Category: Informative

Haunted Trails of Big Ridge

by KPR_Ryan, posted in Blog, Hiking, History, Informative, Location, Paranormal, Travel

Ghost House Trail

There are several claims of activity involving the Ghost House Trail.  The first has to do with Maston Hutchinson’s daughter Mary. Mary’s loved ones claimed to hear her cries coming from the bedroom just hours after she had fallen victim to tuberculosis.  People walking near the spot where the house used to stand claim to still hear Mary’s 17430933_10208791478605245_910868593_ocries.  A phantom dog has also been spotted on the trail.  This claim dates back to the same night that Mary died.  Her family and friends were traveling along the road leading to the where house once stood when a dog appeared out of the woods and crossed the path.  Park goers claim to hear the panting of the dog coming from the woods.  The final claim about this trail revolves around the family cemetery.  Many claim that if you take a picture near the graves you can see the silhouettes of the long dead standing behind them in the picture.  The name Ghost House Trail certainly seems to be a fitting name for this trail.

Indian Rock Trail

17408026_10208791479005255_1680745878_oThe trail leads past the spot where Peter Graves was ambushed, scalped and killed by
Native Americans.  On many occasions, hikers have claimed to see the mutilated body of Peter walking around the area where he was brutally murdered.

Old Mill Trail

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Norton Grist Mill marks the spot where a young girl was hung by her father.  She had been accused of being a witch.  Her sprit is said haunt the trail that leads to the mill.  Not much else is known about this haunting.

The Man in the Woods17408374_10208791480325288_1540679224_o

On many occasions, park visitors have seen a man walking in the woods far from the nearest trails.  This man has been spotted by park rangers, who describe him as being middle-aged and wearing a red flannel shirt and gray work pants.  He never speaks, just simply materializes and vanishes with out a trace.  No one knows who this man is or if it is even paranormal.

Our Investigation:

For more info, check out these sites:

https://rootsrated.com/stories/exploring-east-tennessees-eerie-trails

http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/haunted-hikes-planned-in-big-ridge-state-park-ep-402840410-357467771.html

http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/tennessee/haunted-tn-hike/

History of Big Ridge State Park

by KPR_Ryan, posted in Blog, Hiking, History, Informative, Location, Paranormal, Travel

Overview

Big Ridge State Park was created in the 1930s as part of the Norris Project.  The project was developed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), National Park Service, and the Civilian Conservation Corps.  The Norris Project turned into three state parks (Big Ridge, Norris Dam, and Cove Lake).  The park officially opened in May of 1934.  Big Ridge is located about 25 miles away from Knoxville in Maynardville, TN.

 

Sharp’s Station

In 1783, a man by the name of Henry Sharp established a pioneer fort beside Norris Lake in what is now Big Ridge State Park.  When the fort was established it was part of Hawkins County, today it is located in Union County.  Sharp brought his family as well as the families of his neighbors.  Many of these families are still prominent members of Union IMG_0532 (2)County including Sharp, Graves, Hinds, Gibbs, Loy, Miller and Rice.  Sharp’s Station was part of a network of trade routes and safe stops for travelers en route to Jacksboro . Some of the other stations in this network included: James White’s Fort, Well’s Station, Gibbs’ Blockhouse, Raccoon Miller’s Blockhouse, and Holmack’s  Station.

 

The Ambush

On November 13, 1794  a settler from Sharp’s Station by the name of Peter Graves was IMG_0506 (2)ambushed by Native Americans on top of Big Ridge about a half-mile away from the station. The Natives where hiding between two huge boulders.  Peter was killed and scalped.  Peter was laid to rest in Lon Sharp Cemetery.  He was the first settler to be buried there.  A few weeks later the station was attacked.  Fighting went on well into the night, by morning, none of the settlers were harmed and several attackers were wounded. The raiding party withdrew across the river.  Fighting continued sporadically until the summer of 1794.

 

Norton Grist Mill

The mill was constructed in 1825 by Tim McCoy, who transferred operations to Lewis Norton and his sons.  In the 1930s the TVA purchased the mill and surrounding lands as part of the Norris Project.  People from all over the area relied on the mill to turn their corn into corn meal.  The owner of the mill would take one gallon of meal out of each bushel ground into corn meal as payment.  The mill wasn’t just for grinding corn, it was aIMG_0549 (2) spot for social gatherings.  Locals would gossip with neighbors, traded knives and horses, played music, and sometimes told fairytales.  The mill that stands today is not the original mill.  The park service reconstructed it in 1968, vintage features from the original still remain including the raceway, gears, wheel shaft and mill stones.

