Here are some of the biggest places in Clarksville that we found in our paranormal research.
If you have stories or places that you think are haunted, then please pass them along to us!
Clarksville Memorial Hospital
(Video courtesy of David Cardillo)
Fort Defiance
Settlers began arriving in the late 18th Century. The area became a trading center and settlement. During the Civil War, the hilltop was chosen by Confederate troops to build a fort to defend the river and Clarksville. In 1862, the fort was taken over by the North (Union Forces). Union Forces renamed and occupied for the rest of war time. The site was a safe place for runaway and freed slaves.
(Video courtesy of ClarksvilleNow.com)
The Smith-Trahern Mansion
Built in 1859, the mansion was home to Mr. And Mrs. Christopher Smith. Christopher Smith was a riverboat captain and had also made his fortune raising tobacco. One day, Mr. Smith was sailing in bad weather and drowned. When news reached Mrs. Smith, she refused to accept his death. She spent the rest of her days walking alone through the mansion, on the widows walk and looking out the windows, waiting for Christopher to return. Visitors claim that they still see Mrs. Smith staring out of the upper windows and walking the widows walk.
(Video courtesy of NCTV)
The Bellwood Mansion – Indian Mound, TN (Dover Area)
Bellwood Mansion is reportedly an abandoned mansion in the middle of the woods, and it’s a magnet for local legends about ghost sightings and witchcraft.
(Video courtesy of Welcome to Tennessee)
The Bellamy Cave Murders and Public Square hauntings
Bellamy Cave, located in the Woodlawn area once harbored some horrific secrets. On June 20, 1885, William Morrow was hung in what is now the Public Square for the murder of Dick Overton in 1883.
Bellamy Cave was located on Morrow’s property, and his brother-in-law was the one who found Overton’s body, according to the Memphis Daily Archive.
Morrow had confessed to his friends that he had murdered Overton, and he was taken into custody shortly after the body was discovered. There was an area known as “Hell’s Hole” which was a deep ditch inside of the cave where he dumped Overton’s body.
According to an archived article from the Memphis Daily Archive, Bill confessed to murdering two Black people, but the public believed that he was being used as a scapegoat by his father, Ransom Morrow, and brother-in-law, Dr. Bellamy, due to his lack of intelligence.
Morrow was already going to be facing a life sentence for a previous murder of another Black man in 1878, Jim Brown. Morrow claimed in his final confession that both Brown and Overton tried to rape his loved ones, and that’s why he murdered them.
The Parks and Recreation offices sit on the Public Square, and Parker told Clarksville Now that many of the employees feel as if the building is haunted. He even noted that on the side of the building he can see where the brick is new and where he believes the gallows once were.
Parker said that there are even more stories to be told about the Public Square, and the haunting history of Clarksville.
Resthaven Memorial Gardens
Behind the gardens is a house that was once the home of a slave owner. Rumor has it that one of his slaves forced himself upon his daughter and got her pregnant, and the master killed the slave. The slave’s ghost is said to roam the house looking for his child.
Austin Peay State University
Austin Peay State University has played host to several supernatural tales throughout the years. One of the most notable is when famous paranormal investigator, Lorraine Warren, visited campus to give a seminar over a decade ago and felt overwhelmed when making a visit to the bottom level of the Woodward Library.
Arrington cited documents where Warren said she saw visions of injured soldiers.
“During the Civil War, where Austin Peay is at was a place called Stewart College, and in the area roughly where the library is was a dormitory called Stewart Hall. Right before the Union troops made it to Clarksville, they evacuated Stewart College and were using the dormitories as field hospitals for soldiers,” Arrington told Clarksville Now.
All of the energy from that anguished history seems to live on in the basement, exactly where Warren felt overwhelmed.
“There’s a lot of stories about things that go on in the basement of the library,” Arrington said. “Lorraine went down into the basement of the library and she actually couldn’t stay in there because she could feel, see and hear Civil War soldiers that had either died, or at the very least, suffered a lot when they were there.”
David Johnson has been working in the printing services area of the library where these odd occurrences have been said to happen for over 30 years.
“Real early in the morning before anyone got here, I heard someone say ‘hello’. I thought I left the door open, but when I went to check, the door was still locked and there was nobody in there.”
Johnson told Clarksville Now that he never stays after dark anymore, and he doesn’t like being by himself in the area.
“We had a library director die, and he was an older guy and a heavy smoker. One day, the funeral home asked me to make the program for the funeral, and I smelt cigarette smoke the whole time I was doing it,” Johnson said.
In 2019, Arrington finished her final thesis project in the form of a documentary about eerie campus happenings. She explored Harned Hall, where, in the 1920’s, a girl died by suicide.
Arrington recalls that when she tried to upload the video that she and her team took in the attic area of Harned, random parts of the SD card were corrupted.
“It was only that one section from the attic, and I have yet to find anyone who can really explain that because so far everyone I’ve talked to has said that if the SD card is corrupt, it should actually be the whole SD card,” Arrington continued.
Arrington also said that she heard what sounded like people walking around the building after everyone had already gone home. In another instance, one of Arrington’s teammates, Ashley, was walking around and talking with one of the camera guys behind her, only to turn around and find that he wasn’t there.
He was a floor below her.
The third floor of the Trahern building is said to house a spirit named Margaret. Arrington said that some of the oddities that people attribute to her presence are the elevators moving on their own and random noises among other things.
(Video courtesy of ClarksvilleNow)
Amanda Dr. in Clarksville
As of 2003 the building in question had been destroyed. It was located in a neighborhood built in the early 1800s. In this building you can hear moaning and groaning going on. You will hear a woman sounding like she is in pleasure or pain. This happens at 11:00pm-12:00am every other day. Sometimes you can see a visual perspective of a young woman. I advise not to go but go at your own risk.
Gateway Hospital
A ghost was seen walking past an opened door into a hallway on the first floor of Gateway Hospital. There were no legs below thigh level.
Palmyra – Headless Statues There is a ghost by the name of E.T. Wickham who haunts the grounds at and around the headless statues. Strange noises and such have been heard near the cabin he used to live in across the street. The cabin still stands but is in ruin. The statues are all still standing but are in desperate need of repair. – March 2007 update: The Statues are no longer there. They have been removed by relatives and family of Wickham.
(Video courtesy of MarthVera)
Hotel Halbrook in Dickson
When the Hotel Halbrook was first built in 1913, it was ahead of its time. It was equipped with luxuries such as electric lights, radiator heating and indoor plumbing. The Hotel Halbrook was called a railroad hotel because it was next to the train station. Many of the customers were traveling salesmen and businessmen since it was convenient to the train station. Some are convinced those rooms are still occupied— but not by the living.
Of course, you can’t forget about the Bell Witch, we had to make the Legend of the Bell Witch it’s very own section.
(Video courtesy of Mr.Ballen)
(Video courtesy of Sam&Colby)
