Ghosts of Atlanta: Phantoms of the Phoenix City

by Reese Christian

Overview

? Do the ghosts of Civil War soldiers still march through the mists of Kennesaw National Battlefield on the outskirts of Atlanta?
? Can those who listen still hear the voices of the guests who died in the devastating Winecoff Hotel fire of 1946?
? Does the spirit of a young boy still ride the "black horse" on the Riverview Carousel at Six Flags Over Georgia?
Drawing on her work with the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute at Bauder College and Ghost Hounds Paranormal Research Society, elite psychic medium and cold case researcher Reese Christian writes of the tragic past and the haunted present of Greater Atlanta. From Peachtree Street in the heart of downtown to the plantations and battlefields surrounding the city, join her in discovering the twisted histories of some of Atlanta's most infamous landmarks and forgotten moments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596295445
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	08/29/2008
Series:	Haunted America
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.38(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Reese Christian is an elite, world-renowned psychic medium, psychic detective, and paranormal investigator living in suburban Atlanta, Georgia. She has been featured for her work with Bauder College students cracking cold cases on CNN Crime, and her work is spotlighted on the twenty-fifth-anniversary DVD re-edition of Hollywood's Poltergeist. She is also regularly featured on local FM morning radio show The Giant Show on Project 9-6-1 on 96.1. She is a member of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute and Ghost Hounds Paranormal Research Society. Reese founded Presage Consultants, a group of professional psychics that is located in Atlanta. Visit her website at www.ReeseChristian.com.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

ANTHONY'S RESTAURANT

Formerly Known as the Pope-Walton House

Anthony's Restaurant is located in an upscale area on the north side of Atlanta, Georgia. Construction of this beautiful plantation home was begun in 1797 by a fourth-generation Anglo-American named Wiley Woods Pope in what is now known as Washington, Georgia, about 117 miles east of Atlanta. Once residing on a twenty-five-hundred-acre plot of land, the plantation was a thriving home to several hundred African American slaves. However, in 1865, during the aftermath of the Civil War while Union troops were infiltrating Georgia towns, soldiers came across this luxurious manor housing only a young mother named Mary Elizabeth Pope Walton, her infant daughter, Lula Belle Walton, and her nursing slave girl, Sarah Walton. The Union troops raided and looted the beautiful home, but left it intact and did not burn it due to the infant child. Later that same year, the man of the house, John Howard Walton, finally returned from the war. Unable to pay the now-freed laborers, he lost the estate to his father-in-law, Wiley M. Pope, who completed the house and lived there until 1891.

In 1967, the home was meticulously moved over a three-year period to where it now sits on Piedmont Road in Atlanta, Georgia. It has been completely restored to its earliest glory using as much of the original materials as possible. The mansion is now utilized as an upscale, fine dining restaurant named Anthony's, and the only addition has been a beautiful banquet hall built in the 1970s that is lovingly referred to as the "Ladybug Room" in honor of the very last hostess of the manor, Anna Almeda Pope, the daughter of Wylie M. Pope and Almeda A. Wooten, who lived there until 1920. Her nickname was Ladybug as a child, and as she grew older it evolved into Aunt Lady.

Many people have claimed to have had paranormal experiences throughout the decades that Anthony's has been open, and oftentimes the stories are very similar in nature. One such story is that the sound of bells can be heard late at night when there are no bells ringing or jingling anywhere. The belief is that this is Lula Belle running and playing in the house. When she was a young girl, her mother would sew small jingle bells into her petticoats so that she could keep track of her in the massive plantation, and now the young child's spirit is believed to be playing with the living by letting us hear her bells.

Whatever happened to Lula Belle Walton is a mystery. Although her name appears on the 1880 census of Wilkes County, she seems to disappear after that. She was listed as a white female, sixteen years of age, "keeping house." I have searched various Georgia state and nationwide vital statistics records. There is no marriage record for Lula Belle Walton to be found anywhere in the United States. There is also no known grave of Lula Belle Walton.

