Haunted Places in and Around Weakley County, Tennessee

It's easy to forget, but this northwest corner of Tennessee is full of mystery and surprise. The small but close-knit towns surrounded by rural farmland and dark, wooded terrains set the scene for the development of local legends, usually spooky in nature. Since October brings Halloween and an interest in the unexplained, it is a perfect time to revisit these eerie tales native to Weakley County and surrounding areas in West Tennessee.

The first myth is out of Gibson County, at Sleepy Hallow Lane in Trenton. The story itself seems exaggerated; According to John Norris Brown of Ghosts and Spirits of Tennessee, if a person, while driving down the road at night, pulls over and loudly shouts "come to me" three times, many ghosts will appear and the car will not start. Though this extent of paranormal activity has never been confirmed in the area, those who are brave enough to call out to the spirits of Sleepy Hallow Lane have reported strange sights, sounds and general feelings of fright.

Cemeteries have long served as the setting for scary stories, and two notable cemetery ghost stories have arisen in this area; one in Gibson County and one in Henry County.

In Gibson County, between Milan and Medina is the Hope Hill Cemetery. Though the cemetery itself is old and interesting, one particular gravesite stands out among the others, the resting place of Dorothy Marie Harvey, a girl who passed away in 1931 at the age of five. The site is unique because it's covered by a large dollhouse that her family built over her grave, and that irregularity alone may be the reason this site draws so much attention.

Allegedly, after dark the ghost of the little girl can be seen playing in the house with her toys and dolls, and on occasion, she'll take notice of thrill-seeking visitors and peer through the windows at them. Visiting this site after dark is not recommended, however. It closes at dusk and will likely be under close watch for the Halloween season.

Another nearby haunted spot is the rural Dumpling Hill/Pleasant Grove Cemetery located outside of Paris in Henry County. Legend has it that a slave, after being accused of a petty crime, was sentenced to death and hanged. He was later buried in the Dumpling Hill Cemetery where many claim his spirit remains to this day, walking among the gravestones at night and frightening off visitors.

It isn't necessary to leave Weakley County to find haunting tales like these, however. Take the historic house on the corner of Jeter and Maple Street in Dresden, for instance.

As reported by the Weakley County Press in June of 2005, this house was terrifying enough to cause its owner to sell the place and move out. Stories range from unexplained footsteps coming from the second story, a classic haunting symptom, to the unusual case of a girl losing consciousness while her eyes rolled back in her head and she started "growling."

The house was sold to J.C. Harris, a ghost hunter from Kentucky, who claims the house is occupied by at least three entities that are not demonic, but simply dislike people in their home.

Perhaps the best known Weakley County ghostly legend, however, can be found on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Martin. A number of old academic buildings, dorms, and sites at the university have occasionally been called haunted from time-to-time, but the tale that has endured for decades is the haunting on the fourth floor of Clement Hall.

Most Martin residents and UTM students have heard the story; a severely depressed female student took her own life in the fourth story community bathroom. Since the incident, she's haunted the floor as an apparition wearing a white dress. When she isn't seen, her presence is still known. Many people have heard doors slam and strange near-whispers, felt temperature changes and experienced general uneasiness and confusion.

A person doesn't have to believe these local legends to appreciate the entertainment they provide. There is a welcomed excitement that even the most skeptical can enjoy. To the believers, however, these tales serve as reminders of the world's many mysteries. There are still a great many things left to learn and understand, and some of them are right in our own backyards.

Sources:

Personal Experience

Brown, J. N. (2005). Ghost and Spirits of Tennessee. Retrieved October 18, 2010 from Ghosts and Spirits of Tennessee: http://johnnorrisbrown.com/​paranormal-tn/.

Bates, S. (2009, June 5). Infamous House Site of Ghost Tours. Weakley County Press, Retrieved October 18, 2010 from NWTN Today: http://www.nwtntoday.com/news.php?viewStory=27506.