WINNSBORO – For 16 years, Lisa Cathcart has been organizing an annual Ghost & History Walk as a fundraiser for the Winnsboro Woman’s Club.
This year it will take place on Saturday, Oct. 27, and Cathcart says it’s going to be the best one yet.
“I’m a history/ghost tour buff and I’ve been to all the good ones in Charleston and Savannah. Ours is patterned after those, but I think ours is every bit or more haunting as those,” Cathcart said in an interview with The Voice.
“Some people are surprised to learn that we have a number of haunted homes in Winnsboro,” Cathcart said. “When new families move into the homes, they hear the same whispers and footsteps and see the same faces in windows the former residents heard and saw, but didn’t mention until after the sale. We visit many of these homes on the walking tour.”
The hour-long lantern tour will begin at the Woman’s Club and progress past 15 homes and other buildings with haunting histories. Two tours leave at 7 p.m. One is led by Cathcart and the second by Andi Phipps of the Pinetree Players. A third tour led by Cathcart leaves at 8:45 p.m.
Spine-tingling surprises along the tour include ghosts from some of the homes emerging from the shadows to tell their eerie stories.
“One woman told me that, when she worked late at the Courthouse, she would sometimes hear the elevator moving, then the door opening. She also heard whispers and footsteps,” Cathcart said.
Some of the haunted buildings on the tour include a home on Bratton Street that is said to be haunted by a confederate soldier, the old Herald Independent building that is haunted by a past editor and the Mt. Zion Institute that is haunted by a little girl.
“It’s a fun, haunting tour that the participants love,” Cathcart said.
Following the tour, walk participants are treated to refreshments back at the Woman’s Club.
“The tour is not recommended for small children and babies,” Cathcart said. “But 10, 11 and 12 year-olds as well as adults really love it.”
Tickets are $10 at the door. Cathcart said space is limited. Reservations can be made by contacting Susan at 803-635-4242 or email [email protected].
