The St. James, also known as the Brantly Hotel for its first 50 years, is the only antebellum riverfront hotel left in Selma, and has been standing at it’s site since 1837. In the late 1990’s, it was completely renovated and refurbished, keeping with it’s historical roots but modernized enough to keep modern visitors comfortable. The outer rooms have amazing Alabama River views and the inner rooms look upon a glorious courtyard that boast a fountain. In the last 160 years, it has been the destination for businessmen, plantation owner, soldiers, and of course, trouble. The Union Army occupied it during the Civil War, saving it from being burned to the ground as was the rest of Selma.

After the war, it was owned by Benjamin S. Tower, the first African American Congressman who would rent the rooms long-term, not uncommon at this period. The notorious outlaws, Frank and Jesse James took advantage of this and made the hotel their headquarters for some time. After 1892, the area hit hard times and the hotel closed for over 100 years. Unbeknownst to those outside the slumbering doors, a few spirits still roam the once grand hotel.

The most famed inhabitant would be the apparition of Jesse James, decked out in 1880’s cowboy duds and wandering around the upstairs guest rooms 214, 314, and 315. He also seems to occupy the corner table to the left of the bar downstairs. A ghost named Lucinda is supposedly Jesse’s girlfriend. She is described as a beautiful, tall, black-haired woman, smelling of lavender. A portrait of her hangs on the first floor of the hotel. She wanders around the hotel and stops frequently to watch the living, most likely surprised that after 100 years, the place is bustling again. The ghost of a black dog, thought to be Jesse’s canine companion, is heard running and barking in the halls of the hotel and many have complained of the barking heard in the courtyard.

Psychics and investigators have been brought into the St. James to give the current management a better idea of what is happening in the hotel. Interestingly, they have picked out more than just these 3 entities. Psychics have described groups of apparitions in the inner courtyard, dressed in 1880’s clothing, going about their business and unaware of the living. Perhaps it is these ghosts of the past that cause the odd, inexplicable sounds heard from that space. Mischievous entities will bang glassware together until told to stop, a man has been seen sitting on a bench in the drinking room, and in room 304, a cook who was staying in the room complained about the curtains moving for no logical reason and bright flashes of light. A psychic claims to have spoken to that specter and discovered that the entity was angry that he passed away before finishing some business he wanted to do.

The most amusing occurrence happened in the Brantly Ballroom. A team of paranormal investigators had been tape recording the room hoping to get an Electronic Voice Phenomenon. They asked the question “Is anyone here?” When playing the tape back later on, they quite clearly heard a gruff voice reply “Well, that’s a stupid question.”

The St. James Hotel has been deemed positively haunted by psychics and investigators.

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Some say that the spirits of the dead children come to the playground to play. Another legend has it that Huntsville suffered a rash of child abductions in the 1960’s, and sadly, the bodies of the children were found in the area of the playground. Since that time, there have been reports of swings moving on their own, children calling out, giggling, and when photos are taken, orbs of light believed to be the spirits of the children are captured. Much of this phenomenon occurs between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m., far too late for any live child to be out playing.

The most eerie of reports is the common occurrence of swings moving rhythmically and in sync by themselves, even when the swings have just been brought to a complete stop. Some have seen dust from the sand that covers the area rise as if someone had jumped off a swing. Others who have taken photographs see circles of light show up on their photos, some of which are the same height as a child.

In fall of 2007, the City of Huntsville tried to take the playground over in order to further increase the area of the cemetery for graves and tombs. This was done literally overnight, one morning the playground was there and the next day all of the equipment was torn away and the area destroyed. The public outcry that resulted caused the City to pull the work order for the cemetery and new playground equipment was installed. This disturbance has not stopped the mysterious occurrences at the playground, however.

In January of 2008, The Alabama Paranormal Society investigated the area known locally as DCP. One of the investigators heard a voice of either a woman or female child. She quickly snapped a photo of the area and when it was developed, a misty figure of a woman can be made out. Many of the photos taken that night are littered with orbs.

Thanks to the citizens of Huntsville Alabama, children, dead and alive, will still have a place to play in Maple Hill Cemetery.

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The Alabama’s first two deaths were of men who were in the Norfolk shipyard as she was under construction. She was finished in 1942 and served 37 months without any fatalities due to enemy fire. As for death under friendly fire, however, there were 8 deaths on gun mount #5 when gun mount #9 fired upon them. It seems that the safety feature that was supposed to prevent the turrets from firing upon each other had failed. Grisly descriptions of the destroyed turret included mention of bits of flesh and bone splattered on the turret’s inside. The men were completely obliterated; the only thing left of the unfortunate gun commander was his boots.

