Rich Newman - Passport to the Paranormal: Your Guide to Haunted Spots in America

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Passport to the Paranormal: Your Guide to Haunted Spots in America 2021 by Rich Newman.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2021

E-book ISBN: 9780738767741

Book design by Donna Burch-Brown

Cover design by Shannon McKuhen

Interior photos taken by Rich Newman

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Newman, Rich, author.

Title: Passport to the paranormal : your guide to haunted spots in America

/ Rich Newman.

Other titles: Ghost hunters field guide

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Publication,

2021. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021021232 (print) | LCCN 2021021233 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738767413 | ISBN 9780738767741 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Haunted placesUnited States. | GhostsUnited States.

Classification: LCC BF1472.U6 N6529 2021 (print) | LCC BF1472.U6 (ebook)

| DDC 133.10973dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021021232

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021021233

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

Chapter 1:

Chapter 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Chapter 5:

Chapter 6:

Chapter 7:

Chapter 8:

Chapter 9:

Chapter 10:

Chapter 11:

Chapter 12:

Chapter 13:

Chapter 14:

Chapter 15:

Chapter 16:

Chapter 17:

Chapter 18:

Chapter 19:

Chapter 20:

Chapter 21:

Chapter 22:

Chapter 23:

Chapter 24:

Chapter 25:

Chapter 26:

Chapter 27:

Chapter 28:

Chapter 29:

Chapter 30:

Chapter 31:

Chapter 32:

Chapter 33:

Chapter 34:

Chapter 35:

Chapter 36:

Chapter 37:

Chapter 38:

Chapter 39:

Chapter 40:

Chapter 41:

Chapter 42:

Chapter 43:

Chapter 44:

Chapter 45:

Chapter 46:

Chapter 47:

Chapter 48:

Chapter 49:

Chapter 50:

Chapter 51:

Introduction

For more than ten years I have been researching and writing about haunted places in the United States. It all started with Llewellyn Publishing and my book, The Ghost Hunters Field Guide . Since then I have written books about ghost hunting ( Ghost Hunting for Beginners ), haunted Civil War sites ( Ghosts of the Civil War ), and other subjects that I felt would be of interest to those who are into the paranormal.

Since we are rapidly approaching the tenth anniversary of The Ghost Hunters Field Guide, it seemed an opportune time to do an update to that tome. But rather than simply recataloging all the locations in that book with updated information, I thought it would be a great idea to create a best of type of book. A travel guide for those interested in ghosts and hauntings that includes all the best places Ive visited over the years. My favorites.

Since the publication of my first book, I have been traveling to a lot of spooky and historic spots with television crews (mostly with Japans Fuji TV), as well as for fun, and I have had a lot of personal adventures of the haunted nature. I thought this book would be a great place to document some of those experiences, too. So not only are you getting a travel guide with my personal recommendations here, but you are getting some firsthand accounts of ghostly activity that I have encountered at some of them.

Ive had a blast writing about, and visiting, these haunted places, and I hope this book can be your guide to doing the same.

1 Alabama

Fort Conde Inn

Mobile, Alabama
https://www.fortcondeinn.com/

The haunting of the Fort Conde Inn has less to do with this manor turned hotel and more to do with the history of the land it occupies. Before the house ever existed, the French stronghold of Fort Conde (otherwise known as Fort Charlotte) dominated this portion of Mobile.

Constructed in 1723 and named after Louis Henry de Bourbon, Prince de Cond, the fort protected the Gulf Coast of Mobile from Spanish and British attack until 1762. Then the British took over, changing the name to Fort Charlotte. The Spanish moved in after them in 1780, and then in 1813, American soldiers finally took possession. Congress determined that the fort was no longer needed in 1820 and it was dismantled.

The Hall-Ford House was built after the removal of the fort in 1836. Its a classic, three-story Greek Revival masterpiece built from a fortune made in the cotton business. It would serve as a family home for several generations of the Hall and Ford families, even during the dark years of Mobiles red-light district.

Throughout the 1800s, prostitution was commonplace along the waterfront of Mobile in an area known as Shakespeares Row. The French would bring ladies of the night from as far as Paris, and it was quite common for the girls to work in multiple towns, including the famed Storyville section of New Orleans. By the 1880s, bordellos had infested the local saloons and were quickly becoming a problem for the city.

So, in 1897, Mayor Joseph Carlos Rich decided to make an official red-light district so that the illegal activities would be contained to one specific area. The ploy worked and this seedy section of Mobile would continue to operate well into the 1910s. Unfortunately, homes like the Hall-Ford House were right in the middle of all this, and they would see their fair share of the violence and troubles that usually accompany saloons and brothels.