Given what we know of the aftermath of the Civil War, I can't help but wonder if Lula Belle might have fallen in love with a Union soldier. Perhaps she left the state with him or married in secret, fearing retribution by her family. Whatever the reason for her disappearance, it seems that Lula Belle is at home again playing at Anthony's.

However, Lula Belle is not alone. In the foyer of Anthony's, there are several historic photos hanging on the wall. One of them is a portrait of Mary Elizabeth Pope Walton in her wedding gown. It seems that she has been revealing herself through the years to many people in windows from afar, and she has been known to interfere with electrical activity, including turning lights on and off. The light switches that control the enormous upstairs chandeliers are on a back wall at the top of the stairs. The controls are dimmer switches — round knobs that one can turn up and down to dim and brighten the lights — but the buttons actually need to be manually pressed to turn the mammoth chandeliers completely on or off.

One reluctant witness said that as she was getting ready to leave one night, the "lady in white" passed her as she was coming down the stairs. Frozen in fear, the hostess watched as the translucent apparition made her way to the landing before she disappeared. Thinking that she was overtired, the hostess locked up the restaurant and walked to her car. As she was about to drive away, the upstairs chandeliers came on. Although she knew that no one else was in the house, she went back inside and up the stairs to check. When she was about three feet from the dimmer switches, she heard the familiar "click" and the chandeliers turned off.

Maybe you'll meet Mary Elizabeth Pope Walton on your next venture to Anthony's Restaurant. I did. You'll want to look for electrical disturbances, apparitions in upper windows that can be seen from the outside of the home and the infamous "lady in white" figure that has been seen on the main staircase and in the upstairs foyer by many dining guests as well as the staff. She has never been known to purposely frighten or hurt anyone, so there's no need to be afraid of her. Or, is there?

No self-respecting Southern plantation would be complete without a cat or two milling about. In the 1800s, they were prized "working domestic animals" as pest control for rodents. During the same time period, cats were beginning to be bred for shows. Although the historic documents do not indicate that the Waltons or Popes were breeders, it seems that one furry plantation worker has never left.

Patrons and staff alike say that they have heard the soft mewing of a kitten at various times throughout the day at Anthony's. One customer was enjoying her rack of lamb when she felt a cat rub on her leg under the table. Thinking that it was quaint that Anthony's had such a friendly mascot, she continued to enjoy her lunch. At the end of the meal, she mentioned to the server that she had thoroughly enjoyed her dinner and had also enjoyed the cat. The staff member explained that no living cat resides at Anthony's. Upon the woman's insistence, the staff searched for that cat for about fifteen minutes before realizing that there were no open windows or doors through which a real cat could have exited, nor were there any hiding spots into which it could have slipped. They finally gave up. The ghostly presence has been witnessed all over the mansion, including the last stall in the ladies' restroom, where it is believed to be the invisible force unraveling the toilet paper roll.

Another of the plantation's domestic servants was Lucinda Pope. Lucinda was a freed black slave living on the property in 1870. She is listed on the 1870 census as a twenty-eight-year-old domestic servant. Several of Anthony's staff members have seen an apparition of a young black woman dressed in Civil War–era attire going about duties throughout the house. She has been known to appear in the wine cellars, particularly in the smaller of the two and usually standing by a curious door.

The city of Andersonville is located about 147 miles from Anthony's. During the Civil War, there was a large prison camp erected in Andersonville, where approximately forty-five thousand Union soldiers were confined and, of those, thirteen thousand died in the prison camp. During one of the camp's renovations, several of the prison doors were replaced. Although it is unclear how it came to be, one of the prison doors found its way into the small wine cellar at Anthony's. Perhaps that is why Lucinda is seen standing by it — she must know that it doesn't belong to the house.

There seem to be many ghostly tales of apparitions, shadowy figures and such at Anthony's. However, the history of the mansion and the families that lived there seem to live on amidst the beautiful brickwork, crown molding, chandeliers and high ceilings.