 

The Hutchinsons

In the 1800s Maston Hutchinson and his family settled in the Big Ridge area.  While living in the area Matson’s daughter, Mary, was stricken with Tuberculosis.  Like so many that contracted this disease she did not survive.  Maston continued to live in the area until his death in 1910.  He was laid to rest in the Norton Cemetery located just down the trail from his family home.

 

L.B. & Della Hutcheson

IMG_0476 (2)Lewis Bratch Hutcheson and his wife Della where amongst the settlers living in the Dark Hollow region of Big Ridge.  L.B. was a Sheriff of Union County from 1930 until his death in 1935.  L.B. was killed in the line of duty in May of 1935 when a group of criminals that had just escaped from the Cocke County Jail opened fire on road block L.B. had sat up on the Highway 33 bridge.  After L.B.’s death, his wife Della was selected by the Union County Court to be the new Sheriff.  She was the first female Sheriff of Union County and only the third in the state of Tennessee.

 

 

 

 

 

Mingus Cemetery

by KPR_Ryan, posted in Blog, History, Informative, Location, Travel

Location

Mingus cemetery is located in Cherokee, NC.  In order to get to the cemetery, you must hike along the Mingus Creek Trail for about 2.5 miles.  There are a couple of trail marks along the way that will let you know if you are still headed in the right direction. The trailhead is located about three quarters of a mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitors Center.

 

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The Mingus Cemetery is also known as the Mingus (Watson) Cemetery. Based own what is known about the cemetery, there are 29 marked graves in total.  The graves are believed to be from early pioneers from the area. The cemetery appears to have started sometime in the early to middle 1800s The graves are only marked by fieldstones, and of these stones only one grave is marked with a name.  Most of the graves belong to the Mingus and Watson families.  Many members of the Mingus family worked at the mill which is located at the start of the trail.  The mill, which opened in 1886, provided much needed cornmeal to the area. In that time period, cornmeal was a well sought after commodity, as it was part of most families’ main diet.

 

Known Graves

The only headstone in the entire cemetery with a name marked on it belongs to Mrs. Polly Mathis.  From what we where able to find there are only six graves that have been identified.

Polly Mathis                        b. 1888  d.193416934095_10208605053744740_527046014_n

Sarah Elizabeth Harris     b. 1847  d. 1919

Ephraim Mingus                b. 1794  d. 1847

Henry Adolphus Smith    b. 1848  d. 1916

Thomas Willard Watson  b. 1917  d. 1917

William Henry Watson     b.1834  d. 1904

EVP Sessions

While we were there, we conducted a few EVP sessions at different parts of the cemetery.  We started by asking general questions to any spirit that could have been around.  We then turned our questions to Mrs. Polly Mathis.  Finally, we conducted a session on the far right side of the cemetery near the smaller graves.  Believing that these graves may belong to children, we asked  a variety of questions to the children.  We reviewed the sessions but nothing audible was captured.

At Peace

We believe that most of the people that where laid to rest in the Mingus Cemetery are at peace.  The location of these cemetery is simply beautiful and very peaceful.  If there are any spirts still wandering around the cemetery, we were unable to communicate with them and hope that they may some day find peace.

 

 

 

Helen’s Bridge EVP Sessions

by KPR_Ryan, posted in Blog, Equipment, Informative, Location, Paranormal, Update

During our trip to Asheville we decided to stop by the infamous Helen’s Bridge. While we where there we conducted several EVP sessions which we intended to post to our YouTube channel.  However, upon further review of the sessions we found that they were heavily contaminated with sounds from the near by city and the wind.  We have decided not to post these EVP sessions because of the contamination.

Next Time 13054463_10206191305042531_83078164_o

When we return to Helen’s Bridge for a full investigation it will be at night, in hopes to reduce the amount of audio contamination.  For the full investigation we will be bringing our EMF meter, infrared camera, and the spirit box.  The EMF meter should prove to be very useful, we can conduct several different test with it and since there are no power lines above the bridge the results should not be contaminated.  If the claims are true about the apparition of girl the infrared camera will help to capture evidence of her existence.  We have had a lot of success with the spirit box during our investigations and the results are harder to contaminate than EVP sessions.

Directions

If you are interested in checking out Helen’s Bridge for yourself, here is a map to help you find it.  The dot on the map is almost the exact location of the bridge.  If you follow College St all the way to the end you will eventually cross under the bridge.  At the intersection of Vans Gap Rd, Beaucatcher Rd and College St there is a little area to park your car in.  From there, their is a little trail that will take you up to the top of the bridge.  Hopefully these directions are helpful.

