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The Walking Ghost Tours Of Old Town Spring
"The
Ghost Capitol of Texas"
Hear the
eerie stories of the spirits that
inhabit this railroad town…
Reservations Required - 5
person minimum
Cost - $10.00 per person.
Tours
start from Doering Court, 211-S Midway,
Old Town Spring, Texas
Tours last approximately 1 1/2 hours
Tours may be scheduled during the day or evening, depending on
preference of the tour group
For
Reservations & Information call
(281) 367-6156
These
remarkable photos were taken by and are the property of GEIST (a local ghost investigation group) |
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The Ghost Tours of Old Town Spring
"The Ghost Capitol of Texas"
Produced and copyrighted by Randall L. Woods
All rights reserved.
I. Introduction:
Perhaps because of the charming old homes that house colorful shops,
boutiques and galleries, Old Town Spring has a history of ghostly
occurrences and paranormal activity. So much so that the town has been
dubbed “The Ghost Capital of Texas." No fewer than a dozen buildings in
the turn-of-the-century railroad town are said to house ghosts, spirits
and emanations from past souls.
Unexplained happenings and sightings lend credence to the town’s eerie
title, and television crews and “ghost chasers” from throughout the
state have visited here to document the paranormal activity.
Like many of its counterparts in Texas, Old Town Spring in its early
days was home to hard working, farming families of European ancestry. In
the case of Spring, its founders were mostly German, who brought with
them the commitment to family, religion and honest, hard work that
characterized their upbringing. They also brought old-world
superstitions, tales and mystieries about ghosts and spirits - both
benevolent and frightening.
Many of the stories continue to this day and are interwoven in local
myths and mysteries. Some are unusually strange and contain elements of
both fantasy and truth. Yet many of the stories have been told and
re-told by so many believers as to render them part of the Old Town
Spring legend.
A common consensus seems to be that the spirits or “ghosts” of Old Town
Spring often appear at a place where they actually died. Sometimes,
however, they just come back to places where they were happy in life
with someone or something they loved…as kindly, benevolent guardians
that protectively watch over someone or a place they once loved. Some
are simply unexplained presences that represent the restless souls of
now dead human beings. But each story is linked to an historical event
or place as to make it plausible and therefore believable.
II. Starting point for Ghost Tours - Doering Court
–
Doering Court, in the heart of Old Town Spring, is said to be the home
of one of the town’s most playful ghosts. In 1881 Mary Kelly bought the
land that is now Doering Court from Charles Wunsche and later sold it to
M.E. Hamilton who built a large house on the property in 1917.
In addition to the house, Mr. Hamilton built a large barn of hard oak in
the rear of the property. (Today part of the barn and its spacious loft
is the home of the town’s newspaper – The Old Town Spring Souvenir.)
The home and property was later purchased by Henry C. Doering, his wife,
Ella Klein, and their four children: Vernon, Henry John, LaVerne and
Marilyn. On November 4, 1940, Henry died of pneumonia, leaving Ella
Doering to care for her children by renting the upstairs to several
railroad men and a teacher. She lived in the house until her death in
1973. Vernon, the oldest son, served as Justice of the Peace for Spring
for many years and is honored in an exhibit at the nearby Spring
Historical Museum.
But it was a playmate of the youngest daughter, Marilyn, to whom the
ghost story is attributed. It is said that Marilyn and her young
friend, a 12 year old girl known only as Sarah, along with several other
young girls in the area enjoyed playing games such as hide and seek and
tag in the barn. On one occasion Sarah took a bad spill from the loft
and badly fractured her leg. Later, complications set in, and the young
girl contracted blood poisoning and tragically died within a few months.
It is said, however, that young Sarah’s spirit returned to the place
where she spent so many fun times and is waiting for her other playmates
to join her. And apparently some have, for several tenants of the
building have reported hearing noises of children’s laugher and even of
hearing the name “Sarah”... “Sarah” being called out.
The hard nosed newspaper publisher and his staff who now occupy the
building have reported hearing the playful sounds and also of sharp
noises running across the roof – noises that sound more like running
children than scampering squirrels. He even said that he believes Sarah
and her friends watch him work late at night. “It’s an eerie feeling,”
he said. “Sometimes I feel a rush of cold air around me…for no apparent
reason. Sometimes when I open the office in the morning,” he said, “I
know that things on my desk have been rearrange, and but I have this
sensation that the spirit or whatever it might be, is friendly and means
no harm.”
