A new book catalogs the hauntings in the Athens area, including a few locations in Oglethorpe County where local residents also have noted ghosts and ghost stories.
Generations of Oglethorpe County residents have tales of unexplainable sounds, spectral figures and folklore tied to the many historic landmarks in the area.
“I would say around the mid-1900s to 2000s is when people started having weird experiences at that old farmhouse,” said Tracy Adkins, Athens resident and author of Ghosts of Athens and Beyond: History and Haunting of North Georgia, which was published in 2022.
That farmhouse, the White Oak Plantation, which the Dozier family built in the 1830s, is one of many stories that inspired Adkins to recount hers and others’ experiences.
“I had some weird experiences myself that I couldn't explain, and that strongly inspired me to want to read about other people’s experiences,” Adkins said. “It got me thinking, I had lived here for a long time, why don’t we have a book?"
These stories narrate experiences in and around Athens, mentioning a few significant haunted locations within Oglethorpe County.
Reports from visitors and homeowners describe unexplained footsteps, doors that mysteriously lock on their own and lingering scents of lavender and pipe smoke; smells often linked to former owner Gussie Matthews and one of her tenants.
Adkins also mentioned sightings of a man on the porch of James Monroe Smith's old barn in Smithonia.
“This fellow was standing outside that barn, and on the side, he saw this guy in a suit just standing there, looking out over the property,” Adkins said. “He always thought that it was James Smith. There’s not really any way to verify that, but that's just the feeling that he got. He had that kind of air about him.”
With every ghost story comes skepticism; listeners often question whether the story is embedded in fact, exaggerated over time, or simply the product of imagination and folklore.
Jeff Clarke, an Oglethorpe County resident, historian and owner of Athens Haunted History Walking Tours, is no stranger to skepticism. He stressed the importance of uncovering the real history behind every ghost story.
“We need historical documentation when we're doing those stories, that's one thing,” Clarke said. “When we’re pairing them with a historical event, it's imperative to get the history right.”
Clarke's research extends well beyond his own business. He has collaborated with Georgia Public Broadcasting and traveled to numerous cities across the state, yet he believes some of the most compelling stories reside in Oglethorpe County.
“There is one family that I spoke to up along Cloud’s Creek, close to where Watson Mill is, and they had mentioned the wife came in one day, very excited; there was a man on the property, and he's dressed 'funny’,” Clarke said. “She saw him out of the corner of her eye. Since then, she has seen him numerous times.”