ARTS FEATURE
HAUNTED UPTOWN
Ten spooky spots in Charlotte where things go bump in the night (or day) BY JASON TAPP
Everyone always complains about how Charlotte gets rid of its history, but there’s some history that you just can’t shake. For this year’s Halloween issue, we tapped Jason Tapp of SpookyCLT to tell us about 10 of the most haunted spots in Uptown. You may think Uptown is dead due to the pandemic, but the dead have never left Uptown.
Second Ward
Many people have reported hearing jazz music late at night in Uptown’s Second Ward. The source is said to be “The Spirit of Brooklyn,” the neighborhood lost to so-called urban renewal projects carried out by the city and developers in the 1970s. Over 1,400 structures from this predominantly Black community were destroyed including schools, churches, nightclubs and office buildings. Stories of phantom music near the corner of East 3rd and South Brevard streets were common long before Middle C Jazz opened up at that intersection. Some people heard an entire jazz ensemble, others heard a solo saxophonist, and though it’s now difficult to know what’s real, it’s always hard to walk in Second Ward without feeling like something is missing.
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The Dunhill Hotel, 237 N. Tryon St.
The Dunhill Hotel is perfect if you’re looking for a spooky staycation. The nearly 100-year-old building is registered as a Historic Hotel of America and is known around town for its Sunday brunch. Rumors of hauntings typically stem from the story that a human skull was found at the bottom of an elevator shaft during renovations in 1988. That true story aside, even current staff have their own paranormal experiences, some of
Davidson. The oldest known grave is that of Joel Baldwin, who died in 1776, and the most recent burial is from 1878. It is said that bodies were often robbed from the cemetery and used for educational purposes at the hospital that was once located next door. Now it is not uncommon to find mysterious altars left behind in the cemetery or orbs found in pictures after the Rí Rá Irish Pub, 208 N. Tryon St. Rí Rá Irish Pub is located in Uptown’s second sun has set. oldest building. Staff claims there are six unique in-house ghosts. The two most active apparitions Carolina Theatre, 230 include a man with a handlebar mustache who N. Tryon St. frequents the upstairs bar and will disappear if Carolina Theatre in Uptown is you ask him too many questions, with the other currently being renovated, which being a girl in Victorian clothing who is said to be has some folks wondering if we’ll THE DUNHILL HOTEL responsible for writing the alphabet on the walls see the same paranormal activity PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN on the brick in the entry way. All of the ghosts we once did when it was originally are considered peaceful and typically only reveal open. Will the renovations clear out Bootlegger House, 400 N. Poplar St. themselves to staff, but if you are a patron you are the old spirits or serve to stir them up more? Staff The notorious BootLegger House has been a likely to experience a “cold spot,” which could mean have shifted blame of any paranormal hijinx on a spooky staple of Fourth Ward for nearly 50 years. It another type of spirit than the one you’re drinking is ghost they’ve named Fred, who reportedly pulls was originally located in Second Ward, where the passing through you. pranks like turning the lights off, responding to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center is today, the sound of snaps, and appearing as a mysterious but was moved across Uptown after it was bought Old Settlers’ Cemetery, 200 W. Trade St. light on the balconies after hours. Suspiciously, The for $50 during the aforementioned “urban renewal” Old Settlers’ Cemetery is proof that Charlotte has Carolina Theatres in Durham and Greensboro also of Brooklyn that just so happened to coincide with history. The graveyard is the resting place of the first have a ghost named Fred. The personal paranormal the “restoration” of Fourth Ward. People call it the colonial settlers, and you’ll recognize many a street experiences of staff and former guests are hard to Bootlegger House because of the numerous hidden or even town name as you peruse the headstones. deny, but why does ol’ Fred always have to get rooms and compartments that were once used to hide You’ll find the gravestones of famous Charlotteans brought into it? black-market alcohol during Prohibition. The current like Nathaniel Alexander, Thomas Polk and William owner has personally experienced a wide range of paranormal activity including phantom footsteps, chairs found unexplainably tilting on two legs, a blow torch ignited by itself, and other more typical paranormal mischief. The movement of the house brings up the question: Is the ground they moved to haunted, or the bones of the house itself? which include a woman’s laughter coming from the downstairs lobby when no one is there, or a woman in white disappearing and reappearing in the banquet halls at night. Local paranormal investigators and hosts of The Hex Files podcast recently investigated and caught a voice saying “Hello” in a Facebook Live video. It’s definitely worth the visit, even if you just grab a drink at the lobby bar. You never know who might join you.
Alexander Michael’s, 401 W. 9th St.
OLD SETTLERS’ CEMETERY PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN
Not far from the Bootlegger House, Alexander Michael’s has been a Fourth Ward bar and eatery for more than 30 years. The house itself has been around much longer than that, originally opened as the Crowell-Berryhill Store in 1897. It is no surprise with its historic status that it has a resident ghost. Servers and patrons have reported paranormal activity, hearing their names called softly by disembodied voices or feeling as if they had been grabbed when no one was there. Activity usually centers around the old apartment upstairs or the back corner booth that fits just one person. Additionally, if you are looking for a post-dinner walk, you can take a stroll down
