Ghosthunting Virginia. Michael J. Varhola

      Ghosthunting Virginia

      COPYRIGHT © 2008 by Michael J. Varhola

      ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any fashion, print, facsimile, or electronic, or by any method yet to be developed, without the express permission of the copyright holder.

      Published by Clerisy Press

      Distributed by Publishers Group West

      Printed in the United States of America

      First edition, second printing 2011

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Varhola, Michael J., 1966–

      Ghosthunting Virginia / by Michael J. Varhola. – 1st ed.

      p. cm.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-57860-327-5

      ISBN-10: 1-57860-327-7

      1. Ghosts–Virginia. 2. Haunted places–Virginia. I. Title.

      BF1472.U6V37 2008

      133.109755–dc22

      2008034998

      Editor: John Kachuba

      Cover design: Scott McGrew

      Cover and interior photos provided by Michael J. Varhola

      Clerisy Press

      P.O. Box 8874

      Cincinnati, OH 45208-0874

       www.clerisypress.com

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

       Welcome to America’s Haunted Road Trip

       Introduction

       NORTHERN

       CHAPTER 1 Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington)

      Many locations at this burial ground for America’s military personnel are said to be haunted by the spirits of those who have fallen over the past two centuries in the service of their nation.

       CHAPTER 2 Bunny Man Bridge (Fairfax Station)

      This site is reputed to be linked to a serial killer, whose spirit is said to make itself known if Bunny Man is uttered three times. Bunny Man Bridge has also influenced scenes in at least one movie and one video game.

       CHAPTER 3 Gadsby’s Tavern (Alexandria)

      A beautiful young woman who died at this historic tavern nearly two hundred years ago is sometimes still seen there, as are strange occurrences like lanterns that glow without being lit.

       CHAPTER 4 Manassas National Battlefield Park (Prince William County)

      Site of the first major battle of the Civil War, ghosts of fallen soldiers have long been seen roaming the fields where they fell during the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history.

       CHAPTER 5 Historic Occoquan (Occoquan)

      This charming waterfront village is reportedly home to a number of ghosts, including a murdered Indian who haunts a restaurant and whose likeness has been seen in the restaurant’s chimney smoke as well as in the mirror of the ladies’ restroom.

       CHAPTER 6 Rippon Lodge (Woodbridge)

      The oldest house still standing in Prince William County, this tragic lodge was the scene of more than one murder, and spirits who should have moved on to another world, are said to linger there.

       CHAPTER 7 Weems-Botts Museum (Dumfries)

      Originally the home of Mason Locke Weems, who fabricated the story of George Washington and the cherry tree, this site is now a museum and is said to be haunted by the ghosts of two sisters who both lived their lives in misery there.

       CENTRAL

       CHAPTER 8 Berry Hill Road (Pittsylvania County)

      Creepy under ideal conditions, this seven-and-a-half mile stretch of road and the surrounding areas are home to ghosts, abandoned farmsteads, blighted woodlands, gravitational anomalies, and “Satan’s Bridge.”

       CHAPTER 9 Civil War Hospital Museum Exchange Hotel (Gordonsville)

      Once a hotel that served as a battlefield hospital during the Civil War, this site is now a museum that is said to house the spirits of soldiers who died from their wounds during the bloody conflict.

       CHAPTER 10 Edgar Allan Poe Museum (Richmond)

      Not far from where Edgar Allan Poe lived and worked, this museum is located in a historic house and contains a shrine to the troubled American author. Though the museum’s curator is skeptical, others have seen evidence of hauntings, including prankish ghosts who pinch and toss things at visitors.

       CHAPTER 11 Trapezium House (Petersburg)

      This house contains no parallel walls, having been so constructed according to the guidance of a West Indian servant who advised that building it in this way would ward off evil spirits. According to some, however, the house is nonetheless haunted by the ghosts of former inhabitants.

       CHAPTER 12 Wreck of the Old 97 (Danville)

      Immortalized in the first recorded song to sell a million copies in the United States, the Southern Express train No. 97 plummeted into a ravine in 1903, killing eleven people and injuring seven others on board. The ghosts associated with its story, however, may not be those of people who were actually on the train.

       COAST