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Asheville Trip – Travel Blog

by Idols to Enemies, posted in Blog, History, Informative, Uncategorized, Update

Hey, everyone! It’s been a long time since we posted an update, so I wanted to start off with an explanation…

For the past year, we’ve been researching several places throughout Tennessee. There are so many potentially haunted locations out there to explore, and we have reached out to a great many of them, trying to get a feel for where to investigate next. What we’ve come across in the vast majority of the cases has been that each site comes down to one of three things: the location wants us to carry some type of insurance policy so their business is protected (understandable), they want monetary compensation, or they’ve had bad experiences with paranormal teams in the past that have set them against the idea of any other groups coming in.

A couple of these leave us in a position to simply not be able to pursue them at this time, so we’re trying to prioritize the locations that require payment up front to come investigate. That’s part of what this trip to Asheville this past Sunday was about. We’re starting to also look outside the state of Tennessee for more ideas.

Zealandia (Asheville, NC)

Our first destination of the day was to a castle nestled in the hills above the city of Asheville known as Zealandia. Unfortunately, we arrived only to find the property hidden behind a gated driveway. We attempted to visit the Asheville Mystery Museum to gather more info on the place, but unfortunately they were closed at the time. The video below shows a local group investigating the inside of the castle. Looks like a very cool place, but we’ll need to find a better point of contact for obtaining more info on how to get in before this lead is going anywhere.

Helen’s Bridge (Asheville, NC)

 

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Not far from Zealandia, you can find the somewhat famous Helen’s Bridge. It is said that a woman named Helen, who lived in Zealandia, lost her daughter in a fire on the property, and was so distraught that she hung herself from the bridge. Now she haunts the bridge to this day. We performed a couple of EVP sessions that yielded no results. However, we do intend to return for a follow-up investigation with more equipment at some point.

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Lewis Memorial Park (Asheville, NC)

We visited this park briefly after reading claims of apparitions of a Confederate soldier appearing in the park on horseback. Honestly, it was simply a peaceful graveyard.

Grove Park Inn (Asheville, NC)

13054391_10206191289162134_208248189_oThis place… well, it’s awesome. Grove Park Inn is an absolutely beautiful resort overlooking the mountains. The grand architecture and sheer size of the complex is awe-inspiring, and to top it off, turns out there’s a great ghost story with a lengthy history here. Apparitions of the “Pink Lady” have been reported since the 1950’s. Dozens of people have had first-hand experiences with this ghost, and while she has been seen in multiple spots all over the Main Inn, there is something extra appealing about room 545 to this particular ghost. I think it’s safe to say we will attempt to investigate these claims further in the near future. (Also, this Peet’s Coffee place inside the resort is legit.)

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The Covered Bridge (Elizabethton, TN)

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On our way back home, we stopped at this historic bridge. Though I’m skeptical to say it’s haunted, there was a murder of a young couple that took place on this bridge. Regardless of whether their ghosts still linger around the landmark, there is an ominous feeling one gets while standing in it’s presence. Perhaps it is just an overwhelming sense of the history you’re standing amidst, with colonial era homes right across the street, or maybe it is something supernatural. Either way, it is a spot worth checking out sometime if it isn’t too far out of the way for you.

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What are EMFs?

by KPR_Ryan, posted in Blog, Equipment, Informative, Paranormal

If you have ever watched a paranormal show before, you have probably heard the term EMF.  EMF EMFstands for Electromagnetic Frequency or Electromagnetic Field.  EMFs can come from anything that has an electrical current running through it:  (Microwaves, Refrigerators, Power Outlets, Electrical Boxes, etc..).  There are also some outside sources of EMFs such as transformers and power lines, which normally generate extremely high EMFs.  The stronger the current the stronger the EMF will be.  EMFs are measured in milligaus levels.  These levels are measured with EMF meters which are essential pieces of equipment for any paranormal group.

Side-effects of High EMFs

Some people are very sensitive to high EMFs.  Being sensitive to EMFs can lead to many different side-effects.  Such as:

  • Burning sensations on your face
  • Tingling sensations in your extremities
  • Swelling of the sinus cavity, with actually having an infection
  • Skin Rashes
  • Disorientation
  • Headaches and body aches
  • Nausea
  • Hallucinations
  • Anxiety
  • Impaired Vision
  • Emotional Instability

These symptoms are not present in everyone, but they can explain some claims of paranormal activity.

