Footsteps when there’s no one about, an orb of light, sounds of people or animals, recurring, strange events . . . it’s not whether you believe or you don’t, whether there’s scientific evidence one way or the other, whether ghosts or paranormal activity can be proven . . . but rather, it’s a reminder that mysterious, unexplained events seem to happen. Will exploring these tales give us pause, causing us to ask ourselves . . . what if?
Frequently, cryptic stories and legends are centered around historical places. In parts of the world where people have lived for a couple of thousand years, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a “ghost” of some sort. Could that be because of colorful, sometimes dramatic, events that occurred there? Even though the Texas Hill Country was settled in more recent centuries, the supernatural seems to abide here, too. Are the spirits restless souls, or are they rather quite comfortable and happy in their chosen surroundings?
Some accounts arise from brooding stories of unrequited love and even murder and mayhem, giving the idea that the departed souls weren’t at peace. However, most Hill Country spirits don’t seem to bode any bad-will. In fact, quite to the contrary, there are numerous accounts of spirits who seem to be looking out for, and helpful to, those they surround. Some are playful, and sometimes impish pranks are perturbing, but not harmful or threatening. After all, there’s a limit to how many times you can re-hang a picture on a wall or close a door before it becomes exasperating!
There are folks who actually live with unexplained events in their homes or places of business, choosing not to tell their stories publicly, and their privacy is to be respected.
These are some of the most often-told legends in their areas, mysteries which local residents have told and re-told, sometimes through generations. If you ask around, you’ll hear many more. The following stories aren’t meant as literal interpretations. They may vary, depending on who you ask or accounts you read.
HRH, HISTORIC ROCKSPRINGS HOTEL
The Queen of the Square in Rocksprings, HRH, Historic Rocksprings Hotel, celebrated her 100th birthday in 2016, hosting varied events in remembrance of the old hotel’s past, its present vibrancy in the community and its continuance as a social hub.
Debra and Craig Wolcott purchased the proud, but tarnished hotel in December 2008 and immediately set about restoring and refurbishing public areas and rooms. I first met Debra in 2012. (THCM Fall 2012 issue: The Historic Rocksprings Hotel, HRH. The Queen of the Square.)
Although the hotel isn’t marketed as “haunted”, and its unexplained events have always been downplayed, this year Debra will host the first annual Halloween event, highlighting this other dimension of HRH’s personality (www.historicrockspringshotel.com). Debra has written a delightful and informative account of her family’s arrival in Edwards county, eventually leading to her becoming the proprietress of HRH. The stories below are from her research transcript, titled Other Guests. Ghost Stories of the Historic Rocksprings Hotel, which gives detailed descriptions of the numerous and considerably different, apparitions and events which happened and occur there. Occur – present tense.
Two years after being built, in 1918 during World War I, the hotel served as a hospital during an influenza outbreak. In 1927 most of the town was destroyed by a tornado, and once again, the hotel was used as a hospital. It once housed a doctor’s office and widows sometimes moved from their ranch homes, rented rooms, and lived out the remainder of their lives there.
So the old hotel’s history of great tragedy and loss of life may hold a clue as to why other guests seem to have taken up residence and made their presence known in various ways. Debra herself has felt a blast of freezing cold air coming from a room which when opened, was quiet and still; the air conditioner was not on. She has seen what appeared to be a “cloud” hovering in the hallway, and has smelled pipe smoke and perfume on the stair landing when no one was there.
Although the downstairs public rooms have also had their share, many of the stories and experiences by visitors have usually been in the oldest section of the hotel, in several specific rooms. They range from smells and sounds to seeing specific apparitions, sometimes more than once, by different people throughout the years. A former manager told Debra that he’d seen a “lady in white” walking through the front door on several occasions. What seems to be the same lady has been described numerous times to Debra by others.
Burly oilfield workers were “spooked” when they propped a room door open with a heavy work boot, only to have it slam shut. On their third try, the boot skidded across the room’s floor as the door slammed again. This time they left the door shut and made a hasty exit the next day.
Other guests report closet doors that kept opening, even though they placed a suitcase firmly in front. A room that was securely latched is mysteriously opened. A maid placed cleaning supplies in a storage closet, went back for another item and had to force the door open because a tray table had been placed against it from the inside – and there was no other entrance to the closet. On another occasion, Debra tried to open that same storage closet and even with shoulder force, couldn’t budge it. Later in the same day, it opened easily.
