"The most beautiful thing we can feel is the mysterious." - Albert Einstein
You might expect the oldest town west of the Blue Ridge Mountains to be home to a ghost or two. Camberley's Martha Washington Inn has the most predominant ghost-in-residence, Beth.The inn was built in 1832 as a inexpressive abode for general Francis Preston and his wife Sarah. When general Preston died, the house became a young ladies' finishing school called Martha Washington College. while the Civil War, the school was utilized as a hospital. It was while that time that a trainee named Beth fell in love with John Stoves.
Ufo Sightings
John Stoves was an injured soldier interred at the hospital. Beth nursed John, but her tender ministrations failed to restore his health. She played her violin for him as he died, hoping to at least ease his transition from this world into the next. A few weeks later, Beth died from complications of typhoid fever. Employees and visitors to the inn believe Beth still plays the violin in Room 403 on occasion. A safety guard once claimed to have seen her running straight through the dining room.
I've never spent the night at the Martha Washington Inn, but it's a beautiful place. When you walk in, you feel swept back in time to other era...a more genteel place. Once I was there when a tour group was visiting and an elderly woman was playing the grand piano in the parlor. By development herself at home, she made everybody else feel at home, too.
No ghost-sightings at the inn? Then wet your whistle at The Tavern, built in 1779. while the past two centuries, the tavern has served as a bakery, post office, general store and barber shop. Today, the tavern is once again being used in its primary capacity as a tavern. In its early years, the building served as a tavern and overnight lodging for stagecoach travelers. The tavern welcomed such guests as Henry Clay, President Andrew Jackson, and Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the designer of Washington, D.C.
It's whispered that in the wee hours of the morning a mysterious light can be seen shining in the second floor of the tavern. However, the estimate of "spirits" ingested in order to see the mysterious light has not been discussed. I've never seen a mysterious light in the Tavern, but I have enjoyed some splendid conversation. I was fortunate sufficient to be invited to a cast party after a production of "On the Third Day." I had a great time talking with the actors and studying about their lives.
If it's a crafty ghost you seek, try the Cave House (so named for the cave settled directly below the building). The structure was built in 1858 by Adam Hickman as a wedding gift for his daughter. Today, the Cave House is home to The Holston Mountain Arts and Crafts Co-op and serves to display and shop Appalachian crafts. It's said the Cave House is haunted by three women who once lived there. Maybe they like the lovingly decorated crafts, or maybe they plainly like all the nice people who come to visit.
Perhaps you're in the mood for a bit of drama. You'll find it at the Barter Theater. The Barter Theater, known as "The State Theater of Virginia," was founded while the Depression by Robert Porterfield. Theatergoers bartered food for tickets. The Barter Theater launched the careers of Gregory Peck, Patricia Neal, and Ernest Borgnine, just to name a few. The theater has productions from February straight through December on two stages, with special productions while the Virginia Highlands Festival. Some cast and crew members believe the late Robert Porterfield still returns now and then to watch a play or to admire the renovations made to his theater. I've ushered at the theater and enjoyed some frightful productions, but I never saw a ghost that wasn't up on stage. Maybe you'll have more luck.
Ghosthunting in Historic Abingdon, Virginia
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