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This mural tells four eerie tales of mystery, death, and heartache. The first story depicted is "Batts Hammock", a tale of avid outdoorsman who in his younger days enjoyed going out into a scope of woods known in this area as Batts Hammock. The hammock was filled with trees so large it would take two men to reach around one, the water was crystal clear, and it has been said that in those days it was a place that was the same as the Indians found it. One day this man was out squirrel hunting and he heard a noise coming through the woods. At first he thought it was a cow, but then a mysterious man appeared dragging a large heavy horse satchel. The man would carry it a while and then put it down, look around, drag it a few more feet, put it down, look around, pick it up with the other hand and eventually walked on out of sight. Who was this man and what did he have in that satchel that was so heavy?
"Red Haired Woman" is the story of premature burial. Back in the early 1900s when someone died they did not embalm the bodies, they just buried them. There was no telling how many people were buried alive because they were in a coma. A reheaded woman died and was buried. For some reason they had to dig her up and move the grave. They opened the coffin and she had both hands full of her red hair - proving that she came to in the coffin and in hysteria pulled out her hair. The woman who told this story had red hair and said that when she was a child this story terrified her. She ran crying to her father and told him she didn't want to die and come back children , told her, "Daughter, if you die, I'll put a telephone in your casket and you can call me and I'll come get you". That soothed her right down and she practiced dialing the telephone with her eyes closed. "White's Bridge Ghost" is the next scene in Ghost Story Alley. It is the story of a young bride who was to be married at Pilgrim's Rest Church, which stands next to Spring Creek and White's Bridge. But when her fiance' left her at the alter, she became so distraught that she climbed atop the bridge rail and jumped, drowning herself in the creek below. For decades, there have been sightings of strange lights in and around the church and cemetary. Some say it is foxfire, but others know it is the broken hearted bride searching for her lost lover. "Big Black Beautiful Stallion" is the fourth story of Ghost Story Alley and is a story of a premonition of death. There was a man who lived in this county and like all men back then he rode a horse, a beautiful black stallion. One night he was coming home on horseback and as he was passing the cemetary he saw a woman standing by the cemetary fence and she was dressed in black with a black veil, these were called widow's weeds. He slowed the horse and called out to the woman, "Lady, can I help you?" But she didn't answer him so he thought that she was grieving for her husband and did not want to be disturbed. So he continued on his way home, but something spooked his horse and he looked back to see what the woman was doing and there she was right at the horse's flanks floating along with him and she floated by the horse all the way to the man's house. When he got home he went in and told his wife that he would be dead within a year. When his wife inquired why he would make such a disturbing statement, he replied, "Because I just saw you in your widow's weeds and you were grieving for me." He died within a year - it was a premonition of death. |
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