Haunted America: The Waverly Plantation in West Point, Mississippi

West Point, Mississippi tops the list as one of the most beautiful destinations in the United States, but it also tops the list as being the home to one of the most haunted plantations in Mississippi. The stunning Waverly Plantation began being built in1852 for the wife of Georgian Colonel George Hampton Young who contracted Italian architect Charles Pond of St. Louis to assist in the design details of the antebellum architecture.

Richard Miller of Scotland skillfully cut and installed the ornate Italian and Grecian marble embellished throughout the mansion. Sadly, Lucy Young passed on before the construction was completed. However her tasteful touches to the mansion can be admired just at the entrance to the home. The English boxwoods expertly planted at the end of the walkway have grown just a mere foot every 15 years or so, and they are estimated to be at least a 150 years old.

Lucy and Colonel George Young had ten children, six of the children were boys who eventually attended the University of Mississippi, and later served in the Civil War. Colonel Young passed on in 1880 and was laid to rest in the family cemetery at the southwest courtyard of the Waverly Plantation. Apparitions have been seen strolling through this area for over 100 years, and a ghostly horse and rider have been caught walking through the large grounds on many occasions. The Waverly mansion offers skeptics the proof that an afterlife truly does exist, and all you have to do is just visit the plantation and see for yourself.

The passing of Colonel Young's last surviving son in 1913 was the beginning of the mansion's demise as it was drained of life and remained empty for the next five decades. The mansion suffered attacks from vandals, harsh weather, and a lack of care which led potential buyers away from what would soon become the grand picture of elegance once given the proper attention that is needed to thrive yet again. The only thing visibly seen living at the mansion was an abundance of apparitions looking for a life force to make the home lively again.

During a tour of the property in 1962, the Snow family must have sensed what the mansion could be once all of the magnificence of the home was replenished again through pure elbow grease and a bit of love. In fact Madonna Snow overlooked the extreme bad conditions that the years of non-use of the home had left behind, and she felt an overwhelming urgency to purchase the Waverly mansion immediately upon inspection. Maybe she sensed that an unknown deceased small female child was in desperate need of a mother.

The restoration process was one that Mrs. Snow would never forget as an apparition of a small female child would continue to remind her if she did. The girl literally appeared at virtually every corner of the home, or at least at the precise location that Mrs. Snow was at, and she started referring to her as "Mama". The tortured cries coming from the disembodied spirit of the girl began to be an everyday occurrence that slowly wore Mrs. Snow down. Not to mention that images of a military man started to become very present when looking into any mirror hanging within the mansion.

A mansion this glorious had every creature comfort known to man, including a grand ballroom, and proof of this is clearly evident today by the faint music and gentle laughter that emanates from the general area that was once the life of the Greek Revival style mansion. The beauty of the home includes upscale bedrooms, and a four poster bed that dominates one of the many bedrooms is the choice place for napping, at least this is the apparition's preference as her small outline can be seen by the impression left on the bedspread.

Paranormal activity is no stranger to the Waverly Plantation by any stretch of the imagination, and this has been proven through orbs caught on film by various ghost hunters and paranormal research societies. Visitors have also found it hard to ignore the obvious moving objects that are both unexplainable and just plain creepy. The sense of being followed by unseen entities that eerily watch your every move as you tour the mansion never completely goes away, and quite often they will appear right before your eyes. Most visitors will bare witness to the small ghost child searching for her "mama", as has been heard by hundreds of people throughout the years, including the Snow children.

Location: The Greek revival style Waverley mansion is located just 15 minutes from West Point on Highway 50 and is open daily from 9am-5pm January through December. Address: Waverley Mansion, 1852 Waverly Rd, West Point, MS 39773 Phone: 800) 920-3533 or (662) 494-1399

The Waverly mansion was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973.

Sources:

http://prime-paranormal.com/waverly_plantation_mansion

http://www.wpnet.org/waverley_mansion.htm

http://www.civilwardiscoverytrail.org/location_detail.php?SiteID=385

http://northmsafterlife.tripod.com/id22.html

http://www.prairieghosts.com/waverly.html