Living in one of the most haunted cities in America, Savannah always has a nice historic and spooky feel in the air. Although, when the season of Halloween begins to roll around, the historic and spooky feel starts to become a little bit of an understatement.
Savannah College of Art and Design came to Savannah early spring in 1979, renovating a building to what was once Savannah Volunteer Guard Armory to now Poetter Hall. With the college being in downtown historic Savannah, buildings cannot be torn down, and now you’re probably asking yourself – is that a silly rule or something more than that? Believe it or don’t, but there is said to be a curse on the city. James M. Harney wrote as he left town after all the epidemic outbreaks and fires, “I leave you, Savannah, a curse that is far worst of all curses—to remain as you are!”
With that being said, lets get into all the spooky rumors and stories that float around Savannah. And starting with some stories a little to close to home, or might I add, your very own dorms.
The Oglethorpe House is a popular upperclassmen and transfer student dorm among SCAD students. Although, not always being a dorm, it was once the Downtowner Motor Lodge in the early 1960’s. It was a popular destination for travelers for it sat in the middle of all the night life around Savannah. Students now claim the 6th floor of the ‘O-House’ is the most haunted, because of room 634. Why 634? No one knows besides the students who tell tales of screams to be heard in the middle of the night, shadows to be seen that do not belong to anyone in the room, and the pinching sound of high heels walking the hallways in the middle of the night – with no one in sight.
I wouldn’t claim the O-House dorms to be the only haunted dorms, because the Dyson Dorms are not too far behind with their fair share of stories. It’s spooky enough that students can hear furniture moved in the middle of the night and the sound of marbles dropping on the floors above them, but when the doors on the ground floor are being shut forcefully – you would be seeing my bags packed and ready to go!
Aside from the dorms throughout SCAD, the university itself isn’t haunted. The town, however, has its fair share of ghosts running along Riverstreet. 432 Abercorn Street is the most popular destination on Historic Savannah ghost tours. Not only was it built on top of a slave burial site in1868, it happened to be one of the most expensive houses in Savannah valued over $20,000. The first mistake here was building on top of a burial site while residing in the most cursed city, but I think the owners soon realized their mistake after many deaths in the household.
You can believe these stories or not, but this is just a little heads up before Halloween rolls into the cursed city. Happy Halloween!
Both images curtsey of blog.scad.com