Business Hauntings??

BeeRaelle

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I just recently found this Forum, and I wanted to see what anyone's thoughts are regarding my experience(s) while working at a business in my hometown. I have spent a lot of time thinking about my experiences recently since it appears that the building in which the business was located appears to be scheduled for demolition. I also was told about a week ago that there are plans to build a hotel on the site - so, I am assuming that the new development is the reason for the building being slated for demolition. All of these events happened sometime between 1992 and 1994. I worked a manager for this business located in downtown Savannah, GA. While I don't want to give the name of the business, I will tell you that the position that I held required me to come into the building VERY early in the morning - approximately between 5:30am and 6am, and, sometimes, I had to stay late or return late at night if there were alarm calls from the security system being tripped, which were often. When I first began working at this location (note that I had worked for this same company for about 8 years before I was promoted to the management position at this location), I always felt uncomfortable and edgy. The building in which the business was housed was built at two different times, the largest portion of the building was built in the late 1800s while the add-on "storefront" section was added in the 1920s. The portion of the building that was built in the 1800s had cold-spots, and I always felt as though I were being watched. Items would be inexplicably moved around from one place or another, and this occurred constantly. Light bulbs in the more "scary" portions of the building - some dark hallways we always called "the catacombs" would constantly blow out. My father, who was an electrician by trade, came and checked the wiring and could find no explanation for the light bulbs constantly blowing out. One morning, when I went in very early in the morning and was turning on the lights in the dark building, "something" tapped me on my shoulder, but there was no one there but me. Some time later, I had an employee come to me and tell me that she felt uncomfortable working in there after dark as "something or someone" would call her name. I had another employee come to me later and said that she didn't feel comfortable either as the place "spooked" her. I had heard that several people in the long-distant past had died in the building (the section of it from the 1800s) , one of which was a suicide. There came a day when a storm was coming, and the power had gone out. I was in the building with one of my employees trying to close for the day due to the power outage and the impending storm. We started hearing noises from overhead. This business always had heavy "equipment" running except for very early in the morning, but I had never heard noises such as these previously - not even early in the morning. It sounded like someone beating on the roof or one of the many heavy metal doors. We weren't able to locate anything outside, so we started searching for the source of the sounds. We ended up the back part of the building after passing through the dark corridors/hallways. We located a stairway that neither of us even knew existed, and my employee kind of froze. I followed her gaze up this stairway (we were NOT going to attempt to navigate the stairway due to various blockages of stairs themselves) and that's when I saw it. It was an apparition of a man with "glowing" eyes. He appeared to be dressed in some sort of very old military uniform (maybe Revolutionary or Civil War era) and had a musket with what appeared to be a bayonet on the end. I'm so sorry, but we just ran. I locked the doors, we got in my car, and we took off. Various other things would occur at night in this place - like equipment coming on in the middle of the night on it's own accord, which is what caused some of the night-alarm calls to which I had to respond, being the store manager. I was totally freaked out after seeing the apparition, and I asked to be transferred. My transfer came through within about 6 weeks when a manager left one of our other locations. I breathed a sigh of relief. I company that I worked for has been out of business for some time, and other businesses have been located in the same building since my employer closed that location - sometime around 2007 or 2009. After I left this location, I spoke with the new store manager, and he saw the same apparition within 8 weeks of him being assigned to that location. Being that the building wasn't built until the late 1800s with the add-on constructed in the 1920s, I'm thinking that the "haunting" of this business may not be linked to the building, but to the land. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
Hi! And welcome to the Forum!

You will find that many cases of activity/hauntings appear to be location based. You will find areas that have no buildings at all yet have activity on a regular basis...one of which would be Gettysburg battle grounds.

It can also be difficult to separate the different types of hauntings, as a residual and active can be occurring at the same time. Even if they take the old building down, the new buildings may show signs of the same activity.
 
