Category: Haunted Places

Old Town Spring — just north of Houston, Texas — is haunted. Some claim that it’s the most haunted town in Texas. I’m not sure about that, but it’s definitely an eerie place after dark.

There are several locations that fascinate me, but one of the best is the old bank building.  It’s no longer a bank, but it’s part of the retail district in Old Town Spring.

The bank is easy to recognize: It’s the brick building with bullet holes, in the middle of the 100 block of Midway. It’s on the same side of the street — and just a few doors from — the haunted Wunsche Bros. Cafe and Saloon.

In the photo at the left, you can see one of the bullet holes in the bank’s brick exterior. The Spring State Bank  was the site of at least two robberies involving gunfire. One may have featured the famous team of Bonnie & Clyde.

I’ve already posted my strange man-in-a-hat photo, showing an anomalous figure inside this bank.

DO THE BANK’S GHOSTS LINGER?

In January 2006, the bank building was empty once again. Shops move in, and soon move out.

I’m not sure anyone would say that the building’s ghosts are a problem or even real, but — with a violent history like this — it’d be odd if there wasn’t some haunted energy there. We keep revisiting this building because there’s something there, inside and outside the old bank.

Sure, there’s residual energy. After two gunfights, that’s normal for a town with the “wild west” history of Old Town Spring.

But, my “gut feeling” says there’s at least one figure walking around inside that building, after dark.  In most cases, when that feeling is worth mentioning, investigations prove me right.

GHOSTLY MIST – FIRST HAUNTED EVIDENCE

During a November 2005 ghost investigation, I captured a couple of odd photos at the bank. In the images below, you can see a light or mist forming at the right side of the photo.

I’d have dismissed the picture at the right as an insect or hair in front of the lens, but the second photo — taken minutes later — makes it clear: This was an anomaly that formed while I was taking these pictures.

Those are intriguing photos… the kind of pictures that demand additional investigations. Sometimes, you can find explanations for these kinds of images. In this case, we couldn’t. It’s not hair, jewelry, breath, moisture, or dust.

I’m not sure these photos are ghostly, but they’re definitely odd.

Old Town Spring has earned a reputation as “the most haunted town in Texas.” Whether or not that is true, it has some very dramatic ghosts.

One of the most haunted buildings in Old Town Spring is in the old bank building in the middle of the 100 block of Midway. It’s just a few doors away from another famous haunted site, Wunsche Bros. Cafe and Saloon.

However, we have yet to capture anything dramatic in photos at Wunsche Bros. Cafe and Saloon. By contrast, the bank is profoundly haunted.

The little brick building — seen in the photo, above — has been the home to many shops since the 1930s when it was the Spring State Bank. In the 1930s, that bank was the site of at least two robberies involving gunfire.

One team of bank robbers may have been included the famous Bonnie and Clyde.  The evidence isn’t entirely convincing, but it seems pretty likely.

THE BANK IS GONE, BUT THE GHOSTS REMAIN

Today, the bank is a memory, as shops move into the building… and then move out. The reason that this prime real estate sits empty again (as we write this in January 2006) may simply be ghostly energy — also called residual energy — in the old metal vault that’s still part of the building.

Or, if our suspicions are right, at least one ghostly figure may be trapped inside this building, looking for the cash deposits that left when the bank did, over 50 years ago.

On the night of January 6th, 2006, we returned to Old Town Spring to investigate some of its many haunted sites. On this chilly Friday evening, our focus was on the old bank building at 115 Midway, in the middle of Old Town Spring’s popular shopping district.

This painted brick building sits amid quaint gift shops, cafes, and antiques stores. Most weekends, tourists and locals browse the streets, shop, and pause for great food, especially traditional Texas fare such as steaks, burgers, and barbecue meals.

AFTER DARK, THE MOOD CHANGES

The sidewalks roll up early in Old Town Spring. Restaurants such as Puffabelly’s and Wunsche Bros. Cafe and Saloon remain busy and boisterous, but the surrounding streets are dark and quiet… except for the old bank building. Something walks inside that building, and it’s not a night watchman.

Most of the windows of the old bank are covered with paper, and a sign indicates that the empty building is for rent. However, you can look into some of the windows. If you do, you may feel that–if you could peer into the darkness a little better–a figure or even a terrifying face might appear at any moment. It’s that kind of place.

UNEXPLAINED, INTERIOR ORBS

Most of my photos that night are a little odd.

The night was entirely still, and this building has been empty for months. The windows are all sealed tight, as are the doors. There was no reason for dust to be circulating, to cause multiple orbs. But, in many of the pictures, that’s what we see.

The photo at the right is the only reasonably “normal” picture of the evening. It was taken through the window next to the bank building. Those shutters are indoors. I’m not sure about the architectural plans, but that wall may have been an exterior wall, left “as is” when it was attached to neighboring shops.

Most of my other photos are filled with orbs of all sizes. Most also include glare from my flash, so I have to discount most of the orbs as lens flares.

