The dark wilderness, trees with branches that block out the sun, and the slightly unnerving quiet of this place all lend themselves perfectly to tales of hauntings and horror. On April 13, 1750, Dr. Thomas Walker reached the gap, which he named for the Duke of Cumberland, son of George II. However, a very real obstacle to looking for the lost treasure is the fact that much of the land of Old House Woods is now private property, so anyone looking to search for themselves should beware of both ghosts and landowners looking to punish trespassers. Sponsoring organizations include University of Mississippi, Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors . (Lexington) One look at the austere barracks that make up the oldest state-supported military school in the nation and youll not be surprised to super natural happenings are a part of the schools long history. I guess that just goes to show you never get in a fight with an outspoken woman. Anne McClanahan Bass, a frequent houseguest of the Ingles family, was standing in front of a mirror when lightning struck nearby. However, when the huge ship came looming over him and a catastrophe seemed inevitable, rather than the impact that should have surely came the ship instead continued on right past him without incident, leaving churning waves and the sound of music like a harp in its wake. (Petersburg) If the history of this facility isnt enough to horrify you, then happenings that are said to still go on, will. Over the years many have gone to look for these fantastical treasures to no avail, and those are the lucky ones. Back issues are available for purchase.The FamilySearch Library has a complete collection FS Library US/CAN Books 976.897 B2w, including Margaret W. Hougland and Betty Jane Hylton's Bulletin Subject Index: The First Thirty Years, 1972-2001 (Johnson City, Tenn.: Watauga Association of Genealogists, 2002) FS Library US/CAN Book 976.897 B2w index 1972-2001. Since that time, a woman in a long white gown is said to appear to visitors, both inside and outside of the house. If you or your family have lived in the Lee County community we would love your input on this heritage research survey. During the Civil War, the college was used as a hospital where many of the young women stayed to nurse the injured. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. [7] The Braxton County Convention and Visitor's Bureau also built a series of five tall chairs in the shape of the monster to serve as landmarks and visitor attractions. The video games Fallout 76[15] and Everybody's Golf 4[16] each contain references to the legend. Does Virginia have an actual werewolf? Ok, admit it. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Lee County, Virginia QuickFacts Table (a) Includes persons reporting only one race (c) Economic Census - Puerto Rico data are not comparable to U.S. Economic Census data (b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories [6] According to the story, when the figure made a hissing sound and "glided toward the group", Lemon screamed and dropped his flashlight, causing the group to run away. Word spread and soon servants and visitors avoided the house. They searched the site of the reported monster but "saw, heard and smelled nothing". Virginia staff writer for Only in Your State, freelance writer and journalist. The FamilySearch Library does not have microfilm copies of these records, but has acquired abstracts for select years published in genealogical journals. Source: Lee County, Local folklore claimed that the physical feature now called Stone Face Rock at Pennington Gap was carved by Cherokee,. Martin returned here with a party of men in early 1775 and built a fort, known as Martin's Station on the north side of Martin's Creek. There have been persistent stories of would be treasure hunters entering the woods to never be seen again, and one particularly spooky story is that of one such treasure hunter who allegedly found one of the stashes, only for his boat to be found drifting in the bay carrying very old gold coins but no sign of where the man had gone. The Flatwoods monster (also known as the Braxton County monster,[1] Braxie,[2] or the Phantom of Flatwoods),[3] in West Virginia folklore, is an entity reported to have been sighted in the town of Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia, United States, on September12, 1952, after a bright object crossed the night sky. He lived in Virginia, and his first wifes name was Sarah. Other similar reports speak of being approached by marching bands of the spectral Redcoats or even fired at by them, with the ghostly bullets passing through bodies or obstacles without doing any damage at all. [17] In television, the second episode of the 2019 History Channel series Project Blue Book titled "The Flatwoods Monster" is based on the Flatwoods incident.