I just recently found this Forum, and I wanted to see what anyone's thoughts are regarding my experience(s) while working at a business in my hometown. I have spent a lot of time thinking about my experiences recently since it appears that the building in which the business was located appears to be scheduled for demolition. I also was told about a week ago that there are plans to build a hotel on the site - so, I am assuming that the new development is the reason for the building being slated for demolition. All of these events happened sometime between 1992 and 1994. I worked a manager for this business located in downtown Savannah, GA. While I don't want to give the name of the business, I will tell you that the position that I held required me to come into the building VERY early in the morning - approximately between 5:30am and 6am, and, sometimes, I had to stay late or return late at night if there were alarm calls from the security system being tripped, which were often. When I first began working at this location (note that I had worked for this same company for about 8 years before I was promoted to the management position at this location), I always felt uncomfortable and edgy. The building in which the business was housed was built at two different times, the largest portion of the building was built in the late 1800s while the add-on "storefront" section was added in the 1920s. The portion of the building that was built in the 1800s had cold-spots, and I always felt as though I were being watched. Items would be inexplicably moved around from one place or another, and this occurred constantly. Light bulbs in the more "scary" portions of the building - some dark hallways we always called "the catacombs" would constantly blow out. My father, who was an electrician by trade, came and checked the wiring and could find no explanation for the light bulbs constantly blowing out. One morning, when I went in very early in the morning and was turning on the lights in the dark building, "something" tapped me on my shoulder, but there was no one there but me. Some time later, I had an employee come to me and tell me that she felt uncomfortable working in there after dark as "something or someone" would call her name. I had another employee come to me later and said that she didn't feel comfortable either as the place "spooked" her. I had heard that several people in the long-distant past had died in the building (the section of it from the 1800s) , one of which was a suicide. There came a day when a storm was coming, and the power had gone out. I was in the building with one of my employees trying to close for the day due to the power outage and the impending storm. We started hearing noises from overhead. This business always had heavy "equipment" running except for very early in the morning, but I had never heard noises such as these previously - not even early in the morning. It sounded like someone beating on the roof or one of the many heavy metal doors. We weren't able to locate anything outside, so we started searching for the source of the sounds. We ended up the back part of the building after passing through the dark corridors/hallways. We located a stairway that neither of us even knew existed, and my employee kind of froze. I followed her gaze up this stairway (we were NOT going to attempt to navigate the stairway due to various blockages of stairs themselves) and that's when I saw it. It was an apparition of a man with "glowing" eyes. He appeared to be dressed in some sort of very old military uniform (maybe Revolutionary or Civil War era) and had a musket with what appeared to be a bayonet on the end. I'm so sorry, but we just ran. I locked the doors, we got in my car, and we took off. Various other things would occur at night in this place - like equipment coming on in the middle of the night on it's own accord, which is what caused some of the night-alarm calls to which I had to respond, being the store manager. I was totally freaked out after seeing the apparition, and I asked to be transferred. My transfer came through within about 6 weeks when a manager left one of our other locations. I breathed a sigh of relief. I company that I worked for has been out of business for some time, and other businesses have been located in the same building since my employer closed that location - sometime around 2007 or 2009. After I left this location, I spoke with the new store manager, and he saw the same apparition within 8 weeks of him being assigned to that location. Being that the building wasn't built until the late 1800s with the add-on constructed in the 1920s, I'm thinking that the "haunting" of this business may not be linked to the building, but to the land. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Hi Bee, and welcome. Having spent time in Savannah and taken a ghost tour, very little in the paranormal realm there would surprise me.
 
hi Bee, welcome to the forum. Are you native to savannah, lived there long?.. youve probably heard the phrase "Savannah is the ciity that lives upon her dead". from the yellow fever outbreak, the civil war, etc... Savannah as it expanded built on top of many grave yards and burial grounds. the river street area was a port that sometimes could be rough throughout its history. much death and much commitment and attachment to the lands by many peoples. if haunting's are related or attached to the land, savannah is where you would find it. A beautiful city that ive called home before, and still find my way back there as often as possible
 
Hello Bee, and welcome to PNF! That was an intriguing story, and I admit I would have run away from the full bodied apparition as well. Has that building ever been investigated by a professional paranormal team?
 