There have been tapping sounds, booms and bangs, footsteps on the stairs, keys rattling in door locks, phones ringing, a woman in a hallway, a woman at the foot of a bed, a figure appeared to be dressed as a nun or a nurse who lightly touched a guest’s nose and an old-time cowboy carrying a suitcase, who’s also been seen gazing out an upstairs window. And many more sightings of guests and unexplained events.
Aspiring to perfection for her guests, it was aggravating when some of Debra’s room inspections failed due to wrinkles on the beds. The staff reported that imprints like a child’s small hands were pressed into the covers. . . and, you guessed it . . . there were no children. When a guest asked to change rooms because “someone was jumping on my bed last night”, it seemed as if, indeed, there was a childlike presence.
Which leads to the most-repeated story about HRH, “the little girl”. Although a little girl has been seen several times through the years, Debra’s booklet includes an account written by a family who actually encountered her.
About eleven years ago, the town was deserted when a man and his son stopped at the hotel about 10:00 p.m. He called out. “Nobody answered, but from behind the counter appeared this little pale-white girl with long black hair, who looked about seven or eight years old, and was dressed in an old-timey looking dress that was also white.” She pointed when they asked her for directions and they left. Later that year, the family was visiting in the area again and checked into the hotel. They told the manager what had happened months before, assuming the child was his. Of course, the manager and his wife did not have a little girl. After asking for a description, they knew it was the same child other guests had also seen.
THE DRISKILL HOTEL, AUSTIN
The spirit of Jesse Lincoln Driskill, wealthy cattleman who built The Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin in 1886, is said to haunt the hotel. Tragedies within the hotel spark other stories of paranormal activity. A tale is told of two brides, who twenty years apart, took their lives in the same room. The room was used off and on, but was reported to plague guests with one problem after another.
A child was killed when she accidentally fell down the grand staircase while chasing a ball. She was the daughter of a Texas Senator and it is said that her giggles can be heard in the hotel and that she’s been seen with her bouncing ball.
A former hotel manager during the early part of the last century was said to provide money to patrons during a bank panic. His good deeds were repaid and some say that his spirit is in the hotel and that he sometimes greets the guests.
There have been other reports of visions of people sitting in the hotel or seen from windows, as well as sounds of people in upstairs areas when no one is there.
DEVIL’S BACKBONE, WIMBERLEY/BLANCO AREA
Along the ridge of limestone rock known as The Devil’s Backbone, between Wimberley and Blanco, people say the sound of a Company of Confederate soldiers riding through can be heard. Some have seen ghostly images of the soldiers, while many others report the sounds of horses, making it a popular area for those seeking a paranormal experience.
KERR COUNTY COURTHOUSE, KERRVILLE
It’s claimed that the tragic deaths of a young couple cause their spirits to haunt the Kerr County Courthouse. Stories differ. Legend says that the couple argued while at a drive-in movie – or maybe on the courthouse square he asked her to marry him and she refused. One story has the fellow locking her in the concession stand and burning it, while another story says that he shot her on the square. The stories do agree that the young man hanged himself. In a further diversion of details, some say a figure of a man hanging from a tree has been seen, with a distraught woman nearby. Others say you can hear them arguing.
The jail is purported to be haunted by a prisoner who died in custody there and odd noises, rattling keys and banging on cell bars have been heard.
CAMP VERDE
Picturesque Camp Verde, just outside Kerrville, is home to more than one strange story. Regulars at the store have reported there’s a woman ghost in the basement who gets irritated and throws merchandise across the store, and generally wreaks havoc with pictures on the walls and other things in the building.
But the best-known story at Camp Verde is the line of camels that are often seen walking through the trees and underbrush. Troops stationed at the former U.S. Army Camel Corps base have also been seen. Camp Verde was one of the areas of Texas where camels were tested as pack animals by the U.S. government. The camels at Camp Verde died out by 1875, but they’re still said to roam the area near the old fort.
BOERNE
In the 1850s, Ye Kendall Inn was formerly the site of a stagecoach stop and folks say that the owners continue to inhabit the inn. Sounds of horses and carriages are heard, while lights flicker and dim and objects are thrown. But in the strangest phenomena of all, it’s been said that a clawfoot bathtub quietly fills, with no one around.
