HAUNTED
PLACES
Baldwin Hill
Livingston, AL
Birmingham Public Library
Archives
Birmingham, AL
Brown Hall
Athens, AL
Burrelson House
Decatur, AL
Cedarhurst Mansion
Huntsville, AL
Cleveland House
Suggsville, AL
Founders Hall
Athens, AL
Gainswood
Demopolis, AL
King
House
Montevallo, AL
Leehaven
Coatopa, AL
Main Residence Hall
Montevallo, AL
Marengo
Lowndesboro, AL
McCandeless Hall
Athens, AL
Palmer Hall
Montevallo, AL
Pickens County Courthouse
Carrollton, AL
Reynolds
Hall
Montevallo, AL
Sloss Furnaces
Birmingham, AL
Sturtivant Hall
Selma, AL
UNA Bookstore
Florence, AL
Upchurch House
Livingston, AL
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Founders Hall
by Sandra Cook
Founders Hall is the most prominent building on campus. It was built
with labor from the community in 1822. The whole community joined in to
build Founders Hall because they wanted a place where their girls could
grow up to be Southern Belles. The building has a lot of stories. The
columns in the front of it are named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John because
at that time, it was a religious school and was under the auspices of the
Baptist Church until 1975. There’s a story about the columns. One of
them supposedly has a keg of whiskey in it. The story goes that the brick
mason that was working there liked to have a little nip now and then. One
day, the supervisor came by, so he tossed the keg of whiskey in the
column, and it’s still there. Madame Jane Hamilton Childs, who was
headmistress of the school during the Civil War, supposedly saved the
building from the ravages of the Yankee soldiers. The story goes that
General Truxion, who was a Russian on the side of the Yankee troops who
occupied Athens, had come to burn and destroy Founders Hall. And the story
goes that Madame Childs marched out on the lawn and from the folds of her
long black skirt she took a note, and the note was supposedly from Abraham
Lincoln. After that, the soldiers left. We’ve not found the note. It may
be stuck away in the archives somewhere.
Through the years, students and workmen who have stayed late at night
have heard and seen things in Founders Hall. A professor who was working
here late one night heard the jingling of keys outside of his office. When
he opened the door, he saw something like fog standing there. One
professor who came to the college to find a job was staying here overnight
when he heard footsteps and the rattling of chains. He left the premises
and never came back. Down through the years, students have reported
hearing clicking sounds and squeaking doors. They have also felt puffs of
cold air and smelled smoke. The ghost is seen in the third-floor window
sometimes. I think the students call him the Night Stalker.
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