I just recently found this Forum, and I wanted to see what anyone's thoughts are regarding my experience(s) while working at a business in my hometown. I have spent a lot of time thinking about my experiences recently since it appears that the building in which the business was located appears to be scheduled for demolition. I also was told about a week ago that there are plans to build a hotel on the site - so, I am assuming that the new development is the reason for the building being slated for demolition. All of these events happened sometime between 1992 and 1994. I worked a manager for this business located in downtown Savannah, GA. While I don't want to give the name of the business, I will tell you that the position that I held required me to come into the building VERY early in the morning - approximately between 5:30am and 6am, and, sometimes, I had to stay late or return late at night if there were alarm calls from the security system being tripped, which were often. When I first began working at this location (note that I had worked for this same company for about 8 years before I was promoted to the management position at this location), I always felt uncomfortable and edgy. The building in which the business was housed was built at two different times, the largest portion of the building was built in the late 1800s while the add-on "storefront" section was added in the 1920s. The portion of the building that was built in the 1800s had cold-spots, and I always felt as though I were being watched. Items would be inexplicably moved around from one place or another, and this occurred constantly. Light bulbs in the more "scary" portions of the building - some dark hallways we always called "the catacombs" would constantly blow out. My father, who was an electrician by trade, came and checked the wiring and could find no explanation for the light bulbs constantly blowing out. One morning, when I went in very early in the morning and was turning on the lights in the dark building, "something" tapped me on my shoulder, but there was no one there but me. Some time later, I had an employee come to me and tell me that she felt uncomfortable working in there after dark as "something or someone" would call her name. I had another employee come to me later and said that she didn't feel comfortable either as the place "spooked" her. I had heard that several people in the long-distant past had died in the building (the section of it from the 1800s) , one of which was a suicide. There came a day when a storm was coming, and the power had gone out. I was in the building with one of my employees trying to close for the day due to the power outage and the impending storm. We started hearing noises from overhead. This business always had heavy "equipment" running except for very early in the morning, but I had never heard noises such as these previously - not even early in the morning. It sounded like someone beating on the roof or one of the many heavy metal doors. We weren't able to locate anything outside, so we started searching for the source of the sounds. We ended up the back part of the building after passing through the dark corridors/hallways. We located a stairway that neither of us even knew existed, and my employee kind of froze. I followed her gaze up this stairway (we were NOT going to attempt to navigate the stairway due to various blockages of stairs themselves) and that's when I saw it. It was an apparition of a man with "glowing" eyes. He appeared to be dressed in some sort of very old military uniform (maybe Revolutionary or Civil War era) and had a musket with what appeared to be a bayonet on the end. I'm so sorry, but we just ran. I locked the doors, we got in my car, and we took off. Various other things would occur at night in this place - like equipment coming on in the middle of the night on it's own accord, which is what caused some of the night-alarm calls to which I had to respond, being the store manager. I was totally freaked out after seeing the apparition, and I asked to be transferred. My transfer came through within about 6 weeks when a manager left one of our other locations. I breathed a sigh of relief. I company that I worked for has been out of business for some time, and other businesses have been located in the same building since my employer closed that location - sometime around 2007 or 2009. After I left this location, I spoke with the new store manager, and he saw the same apparition within 8 weeks of him being assigned to that location. Being that the building wasn't built until the late 1800s with the add-on constructed in the 1920s, I'm thinking that the "haunting" of this business may not be linked to the building, but to the land. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Hi Bee. Welcome to the ParaNormal Forum (PNF). Thanks for sharing your experiences. I would have run from that vision also; perhaps later returning to explore that part of the building, with lots of lights. :)
 
Welcome Bee.

The building I work in is definitely haunted, we have formally investigated it several times. My own office is inhabited, someone likes to sit in my chair when I am not present. The building is only 27 years old, and I am the original tenant. Some former co-workers have passed-on in that time so the hauntings could be connected to them but I think most are either passing wanderers or were connected to the land before the building was erected. Anything is possible at any given location.
 