III. The Second Ghost Tour Location – The
Spring State Bank
By the 1900’s Old Town Spring had grown sufficiently to warrant many of
the services typical to young towns of the era, a barbershop, a general
store, boarding houses, saloons and a bank. The Spring State Bank was
chartered in 1910 with $10,000 capital, a pricey sum for that day.
As with many of its counterparts, the young bank became the center of
commerce for the thriving forest products, farming, and railroad-related
commercial interests in the area. In the spring of 1932 the bank was
robbed of $7, 380 by a man and a woman matching the descriptions of the
famous outlaws Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. The couple was
identified by a local resident who recalled helping a young couple get
their Ford car unstuck from the mud near Spring Creek on the day of the
robbery.
Bonnie and Clyde were subjects of one of the most intense manhunts in
FBI history when they terrorized Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana in the
early 1930’s. The two met in Texas in January 1930. At the time, Bonnie
was 19 and married to an imprisoned murderer; Clyde was 21 and
unmarried.
The notorious duo started out stealing automobiles, but soon became
suspects in other crimes. At the time they were killed in nearby
Louisiana, they were believed to have committed 13 murders (including
two police officers), some 20 robberies and burglaries and four
kidnappings.
It is said that on occasion… usually at night… the ghosts of Bonnie and
Clyde return to the areas of their mis-deeds, including the Spring State
Bank, to boast of their ill-gotten gains and to confront and harass the
lawmen and others who eventually shot them to death.
In 1934 another robbery attempt was made on the Spring State Bank by a
trio of felons, but this time, the bank teller refused to hand over the
cash and instead pulled out a pistol and the robbers ran out. A
shoot-out ensued, and the would be robbers left several bullet holes in
the exterior of the building which today stand as mute testimony to the
event. The teller, by the way, was proclaimed a town hero for thwarting
the robbery and saving the town’s deposits.
IV. Third Stop of Ghost Tour – Wunsche Bros.
CafÈ & Saloon
Jane and Carl Wunsche were children of some of the German immigrants who
first settled Spring. Two of their sons, Charlie and Dell, who were
railroad men, acquired a piece of property near the railroad depot.
Along with another brother, William or “Willie”, they constructed a
two-storied building in 1902 and named it The Wunsche Bros. Saloon and
Hotel. Its main purpose was to accommodate railroad employees on
overnight stopovers.
The story goes that Charlie Wunsche fell in love with a pretty young
lady who didn’t feel the same toward him and ran off with another
suitor. “Uncle Charlie” as he came to be known, lamented the loss of his
lover and remained a bachelor the rest of his life. He lived in one of
the hotel’s spare rooms upstairs for years and nearly always could be
seen in the establishment, glad-handing customers, spinning tall tales,
and downing more than his share of bourbons and branch water.
After he died in 1915, new proprietors took over the hotel and saloon
and continued to run it. About a year or so later, a wayward traveler –
a down and out artist - happened to visit the town and stayed at the
Wunsche Hotel. As a matter of fact, he slept in the room Uncle Charlie
had lived (and died) in.
During the night…as the artist recalled later…he had what he thought was
a most unusual dream. It was of an old man, seated in a chair. He had
longish white hair, worn over the collar, and he had on a tall-crowned
black hat and a black suit. He was sitting sort of hunched over at the
table, and he look dejected and upset. He arose from the table and
started pacing up and down.
The “dream” was so real that it startled the artist from his sleep, and
he picked up his pencils and drawing pad and drew a portrait of the man
he saw.
The next morning at breakfast, the traveler recounted the story and
showed the other guests his painting. “Why that’s Uncle Charlie,” one of
the roomers said. “I would know that crusty old face anywhere!”
Others agreed that the painting indeed was a dead ringer for dead ol’
Uncle Charlie Wunsche. They said he was angry because someone was
sleeping in his bed and in his room, and he thought it might be the
suitor who stole his young love away. And since the wayward traveler
could not possibly have known or seen Uncle Charlie, it must have been
Charlie’s ghost who visited that night.
The story has been told and re-told through the years, and many
old-timers still say that on a still night, just after the moon creeps
above the tall pines, you can still hear the footsteps and clanking
noise Uncle Charlie makes at his saloon and hotel. It is even said that
if you listen very carefully, you can hear him going from room to room –
upstairs and down. Some have even said his image can be seen in the
windows of the popular establishment.