The next time you want to treat yourself to an exquisite dinner at an upscale, fine dining restaurant, and you'd like a little history or perhaps an apparition with your filet mignon, Anthony's is absolutely the perfect place to please both your palate and your ghostly curiosity.

CHAPTER 2

THE FABULOUS FOX THEATRE

Shrouded in secrecy, myth and legend, Atlanta's Fabulous Fox Theatre is located at the corner of Peachtree Street and Ponce De Leon Avenue in the Midtown section of Atlanta. The idea of its conception was born in 1889, but it took thirty years to come to fruition.

A gathering of thirty-two Knights Templar and Scottish Rites Masons met to organize the Yaarab Temple Shrine to house meetings of the newly formed Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, more commonly known as the Shriners, which is a branch of Freemasonry. The Shriners adopted a Middle Eastern theme and referred to their meeting halls as temples or mosques. It should be understood that this was not meant to be a religious organization that worshipped at these meeting halls. In fact, these were places of business and charity.

The land upon which the Yaarab Temple Shrine (the Fox Theatre) was to be built had been known sixteen years earlier as Fortification K. This was a holding fort for Confederate soldiers fighting off the Union army in a failed effort to defend Atlanta. As one may guess, there were lost lives and bloodshed on the property. One of the ghostly tales that abounds is that a Confederate soldier has often been seen by staff in the basement area near a door that blocks off an old, decrepit tunnel that was utilized during the Civil War. He is always seen standing guard at this entranceway. There have also been sightings of a Confederate soldier, possibly a different one, looking into the windows of the Fox building from the outside. He has frightened many patrons, as well as staff, who immediately realize that they are looking at a ghost.

During the 1880s, there was a beautiful mansion built on the property that would eventually house the Fox Theatre. This glorious home was constructed for Colonel Willis E. Ragan, and although I can't find whatever came of the home, there is another very popular Fox Theatre ghost story that is believed to have begun on account of one of its occupants. The story entails a woman by the name of Anna Ragan, who at one time owned and lived in this home. She is believed to have died in the home and is now seen by entertainers in the women's dressing room number 42. Is it possible that Anna wanted to be a performer and this is her way of acting out that fantasy? Nobody knows for sure; however, each year the Fox Theatre entertainers bring her flowers on the day that they have dedicated to honoring her death, and Anna shows her appreciation in various "haunting" ways. She is known to move things around in the dressing room, she occasionally appears as a translucent figure and there are times when one can hear the whisper of her voice. There was even an electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) recording that captured what is believed to be Anna responding to the question, "Does the lady who used to live here get her flowers?" After a brief moment, one can hear a faint female voice reply, "Yes."

As we return to the Shriners of the late 1880s, their next order of business was to erect the most magnificent mosque in the world, and by 1925 their plans were underway. They began a search for an architect who could produce their vision, and in 1927 they finally settled on Oliver J. Vinour and P. Thornton Marye, whose interpretation was a very elaborate, flamboyant version of Islamic, as well as Egyptian, architecture. That same year, the Yaarab Temple Shrine entered into negotiations with Fox Film Corporation's theatre division and eventually agreed upon a long-term lease on the civic auditorium. Fox Theatre was born.

The Fox opened its grandiose doors for business on Christmas Day 1929, just two months after the stock market crashed. Sadly, after only 125 weeks of showing films and live theatre, the Fox declared bankruptcy. It continued to flounder and change management until the 1940s, when it began to see life revitalized as it became the most popular dance hall and host to the biggest swing bands of the era. The Fox Theatre thrived for two decades, but the civil unrest of the 1960s brought the Fox to the brink of closing yet again.

By 1974, the Fox announced it was closing its doors forever, and it was actually going to be demolished and turned into a parking lot. However, due to a grass-roots campaign, the Fox was saved and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. By 1989, the Fox was also designated a Landmark Building of Atlanta, and in 1991 it had the honor of being designated a National Landmark Museum Building.