Hello, All! And, thank you so much for your welcome messages! About 3-4 weeks ago, I did watch a Paranormal show "Haunted Towns," which truly intrigued me. The very first episode of this series was shot in the Savannah area, and that is where I initially heard that Savannah is literally built on it's dead. I am from the Savannah area, and I have lived here all of my life. Being raised a very strict Southern Baptist, I never believed in the Paranormal until I had this experience. Since my experience, I have had a few other Paranormal experiences in different areas of Savannah. The business that I was working at that I described in my original post was located in what is considered part of the "Historic / Conservation District" of the Downtown Savannah area, and it is near Historic River Street. I have never really told my story previously, because I felt many people would find me to be crazy. I have a few close friends who are aware of my experience. At least a couple of them said that I must have been "experimenting" with a Quija Board or with "demonic activities," which is absolutely ludicrous. I don't dabble in thing like that. That particular time in my life is the only time I ever worked in the downtown Savannah area, and I have lived my entire life on the southside of Savannah. I know that the particular location in which I worked in Downtown Savannah was featured in the Margaret DeBolt book, Savannah Spectres. At one time I had a copy of the book, but I never read it and cannot locate it so I may have loaned it to someone and never got it back. As far as I am aware, no one has ever actually done a paranormal investigation of this particular building and, I'm not hopeful that anyone can at this point as it is has fallen into disrepair since the company I worked for closed sometime between 2007 and 2009 and is scheduled for demolition. It has been a couple of other similar businesses since that time. There were just so many unexplained happenings in that building! Like I said, things would go missing, be moved around, light bulbs would blow out for unexplained electrical reasons, equipment used in the business would come on and go off by itself, particularly at night, I was tapped on the shoulder that one morning with no one else in the building but me. While I had to start my day early in the morning, I didn't walk into the place and leave the doors unlocked. I locked the doors behind me and get started for the day. Lights in the front of the storefront portion of the building were always kept on at night, but the back of the building, which was built in the late 1800s would all be off and had to be turned on when I came into the building. As soon as I walked into the building, I always felt uncomfortable - it was that feeling of being watched. We had no security cameras, but we did have a motion-activated security system. So, the first order of business was to unlock the door and lock the door behind you, and deactivate the security system. I knew that no one (living, at least) was in the building besides me. If I started at 5:30am to get everything up and running and get my daily paperwork completed, my first employee would typically arrive around 6:45am to 7:00am, depending on their scheduled arrival time and the city bus schedules. After the time that I got tapped on the shoulder when there was no one else in the building, I felt super-weird. When alarm calls would come during the middle of the night, my father would go downtown with me (with his firearm with him) to address the alarm calls. There were multiple times when we found that equipment that could NOT automatically turn itself back on had indeed reactivated itself. Like I said before, things were constantly being moved around as if someone thought it was a game. We finally gave up on trying to keep certain areas lighted due to the lightbulbs constantly blowing out for no reason and, consequently, the bathrooms, which were little wooden stalls that were added-on to what appeared to have been an old "sauna" of some type, were unlighted. I wouldn't go into the bathrooms at all. They were so creepy. In fact, most of the place was creepy. I would work a full day of typically between 8 and 10 hours and would never use the bathroom. Sometimes, I could find a restaurant to use the bathroom in if it was absolutely necessary. It wasn't until after I saw the apparition and moved to another store location and spoke with another manager who saw the same thing that I realized I wasn't totally and completely crazy. When the next store manager saw the apparition, based on his description, it was a lot larger than what me and my employee saw. Most of the strange activity took place within a certain area of the almost 3500 foot usable section of the structure. There were two large worktables in the very back, and that seemed to have the most prolific "activity," such as things moving themselves and equipment turning off and on by itself. This is also where the other manager saw the "apparition." My employee and I saw the apparition quite a ways away from that area. Being that this was a structure that was not heated or air conditioned, one would think that, in the middle of summer in the South that it would be 100+ degrees inside, which was the case in some areas of the building, it would be ice-cold for no apparent reason. I always looked for reasonable explanations as my father did, but, unfortunately, there were none.