Many have heard mysterious footsteps coming towards them, only to find no one there. Apparitions have been reported in the cooks’ galley and the officers’ quarters. The crewmen who died still seem to be stationed at the turret where they drew their last breaths. Late at night, bulkheads fill with popping and tapping noises, and the solid steel hatches will slam shut by themselves. Some have felt as if they were being watched, or sensed an aura of sadness about the ship. One woman who was walking by the sleeping quarters claims to have had her earring snatched from her ear.

It is the official stance of the battleship that the Mighty A is not haunted. They state that no one who works there has ever seen or heard anything that was out of the ordinary. In a written statement to the paranormal team Ghost Hunters Of The South, who tried unsuccessfully to investigate the ship, the park says that of the 160,000 people who have stayed the night in the ship, not one has come to them and mentioned any odd sightings. The only acknowledgment towards otherworldly beings is the story that an angel protected a small child that was lost during a visit of the ship.

Because the memorial park that the USS Alabama resides is open to the public, one can actually go and see for themselves if this ship is haunted. Staying the night, however, is not an option unless you are an employee or part of a youth group. During your visit, remember to nod your thanks to the men on turret #5. Just in case.

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The U of A opened its doors to the public in 1831, having about 100 students. Since its inception, the university had disciplinary problems, with gunfights on the grounds not being all that uncommon. After 29 years of trouble, the school was transformed into a military academy, and just in time to train soldiers for the Civil War. Some say that in April of 1865, a Union soldier came onto campus to sign a treaty. When he entered the cadet guardhouse, now known as Jason’s Shrine or as The Little Round House, he was beaten, tortured and murdered. Another version of the story is that when Union troops were marching to the university–specifically to burn it down–two confederate soldiers stayed behind to kill a few Yankees. When three Federal soldiers asked one of the young cadets where to find some whiskey, he told them to go into the small structure. Lying in wait was the second southern cadet who shot the three soldiers when they entered the building. If you put your ear up to the door, you can sometimes hear soldiers prowling for whiskey. On a foggy night, some say the spirits of soldiers can be seen marching through the quad to an unknown spectral destination.

Smith Hall has also had some spooky incidents reported from within. Some say that they have heard Dr. Smith’s carriage, which is exhibited on the main floor, careen through the building, the sound of wheels and horses coming out of nowhere. Footsteps also have been heard entering the upstairs classrooms and the sounds of a ghostly lecture coming from a classroom at night. One night, a few students tried to catch what they thought was an intruder in the building. They followed the voices to a classroom, and when they entered the room, the once lined-up rows of desks were scattered. They later discovered that a boiler explosion had killed a number of students who were in the room years before. In the basement, students have complained of feeling watched while working in the lab. An assistant was pushed into a closet one night and locked in. When he tried to open the closet door, it would not release him until morning. From then on, he ignored any out of the ordinary sounds, all interest in investigation had been sucked out of him.

The most common complaint students have is microwaves starting, stopping and making strange noises, even when the microwave is unplugged. Photos are developed showing light orbs floating through them, and footsteps are heard at night. Some say that a girl committed suicide by lighting herself on fire on the 13th floor of Tutwiler Hall. Shadowy forms of people have been spotted speeding through the halls.

Gorgas Library still entertains the ghost of its namesake, Amelia Gayle Gorgas and the Music Library is haunted by a man in black who wanders the stacks, sometimes touching people looking through materials. Hoole Special Collections Library has an elevator that will still occasionally drop off ghostly riders when the power has been turned off.

Even Tennessee Williams has a part of the hauntings at the University. Marian Gallaway, the theater director during the mid-twentieth century, has been sighted in white on the stage in her theater in Rowand-Johnson Hall. Marian’s husband had left her to pursue a romance with Tennessee Williams, and Williams supposedly used Marian as the inspiration for Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire.

The students of the University of Alabama have a lot more “school spirit” than they may have bargained for.

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The woman was the mistress of the plantation house, and her husband was an abusive, cold-hearted master. The giant was a slave and the Mistress’s lover. One night, the master of the house followed his wife as she entered the slaves’ quarters just behind the plantation house. He caught them in a lovers’ embrace, pulled them apart and at knife-point, forced the slave to a tree where he was chained up. Both of his hands were cut off for daring to touch the master’s wife, and he was left to die as a warning to others. Afterwards, the mistress of the house discovered she was pregnant. According to local tradition, she delivered a baby boy in the woods and drowned him in the nearby creek, where Cry Baby Bridge crosses today. Now, they say, one can hear the baby cry as his poor, innocent body touches the cold, running water in a constant repetition of his mother’s desperate betrayal. The slave still walks the road, looking for the son he’ll never know on the mortal plane.