[18][19]. The Carroll County Chronicles is the magazine published by the Carroll County Historical Society and chronicles historical events and photographs pertaining to our county and its people. [Virginia? (This is a legal requirement, as apparently some sites advertise for Amazon for free. [4][10], Nickell concluded that the shape, movement, and sounds reported by witnesses were also consistent with the silhouette, flight pattern, and call of a startled barn owl perched on a tree limb, leading researchers to conclude that foliage beneath the owl may have created the illusion of the lower portions of the creature (described as being a pleated green skirt). Feribee stared in astonishment as the ship reportedly continued on its path, hovered up over the beach, and proceeded to float up over the trees as if it were still on water. Again, this is another treasure which is said to be guarded by specters, in this case the restless spirits of the crewmen of King Charless ship, who dutifully and perhaps eternally watch over it even in death. A minister from Brooklyn came to question the May family. Although certainly spooky with its thickly packed trees that blot out the sky to make it a dark, eerie place, the wood is also fairly mostly unassuming and easy to miss among the similar scenery of the region, if it werent for the fact that this particular forest has long been steeped in colorful history and a shocking amount of high strangeness and otherworldly phenomena, and is indeed considered to be one of the most haunted, cursed places in Virginia, if not all of the United States. The werewolf is also notoriously noisy. The Flatwoods monster (also known as the Braxton County monster, Braxie, or the Phantom of Flatwoods), in West Virginia folklore, is an entity reported to have been sighted in the town of Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia, United States, on September 12, 1952, after a bright object crossed the night sky.Over 50 years later, some investigators have stated that they believe the light . I About Lee County, Virginia . Spookily, if stories are to be believed they did not give up on getting back their treasure even in death, and to this day there are occasional sightings of a band of spectral pirates digging along Whites Creek, still trying to regain their long lost loot. Visitors and locals report the smell of gunpowder and the sounds of cannons, gunfire and screaming men long before they arrive at a seemingly still battle site. Its county seat is Gate City. The British lived side by side with the Native population, though not always peacefully, and this continued after the American Revolution when Virginia became a part of the new United States of America. The Ely Mound, the best-preserved Indian mound in Virginia. Since Jeff has no memories of the event, he could not say either way. Lee County Courthouse 33640 Main Street PO Box 326 Jonesville, VA 24263-0326 Phone: 540-346-7763 Lee County Website Clerk Circuit Court has birth and death records 1853-1877, marriage records from 1830, divorce records from 1832, probate records from 1800, and court and land records from 1793 [3] One would expect that she will appear. Perhaps it is this history as a place of war, murder and thievery that has so imbued it with a sinister reputation for all manner of legends and ghostly phenomena that spans over 200 years, which have also earned it the nicknames Black Forest and Haunted Woods. Indeed even the origin of the name of the forest itself, Old House Woods, has hints of the paranormal. Most everyone in the United States today is familiar with the American Revolution patriot Patrick Henry. 1995-2022 Ancestral Findings, LLC. Fortunately, the Rogue Team has a collective room-temperature IQ, and Buck manages to evade them while the rest of the AIMS team keeps them busy. The ghosts of soldiers, ship crews, and pirates have a lot of company at Old House Woods, and indeed the area seems to be absolutely teeming with all manner of entities, phantoms, apparitions, and other peculiar ghostly phenomena. It all ends on yet another cliffhanger. It was then that a rope ladder could be seen being dangled off of the sides of the phantom ship, with men carrying tools and other contraptions climbing down it into the wilderness. (Mechanicsville) The Battle of Cold Harbor was a Civil War battle lasting from May 31 June 12, 1864. Sometimes, only the barking of the dogs can be heard reverberating through the wilderness. Virginia Tech. Turkey Cove native C. Bascom Slemp was Secretary to President Coolidge in 1923. One night, Forrest claimed that he had been out hunting ducks when he came to an inlet and saw what he took to be a group of black ducks upon the water, which he prepared to shoot at. This site was abandoned in June 1776 during further regional conflicts between settlers and Native Americans. Her image seared into the mirror and can still be seen today. Twice, and people may start to talk. The name is said to have come from the fact that in the late 1700s there once stood in the center of the woods a colonial wooden framed house known as the Frannie Knight house, which according to the lore was a long abandoned, decrepit structure that was haunted by ghosts and set itself on fire only to put itself out again on its own. Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin By proving the connection between this mound and present-day Indians, Carr refuted the then-popular "lost race" hypothesis for Mound Builders in eastern North America. Below is a review of what was seen on the tour through Lee County. Expand. By that fall they abandoned the site after conflicting with Native Americans. Her spirit sometimes appears in white, and lights candles at night in the windows. The county is named for Henry Light-Horse Harry Lee, governor of Virginia from 1791 to 1794 and former American Revolutionary War officer. She didn't come. According to Nickell, three flashing red aircraft beacons were also visible from the area of the sightings, which could account for descriptions of a pulsating red light and red tint on the face of the supposed monster. Others believe that the face has evolved over time by wind and rain. In August, 1863, Cumberland Gap was captured by a Union Army under General Ambrose E. Burnside. Other reports include moving figures in a mural of the battle located in Jackson Memorial Hall, along with the sounds of gunfire and cannon blasts. Lee County, Virginia, Census of 1830. Lee County is the westernmost county in the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. (Beaverdam/Ashland) Patrick Henry, most well-known as an American patriot and deliverer of the famous Give me liberty, or give me death! speech, lived at Scotchtown from 1771-1778 with his wife Sarah and their 6 children. In March 1769 Joseph Martin led a party of men to the Powell Valley, and attempted to establish a settlement nearby. A little while back, I did a piece on particularly creepy abandoned buildings in Virginia. The original Lee County Land Tax Lists are held at the Library of Virginia. Topics in the Lee County, Virginia data profile include: Populations and People; Income and Poverty; Education; Employment; Housing; Health; Business and Economy; Families and Living Arrangements; Race and Ethnicity Indeed, forests at night when there is no one around do tend to have a decidedly spooky vibe that is very fitting for scary stories and urban legends, and it is often no wonder they are the scene of so many terrifying tales. If Jeff were indeed the one they were looking for, then the ritual would bring out the little girl. Perhaps even weirder than ghostly Redcoats is the stories of strange skeletons dressed in armor wandering around the woods. Virginia has a long history of human habitation, going back thousands of years. The Lee County Tourism met at the Food City in Big Stone Gap, Virginia and traveled to Appalachia. The Flash Gets His Own LEGO Activity Book, Faster Than Lightning. Martin returned here with a party of men in early 1775 and built a fort, known as Martin's Station on the north side of Martin's Creek. With such an auspicious family history, its almost a given that the castle, built more than 100 years later, would have some mystery attached. If you would like to submit an article, please send to Carroll County Historical Society, PO Box 937, Hillsville, VA 24343; (276) 728-4113. The ship was allegedly on its way to Jamestown, when it got waylaid by a storm and found itself lost and meandering along Whites Creek. I've lost my ship, which sent the terrified man running for his life, leaving his car behind. As one of the orginal 5 structures in the newly booming colonial town, it was at the center of social life. Supposedly, this enormously tall, hairy figure has been sighted roaming the woods in and around Saltville and Abingdon over the years. The Bureau rewards visitors who photograph all five chairs with "Free Braxie" stickers. Remembering the stories, legends, lore of the people and areas in & around Lee County Virginia. The town was incorporated in 1834, and reincorporated in 1901. Today, we would probably say it was post-partum depression, and it would be able to be treated. amzn_assoc_asins = "0578390205"; According to the report, a large, masted wooden vessel like a galleon suddenly appeared, with lights at every mast and spar and shadowy crew members visible standing on board peering off into the distance. Almost 70 miles of hiking trails provide numerous opportunities to explore and discover. The papers were put in a box and given to Thomas