Haunted Place #1 – Wright Square
The tour started from Reynolds Square, which is one of the 21 squares that are scattered in an orderly fashion around Savannah. (And that give it much of its quaint charm.) From there, we immediately wandered to the first Creepy Place of the night: Wright Square. Wright Square is morbid and strange for oh so many reasons. Let me count them:

Reason One: There was a grave desecration here in the 1880s!
Yes, it’s sad but, allegedly, true. You see, back in 1739, a Native American named Tomochichi was buried here. Tomochichi, naive soul that he was, was the Yamacraw chief who allowed James Oglethorpe and the first Georgia colonists to settle on Yamacraw Bluff, where they built the town of Savannah. He was a close friend of Oglethorpe and after his death, his buddy buried him in a place of honor in the square. And then, quite naturally, over the years, they forgot that he was buried there, and in the 1880’s the square was dug up (and Tomochichi’s grave torn apart) in the construction of a monument to William Washington Gordon – one of the men behind the establishment of the Georgia Railroad. (Oh yes, now there’s something to celebrate!) They realized later that, oops, that’s where Tomochichi had been buried, and so, to make amends, they put up a rock monument to the dead chief in 1899, on the 160th anniversary of his death. (It states: “In memory of /Tomo-Chi-Chi/The Mico of the Yamacraws/The companion of Oglethorpe [oooh, I say! – Comtesse]/And the friend and ally [ie, sucker] of the/Colony of Georgia”.) So, you know, desecration of a grave = haunted place! Oooooooooohhhhh, Scary!!

Reason Two: Girl Scouts engage in Very Strange Rituals here!
Okay, so maybe the fact that Tomochichi’s bones were disturbed isn’t really all that creepy – but this occurrence has spawned some of the strangest behavior I’ve seen from pre-pubescent girls since Spice World. We observed a gaggle of girl scouts circling the rock several times, chanting something unintelligible, then stopping and putting their ears against the rock, giggling, and running off in fright. Our guide kindly explained this bizarre ritual to us. You see, Girl Scouts flock to Savannah because their founder [ie. guru], Juliet Gordon Low, was born here (and her haunted childhood home will be coming up on our tour). And generation after generation they are told the legend of Tomochichi – which goes like this: If you run around the monument and ask, “Tomochichi, Tomochichi, Where Are You?” and then put your ear to the rock, you’re supposed to hear him reply, “Nowhere”. Because his bones were scattered, so nobody knows where he is! Isn’t that, like, just too creepy cool? Of course, our guide also informed us that the rock is notoriously infested with cockroches – as is the entire square – so there’s no way she’d be putting her ear up to that thing. Actually, maybe that’s why they squeal and run off? Hmmm…

Reason Three: They Used To Hang People Here!
(Did you catch my oh-so-hip popular film reference there? Bravo if you did, Sigh if you did not…) Yes, over by Tomochichi’s grave is the site of the old public gallows. Isn’t that neato? Unfortunately, there’s nothing left to show for it, but you can kind of imagine it if you try. Anyway, it’s suspected that the reason the square is so heavily infested witih cockroches is all those criminal spirits, along with Tomochichi’s spirit, of course, still trying to harrass people after all these years! Cool, eh?

Haunted Place #2 – The Lindsay & Morgan Company Building
So, where in the heck did they bury people after they hung them? Right across the street, of course, at the burial ground. The one right there. Yep, right under that building… and all the other ones on the block. It’s time for the second Creepy Ghost Story! You see that building – the old Lindsay & Morgan Company building? There’s a shop on the first floor and I think there’s an art studio on the second floor – but the 3rd and 4th floors are empty. This is because the owner stopped trying to rent it out because everybody who lived there broke the lease in a few weeks time. Apparently, one of the tenants heard a bunch of noise downstairs one night – like the shopkeeper was moving furniture around – and the next day he mentioned it to the shopkeeper, who claimed that he hadn’t been in the shop that night at all. And a couple of other tenants who were renting the 3rd and 4th floors heard someone walking around downstairs and come up the stairs, stopping just outside the door. This occurred several times until, finally, the footsteps stopped just outside the door and the door handle was turned … slowly … and nothing was there! The couple, who had called the cops at the first sign of an intruder, met the police officers as they fled through the front door and told the police that someone/thing had entered their room. The police did a thorough search of the place and, of course, found nothing. Suffice it to say, they moved out that night…

Haunted Place #3 – The York Lane Theatre
In the center of the block, there’s the York Lane Theatre – also a supposedly haunted building built above the old cemetery. Apparently, one time there was a play going on there, and suddenly the actors noticed some people dressed in Civil War uniforms wandering around the stage. And then they disappeared. Yeah, I know, that one seemed pretty silly to me too…

Haunted Place #4 – The Juliet Gordon Low House
We then wandered a few blocks to the Juliet Gordon Low house: the aforementioned childhood home of the Girl Scouts of America founder. Our tour guide told us about the history of the house, and how the ghost of a woman who lived there before Julia’s parents still haunts the house. In fact, the tour guide worked as a docent there during the day, and she told us that one time a group of Girl Scouts suddenly started screaming hysterically. When she went in to find out what the matter was, they said that they had seen a woman dressed in 19th century apparel walk into the room… and then she disappeared except for her head which remained floating in mid-air for several seconds. Oh, what joy it must be to be a ghost in a house full of Girl Scouts! The opportunities for amusement must be, literally, endless!

Anyway, I digress… The guide told us that she had seen the ghost herself on a couple of occasions, and her story seemed very genuine… Either that, or I’m a sucker – your choice. She also told us that the night before there had been a ghost sighting at the front doorway of the house. Apparently, a guy was shooting with his camcorder and a mist formed in the doorway then disappeared, and he caught it on film. So, why isn’t that video on Fox tonight? Must not have been exciting enough to kick off the car crashes and killer guinea pigs, I guess…

There was also a sighting in the upstairs window of the house, where they had seen someone pull the blinds apart and peer out when nobody was in the house. But, of course, when we were there nothing happened. Damn my rotten luck!!!

Haunted Place #5 – The Pink House
Well, we’ve met the practical joker of the ghost world; now, it’s time to meet the pervert! You see, over at the Pink House restaurant women in bathroom stalls often experience the goosefleshy sensation of having some unseen presence whisper in their ear or touch them. Obviously, this place is inhabited by the ghost of a dirty old man who died before he’d had his fill of sexual harrassment!

Haunted Place #6 – The Marshall House
This is probably my favorite of them all – The Marshall House, now and originally a hotel, but during the Civil War it was used as a hospital. During its restoration a few years ago, some workmen were performing some structural checks in the crawl space under the building, when they kept bumping into hard objects they assumed were rocks. They tossed them aside as they crawled… and then, when they eventually shined their flashlights to see what they’d been bumping into, they turned out to be bones: specifically, human arm and leg bones. You see, during the Civil War, when a limb was struck by the heavily damaging bullets of the day, the usual recourse was amputation (see the National Museum Of Health And Medicine travelogue for more info)… and they had to do something with all those arms and legs. Isn’t that just too cool? I thought so too…

Anyway, supposedly the third floor of the Marshall House is haunted by the ghosts of Civil War soldiers. If anyone has had an experience with one of these ghostly presences, please let me know… because I’ll definitely have to book a stay there!

There were numerous other ghost stories told as well… like the tale of little Gracie (who you might remember from her graveside statue at the Bonaventure Cemetery) who allegedly haunts several spots in the city. But, you know, I didn’t bother getting pictures of any of the other spots. If you have more pics of haunted places to share, by all means feel free!