Looking at historic buildings and homes, it is hard not to think about what stories those old, unique places house. In Columbus, the city’s heritage foundation is putting stories from the area’s historic homes on display. The Third Annual Ghosts and Legends Tour offers visitors a glimpse of the haunted homes of Columbus and a chance to hear their ghost stories. With homes and buildings pre-dating the Civil War, Columbus is full of opportunities for the amateur ghost hunter.
Hosted by the Columbus Heritage Foundation, the tour is in its third year. Since there are so many supposedly haunted places in Columbus, the tour route changes every year. One of the homes featured on this year’s tour is the Stephen D. Lee home, first president of Mississippi State.
Adelle Elliott, with the Columbus Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, said many ghosts haunt the Lee home.
“Stephen D. Lee, his wife, Lily, and her sister Mary all lived in the home together. It was not uncommon for family to live together back then. Lily was known to be beautiful and has been seen as this beautiful and sparkling figure,” Elliott said. “Stephen D. Lee appears, but only to children, and as a shadow to adults. Mary sits in a chair in the living room. Mary is not transparent and was mistaken as one of the actors during the Pilgrimage one year.”
The Princess Theatre, where professional ghost hunters took a picture of what appears to be a human-shaped figure in the balcony, is another one of Columbus’ most famous haunts.
“Built in the ’20 s, the original owner, Mr. Kirkendall, haunts the Princess and is seen often,” Elliott said. “There’s possibly more than one ghost.”
Elliott said she also took part in a professional ghost tour of the Princess and said she could feel a definite cold spot, a physical sign of a ghost, despite all the electricity being turned off in the building. As her group was walking across the stage, Elliott said they could hear the sound of more footsteps coming across the stage, even though they could not see anyone.
This year’s tour will also feature a professional ghost hunter at one of the homes on the tour, discussing ghost-hunting techniques, Elliott said.
Another landmark on this year’s tour is the Lincoln Home, built in 1833 by C.L. Lincoln. Brenda Carradine, along with her husband R. Sidney, own Lincoln Home and have restored the home to its current condition as a cozy bed-and-breakfast. Brenda Carradine said she has had her share of ghostly encounters in the historic home.
“It was Christmas about five years ago,” Brenda Carradine said. “We were in the dining room eating Christmas lunch, and I looked into the parlor and saw a grey-black substance float in and float out. Maybe it was the Lincolns just checking on us Christmas Day.”
Brenda Carradine said a neighbor claimed to have seen, as he was walking his dog, a lady in white walk from the home next door into the lower level of Lincoln. One of her guests reported waking in the middle of the night to see a figure of a lady in white sitting on the foot of the bed in the same lower level Carradine’s neighbor saw a similar figure.
Eileen Little of Caledonia and her sister visiting from Scotland, Suzatte Gibson, said they are looking forward to their chance to encounter some of the local ghosts and hear the stories of the former residents of Columbus.
“It’s something different. We went to Tales from the Crypt [another ghost-story-telling event that takes place in Columbus’ Friendship Cemetary], and that was great. We came to hear more here. It’s interesting to see what had happened and who people were that lived here,” Little said.
The tour takes place this Friday and Saturday nights with tours beginning at 6. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center on Main Street in Columbus.