By Mike Arcand
East Texas has a long memory, and Wood County’s historic buildings hold plenty of it. Some folks say a few of those buildings hold a little more than memory. Whether you believe in ghosts or just like a good story, these are the places locals talk about when the subject comes up this time of year.
Mineola: Beckham Hotel
If Wood County has a headliner when it comes to haunted history, it’s the Beckham Hotel & Ballroom. The building has long been rumored to be haunted by several spirits.
The best known is a woman called Elizabeth, who wears a long dress, often carries a parasol, and is said to have fallen down the stairs to her death. Stories place her on the staircase in the dead of night, usually early on a Monday morning.
She isn’t alone. Visitors have also reported a young girl about 10 years old who looks through the glass doors toward the art gallery and wine tasting room, and a gambling man who walks the upstairs halls. Nobody can agree as to who he was. One version says he took his own life in the lobby in the 1940s, but another says he was killed during a poker game on the third floor in the 1930s.
Mineola: Munzesheimer Manor
You may know this one as Café Ü, but before the coffee and pastries, it was a home and later a bed and breakfast. Gustav Munzesheimer built the Victorian house in 1898 as a wedding gift for his new bride, Julia Blasingame. It has been renovated several times over the years and has served as a home, a bed and breakfast, and now a café.
The house has a reputation for being home to a number of ghosts. The most notable is a young boy named Eli. According to Haunted Rooms, a paranormal group investigating the house communicated with him and caught on camera a bag of drinks sliding about 12 inches across the floor. The group also recorded a number of orbs.
Fair warning: that account comes from a paranormal group, not a historian, so take it for what it is. But it’s a good excuse to stop in. The café serves coffee, tea, and lemonade, with muffins and pastries in the morning and sandwiches, soups, and salads at lunch. Antique furniture and a fireplace complete the 1890s feel.
Mineola: O.P. Pyle House
A few blocks away at 123 North Line Street sits what may be Wood County’s most active address, at least by reputation: the O.P. Pyle House. O.P. Pyle had the home built in 1903-04, when he was editor and publisher of the Mineola Courier. Locals know it as the “House of the Raccoon,” and it was built in the Queen Anne style by local artisans.
Previous owner Heidi Hoke told CBS19 the house has more than 20 documented hauntings, and she says the house has a personality of its own. Footsteps are the most common report. One guest described feeling a third hand helping her wash her hair. Paranormal groups that have investigated the property describe a number of spirits, including child spirits with a nanny watching over them, as well as a Civil War soldier named David Akin who is said to protect the family and the house.
The property also has a quiet family connection. The parents of the longtime owners rest on the grounds, and another family member is buried under the gazebo. The house has hosted overnight ghost hunts and paranormal tours, so if you want to see it yourself, check with the owners about current events.
Winnsboro: Oaklea Mansion
Three blocks south of downtown behind a white picket fence sits one of Winnsboro’ most recognizable landmarks: the Oaklea Mansion. Attorney Marcus DeWitt Carlock Sr. built the colonial-style home in 1903, and it became a Texas Historical Landmark in 1966. Winnsboro native Norma Wilkinson bought it in 1996 and opened it as a bed and breakfast.
The ghost talk comes mostly from guests. Author April Slaughter included Oaklea in her book Ghosthunting Texas. She and her husband stayed in the “English Rose” room and came away convinced they weren’t the only guests in the house. Her theory was a gentle one: It would be no surprise if a member of the Carlock family still checks in on the place.
One thing to know before you book. Oaklea doesn’t allow paranormal investigation equipment on the property, and guests who ignore that can be asked to leave without a refund.
Quitman: Houses With History
I couldn’t find a documented haunting in Quitman, but the town has the kind of old houses that make people wonder. The Stinson House, built in 1869 of virgin pine and oak by Confederate colonel James A. Stinson, now sits in Governor Jim Hogg City Park. The Stinson House is worth a visit.
Lake Fork: Lost Community of Gunter
Lake Fork is better known for bass fishing than for ghosts, but the area has its own sense of loss. Gunter was a community near the lake on FM 17, about five miles north of Alba. It has since died out, and few records remain. Dana Donahue of Lake Fork Marina, who has researched the community for years, says there’s very little information out there since the place isn’t still here. There are no ghost stories I can confirm. But a vanished town near open water leaves plenty of room for imagination on a quiet evening.
Hawkins: A Seasonal Scare
I found no documented haunted buildings in Hawkins, but the town does get into the spirit each fall. Corpse Grove Night Terrors at Wood’s End, an outdoor haunted attraction, runs in Hawkins during the Halloween season and is rain-dependent. It’s an attraction, not a haunting, but it’s a fun way to get a scare.
Go See for Yourself
Wood County’s haunted reputation rests on old buildings, long memories, and a few good storytellers. If you’d rather hear the stories from a guide, Mineola has a Haunted Walking Tour on Saturday nights, starting at 8:30 p.m. during the Halloween season, at 117 North Johnson Street at the Historic Select Theater Annex. Respect the properties, mind the posted rules, and if you see a woman in a long dress on a staircase around 3:00 a.m., let us know!