But there is another version of the story, too…

Some believe the Master actually showed favoritism towards his behemoth slave. After the master’s death, however, the wife was the one who tied him up to the tree because she hated him so much. Insanely jealous, she supposedly left him tied to the tree in front of the house so that she could watch as he died a slow death.

Cry Baby Bridge also has multiple legends as to why one can hear a baby cry when you cross it at night. Some say a bunch of kids were playing on the bridge when they knocked a boy into the creek, where he downed. There are a few versions that a woman and her baby had a tragic accident. In some versions, she escapes and doesn’t even try to save the baby, in others, both she and the baby die. Those who follow logic claim that the sound is actually the wind blowing across the pipes that lay beneath the bridge, but that does not explain why cars have so much trouble crossing the bridge at night. Cars will stall, lights will go haywire, and some have even reported that their cars have moved from one end of the bridge to the other without any earthly aid.

Some have tried to get physical proof of the bridge’s haunting by sprinkling baby powder on a car from bumper to bumper. Wait inside the car for a few minutes, then go out and look. Some say that you will see a toddler’s hand and footprints. Another, much more satisfying twist on this (some have suggested) is to send a passenger out to sprinkle the car with baby powder. When they get out, drive away, leaving them alone in the dark to experience the bridge for themselves for a few frightening minutes. But we would never suggest such shenanigans….

No one knows which, if any, of the stories are true. Everyone does agree, however, that there is something definitely otherworldly in this area of Alabama. The plantation house has been relatively recently purchased and renovated by a family who do not seem bothered by the ghosts that haunt Kali Oka Road.

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One of the more famous hauntings is of the Cedarhurst Mansion located at what is now the clubhouse of a town home community. The mansion was established by Stephen Ewing in 1823. Sally Carter, visiting her sister Mary Ewing at the mansion, was struck by a quick and fatal illness and died on November 28, 1837, just three weeks short of her 16th birthday. Young Sally had loved the estate, and that is why, some say, you can still feel her presence there today.

Sightings of Sally go back to 1919, when a 17 year-old boy from Dothan, Alabama slept outside Sally’s bedroom. That stormy night, he had a dream that Sally visited him, asking him to prop up her tombstone. When he awoke the next morning, he explained the strange dream and told his family that he was going to Sally’s grave. They laughed at him, but when he arrived, her stone had, indeed, fallen over in the storm. This popular local legend ends with the boy going back to his home town of Dothan, never to return to Huntsville again.

Previous to 1982, Sally’s grave was in the family plot on the estate. She had so many visitors, there was a well-worn path from the road. She did, unfortunately, also have many teenagers vandalize her grave. That is why, in December of 1982, Sally, her sister, and her sister’s three children were relocated to an undisclosed location in the Maple Hill Cemetery. That is… Her casket was relocated. Some claim that when her grave was excavated, the casket Sally was supposed to spend eternity in was empty.

Besides tombstones falling over and caskets being empty of mortal remains, Sally has also stirred up local folks, being sighted walking the grounds of the estate she loved so much. A past guard at Cedarhurst heard Sally walking upstairs while working one night. After the woman’s shift ended, she realized she had lost some money while doing rounds. After searching the grounds, hearing footsteps following her and the unnerving flickering of her flashlight as if its batteries were ready to die, the guard gave up the money for lost. But once she returned to the guard shack, her flashlight flickered brightly, shining directly on the cash she had given up for gone. It was then she chose to thank Sally, and claims to have heard a young woman’s laugh in return.

Someone who knew both the Thorton and the Grace families who lived in the house, had a friend who slept in Sally’s room. When asked what it was like, the friend told him about doors opening and closing by themselves, covers getting snatched off the bed and light switches being tripped. The girl thought it was all rather annoying, but after awhile got used to it and ignored the strange goings-on.

Many woman claim that their jewelry has been broken in the area, beads on beaded necklaces scattering everywhere.

Because Cedarhurst is now a gated community, visiting the clubhouse is not all that likely. Some locals have been able to see the place where Sally died, but visitors are strongly discouraged. Even so, Sally’s bedroom in the mansion has been preserved. If you really want to experience the ghostly Sally, there are always a few condominiums in the local gated community up for sale.

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