Who Ya Gonna Call?
Ghost Stories of Buena Vista
by Kelsie West
If you are reading this, you are blissfully unaware of what is creeping up behind you.
It’s Halloween, quickly approaching with the passing of each spine-chilling October day. Here are some local ghost stories to prepare you for All Hallows Eve.
Get Your Spell Books Ready
Brimming with ghost tales is the old town courthouse, known today as the Buena Vista Public Library. As a courthouse it had a six cell jail that is still accessible today. According to Buena Vista Historian Francis Lynn, on October 14, 1933, Police Chief James Madison Beard arrested a man for disturbance at the Baptist church. When bringing the man into a holding cell, the prisoner struggled, escaped and nabbed the Chief’s pistol, shooting and killing the officer. The prisoner was shot running down the alley and later died at a hospital in Lexington.
Despite this wild tale, no stories have been reported of seeing a ghostly police officer. However, in 2014, the Twisted Paranormal Society visited the jail cells and claimed that there was strong negative energy in the area. They were unable to determine if the energy came from the spirit of Chief Beard or a former prisoner.
Learn more about Twisted Paranormal’s visit to Buena Vista
Elaina Skovira, the Buena Vista Public Library Branch Manager, has worked at the library for five years, collecting several ghost stories. One morning, while working in the library before opening, she heard the door by the jail close without any warning. A key was needed to access the door, and she was the only person in the library.
At the library’s weekly Teen Lock-In event, Skovira felt someone tug on her t-shirt collar. When she turned around no one was there. She and other librarians have also claimed to hear strange noises, such as children playing in an empty children’s reading room.
On another occasion, a distressed, older gentleman approached the desk. He notified the librarians that he had held the door open for a little boy, assuming his mother was outside. Once outside, the little boy had vanished and the street was empty. The man worried that the child would be lost. But a librarian sitting at the desk at the time of the man’s departure had not seen a child.
Several years ago, a substitute librarian brought her 13-year-old cousin in for the day. When guiding her upstairs, the teen refused to follow. “I swear someone’s next to you on the stairs, waving at me.” The teen said it had been a woman. Multiple people have reported seeing a woman in the third floor window reading late at night. Could these two experiences be connected by the same apparition?
With increasing accounts of paranormal activity occurring at the library, community members are encouraged to attend the Haunted Buena Vista Program. Held Tuesday, October 30 at 7pm, the Program tours the jail, reveals library ghost stories, and urges the community to share personal experiences with spirits from beyond.
The Ghosts Come Out at Knight Time
Coming to Southern Virginia as a first time student, you are quick to learn that the restricted fourth floor of Main Hall is supposedly haunted. With a unique history, Main Hall is expected to be home to at least a few ghosts.
The most commonly circulated rumor is of a ghost-boy riding a tricycle on the third floor. It is also said that a woman occupies the fourth floor. It is assumed that she is the boy’s mother, searching for her son. Though, there is no documentation of their deaths in the building.
About 10 years ago over winter break, a security guard was locking doors in Main Hall when he saw a woman dressed in Victorian clothing walk into the ballroom. He followed her, calling to see if she needed help. There was no reply, and stepping into the ballroom he discovered it was deserted.
Whitney Larsen, Registrar at Southern Virginia, is a firm believer of ghostly beings. She keeps a ghost meter that picks up electromagnetic fields in her desk drawer at all times. She says the meter picks up a great deal of activity near the staircase and in the corner of the Welcome Center near the fireplace. A portrait of a woman once hung in the corner. Larsen believes the woman in the portrait is the woman spotted by the security guard years ago.
In her 15 years at Southern Virginia, Larsen has never seen a ghost, but she claims to have come close. “I hope I do someday!” she said.
One night she was working late, making copies. While Larsen walked down the hall to the copy machine, the door to the women's restroom unexpectedly swung open. She stepped close, looking for another person, and when no one was there, she studied the floor to see if somewhere she had stepped caused the door to open. Brushing it off, she continued with her work for the night. Twenty minutes later, Larsen walked back down the hall, and the door swung open again.
Larsen also recalled the day when a candy stick in an edible arrangement jumped out of the vase, falling to the floor. Fellow Registrar’s Office staff member, Tabitha Martin, also experienced the unprompted excitement with the candy. “It gave me a heart attack,” she said.
Somebody’s Watching You
Assistant Provost Craig Lawhorne grew up in Buena Vista. He was raised in a house built in the 1900s that was occupied by his family members for decades. Before the house came into possession of his family, there was a fire in 1921, which he believes is the cause for the ghostly presence in the house.
Lawhorne’s great aunt and sisters lived in the home in the 20s and 30s. They all claimed to have seen the apparition of a woman in a blue robe or gown. The women named the ghost “Fuzzy.”
While Lawhorne’s grandmother lived in the home with his aunt, she complained that every night for a week a woman wearing a blue robe entered the room, stood at the end of her bed, and held her arms out over her feet. At the end of the week, Lawhorne’s aunt changed rooms for the night. His aunt confirmed that the figure appeared. Although, when the ghost woman raised her arms, seeing that it was not the aunt in the bed, she changed her mind and disappeared out of the room.
Decades later, while living in the house with his children, one of Lawhorne’s sons said that he saw someone in the closet of the adjoining bedroom. He went to the closet, assuming it was his mother. Reaching out to touch her, the womanly figure disappeared. He described her as wearing a blue robe. “We had never told our kids about the story of the ghost woman,” Lawhorne revealed.
Another son of his claimed to see someone walking into the kitchen, placing their hand on the door frame as they went. At the time, Lawhorne’s wife thought the son was joking. Years later, Lawhorne’s mother-in-law was visiting when she saw someone walk into the kitchen in the same direction. No one was there when they checked.
Unlike the older women in his family, Lawhorne never saw any apparitions. On numerous occasions, however, he did hear footsteps in the home. When Lawhorne and his wife were dating, they got together one night to study. After dozing-off, he was awoke by someone walking around upstairs and dropping a box to the floor. When he asked his wife about it, she said she thought it was one of his family members. Lawhorne and his wife were the only people home at the time.
Calling All Amateur Ghost Hunters
Buena Vista’s haunted neighbor, Lexington, is known for its famous Ghost Tours. On the tour they reveal and reenact ghost stories of General Lee’s horse, Traveler, the house of eight ghosts, the Washington College student and his dog, the unclosable window, and the tormented spirit of Phil Nunn. Students looking for spookier adventures this Halloween can visit their official website for reservation times http://ghosttourlexingtonva.com/reservations.html
