The Story Behind This Haunted Castle In Alabama Will Chill You To The Bone
Jennifer Young
Author
Many haunted places are located throughout Alabama. And of these haunted places, plantation homes tend to have the most hauntings. One plantation home in particular where hauntings occurred pretty regularly was known as Rocky Hill Castle. Rocky Hill Castle is no longer standing, but the story behind it is quite chilling. To learn all about the hauntings that once occurred inside the walls of Rocky Hill Castle, continue reading.
Rocky Hill Castle was located between the North Alabama towns of Town Creek and Courtland. It was situated in the middle of 640 acres and built between the years 1858-1861 by James Saunders, an attorney. At one time, this beautiful home was one of the most magnificent pieces of architecture in Alabama. It was also one of the state’s most haunted places. During the Civil War, Rocky Hill Castle served as a hospital for Confederate soldiers. Some of these soldiers were also buried in the Saunders family cemetery, which was located nearby.
Following James Saunders’ death in 1896, Rocky Hill Castle changed ownership many times. It eventually went to Dr. Dudley Saunders, James Saunders’ grandson. After experiencing several hauntings, Dr. Saunders and his wife left Rocky Hill Castle. They sold the plantation home to H.D. Bynum and R.E. Tweedy in 1920. The new owners never lived inside the home. They purchased it only for the farmland that surrounded it. Because they never lived inside Rocky Hill Castle, it started to fall into a state of decay. Its condition became so bad that Gordon McBride, Rocky Hill Castle’s last owner, had it demolished in 1961.
While designing Rocky Hill Castle, the architect used a combination of Greek Revival and Italianate architecture. There’s no denying that the most elaborate feature of Rocky Hill Castle was the Gothic Revival tower. Supposedly, this tower was used for the slave quarters.
Listed below are a few interior photos of Rocky Hill Castle that were taken in 1935.
In Kathryn Tucker Windham and Margaret Gillis Figh’s short story “The Ghost of the Angry Architect,” which is included in their book 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey, they claim that Rocky Hill Castle’s architect was a Frenchman. As the story goes, James Saunders refused to pay the architect’s bill because the amount was much more than he could afford. They went back and forth, exchanging bitter words. Soon after, the architect died and returned to Rocky Hill Castle to haunt it. He would constantly chip away at the foundation in the home’s cellar. The neighbors could hear it, but when they went to the cellar to check it out, nobody was there.
While Rocky Hill Castle was still standing, many rumors of hauntings spread throughout the area. For example, several people reported the sounds of clanking chains of Civil War soldiers, in addition to seeing a ‘Lady in Blue’ on the stairwell and inside the wine cellar looking for her lost lover. A neighbor also claimed to hear a piano playing on its own.
Have you ever had a ghostly encounter in Alabama? If so, where? For more haunted places in Alabama, take a look at one of our past articles: Here Are The 10 Best Places To Spot A Ghost In Alabama.
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