In the 29 years since I left that particular location (I worked for the company for several years after this, by the way), I have had several other experiences. One of these was close to my home. There is a park called "Lake Mayer" near my home, and there have been many paranormal events in a subdivision close to this park. While driving one evening, I saw an "apparition" of a woman dressed in a long white dress - almost like something you could equate with Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind - carrying a lantern walking down the road near the park. I had to do a double-take on this and looked in my rear-view mirror. I could still see her for a second or two, and then she just literally evaporated. Some years later, I read where this is, apparently, a common sighting in both the subdivision close to the park as well as near the park itself. According to local legend, the entire area area nearby this park, including the area where my house is as well as the subdivision near the park, used to be an old Pecan and HIckory plantation, from what I've been told. This would explain the prevalence of both Pecan and Hickory trees in the area. There is a story attached to the "Woman with the Lantern," but I don't recall the details.

Also, near an area of Southside Savannah named Sandfly, I was driving home from a friend's house one night. I saw this man in my headlights - clear as day. He had on what appeared to be a white shirt and overalls and was walking a dog. He looked like he was real - just like any real person with a dog. Suddenly, the man just walked out in front of my car, and I slammed on my brakes. If he would have actually been real, I would have killed him AND the dog. But, when my car "hit" him, he literally evaporated, and the entire inside of my car got ice-cold. I had to pull my car over to side as much as I could and get out to investigate to make sure I didn't hit anyone. Not a thing was there - living or dead. I spoke with a friend who has lived for quite a long time on Isle of Hope, and she told me that she had heard many stories similar to this. Apparently, it was a "ghost-man" walking his "ghost-dog."

Another strange thing that I have experienced occurred between 2013 and 2018 and was in the Port Wentworth/Pooler area near Savannah. My father was living with some friends in this area in a very large new home - approximately 5000 square feet. Everytime I was at the house in the upstairs, I felt strange - like I was being watched. I was always looking over my shoulder. I never could explain it. One Sunday night, I was visiting my father in the upstairs portion of the house, and I saw what appeared to be a shadow moving quickly down the hall. I had to get up and check to see what was going on, but I didn't see anything. My father and I were the only ones in the home at the time. After I went and sat back down, I saw another dark shadow that appeared to be moving across the ceiling - again, very quickly. So, I get up and check things out again, and, of course, nothing. My father passed away a few days after this, and, a couple of weekends after he passed, I was over visiting with these friends one night, and one of their cats got out of the house. I went outside with my friend's husband to held him get the cat in, and, at one point, I looked up and saw what I thought was my friend, the man's wife, standing in an upstairs bedroom looking through the curtains at us trying to locate the cat. I waved at her, and the curtains closed. After we finally corralled the cat and we went back inside, I told my friend that I saw her at the upstairs bedroom window and waved. I asked why she didn't wave back, and she said that she hadn't been upstairs - she had been downstairs the entire time. This is when she told me that she thought that the house was haunted. Honestly, since those houses were built near a very famously-haunted plantation, supposedly one of the most harrowing, haunted areas near Savannah, I think it's the land that's haunted. Within about 2 months of these events happening, my friends moved out and into a different nearby subdivision. The huge house that they lived in, which was VERY, VERY nice and, as I said new, has been on the market at least 4 times since they moved out in 2018.
 
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And, as far as the history of the downtown business that I worked in, it is my understanding that at least three, maybe more, people died in the oldest portion of the building. At least one of those deaths, from what I have been told, was a suicide by hanging. Also, from what I've been told, at one point, the building was a brothel, but, although I have tried to research the history of the building by the address, it seems that, at some point, the 1800s portion of the building was listed at one address, while the address of the business was listed on a totally and completely different street. However, the entire structure is VERY close to River Street - you can walk right across to River Street from the business location.
 
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river street and the historic district is brought to light regularly because of the tourism side of savannah, but the southside is just as active if not actually more so than the better known areas. the park you spoke of earlier is, if im not mistaken. just across (not far from) from the wormsloe plantation area, right?. very active area. i worked on hunter airfield for a time and heard all kinds of stories from the southside. also the area around bona venture has many tales. of course too though, this is savannah, where every square has a story...lol