The Fox's new purpose was no longer to be a movie theatre, but a vast omnibus of performing arts, and it is still thriving in this capacity today. Almost every major entertainment star and many political leaders have performed or spoken at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. As an Atlanta native, I can tell you that the Fox is very much a part of my own history and heritage. I grew up attending grand events, galas and concerts at the Fox. As a medium, I can tell you that the Fox is an amazing place to encounter spiritual energy. I've heard that a few entertainers were so affected by the spiritual energy and haunting feelings that they were afraid to return. I wonder if they did.

As I spoke to Molly Fortune, a staff member of the Fox Theatre, she shared with me an interesting paranormal event that happens on a regular basis down in the boiler room. Many years ago, when the boilers were still run by coal, there was a male employee who worked in that capacity. He also had a cot set up in the boiler room so that he could sleep there as needed. This gentleman eventually passed away, but as many workers can attest, he is still there minding the boilers, and he is also quite aggressive toward male workers. Several of the workers have reported that the scaffolding would begin to shake, faucets inexplicably turned on and off by themselves and all things electrical had a mind of their own! However, when women are in the area, they tend to feel a sense of wellness and of being safe. I suppose he feels territorial and protective of his space and of the women he thinks he needs to protect.

In 1996, the Fox suffered a four-alarm fire that fortunately did not damage the most prevalent areas of the building. One reason that the fire was controlled so quickly was due to the theatre's only resident, Joe Patton. Mr. Patton served as technical director from 1974 until 2004 and dedicated his entire life during that time to the maintenance and preservation of the Fox Theatre. He has dedicated so much to the Fox that the theatre granted him lifelong permanent residency in the only 3,640- square-foot apartment, which was transformed from old Shriners business areas and is where he resides today. His apartment has secret doors and entranceways to different areas of the Fox Theatre, and I'm sure it is much like a modern-day castle, where he sits comfortably as king.

Another common ghostly tale that abounds at the Fox is one of a dog's barking late at night — midnight to be exact — inside the building. Resident Joe Patton had a dog that died one night at the stroke of midnight in the lobby during a Rolling Stones concert, and ever since that night many security guards and staff members have heard the sound of a dog barking within the building after hours, but find no canines in the vicinity. It appears that this particular vestibule of man's best friend is not yet ready to leave his master. However, I would bet that once Mr. Patton physically leaves this world, he too will be seen in a shadowy stance and heard in a whisper as he haunts his beloved home, the Fox Theatre.

It is very interesting to note that the Fox has housed the "Mighty Moeller" pipe organ, better known as "Mighty Mo," since 1929, but in 1954 the pipe organ was so neglected that it completely stopped working. It wasn't until 1963 that this magnificent organ, with pipes as large as thirty-five feet, was restored and able to play. Lone resident Joe Patton, who was not yet residing at the Fox, was the force behind the Mighty Mo restoration. Once restored, master musician Bob Van Camp was the in-house organist for more than a quarter century, and when he died his ashes were sprinkled in the attic directly above Mighty Mo by both Joe Patton and Atlanta Landmarks former board member Robert L. Foreman Jr., per Mr. Van Camp's request. Although I wasn't able to find any folklore or ghostly tales surrounding Bob Van Camp and the Mighty Mo, I assure you that he is there, still playing his instrument of passion, Mighty Mo. Meanwhile, Mr. Patton is still maintaining the goliath organ in pristine condition, and the rest is Fox history.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Ghosts of Atlanta"
by .
Copyright © 2008 Reese Christian.
Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Preface,
Acknowledgements,
Introduction,
Anthony's Restaurant,
The Fabulous Fox Theatre,
The Gaither Plantation,
The Winecoff Hotel Fire,
Oakland Cemetery,
Six Flags Over Georgia,
Stone Mountain,
Kennesaw National Battlefield,
The Barnsley Gardens,
The Wren's Nest,
About the Author,