McNeal House - Bolivar, TN

Built in 1862, this home is beautiful AND it has a very rich history.

This home is located within the historical district in downtown Bolivar. You can reach it quite easily by turning beside Sonic and passing through a few stop signs.

McNeal Place was built due to the death of the only daughter of the original owner, Ezekiel K. Polk (a relative of James K. Polk). Mrs. (Ann) Polk was inconsolable at the death of Priscilla, who was in her teens in 1854. Polk built the home on the west side of his property near Polk Cemetery where Priscilla was buried. Ann visited the grave each day. During the Civil War she had to have a special pass to cross the Union Lines.

The local legend says that on the days when Mrs. Polk was not allowed to visit the cemetery, she would stand in the second story bedroom window and stare out at Polk Cemetery. Some say you can occasionally see her spirit in that same window simply staring across at her daughter's grave.

Even though I have never seen the ghost of Mrs. Polk, I still enjoy visiting this neighborhood. There are many other historic homes nearby, including one that is documented as being haunted. (The Wren's Nest, Uncle Tom's rocking chair) It is also right across the road from Polk Cemetery which is alleged to be haunted.

Bethel Springs, TN

Over the years, I have been to many places that are allegedly haunted. Of all these places, there is only one that I will never return.

Sadly, I cannot remember the name but maybe someone out there will know and post it. In Bethel Springs, you turn off the highway and travel a few miles until you reach a dirt road on the right. This narrow road passes between two ponds which often flood the road. After passing between the ponds, you go up a hill and there is an abandoned church. Beside the church is a cemetery.

The only legend I have heard was that the church was abandoned because the people believed it was taken over by demonic spirits.

Now on some of our visits, there has been a small wooden cross on top of the porch. On other visits, it was not there. One girl has taken pictures of the cross and it did not appear in the photos.

Once when a group of us were there, two of the boys decided to scare the rest of the group. There are double doors on the front of the church. One was open and the other was shut. They stood inside the church and planned to have one person crawling out the open door screaming while the other stood behind the door pulling his legs to pull him back into the church. As they were preparing to put their plan in motion, all the windows in the church began to shake violently and they came running out of the door side by side. There was no wind that night.

This incident is not why I will not return. Every time we have visited (and we went there more than a dozen times) the vehicle we took broke down after leaving. We had the rear end fall out of a Monte Carlo, the drive shaft fall out of a 4x4 truck, and many other mechanical failures that were minor compared to the ones mentioned. I have been stranded in downtown Selmer past 1 AM in the morning more times than I can count.

Because of this I will not return. Why not just take someone else's vehicle, you say? Because after returning when the rear end fell out my car had a flat tire -- and it had brand new Pirellis.

I really would like to know the name of this place as I am now interested in its history. I would like to know the local legend as well, but I would also like to know the real history behind this abandoned church.

Purdy Cemetery and Hurst House - Purdy, TN

This is another place I have been to numerous times. The history of these places is truly fascinating so I will share the true stories before I discuss the local legends.

Purdy was once the county seat of McNairy County and home to Purdy University. The area surrounding Purdy Cemetery and Hurst Mansion was once referred to as "Hurst Nation". A prominent man by the name of Fielding Hurst owned Hurst Mansion and much of the land surrounding it.

During the Civil War, Hurst became a Union sympathizer and joined the Union Army as colonel of the 6th Tennessee Cavalry. He murdered many of his neighbors and burnt town the entire town of Purdy, excluding only his own home. Of course, this makes Hurst Mansion the oldest existing structure in the town. He also burnt down parts of Jackson, TN after extorting over $5,000 from them.

In the last years of his life, Hurst was forced to sell his home and he and his wife, Melocky, moved to the Mount Gilead area. It was there that he died (in his 70's) and is buried in Mount Gilead Cemetery. His grave has been vandalized several times.

The Hurst Mansion was purchased by the Dodds, who owned the home until 1993. This home is posted and trespassing is strongly discouraged. Please be respectful.

Local legend says that you can hear soldiers and slaves in Purdy Cemetery. Some people say they have seen a horse drawn carriage. Others say that if you park on the left side of the circle your car will not start until dawn.

After many visits, I can only say this: I have never heard soldiers or slaves. We did hear a scream from the woods which could very possibly have been a local prankster. We did have a vehicle stall for five minutes on the left side of the circle but I believe it was a starter going bad. Aside from that, it is still interesting to visit as it is one of the oldest cemeteries in Tennessee dating back to the early 1800's. I will be visiting Purdy Cemetery very soon as it has been years since my last visit and many of my friends are interested in going. I will provide an update after my visit.

Hurst Mansion was always a place we overlooked, really. It was not until recently that I read the history of this house. Local legend says one of Hurst's many enemies shot at him from the bottom of the stair case and he died in his bedroom. (Hurst DID NOT die in this house. He died in Mount Gilead.) They say sometimes the blood spot will reappear and you can hear him scream. This is highly unlikely since he did not die there. However, I have seen several photographs of Hurst House with a ghostly face in one of the upstairs windows. When I compared the image to photos of Hurst, you can see a resemblance. (You can see these images for yourself on http://www.hurstnation.com.)

I will be taking a closer look at Hurst Mansion and taking my own photographs to see if this phenomena repeats itself. Please note: I will NOT be trespassing on the property. I will take my photos from the roadway. If you decide to visit, please respect the owner's wishes and do the same.)

I will post pictures and updates after my visit.

Train Tracks - Mercer, TN

I have been to this place numerous times. It is located behind the cotton gin in the middle of Mercer. There is a small dirt road that leads into the woods. You will come across a small hump in the road where the old tracks supposedly were many years ago.

The local legend says that many years ago a young boy was killed on the tracks by a train. The tracks are no longer there, but if you sit in the spot where the tracks were you will see the light from the train coming through the woods and it will move through your car as if it were still traveling down the track.

After many visits, we did see a light in the woods moving towards us. I cannot say if it will actually pass through your vehicle because we did not stay put to find out.

I must say, this is one of the few places that I have visited where I have actually seen something.