Mississippi
Ghosts
Biloxi
Pascagoula River
The section
of the Pascagoula River that passes near Biloxi
is known as the Singing River because of a
mysterious buzzing sound emanating
from its depths. It is said that the melodious
siren call of an ancient water goddess issues
from deep in the river and is joined by the
low,
humming sound of hundreds of other voices.
The phenomenon has been witnessed by hundreds
of people and is most pronounced during August,
September, and October. Biloxi is the name
of an Indian tribe that lived here for hundreds
of years. They worshipped a mermaid deity
and built a
temple for their ceremonies. In 1569, Catholic
missionaries forced the Indians to destroy
the temple and recant their Pagan beliefs.
According to
legend, the mermaid goddess rose from the
river and called her people to join her rather
than accept Christian doctrines. In a single
day, ever
man, woman, and child in the tribe stepped
into the river and drowned. Archeological
evidence confirms the mass extinction, although
most
scholars believe it was at the hands of an
enemy tribe. That does not explain the sighting
by a scuba diver swimming in the water off
Biloxi in
1988. He swears he encountered a creature
half-fish, half-woman, with flowing hair and
unmistakable human breasts.
The Pascagoula
Rivers empties into the gulf between New Orleans
and Biloxi. The Singing River section is located
off US highway 90 between
Biloxi and Mobile, Alabama. The best place
to listen is off the highway near Gautier.
Hauck, Dennis. Haunted Places: Ghost abodes,
sacred sites, UFO landings, and other supernatural
locations. New York: Penguin Book, 1994.
Columbus
Errolton
Miss Nellie
Weaver, the daughter of the man who built
this house in 1848, returned from the grave
to put her mark on it. After she was married
in
1878, she used her diamond ring to inscribe
her name on a parlor window. Nellie said that
she loved the house so much that she never
wanted to
be forgotten by it. She lived in the house
until she was eighty, when she died from the
burns suffered when her dress caught fire
from sparks from
a fireplace in the rear parlor. The house
fell into disrepair but was renovated in the
1950's. Unfortunately, workmen smashed the
window that Nellie had inscribed. Several
years late, the new owner, Mrs. Errodline
Bateman, was astonished when she lifted the
parlor shades and found N-E-L-L-I- E etched
into the windowpane. The ghost of Nellie had
returned to inscribe her name exactly as it
had appeared to many years before.
Columbus is
in east central Mississippi, at the junction
of US Highway 45 and 82, Errolton Mansion
is a private residence.
Hauck, Dennis. Haunted Places: Ghost abodes,
sacred sites, UFO landings, and other supernatural
locations. New York: Penguin Book, 1994.
Natchez
Devil's Punch Bowl
A sinister
presence here is mysteriously linked with
the Mississippi River. Devil's Punch Bowl
is a giant depression in the bluff's over-looking
the
river, a geological abnormality for which
there is no scientific explanation. Considerable
treasure hunting has take place at the center
of the basin,
where pirate and outlaw gold is reputedly
buried. At one time it was the hideout of
the treacherous John Murrell gang.
Natchez is
in the southwest corner of Mississippi, at
the junction of US highway 61 and 84/98. The
Devil's Punch Bowl is the larger of two gigantic
sinks in the cliffs above Natchez, about one
mile north of the city. Information on sites
around Natchez is available from the Natchez
Convention
and Visitor's Bureau, 311 Liberty Road, Natchez,
MS 39120. Phone: 601-446-6345.
Hauck, Dennis. Haunted Places: Ghost abodes,
sacred sites, UFO landings, and other supernatural
locations. New York: Penguin Book, 1994.