Beales most trusted friend, and eventually made their way to James Ward, who decided to print and sell them. It has some intriguing folklore of its own. L One night, after a dispute with her husband during a party at the nearby Governors Mansion, Anne stormed off, breaking the heel of one of her red slippers. H Listen to the Ancestral Findings Podcast. Genealogical articles with abstracts of Lee County, Virginia records have been published in the Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin (39+ vols., 1972-present), the journal of the Watauga Association of Genealogists. E (Virginia Beach) With 11 spirits calling the Ferry State Plantation House their home, haunted house seems a fair title for this site. One such treasure is said to have been buried along the shore of Whites Creek in the 1600s by one of the bands of pirates that were known to frequent the area. Even Patrick Henrys own great-great-great-granddaughter would not stay overnight at the house because she believed it to be haunted. Yet, unlike most werewolves of legend, the one in Henrico County has never been known to hurt anyone. Unfortunately their ship was said to have been lost at sea in a raging storm and the treasure was never found. One of the rumors about these lost treasures is that they have a way of making those who look for them disappear. Buck's plan is to perform the same ritual Jeff did and summon the little girl. The pass was long the gateway to the west. Two families by the name of Hensley and Gibbons moved to Brush Mountain to escape the many changes that were taking place in the early 1900s. They were all known for human rights abuses, even the institutions for the wealthy, like the Henry family. Often, temples, elite residences, and council buildings stood atop substructure or townhouse mounds such as Ely Mound. Jeff goes back to the Rogue Team to let them know that Buck has had contact with the little girl, and has spoken with her. For state-wide genealogical and historical societies, see Virginia Societies. Listed below are libraries in Lee County. Please click below to help in the development of this website and heritage research conducted through the University of MississippiSally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. UFO and Fortean writers like Gray Barker and Ivan T. Sanderson arrived to investigate. According to Barker's account, the next day, A. Lee Stewart Jr. of the Braxton Democrat claimed to have discovered "skid marks" in the field and an "odd, gummy deposit"[4][5] which were subsequently attributed by UFO enthusiast groups as evidence of a "saucer" landing. Following her death in 1740, reports that her body simply vanished, tales of unnatural weather and lurking black cats carried her legacy to present day. Some versions of the story even claim that the dead bandits also return to the site to dig for the treasure in the dark of night, sometimes wielding glimmering ghostly lanterns. Patrick toured a few of these, but even the nicest ones were too tragic for him to bear the thought of putting his beloved wife in one. FTC Statement: Reviewers are frequently provided by the publisher/production company with a copy of the material being reviewed.The opinions published are solely those of the respective reviewers and may not reflect the opinions of CriticalBlast.com or its management. However, before his death in 1780, he is said to have buried a stash of nearly $60,000 in gold and silver coins somewhere on the farm's 386 acres. He's written articles for MU and Daily Grail and has been a guest on Coast to Coast AM and Binnal of America. This page was last edited on 15 December 2022, at 14:40. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Source: Wikipedia, Stone Face Rock and US Geological Survey (USGS), Pennington Gap, VA 1:24,000 topographic quadrangle (2019), Boones map of the Black Diamond System of Railways, Pennington Gap, VA 1:24,000 topographic quadrangle, Routing a Railroad Through Cumberland Gap to the Wise County Coal Fields, Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, Lee County Industrial Development Authority, Southwest Virginia Graduate Medical Education Consortium, Virginia Economic Development - Lee County, Virginia Employment Commission - Lee County, https://www.vaco.org/visit-lee-county-and-the-great-stone-face-rock/, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development -. Starting around 1775, the Gap became the primary route of transit for American settlers moving west into Kentucky; between 1775 and 1810 as many as 300,000 settlers may have used the Gap. It remembers those that were lost providing for their families. I don't think even Buck knows why he's doing it, because every time the AIMS Team gets close to whatever it is they're hunting, the immediate response is panicked