Current owner/manager Mrs. Sherri Sinisi has had many encounters with
Uncle Charlie, usually when changes are made to the old Saloon or when
new staff members rearrange furniture or equipment. “Uncle Charlie
definitely doesn’t like changes of any kind,” Mrs. Sinisi says. “There
have been instances of doors being locked for no reason, tables and
chairs upset, items lost or misplaced, only to turn up in unexplained
places. Sometimes, when he is in a particularly bad mood, I refuse to
work in my upstairs offices, especially late at night,” she states.
V. Fourth Stop on Ghost Tour –
Puffabelly’s Depot CafÈ
Not too many people know the origin of the popular Old Town Spring
eatery known as “Puffabelly’s Depot CafÈ, but several local residents
can attest to the strange apparitions and ghostly happenings witnessed
at the site over the years. The name “Puffabelly’s” comes from the
toddlers’ railroad song – “Down by the Station,” which contains the
phrase, “See the little ‘puffabellys’ all in a row…” The line
refers to
the little black steam engines puffing out white smoke.
The restaurant is known for “Good Food, Good Friends, Good Times – where
you can throw the peanut shells on the floor!” And it is an honest to
goodness 1900-era train depot. The building located at 100 Main Street,
however, is not the original Spring train station. That one was located
on the other side of the tracks, across from Wunsche Bros. CafÈ & Saloon
and burned to the ground in the late 1950’s.
The present building is the same type depot that was typical throughout
Texas at the turn of the century. This one originally was constructed in
Lovelady, Texas – a small town near Crockett, on the Galveston – Spring
– Palestine run of the Great NorthernRailroad.
The Lovelady structure, built of board and batten pine siding, contained
a passenger waiting area, baggage and cargo areas and small offices. It
was purchased by brothers Bob and John Sanders in 1985 and cut in half
and moved aboard two separate large house-moving trucks to its present
site. The painstaking move took three nights to accomplish, arriving in
Spring at 3:00 am on May 15, 1985. Until 1994, the facility was used for
storage and a small leather goods retail shop, before being
reconditioned, restored and renamed “Puffabelly’s” in 1994.
It is the Lovelady connection that spawned the tales of ghosts and the
sightings of eerie lights near the depot. It is said that shortly after
it was constructed in 1902, a railroad yard switchman was involved in a
tragic accident as he was attempting to flag down an engineer whose
train was headed down the wrong tracks. As the switchman ran toward the
oncoming train, waving his lantern and yelling frantically, he suddenly
tripped on the rails and fell underneath the train. The accident
decapitated the poor railroad worker, whose mangled and bloodied body
was taken inside the train station by his co-workers.
For years, people in Lovelady reported strange apparitions near the
terminal. Several said they could make out a headless man waving a
lantern and moving up and down the front of the station near the tracks,
presumably looking for his lost head.
The story was all but forgotten when the depot was moved to Spring, but
shortly after it was reassembled on its present site, there were reports
of similar sightings. One man, Ralph Hutchins who used to live off Riley
Fussel Road, reported to police that as he was returning home late one
evening, he noticed eerie lights coming from the area of the East side
of Puffabelly’s (nearest the tracks).
He at first thought it might be an oncoming train, so he stopped at the
crossing, expecting a slow moving freight to pass. But there was no
sound nor was there a train… only the slow moving lights that seemed to
cross perpendicular to the railroad tracks. Mr. Hutchins also said he
felt a sudden rush of cold air, even though the incident occurred in
August, and he made out what he described as “a headless man in
overalls,” waving a lantern. As the man approached, Hutchins said he
feared for his life and gunned his car across the tracks and away from
the lantern-waving apparition.
The story of the strange sightings in Old Town Spring eventually made
their way back to Lovelady, Texas and connected to the original ghostly
appearances there. It is worth noting that since the removal of the
Lovelady depot, there have been no more reports of the headless
switchman at that East Texas town.
VI. The Fifth Stop on the Ghost Tour –
Whitehall.
One of the original and continuously occupied homes in Old Town Spring
is Whitehall on the corner of Main and Keith Streets. Built in 1895 by
the Mintz family, the beautiful two-story structure is one of the finest
examples of Victorian architecture in the area. It was built of rough
lumber from the heart of several stately oaks and is said to have been
constructed for $300.00.
