Like any other region, Graham County has its share of alleged ghosts, haunts, witches and other supernatural beings.
The telling of such tales has long been an Appalachian tradition, with the stories being passed down from older to younger generations.
Prior to the advent of technology, ghost stories served an important purpose, adding entertainment to an otherwise dull existence.
“Back in the old days, the form of entertainment was telling ghost stories,” said local historian and author Marshall McClung. “You’re in this cabin. There’s no electricity, no radio, none of that you know, so you make up something to entertain yourself, and a lot of the old-timers were experts at telling the ghost stories and scaring the kids, you know. ‘If you don’t behave so-and-so, something’s gonna get you.’”
Over the years, McClung has compiled several ghost stories from Graham County, interviewing older residents before they died, or interviewing younger family members who grew up with the stories.
One of the stories McClung documented deals with a baby ghost near Cochran’s Creek and the Dehart Fields. A mother – pregnant with her second child – was allegedly being unfaithful. Her husband eventually learned of her adultery and confronted her while she was peeling potatoes. He asked her if she still loved him, and when she said no, he shot her with a pistol before walking onto the porch and shooting himself.
The couple’s older daughter – aged about four or five – hysterically ran for help, but her mother expired by the time she returned with neighbors. Later in the day, the house burned.
As time went on, farmers began hearing a crying baby from the ruins of the home starting at noon, when the grisly murder-suicide occurred. The crying would get so bad that the farmers would hurry to complete their field work so they wouldn’t have to listen to the crying as long. Hunters in the area at night also reported hearing the noise and would make sure to pass quickly through the area. In addition, rocks surrounding the cabin site allegedly remain stained with blood.
Several such legends are also associated with Graham County’s three dams and their powerhouses.
One such legend tells of a man on duty in the Rhymer’s Ferry Powerhouse of Santeetlah Dam. The man caught a glimpse of someone moving behind him and turned around to see an employee who had died four years earlier, at the age of 54. However, he looked much younger in his ghostly state.
As the operator watched the apparition, it disappeared.
Another legend deals with the Calderwood Dam, right across the Tennessee line from Graham County. The dam was supposedly built over the site of a Native American village and part of a burial ground.
One time, the face of a Native American chief appeared in the face of a rock cliff near the dam, distraught over the burial ground being disturbed.
The following day, a person fell to their death at the site.
McClung also shared his own memory of being spooked heading home on foot as a child. He recalled that something had followed him after dogs that he and a friend were hunting with were spooked, after encountering something in the woods.
“I don’t think it was a ghost,” McClung said. “I think it was some kind of animal, but when you’re a young kid walking home from town in the dark, you know, your imagination can do lots of things.”