flight. It then caught fire once again years later, again without any discernible cause, this time to burn down to its foundations, which are now overgrown and strangled with vegetation and are all that remain of the house today. Contents List . But the creepiest legend Ive heard is that of the VMI Phantom or Yellow Peril. Dating back as far as a century, keydets (name given to VMIs cadet corps) have reported seeing an apparition with a yellow face and bleeding scar appearing in barracks around 3:30am, which is the approximate time of VMIs drumming out ceremony when keydets convicted of honor code violation are publically dismissed from school. For years, the official designation by the Board of Geographic Names was Negro Head Rock. Arrangement. The White Rocks have long been one of the most beautifully noted places in Lee County. Along the picturesque coast of Chesapeake Bay, located in the Tidewater area of Mathews County, Virginia is the quaint, sleepy little town of Diggs. Lemon said he aimed a flashlight in that direction and momentarily saw a tall "man-like figure with a round, red face surrounded by a pointed, hood-like shape". The eyewitnesses, many of whom came forward for filming, describe a large, dark creature that wandered up to them or was seen running through the trees. Could it be that the actors in Lee County, Virginia are LARPing a dark, hillbilly version of Little Red Riding Hood, complete with the Three Little Pigs playing hide-and-seek with the Seven Dwarfs? Once was mysterious. The southwestern-most County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, bordered on the south by Tennessee and on the north and west by Kentucky, Lee County has three incorporated towns: Pennington Gap, St. Charles and the County seat of Jonesville. The story goes that a Shawnee tribe captured Mary and her two young sons in 1755 during the raid of Draper's Meadow. Fishing In Lee County, VA. Golfing In Lee County, VA. I think I've read this story before! Lee County Virginia Tourism . Lee County Map The County of Lee is located in the State of Virginia. C After a trial by water in 1706, which she survived thus proving she was a witch, Sherwood was imprisoned for up to 8 years before being released. Remembering the stories, legends, lore of the people and areas in & around Lee County Virginia. Known as Old House Woods, the area was once a popular port before and during the Revolutionary War, both for soldiers as well as pirates, who used the dense wilderness area as a place to hide out and lay low, and bands of these pirates were often said to be camped out in the murky wilds here to the point that it was considered a perilous area to pass through for travelers. Lee County, Virginia has 435.4 square miles of land area and is the 39th largest county in Virginia by total area. X Scope and Content. Walk in the footsteps of Native Americans, early settlers and Civil War Soldiers along the Wilderness Road Trail. Descriptions varied. Another popular lost treasure tale in the area revolves around the Revolutionary War, during which in 1781 men under the command of the great British military leader and colonial administrator General Charles Cornwallis are said to have retreated into the woods from advancing Patriots while hauling a large hoard of stolen loot to bring back to their commander. Lee County, the western-most county in Virginia, was formed from Russell County in 1792; a part of Scott County was added later. Visit Wilderness Road State Park to see a replica for the fort that was built by Martin. Articles copyrights retained by contributors. Lee County is located in the far southwestern corner of the Commonwealth of Virginia and shares borders with Kentucky and Tennessee. Even though Anna has lived other places, somehow Virginia is where she always seems to land. As he came closer to the strangers, he noticed that they were skeletons wearing some sort of old fashioned armor, one of which approached and waved an archaic sword menacingly at him. [4][10], The night of the September12 sighting, a meteor had been observed across three statesMaryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Its not for the likes of me, but if youre up for it, than by all means, put on your big boy pants and check out these terrifyingly creepy sites. I will take your word for it from here. Virginia is one of the original thirteen British colonies, but it has been inhabited by humans for far longer. However, many people still search for the fabled Beale County treasure, and attempts are still being made to decode the other two papers. Explore the Lee County Story. One report claims that paint used on the Sarahs basement rooms will not stay, despite repeated efforts. Nickell's conclusions are shared by a number of other investigators, including those of the Air Force.