Real Haunted House
Sally Carter, Cedarhurst Mansion
Huntsville, Alabama
By Shannon Reinbold-Gee
Huntsville, Alabama has many distinctions. It is the home of impressive companies such as Boeing, NASA, and Raytheon; has more Ph D’s per square mile than any other city in the south; and also happens to be the most haunted city in Alabama.
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.
104 comments on this haunted house. Share your story »
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Billy Joe Bob says: |
December 22, 2006, 4:16 pm |
WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS BUILD AN ISLAND AND TAKE ALL THE COONS, THE WET BACKS, AND ALL THEM THERE HOMO SEXUALS
Billy Joe Bob says: |
December 22, 2006, 4:17 pm |
ON IT AND THEN COME IN WITH JETS AND **** AND BLOW THE DANG THANG UP SO THEN THERE’D BE NO MORE OF THE G AYS AND NO MORE OF THEM THERE DARKIES AND SPICS AND THEM DAMN IMMIGRANTS.
seda says: |
December 30, 2006, 1:24 pm |
ok everybody that’s fighting.remember everyones precious in god’s sight.and u guys get a life.no offence,but we’re not talking about that bull we’re talking about sally carter.
Mark Lenox says: |
February 7, 2007, 4:14 pm |
YOU SUCK!! I’m goin to Walmarts!
Ya,
Mark
Mark Lenox says: |
February 7, 2007, 4:16 pm |
Hi,
YOU SUCK!! Im gonna go to Walmarts!
Weee doggies
Mark
Mark Lenox says: |
February 7, 2007, 4:17 pm |
Hi,
YOU SUCK!! I’m gonna go to Walmartss.
Weee Doggiess,
Mark
Christina says: |
March 11, 2007, 4:44 pm |
my middle name is supernatural and im not scared of this stupid story
Oscar says: |
March 14, 2007, 2:33 pm |
hey, guys your all wronng. Sally Carter was raped
and killed by hers grandma….
By the way sally loves oral..
Oscar says: |
March 14, 2007, 2:34 pm |
hey guys youre all wrong, Sally Carter was raped and killed by hers grandma because Sally was not into
oral sex.
JONNIE NO THUMBS says: |
March 25, 2007, 1:05 am |
IF U DONT LIKE THE TROOPS IN IRAQ GIMME A HELL TO THE YES. THANKS.
AND SALLY LIVES.
AND THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111111111111111111
I’M COLD
OW,
W
A Christian Conservative says: |
March 25, 2007, 6:12 pm |
JONNIE NO THUMBS,
If you want the south to rise again, you have to be a republican. If you are a republican, then you would be respecting your political party by supporting the U.S. Military in Iraq.
kaye says: |
July 1, 2007, 4:43 pm |
Most all british girls are a bunch of Porn Whores. If you look in the right place all you see is British Porn Whores with a **** hanging out her throat or her ***. So go Fu– your self, B–ch and stop talking about Americans because we are better than you.
brad says: |
July 9, 2007, 9:03 pm |
isnt this soppose to be about sally cater why fck r yall talking about british and americans get back to the main subject witch is ‘SALLY CARTER”.
anna says: |
July 19, 2007, 9:33 am |
Oh my gosh, isn’t this supposed to be about a ghost that died? how did the British and Americans start to fight on here? You can’t judge either side as everyone differs, so can we please get back to the subject of Sally Carter?
anna says: |
July 19, 2007, 9:35 am |
Person that died, sorry, ghost don’t die.
Ed says: |
July 25, 2007, 11:55 pm |
OK Guys…another clarification. It was well published that a few years back the family moved Sally’s grave was moved to an undisclosed location at Maple Hill Cemetary due to the desecration of the grave.
Now an update: As I mentioned, my mother’s best friend was Katherine Thornton Wallace. We called her Aunt Khaki and would visit her each year we visited my grandmother who lived an hour away in Fayetteville.
Just a few weeks ago during the first week of July, I came back to the area and took my son to the Space Center. Before we left town, I stopped by Cedarhurst. Of course you cannot see the house because of the new buildings in this gated community. SO I stopped at the guard shack…told the guard who I was and literally begged her to let me just go take a picture of the house. Thankfully she finally gave in and let me go to the house. But she said she wanted to talk to me before we left. When I stopped back by, she said three guards had quit since working there…no kidding. They did not want to patrol the clubhouse because there were “disturbances”. She added that her boss said Cedarhurst encouraged employees to keep that news quiet since it might bother some people!
So I guess Sally might still be at the clubhouse after all.
Real quick…I shared this news with my older sister and she told me about her experiences. All three of my sisters would go and spend the night with Aunt Khaki. Both she and her mother, Honey, would tell matter of fact stories about hearing Sally’s footsteps over the parlor at night. They would lose things in the house like a belt or hairbrush and would always find them later in Sally’s bedroom. Also, sometimes Aunt Khaki and her mother Honey would come down in the morning and find the furniture
re-arranged! Both Katherine and Honey would tell these stories throughout the years we visited…always in a deliberate, matter of fact manner just as if it was as normal as could be. And yes…both were quite eccentric but we adored them very much. I do vaguely remember playing with the Grace children during the late 60’s or early 70’s when we visited.
Ed
John says: |
August 10, 2007, 8:37 am |
Ed,
Could I see the picture of the former Carter residence?
no name says: |
August 23, 2007, 12:36 am |
yall are so stupid…………..
loco says: |
August 24, 2007, 5:01 pm |
R.I.P. Sally.
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@$$, GAS, OR GRASS says:
December 22, 2006, 3:51 pm
YEAH BUT I CANNOT BEAT MY WIFE NO MORE BECAUSE IF I BEAT HER THEN THEY TAKE MY GUNS AWAY…BUT I LOVE GEORGE BUSH AND I LOVE **** CHANEY!! REPUBLICAN FO LYFE, NIGGAZ!!!!! BUT I HATE THEM THERE BLACK…THOSE AFRICANS! THEY ARE NOT AFRIECAN AMERICANS BECAUSE THERE AINT NO AMERICANS THAT ARE AFRICAN…THOSE AFRICAN MONKEYS NEED TO MIGRATE BACK TO AFRICA! AND THOSE HOMO SEXUALS…THEY NEED TO BE BURNED AT THE STAKE! THOSE HOMOS MAKE ME SICK…EVERYONE NEEDS TO LEAVE AMERICA…ONLY THE WHITES AND THE STRAIGHTS CAN STAY! GEORGE BUSH IS MY HERO!! GEORGE BUSH IS GOD!!!!!!!!