center>Last Updated: September 15, 2003
Austin
The Booker T Washington
Apartments Shadows were seen coming in and out of the closet and foot steps were heard coming down the hallway. A child said that someone was in his room. The apartment complex was build over a grave yard.
The Capital City Ghost Research Society
is currently investigating a flurry of paranormal activity at the Peyton Colony, a 350-acre historic ranch outside Austin. Four different apparitions have been seen by multiple witnesses and poltergeist phenomena are also taking place. The poltergeist effects include weird electrical problems, faucets turning on and off by themselves, and objects disappearing then turning up in unexpected locations. Unexplainable voices and the sounds of drums beating have also been reported. In an effort to document the activity, Ellen Coffee started taking photographs and recording the strange noises and disembodied voices. The photographs show apparitions, balls of light, and streaks of energy, and both men's, women's, and children's voices have been recorded. In June, a group of investigators took dozens of photographs and made computerized recordings of anomalous sounds at the site. Investigators present included Lisa Farwell, psychic Jill Pendleton, computer expert Todd Brower. During one six-hour investigation on June 27, spectacular anomalies were captured with a digital camera, a Canon 35mm camera with 800 speed film, and a point-and-shoot Olympus 35mm camera. Most of the photos capture light phenomena (orbs, mists, and streaks) that take place too quick for the naked eye to see.
Crosby, Newport Subdivision, Poppet's Way
There was a plantation with a slave cemetery on the premises. When the land to the plantation was sold, no one knew there was a cemetery there. They bulldozed the grave markers and built houses. The movie "The Legacy of Hilltop Drive", a CBS movie made in 1992, is about this phenomenon.
A sphere of bright bluish-white light was seen. It looked to be about 8" in diameter, and it was about chest-high. It was seen from about 30 feet away, playing amongst the trees. When it disappeared, a shadow was seen far to the East, where the clearing became dense woods again. The ball of light then appeared again, in roughly the same location. There are two small saplings that are side by side. They curve towards each other, cross, then grow straight up. About four feet from where they cross, they bend sharply out to the sides and curve up in a half-moon shape. It looks like the break in the line of trunks is a door. The prospect of passing through it has made many people feel uneasy and sometimes queasy and dizzy. About 5 miles down the road, investigators have experienced intense feelings of nausea while leaving the site. A couple of pictures taken of the site have orbs in them.
Dallas
Mitchel Whitington [email protected] of Dallas, Texas, recently completed an investigation into Snuffer's Restaurant in Dallas. In Haunted Places, there is an entry for Snuffer's Restaurant. The original Snuffer's is located at 3526 Greenville Avenue between Martel Avenue and Longview Street in Dallas. The employees and customers would occasionally see a hazy spirit walk the hallway between the old and new sections. It would pass out of the hallway and come a few feet into the new section, then return to the hall. Snuffer's had a tragedy early in its history when a woman was killed in a scuffle in the ladies restroom. Everyone thinks it's her spirit who walks the hall. The restrooms are located off the short hallway between the old restaurant and the new addition.
Manvel, Manvel Cemetery,
It's known for producing orbs. The cemetery is set far off the main highway. There are four above-ground burial chambers, like small single-person crypts and one fantastic crucifixion-style stone that must be 10 feet tall. All the rest are rather run-of-the-mill, but the place is in well-kept shape.
Presidio La Bahia
Rosharon, Daughters Cemetery
Off of FM 1462 in Rosharon. There have been reports of mists, and an EVP sample that said, "what are all these people doing here?" There are many unmarked graves in the back of the cemetery, in the woods. There are 30 mostly unmarked, indented graves. Some are sunk down as much as two feet. A mist-like presence has been seen over by an ancient oak tree, as well as a few unexplained flashes.
Sealy, in Austin county
A house built in 1910 and owned by David Reed. His 15 month old daughter keeps staring at her closet door like she sees something there.
Schulenberg, the Von Minden Hotel reportedly haunted.
Waxahachie, Catfish Plantation Restaurant
The sign at the entrance to this quaint restaurant reads: "If you have a ghostly experience, please tell us!" The quaint Victorian house was built in 1895 by a farmer named Anderson. He had a daughter, Elizabeth, who was strangled to death on her wedding day in the 1920s. She died where the Ladies� Room is now located and became one of the ghosts of Catfish Plantation. There are two other ghosts. One is a farmer named Will, who died in the house in the 1930s. The other is an elderly lady named Caroline Mooney, who died in the house in 1970.
The three ghosts are responsible for the bone-numbing cold spots that move silently through the house, as well as flying objects and slamming doors. Elizabeth's kindly presence is felt mostly in the Dining Room, where she likes to reach out and touch people. Will's apparition is often seen on the Front Porch, while Caroline's angry spirit is detected in the Kitchen. Ever since Melissa and Tom Baker remodeled the house into a Cajun eatery in 1984, dozens of employees, customers, and news people have witnessed paranormal manifestations here.
Waxahachie is 40 miles south of Dallas on I-35. The restaurant is at 814 Water Street, Waxahachie, TX 75165. Phone: 214-937-9468.
West Columbus, the old Orozimbo Plantation is said to be the
home of three phantom dogs.