After the City of Boerne acquired the Dienger Building in 1991, ghostly activity is said to have begun. People say that voices are heard, lights go off and on during the night, books fall off shelves and the apparition of a woman has been seen standing beside the staircase.
Another building in town that has at different times been a bar and a restaurant, reportedly has several ghosts. One lives in the upstairs bathroom, the scene of his tragic death, while a woman sits on a couch nearby and sounds of doors opening and closing have been heard. Supposedly there’s a third ghost in the basement as well. Maybe that’s why the building is also vacant at times?
FRIO RIVER
“The White Lady” is an anamoly that’s almost as common as stories of lovelorn Indian braves and maidens. The White Lady of the Frio River rises above the water in a white mist. In about 1900, Maria Juarez was engaged to marry Anselmo, but was killed by her jealous brother-in-law, Gregorio. Denied the home life and children she wanted, Maria was buried in her white wedding dress somewhere along the Rio Frio, where her kindly spirit roams and is said to be seen frequently in the wispy fog.
LLANO
With Old West desperadoes frequenting the area in its early days, a shootout between two sheriffs on a sidewalk in 1889, and the usual funeral parlors, wakes, and tragic deaths, it’s no wonder that Llano’s colorful past has spawned ghostly activity.
The Badu House has had its share of ghostly noises and unexplained events since Mr. Badu passed away in 1936 and his wake was held in the parlor.
The old Haynie Hotel built in 1882, one of Llano’s first large brick structures, has been the site of numerous businesses. Its ghostly legend originated when it was a hospital in the 1940s and a young girl passed away there. It is said that her presence is felt and she is still seen and heard in the building.
The Dabbs Hotel was built in 1907 alongside the railroad. This Victorian-era hotel may have provided a room on occasion to the notorious bank robber Clyde Barrow. The place has a charming homey atmosphere, but folks say that Mrs. Dabbs couldn’t leave the hotel she loved, and she just might tuck you in at night!
Probably the oldest bed and breakfast accommodation in Llano is its historic Red Top Jail, completed in 1895 (THCM Winter 2006 issue: Oldest Bed & Breakfast in Llano). Llano reportedly had more saloons than churches, which evidently provided a steady stream of guests. Depending on the story, known outlaws may have been held here. On the fourth floor level was the gallows. Some old-timers will say there were hangings at Red Top, but there’s no evidence that any hangings were ever carried out here. But it’s an interesting place to tour and paranormal activity is said to exist within its old walls.
ENCHANTED ROCK, FREDERICKSBURG
The sheer massiveness of the 640-acre domed pink granite formation, which rises about 400 feet amidst the surrounding limestone outcroppings, probably contributed to the early stories and legends believed by Native American Indians, as well as settlers.
Tonkawa, Apache and Comanche tribes believed the rock had spiritual energy and was perhaps a portal to another world. There are numerous, varied stories of Indians massacred by their rivals, whose spirits remain on Enchanted Rock and haunt visitors.
There’s a romantic story of a Spanish soldier who loved an Indian maiden. She was kidnapped by a rival tribe. The brave soldier managed to rescue her and their souls forever roam the rock. There are other stories - a woman who escaped from Indians, only to die of exposure and starvation and whose screams can still be heard.
A plaque commemorates a Texas Ranger who single-handedly held off Indians for three hours. The warparty fled, believing that the spirits of Enchanted Rock had caused their defeat.
Part of the reason for the Indians’ belief in the supernatural powers of the rock was that it creaked and moaned and glistened at night. The constant heating and cooling process of the granite, which has caused giant cracks, probably accounts for the moaning of the rocks. And moonlight reflecting off wet feldspar after a rain causes an eerie shining effect. But even with these modern explanations, the expanse of Enchanted Rock still evokes a mysterious sense of otherworldliness. So, listen, and you just might hear the ghostly sounds.
Fact? Or fiction, and a scientific explanation for everything? You be the judge. But meanwhile . . . did you shut the door? Did you turn on the light? Has a cold blast made you shiver? Were those footsteps you heard? Was that a vanishing glimpse of someone? Maybe. Maybe not.
Mysterious. Perhaps all is not as it seems. S-p-o-o-k-y.