Over the years its occupants have mirrored the changing social and
economic times of Old Town Spring. In the early 1900’s Whitehall was
known as McGowen’s Boarding House” and was the home for numerous
railroad workers. Then in the 1920’s it was purchased by Klein interests
and became a family residence.
In the early 1930’s when the local Klein Funeral Home on Spring Cypress
burned, Whitehall’s downstairs front rooms were turned into a funeral
parlor and the downstairs rear rooms became the embalming area.
In the 1940’s the beautiful old structure was turned into several
apartments, as wartime housing became scarce. And in the ’50s it served
as a church and schoolhouse for area youngsters.
The structure was nearly demolished in the 1960’s when a colony of
young “free spirits” moved in and turned it into Spring’s only known
hippie commune. Then in the 1970’s the structure was purchased by the
Hudson family, who lived there for quite a while and later leased some
of Whitehall’s space to various merchants. In recent years, the last of
the merchants moved out and the residence was restored and refurnished
with original Hudson family heirlooms, and owner Raymond Hudson took
over the full home as his residence, but has graciously permitted tours
of the grand old lady at a modest fee.
Not too many people know that the 25-room house is also home to a
small colony of insect eating bats that can be seen right after dusk on
mild nights. And fewer still know that there is a secret room in
Whitehall, which is home to the structure’s two ghosts.
The story goes that in 1933, during the depths of the depression, a
young couple on a courting outing late one evening, became distracted on
the darkened Riley Fussel Road that crosses Spring Creek. The young man
driving the auto, inexplicably ran off the bridge, plunging the car into
the ravine and killing the two occupants.
Early the next morning, when the young couple was found by local hikers,
the pair was taken to Whitehall, which at the time was the local Funeral
Parlor. Their wake at Whitehall attracted a large crowd of people, as
did the burial later.
Because they died at such an early time in their lives, it is said that
their ghosts returned to Whitehall to enjoy the home’s beautiful
surroundings. They became known as the “Courting Ghosts of Whitehall.”
Several residents have reported hearing strange noises coming from the
upstairs rooms of Whitehall, and some have seen the strange apparition
of the pair swinging cozily in the large swing on the upstairs
screened-in porch. The story also goes that the couple lives inside the
secret room of Whitehall and enjoys coming outside and taking moonlight
strolls when the weather is mild and breezy.
Another story concerning the Whitehall ghosts is that they enjoyed
frightening three young boys who built a tree house in a large Pecan
tree at the rear of the residence. Remains of the tree house can still
be seen, and it is said that the “Courting Ghosts of Whitehall” would
scare the boys away from the retreat by shaking the treehouse and
making ghostly noises.
VII. The Old Town Spring Historical Museum
At the entrance to Old Town Spring and housed in a building that served
as the Court House for many years – is the Spring Historical Museum. In
it one will find memorabilia, artifacts and photographs that chronicle
the colorful history of this unique town
One such story concerns the 1900-era Victrola originally owned by Marie
Bailey. She brought the hand-cranked machine with her from St. Louis
when she came to Spring to be with Albert Paetzold – a man her father
had forbidden her to see. The two lovers were wed, however, and remained
devoted to each other until their deaths in the 1970’s.
It is said that the two young lovers of Old Town Spring would spend
hours listening to their favorite music coming out of the early
Victrola, and that they often danced to the music in their small
farmhouse. After their death, the machine became the property of the
Lemm family in Spring and was later sold to the Mallott family, who
donated it to the museum.
On several occasions, and without explanation, the machine would start
by itself and play lovely music from a scratchy old record….lilting
music that was a favorite of Marie and Arnold. The occurrence has been
reported by several people, particularly by members of the Old Town
Spring Historical Society who operates the museum and who lock and close
it at day’s end. Usually, according to some of these ladies, the music
is heard right after the closing of the museum, when the lights have
been turned off, everyone has left the building and when the streets of
Old Town are nearly deserted. On a moonlight night, some people have
even reported seeing the ghostly images of a young dancing couple
through the windows of the museum. The lady is dressed in a white satin
and lace bridal ensemble; the man in typical formal attire of the
period.
VIII. Summary and conclusion
Few towns in Texas folklore are as blessed as Old Town Spring with such
a colorful and legendary history. Fewer still can match the town for the
number of sightings and tales of strange apparitions and inexplicable
occurrences.
In addition to being a shopper’s paradise, Old Town Spring is proud of
its title as “The Ghost Capital of Texas.” Believers and non-believers
alike are invited to “come see for yourself.”
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