|
By Scott Nicholson
The Hickory Ridge Homestead on the Horn in the West grounds
of Boone is billed as a “living history museum,” but
legend bestows it with a little bit of “unliving history”
as well.
The homestead is a collection of rustic cabins that were moved
to the ridge on land donated by the Winkler family, with many
of the cabins over two centuries old. At least three people
have reported hearing a mysterious man’s voice in the Weaving
Cabin, only to turn and find the no one in the cabin with them.
The man says, “Hello, there” in a calm, normal voice,
as if welcoming friends.
Virginia Roseman, the public relations director for Horn in
the West and the museum, said she was participating as an actor
in Horn in the West during the summer when she was retrieving
a prop from the cabin, which is set up as a weaving and wool
carding exhibition. She heard the voice so clearly she turned
to see who was behind her, only to find empty space. She ran
to the windows, thinking some of her fellow actors had played
a trick on her, but nobody was around.
“It was a crystal-clear male voice,” she said. Another
assistant at Horn in the West had reported virtually the same
experience, and the annual “Haunted Horn” last year
offered up a little more trick than treat. As part of the fun
and spooky event, children go around to the cabins for candy,
with Appalachian State University students serving as volunteers.
One of the student helpers, around age 20, was giving out candy
in the Weaving Cabin. She came running down the trail nearly
in tears, saying, “I can’t do this. There’s a
man in there talking to me.”
Others have reported hearing doors shut, and items in the
various cabins often move around. The Coffey Cabin, which dates
to the 1840s, had a haunted cabinet that continually expelled
the historic items in it.
Zane Hope, who has worked there for two years and is the museum
director, said the cabinet fell off the wall several times,
despite attempts to better secure it. He eventually decided
the cabinet “wasn’t meant to be there,” so he
put it in storage. He also said that once in a while the odor
of pipe smoke lingers around the cabin even when no one else
is around the grounds.
Perhaps the grimmest tale centers around the Tatum Cabin, a
structure that dates back to the 1760s. It was believed to have
been a mercantile shop or fort before the John Tatum family
lived there, but sometime during the Revolutionary War, the
family was holed up during a severe winter. According to legend,
two of the children died. Because of the frozen ground, the
children’s bodies were stored in the loft, where the remaining
children slept.
Making the cabins even spookier is the architectural style of
their era, built largely on practicality, that limited the numbers
of windows and created dark interiors. People have reported
hearing children walking around in the Tatum loft, and reportedly,
candles will blow out and flashlights don’t work for long
in the loft. Roseman has had the impression of a child sitting
in a gown with its head down, rocking back and forth.
Actors at the summer outdoor drama Horn in the West also believe
the backstage area is haunted, though no visible proof has yet
been encountered. A descendant of the Winkler family that originally
owned the property said there were no old ghost tales linked
with the property.
The Hickory Ridge Homestead is hosting the “Haunted Horn”
through Halloween night, featuring a spooky trail and trick-or-treating
for kids. The event is held nightly from 7 to 11 p.m., and admission
is $10 for adults, $7 for ASU students and those between 9 and
17, and $2 for 9 and under. For more information, call 264-2120.
Vodcast on the Web:
http://www.wataugademocrat.com
Click on “Haunted Horn”
|
Get Firefox