #3 on: Feb 13 2008 - 03:05PM »
Oh boy................ I have a feeling I know what we will be doing while your hubby is fishing =D> =D>
Heather & Maggie

Offline Jeepgirlgina

  • The All-Seeing One
  • Moderator
  • *
  • Posts: 992
  • Reputation: 631
  • Gender: Female
Re: Ghosthunting In Galveston
« Reply #4 on: Feb 13 2008 - 08:42PM »
Very funny ghost.  I will be sure to pack the chicken wire.