EMFs and the Paranormal

Many experts believe that when a spirit manifests itself it will give off an electromagnetic field.  High EMFs can also lead to spirit manifestation.  The EMFs generated by spirit manifestations are generally not long and not very high levels, so there normally aren’t any health risk to worry about.  It is important that you do an initial EMF sweep of the area that you plan on doing an EMF test in, that way you’ll know if there is anything in the area that can cause a spike.

History of Bethesda Church in Russellville, TN

by Idols to Enemies, posted in Blog, History, Informative, Location

100_1003Constructed in 1835, Bethesda Presbyterian Church is a remnant of the Civil War’s effect on East Tennessee. As the war began, the congregation divided in two: many sided with the Confederacy, though many more still were Union sympathizers. During this period, the church closed its doors. The Battle of Bean Station took place on December 14, 1863. After this historic battle, Confederate General James Longstreet arrived at Bethesda Church with 25,000 men who were stationed on the land until February 1864. During this time, the church served as a hospital. In the cemetery just outside the church doors, over 80 unknown soldiers were buried in mass graves. While some Union soldiers were laid to rest here, most of the unknown dead are presumed to have fought for the Confederacy.

In October, Federal troops pushed closer to the encampment at Bethesda during an engagement 100_1000known as “Vaughn’s Stampede.” In November, Confederate troops pushed the Union soldiers back west towards Knoxville. This battle is known as “Gillem’s Stampede.” During this push, a cannonball smashed through the eastern wall and caused severe structural damage. The walls were quickly repaired and reinforced with iron bracings and rods that can be seen in the photo to the right. The original pulpit and high-backed pews remain to this day, and the floors lie permanently stained with the blood and disdain of our American predecessors.

As the war ended and soldiers from both sides began to return home, the congregation attempted to compromise and reconvene. Sporadic services dotted the calendars. Between 1866 and 1871, sympathizers of each cause sat in the outer pews, leaving the middle column empty. Eventually, one side left and helped form the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown. The remaining church body stayed through 1875. However, in time, the majority began attending the new Russellville Presbyterian Church.

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Bethesda has remained closed since that time, save for a few irregular services held for major Christian holidays such as Easter. Now the building stands to serve as a reminder of the sacrifice of our ancestors in East Tennessee. Within its walls and grounds lies the story of a church body that symbolized the civil issues of the time. This once-unified group of people was just another casualty of a war among brothers.

 

As for potential paranormal activity, many have claimed to see apparitions of restless Confederate soldiers both inside and outside the church. The apparition of a weeping woman has also been seen on the far side of the cemetery. Her cries are often heard late at night. We have also heard reports of a “witch” buried on the grounds near the woods.

We investigated Bethesda Church and the surrounding grounds this past Sunday evening. Check back soon to see what we found!

Why do paranormal researchers seem to only investigate at night?

by Idols to Enemies, posted in Blog, Informative
There are actually several reasons for investigating in the dark.
  • DSCN2652Human’s other senses are heightened when sight is diminished.
  • Less people are out and about at night.
  • Many paranormal investigators have day jobs, too.
  • Certain paranormal events may occur habitually at a certain time of day.
  • Honestly, it does increase the thrill of doing the live investigations in these locations.
Humans’ other senses are heightened when sight is diminished.

This is a scientific fact. Our eyes do adjust somewhat to low-light situations, but our hearing, sense of smell, and all other sensory devices at our disposal become more in-tune with our immediate surroundings. A seasoned investigator will recognize this, and will work diligently to debunk any strange happenings that occur without immediately writing them off as paranormal.

Less people are out and about at night.

This is important because this means less noise pollution from the surrounding population. When a haunted location resides in the middle of a downtown location that is bustling during normal work hours, but calm and quiet at night, you would definitely choose the latter time to investigate it. It makes the whole situation much easier to decipher the paranormal from the explainable.

Many paranormal investigators have day jobs, too.

Sadly, this is just the reality. Investigating the paranormal would ideally be my full-time job, but for many in this passionate community, it is only a fun hobby. Thus, we work during the day and, when we have time, we investigate at night!

Certain paranormal events may occur DCIM101GOPROhabitually at a certain time of day.

This is true at night as well. Residual haunts may involve an event, such as a murder or accidental death, that occurred at a specific time of day. These events replay over and over, at or near the same exact time every day (or night), and could be the reason for a team of researchers to choose to visit a location at that time.

Honestly, it does increase the thrill of doing the live investigations in these locations.

As lovers of the spiritual realm, many of us do also enjoy a good scare every now and then. It’s one thing to watch a scary movie about ghosts in the dark, but it’s another altogether to live through a paranormal experience! The thrill of prowling around in the dark and happening upon these experiences is second to none.