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occoquan.stories
occoquan.stories
From: cpowanda@nova.umuc.edu (Carrie Powanda-Croft)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories
Subject: More NoVa Haunts
Date: 17 Jan 1995 09:53:53 -0500
Well, hello to all from Northern Virginia. Let's see which ones I can
remember. I'll state up front that none of these have happened to me, but
a few I have heard first hand. Let's start with more Occoquan tales, which
are secondhand stories.
There is a ghost that has made her presence known to several merchants.
For those who are unfamiliar with Occoquan, it is a small, historic town,
more like a small shopping district, on the banks of the Occoquan river,
which is in the vicinity of the Potomac, near DC. Anyway, this is the
ghost of what some people think is the widow of a sailor. Apparently,
when stores get new merchandise in, she will go through the merchandise,
sometimes rearranging stuff that has been put on the shelves. Merchants
know she has been visiting because she leaves flower petals around, in
boxes, or on the stairs, or wherever. She has also been seen descending
staircases with a basket of flowers.
Another ghost is a woman who lived at the corner of one edge of town.
She died within the last year or two. She was pretty much the matriarch
of town. She was a mayor at one point, I think. Anyway, her absolutely
favorite thing to do was to sit in her rocking chair on the second floor,
looking out a window and watching what was going on in town. After she
died, the house was converted into some shops. The merchants would hear
the squeaking rocking chair. Going up to the second floor, they would
see the chair moving, although no one was anywhere near it. (Apparently,
some of the woman's possessions were still in the house.) Finally, the
merchants got rid of the rocking chair, but would still hear it
squeaking. After about six months, the merchants left, and the building
still hasn't found new tenants.
That's all I have time for now. I will post some more later this week,
if you want. Let me know!
Carrie
From: cpowanda@nova.umuc.edu (Carrie Powanda-Croft)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories
Subject: NoVa Ghost Stories II
Date: 20 Jan 1995 08:09:50 -0500
OK, OK, OK. Thanks for your responses! I was pleasantly surprised and
encouraged to tell some more Northern Virginia ghost stories. Hello to
all neighbors and ghost fans alike. First, let me state that this are my
personal thoughts, yada, yada, yada.. (OK, now that that's out of the
way, let's get down to business, shall we?)
These are a continuation of the stories about Occoquan, a small historic
shopping area on the Occoquan River, which feeds into the Potomac eventually.
This first story I heard first-hand from the owner of a small bookstore
in town.
The bookstore used to be a small grocery store for the people who lived
in the town. It had been in the family for many, many years. The father
died of a heart attack inside the store. After his death, his son (or
brother, I can't remember which) took over. The son also died in the
store, in the same spot as his father. I should state that these men
were well-liked in Occoquan. After the last man's death, the family
boarded up the store and it was left vacant for about five years or so.
Finally, the now-owner of the bookstore convinced the family to sell him
the property and open the bookstore.
When the owner first went into the building to do some renovation, he had
a few strange experiences. He was doing some construction, measuring
pieces of wood and marking them with a pencil. He would put the pencil
down and turn around to do something with the wood. When he turned back
around, you guessed it, the pencil would be on the other side of the
room. It gave him the creeps the first few times. He would leave very
quickly and come back when he was braver. What made him feel braver was
what he described as a feeling of warmth and happiness that came over
him. He interpreted that as a sign that the men were happy that he was
in their store.
One of the men also had a bit of a mischievious personality. One time,
the owner was presenting a series of speakers about one subject or
another. An attractive woman was one of the speakers. After her
presentation, a greeting card (the store also sells cards) flew from its
rack and landed at her feet. The card was of the romantic sort and had
"I love you" printed on it!
Books have also been known to fly off shelves and unaccountable noises
have also been heard. Overall, the owner is quite happy to have the
ghosts there. They are a benign presence and he likes their company.
Plus, I'm sure they're great for business, too!
The other story involves some weird happenings outside at an intersection
of two streets. One of the town's residents heard an awful commotion
outside--shouting and guns being fired. Because this is an extremely
small town with very little violence, she became quite concerned. She
either looked out her window or went outside and saw nothing. Several
other people also heard the commotion, but saw nothing. After some
research, it was discovered that a significant skirmish occurred there
during the Civil War. Probably people were hearing the noises from the
battle in progress.
Related to this, there's a patch of road surface near a curb on one of
the streets that is constantly having to be repaved. The reason is that
civil war bullets and such keep on rising to the surface. They just seem
to work their way up from the ground below. Pretty neat, huh?
Well, I guess I better go. I'll see if I have time to send some more
next week. Happy hauntings!
Carrie
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