By Brian Funk, Copyright 2012, The Gazette (www.galaxgazette.com):
A Galax native has
explored his hometown's darkest corners to reveal tales of terror and
the unknown.
Brandon Ayers hopes these
legends, extracted from locals and presented by professional
storytellers and guides, will educate and enthrall during the Ghosts
of Galax Haunted Historic Walking Tour.
Ayers, who grew up in
Galax, says he got the idea after taking similar ghost tours in
Abingdon and in Beaufort, N.C.
“Why not here? People
are always looking for something to do, and this is an hour of live
entertainment that includes ghost stories and the history of our
city.”
Ayers began compiling
stories, and figured he'd accumulate a handful to fill out a brief
tour. At last count, he had about 40 stories — 15 of which are
included in the hour-long ghost walk. “I've lived here all my life,
and I'd never heard most of these stories,” Ayers said.
Ayers launched the ghost
tour last year, and is bringing it back each night this week to
coincide with the Galax Old Fiddlers' Convention. He will also offer
the tours on weekends in October.
He said there are six new
stops and new stories added to this year's tour.
Ayers started at the
public library, reading a half-dozen history books about Galax, then
began talking to anyone who'd listen. Just about everyone he told
about the project had a story to tell, some passed down through their
families from before the city's founding in 1906.
In the process of
collecting these spooky tales, he discovered a fascinating history of
downtown Galax and those who used to live here.
The hauntings are the
hook, but the true spirit of the tour is a history lesson peppered
with weird happenings and funny stories, like the Sunday morning when
a cache of dynamite exploded right in the middle of a
fire-and-brimstone sermon, leading the congregation to believe the
end had finally come.
Each candlelit tour will
be led by a guide who has been schooled in the history and hauntings
of Galax.
Ayers is using one tale in
particular to tie this inaugural tour together — the story of a
spectral nurse who doesn't so much haunt as help those in danger.
“The story of Nurse
Alice begins back in 1904, when the Hotel Waugh stood on the site on
North Main Street where Macado's is now and what used to be the Galax
Post Office,” Ayers says.
“While she was staying
at the hotel, it caught fire. Alice got out, but according to legend,
she ran back in to check on others — right as the building
collapsed around her.
But, Alice's story didn't
end there. Like a guardian angel, she turns up again when another
fire breaks out years later.
“The Central Hotel
caught fire some time in the early 1900s,” Ayers said. “The
guests kept asking what happened to the nurse, who they said knocked
on their doors and told them the building was on fire.”
Ayers said 11 of the
guests all described the same incident — a woman in white came to
get them, told them she was a nurse, and led them to safety.
“There was no one that
matched that description staying at the hotel, but she exactly
matched the description of Alice — a white dress with a Victorian
collar, her hair in a bun and holding a handkerchief.”
Legend has it that, one
foggy night at the city's old bus stop, a woman getting off the bus
stepped around the front to smoke a cigarette, tripped over some
luggage and fell into the street, where she was hit by a car.
Tour guide Jason Vaught
said that, years later, a driver reported “hitting” a woman at
that spot on a foggy night.
“He felt the impact, but
the woman just disappeared and he felt a cold wind blow through the
cab of his truck and could smell stale cigarette smoke.”
During trial runs, some
people have already had ghostly experiences.
Looking at old photos of
Galax, Ayers was struck by how busy downtown was in the early 20th
Century. “I want to see it thrive, I want Galax to become
everything it can be. There's so much potential here, and we need to
embrace our history.”
He stresses that the tour
is about life, not death — the goal is to bring vitality back to
downtown.
In
those fading photos, the streets are filled with people, shoulder to
shoulder. “My wish is that we could be just as bustling and
thriving as Galax was in its heyday.”
Ghosts
of Galax Haunted Historic Walking Tour
The tour is six-tenths of
a mile long, and begins each night at the Galax Farmers' Market on
North Main Street.
Hours: Nightly, Aug. 6-11,
with tours departing at 7, 8, 9 and 10 p.m.
(Starting in October,
tours are on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, at the same
times.)
Prices: $12 for adults; $8
for students with ID, senior citizens and active military; and free
for children age 5 and younger. This week, the ghost tour is offering
a $1 discount for those with paid admission to the fiddlers'
convention.
Reservations: recommended,
but not necessary.
Contact:
(276) 235-5264
why dont we have this anymore!
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