7 of Charlotte’s Spookiest Spots
7. Founders Hall in Uptown is a modern shopping and business center today, but at one time it was a medical school. During the late 1800s, a girl passed away in Salisbury, N.C. Thieves stole her body from her grave and sold it to the medical school. Soon after, people began seeing an apparition of a young girl wandering around Founders Hall upset and sometimes screaming. This scared the students so much that they would frequently call the police. Eventually, the girl’s body was returned to her grave in Salisbury. However, her ghost still remains, opening and closing doors throughout the building.
6. Located on 5th Street in Uptown, is the old Fire Station No. 4. Originally built in 1925, the building stands empty today. As the story goes, on April 1, 1934, a firefighter named Pruitt L. Black was running to slide down the pole but fell into the hole instead, hitting the floor below. The fall fractured his skull and he later died. After the station was closed, it served as a museum and many visitors claimed they could smell Black’s cigar smoke even though no one was around.
5. Historic Latta Plantation was originally built around 1800. Today, it’s a living history farm where visitors can take self-guided tours and explore the estate. The Latta family is said to still haunt the home. There have been many instances of doors slamming shut and the sounds of children running and playing in the attic of the main house. A dark shadowy figure has also been seen walking the grounds.
4. Kennedy’s Premium Bar and Grill was once an old farmhouse, but now is a favorite spot for locals to have a drink. Many employees have witnessed strange things through the years. Doors will open and shut, and radios will turn on and off when no one is in the room. The scariest thing that has happened was when a manager saw someone in the bathroom long after the bar was closed. After an in-depth investigation, the Charlotte Area Paranormal Society concluded that the former home is haunted.
3. Ri-Ra Irish Pub was built in 1997 by and Irish craftsman named, Ciaran Sheehan. His mission was to create the most authentic Irish pub possible. To do this, he brought in original artifacts and décor (from Ireland?). Since opening, there has been a significant amount of ghostly activity in the pub. Employees tell stories of many cold spots in different areas of the building. There have been sightings of men in period specific clothing, as well as a woman and young girl dressed in white. The creepiest story is the ghostly alphabet that is written in chalk on the wall upstairs. Are these ghostly apparitions connected to the artifacts and décor brought over? No one knows for sure!
2. Originally opened in 1927, the Carolina Theatre was the first building in Uptown to have air conditioning. Former lighting technician Bill Freeman claims there is a ghost named Fred who would often cause trouble in the old theatre. Freeman says that lights would turn on and off, and Fred would sometimes show himself as a white figure in the balcony. Actors and staff even say goodnight when leaving just to show respect to any ghosts who might be listening.
1. Queens University seems to be the most haunted place in the Charlotte area. We spent the morning talking with employees and former students who gave us the fascinating history of the university.
Under Dana Auditorium on the main campus is the Suzanne Little Rehearsal Hall, where aspiring music students practice and perform. Some say you can hear a piano being played when there is no one there and multiple students have witnessed a well-dressed lady walk by and then disappear.
What is currently known as Hall Brown Overcash Hall was once called Wallace and West Hall. According to a former student, one night in room 303 two students were studying late. One fell asleep, and the other kept studying. The sleeping student woke up later that night and saw her friend slumped over and thought she had fallen asleep at her desk. She started calling her friend’s name to wake her up, but there was no response. That’s when she noticed there were stringy black hairs on the girl who normally had very red hair. She called her friend’s name again, and when the sleeping student sat up and turned around she realized it wasn’t her friend. She screamed waking up her real friend, who had been asleep in her bed the whole time. Was it all a very bad dream or was a ghost in the room?
Across campus at Morrison Hall there is a story of a former female student who sent a Dear John letter to her soldier boyfriend during WWII. When he came home, he pulled the fire alarm and as all of the students emptied the building, he grabbed his ex-girlfriend, drug her back into the building and killed her. Some say she still walks the halls to this day.
The scariest story we heard was a firsthand account from a student who lived in Belk Residence Hall as a freshman. One cold and windy night, she was alone studying. When she was finished, she showered and went to bed. She hadn’t been there long when her bed started shaking.
“I knew this wasn’t an earthquake, so I got up to see what it was” she said. “That is when I noticed it was the desk next to my bed shaking.” She looked through the drawers trying to figure out why it would be shaking and then it just stopped. Thinking it was strange, she went back to bed and fell asleep. Approximately an hour later, it started shaking again, so she decided she was going to get someone.
“I got out of bed and was crossing the room when the lamp slid off of the desk and shattered between me and the door! I had to tiptoe through the glass, and when I got to the door, I watched it lock from the inside,” she exclaimed.
“I ran back to my bed to call someone and when I looked up, there was a face of a young girl on my closet door! I screamed and the RA came running down the hall and was able to get in. No one believed me,” she added.
Three years later, another freshman was living in the same room and claimed she had seen a little girl’s face several times at night peeking out the closet door.
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