The many mysteries of White Rock Lake

The many mys T eries of Whi Te rock L ake

residents of the White rock area keep the Lady of the Lake legend alive: After the sun sets and the traffic dwindles, a figure in flowing white supposedly roams the lake’s fringes looking for a ride, they say. rumors abound of sightings and close encounters in which the eerie lady hops in a car only to disappear leaving behind a puddle — before arriving at her requested destination, usually a home on Gaston Avenue or in Forest Hills.

Joy Maner, director of research at the Association fortheStudyofUnexplainedPhenomenon,led astudyonthehauntingsofWhiterockLake. She says White rock Lake’s “rather deadly” history makes it ripe for hauntings and urban legend. Maner believes the 1927 death of 19-year-old Hallie Gaston spurred the Lady of the Lake lore. Hallie died in a boating accident near bigthicket, she says. but there have been many accidental deaths and suicides at White rock. Dozens of drownings at the lake are reported in Dallas Morning News historical

“I personally believe this started the legend among young people in Dallas early on,” Maner says.

See More

archives; some of the bodies never were recovered. In 1934 a small plane crashed into the lake, killing all of its passengers. In summer 1941, 27-year-old swimmer John Ira Howard, who held the world’s record for underwater swimming, died while stunting for friends in WhiteRock Lake. In 1938, the body of teenage drowning victim J.C. Hacker Jr., a Woodrow graduate, was never recovered.

Could this explain why runners on the White Rock trails claim to see or feel a possible paranormal presence?Blanca Gonzales says she recently was running near the White Rock Dog Park as the sun was just beginning to rise. She saw a figure standing on the trail ahead, near the water fountain. A moment later, the person, or whatever, was gone.

“I have never run so fast in my life,” she says.

Other lake users say that “cold spots” near the lake give them the creeps.

“Even in the hot summer months, there is one spot on the trail that seems chilled,” White Rock hiker Andrew Hall says. “It’s this stretch along Mockingbird, near the dog park. I’ve always believed there was something supernatural going on with these cold spots.”

Real or not, ghost stories will persist, Maner says.

“What I believe keeps the stories alive is the hope of life after death, as well as just the fright and excite- ment of a good ghost story,” she says.

There is also the legend of the White Rock goatman. The only reported sighting we can find is in the writings of Nick Redfern, an author of four books about monsters and creatures. He claims to have lived near White Rock Lake in Dallas, which he writes is “without a doubt the strangest place I have ever lived.”

Redfern notes in “Memoirs of a Monster Hunter” that a female jogger relayed the story to him about an odd half-man, half-goat creature who appeared during her nine-mile loop around the White Rock T rail: “Large, and covered from head to foot in thin, coarse brown hair and with two large horn-like protrusions sticking out of its head, the beast strode purposefully in her direction with a malevolent, sneering grin on its wide face.”

Then, just as swiftly, he vanished. We should note that Redfern also mentions sightings of 30-foot snakes and giant catfish at White Rock Lake.

Still, the goat man legend is well-known among lake users. Michael Ferrell and some friends even formed a running group called Team Goatman, and a local charity race offers up a Goatman trophy. The true tale is hard to research, Ferrell says.

“Seems any lake has a goatman mystery,” he says.