However, one photo still makes us scratch our heads and wonder what it is.

IS THIS A GHOST?

Below, you can see two copies of one photo. First, you’ll see the photo exactly as I took it. (The original is far better.) Yes, the camera’s flash could account for everything in this photo… but I don’t think that it does. I have a dozen other pictures with the same reflected flash in them, and not one features anything this odd.

In the next photo, I’ve enhanced the picture’s contrast and put a circle around the face of the figure. To me, it looks as if he’s wearing a brown, 1930s-style hat. Below the circle, I can see the outline of shoulders, a tall white collar, and it looks as if he’s wearing a brown suit jacket.

   

We’ve already had several other interpretations of the figure in the photo. Perhaps spirits manifest differently to different people, and use the available energy in the picture to “reach” them? (If you click on the second photo — the one with the circle on it — you can see a sketch of what we first saw when we looked at this picture, and additional details about the ghost: Old Town Spring – ghost photo detail.)

What’s especially intriguing is that everyone seems to be describing a similar figure… but he manifests in different ways to each person.

I’ve taken thousands of photos, and most of them aren’t worth comment. Now and then I see one that stands out because it’s different.  This is one of those photos.

There may be very logical explanations for it.  This may be just a play of the light, a quirky reflection, and my own imagination.  I’m willing to accept that.

However, I wanted to share it with you because–whatever else it is (or isn’t)–it’s an interesting photo.

Several people have commented on this ghost photo. It was taken at an old bank building in the middle of Old Town Spring, north of Houston, Texas.

The picture at the right has been modified only to enhance the contrast. I’ve added a circle to indicate where the face is. Other than that, this photo is exactly as it originally appeared.

That ghost would be full-size — about six feet tall, or a little shorter. That is, if you could see my reflection in the window — which you can’t — it would be about the same size as the ghost. (I look nothing like the ghostly figure.)

There are many interpretations of this ghost photo. Some people see a full figure within the circle. Others see a cowboy in chaps.

I’m the first to admit that this is one of those “either you see it, or you don’t” photos. It may be nothing more than a quirky reflection from the flash on the window. I’m fine with that.

On the other hand, when I see really weird images and anomalies, I pause and wonder if that old adage is true, and there are no coincidences.

The bank’s robberies took place in the 1930s, and the robbers may have included the infamous Bonnie and Clyde.

In addition, the town has ghosts dating back to its “wild west” days. So, any figure from those eras is likely.

We were outside, looking in, when I took a series of pictures.  I angled my camera to reduce glare from the flash, but — of course — a lot of people are going to say, “Of course that’s the reflection of her flash camera.)

I don’t have a lot invested in being right about what I see when I’m ghost hunting.  Confirmation is always nice, but it’s not required.  I know what I see.

Above (left) is my sketch of the figure in the window, as I see him.

This is the second part of a two-part story.
It started at Houston – private cemetery, part one.

My favorite grave at this cemetery belonged to an older woman. I felt like I’d received a very clear message that she wasn’t very impressed with us, but she was just vain enough (in a cute, good way) to want some attention anyway. I was reminded of the nurse in the movie, Doc Hollywood.

Out of respect for her privacy, I’m showing just the top of her gravestone… with dozens of orbs nearby. I expect that she was part of a large family — and she was a grandmother — so many of her relatives are in nearby graves. Her grave seemed to be guarded by one of the largest banana spiders I’ve ever seen, in a web that easily spanned a four-foot square area. It wasn’t easy to get past it to take photos.

The area around her grave is the most active with congenial spirits.

(There is another part of the cemetery, to the far left as you approach it from the street, that has a more derelict feeling to it. It’s as if those people died without much hope, and little color in their lives.)

The photo above also reveals a blue area to the right of the frame. It’s the only one with that kind of coloring, and I have no explanation for it. I wish that I’d taken more pictures, because this reminds me of the blue figure I photographed at Fort Worden, in Port Townsend, Washington.

I’m not sure if we’ll have another opportunity to visit this private cemetery near Houston, Texas. However, if we do, I’ll probably bring flowers for the grave of this charmingly eccentric woman, and hope that she reveals more of her life to me, and presents even more vivid images for my photos.

(2014 update: We didn’t have a chance to go back there.  Getting access to private cemeteries isn’t as simple as visiting those open to the public.)

This is not a cemetery to visit on your own. While we were there, we could hear gunfire less than a mile away. Our escort was armed, too.

But, most importantly, this is one of the many private cemeteries in Texas. Some were provided for people who couldn’t afford plots in city cemeteries. The people who rest in these private cemeteries probably didn’t want to be gawked at in life. It’s unkind to trample their graves–marked or unmarked–in pursuit of ghosts.

We visited with permission and tread carefully around the cemetery. We cannot provide further information about the location, the landowner, or how we were able to visit this site.

(Sometimes when we visit private sites, the terms of our visit include total secrecy.)

Nevertheless, it was a memorable visit, and far richer than many ghost hunts we’ve conducted at more popular, traditional cemeteries.