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Podcast: Haunted Savannah

This is the transcript and sources for the podcast that just dropped this morning on Paranormal Housewife Podcast. You can listen to it on any streaming service you listen to your podcasts on. Please subscribe to my show to be alerted to when new episodes drop. Please let me know in comments what you thought about today’s episode! 

Hi and welcome back to the Paranormal Housewife Podcast! Welcome if you’re new to this podcast. I’m Kelly, the Paranormal Housewife. I want to start out this podcast with thanking y’all for helping me reach my first big milestone. Thanks to all of y’all this podcast has already reached 100 downloads! I started this podcast because many people who follow my blog, Paranormal Housewife, suggested that I start a podcast but I wasn’t sure how well it would be received. I am blown away by y’all’s response and I am so appreciative that y’all enjoying this podcast. Katniss would also like to thank you because her gift when we got to 100 downloads was her own office chair because she likes to fight me for my chair when I write. She is currently sitting in her chair beside me, purring away because she thinks she is the podcaster. I’m also happy to report that this podcast has been download in every continent except South America! That is my next goal is to have this podcast downloaded in South America. So please share this podcast with anyone you may know in South America. 

I do have some updates for you about the paranormal investigation that happened about two weeks ago. If you listened to the last podcast episode, you know that we have been having some activity that is unusual for our normal spirits (we have a couple of objects that have spirits attached to them). The main activity I mentioned that was concerning us was the garage door opening by itself, the stove turning on by itself, and the walking heard in the ceiling of our bedroom. Well, I forgot to mention forgot to mention another thing that has been going on because at the time it wasn’t a big issue. In our downstairs hallway we have a closet with french doors. It’s basically a storage closet for our crafts, wreaths, and extra artwork we haven’t hung up yet. Before the investigation both of the doors would open occasionally. The left hand side we figured out that the mechanism that was suppose to keep the door close had become loose. After tightening it, it didn’t pop open anymore. The right hand side door (why is it always stuff on the right hand side acting up in this house?) The right hand side door is the correct tightness. You have to pull on the door quite a bit before it opens. Before the investigation the right hand side door would open once or twice every week or two. Not too often but often enough to make note of it doing it. The team members of Paranormal MIT tested the door and it’s a secure door. They helped testing opening the outside doors to see if that was causing it or walking around upstairs would trigger the door to open but nothing other than pulling on the door would actually open the door. Well… since the investigation we have gone from the door opening maybe once a week to four or five times a day. It’s getting to the point that anytime we go past it, we have to close it. And we know its not the pets causing it because Jeremy has seen it open by itself and it has opened more than once when we have either all been in the living room together (pets included) or all upstairs together. I will take having to close a door a million times a day over a garage door opening up (which leaves us vulnerable to break ins and robbery) or the stove turning on because I don’t need to worry about our safety.

During the investigation, a lot happened. I want to say how much I appreciate the investigation style of Paranormal MIT. They are very similar to how I train teams. It was very comforting to watch how they investigate. At the beginning of the investigation (and this wasn’t recorded for the livestream because we were all focusing on what we were doing) the whole team tried anything they could think of to debunk each activity. They came up with possible things causing the activity we hadn’t thought of but even those didn’t completely answer why stuff was happening. 

Throughout the investigation we kept getting names. Thanks to our neighbor and the previous resident that lived in our house, we have been able to confirm that the names were that of our neighbors and their kids; the previous resident, his kids, and their pets; and the names of other kids in our cul de sac. We also got the clearest EVP I have ever heard on an investigation in my office. We were sitting up there and one of the team members was setting up a laser pointer to shoot down the hallway because another team member thought she saw a shadow person poke its head out of our bedroom doorframe. Just before the EVP the team leader was joking about Katniss (who was in the hallway) reacting to the many laser beams. When we played back the recording, you can very clearly hear “Where are the children” being whispered by a female voice. While we didn’t get the garage door or the closet door opening during the investigation or the stove turning on, one of the team members did experience the walking on the ceiling during the investigation. Before the investigation, the team members and Jeremy each went up into the attic space. They saw that it was just fresh, white insulation up there. No signs of animals and not enough room for someone to be able to walk around up there. We also discovered that the attic spaces aren’t divided over the townhomes. Meaning all four units share one long common space up there. So that explains why our neighbors can hear it walking around as well. We also had Jeremy’s challenge coins  and a windup music box that my dad gave me before he passed away triggering their K2 meter even though they have no electric output. The team wants to come back again and we will welcome them back whenever they want. I have videos up from the livestreams up on my youtube channel. I also have the video clip showing the clear EVP on my TikTok channel. Go check them out and let me know what you think of the investigation. I will keep y’all updated as we go over the footage and receive evidence from Paranormal MIT. 

I guess I should go ahead and get into today’s topic. Today’s topic was suggested by my friend, Melissa C.. Melissa has been asking repeatedly for me to talk about Savannah. Okay Melissa. I hear you. Haha. Here is your episode! I love Savannah. Not just for the history, food, and community but also for the amount of paranormal stuff to be found down there. My last trip down there was with my last paranormal team leader, Bob. He had messaged me 10 years ago saying “I’m bored. Long weekend in Charleston and Savannah?” which I couldn’t turn down. We spent two nights in Savannah and two nights in Charleston. I should mention that Bob misunderstood my connection to the paranormal world. Because activity seems to always happen around me or near me, he (like many other people) misunderstand that I am not a psychic or a medium or anything like that. He liked to put me in situations to see if something would happen (which I don’t mind if I have the ability to consent to it) and then would pout if nothing happened. He did this a lot during that trip. One of the places we went to was the Moon River Brewing Company. It is a great brewery with a restaurant that serves delicious food. Through out our meal Bob kept asking “how are you?”, “feeling okay?”, “need to go to the bathroom?”. He seemed really disappointed when I came back from the bathroom and nothing had happened. So we did a paranormal tour of the rest of the building. The building was interesting but I definitely felt watched on the top floor and the basement. I didn’t feel comfortable in the basement. It wasn’t until after we left that I learned more about the history of the Moon River Brewery. The tour talked a lot about the paranormal activity in the building. 

Let’s first focus on the history of the Moon River Brewing Company before we get into the paranormal aspect because that explains why there is activity in the building. The building was built in 1821 by Elazer Early as a hotel called City Hotel. It was not only the first hotel in Savannah (and the nicest hotel for a while) but it was also the first post office and first bank. In 1832, a local gambler by the name of James Stark ,who was much hated in Savannah was hanging out in the City Hotel. He was disliked by many because he known for insulting other and being an all round jerk. Well on that night in 1832, James made the mistake of insulting Dr. Phillip Minus. The doctor pulled out a pistol and shot James Stark. Dr. Minus said that Stark was reaching for his own gun when he was shot but nobody around the pair could confirm that. Since Savannah needed a doctor and due to the fact that James Stark was so hated by the townsfolk, Dr. Minus was acquitted of the murder. In 1851, Peter Wiltber purchased the City Hotel. To help bring in new clientele, Peter brought a live lion and lioness to live in the hotel. In 1854 and again 1876, the building was used as a hospital during yellow fever outbreaks that devastated Savannah. During these outbreaks, many people, especially children, came down with the illness. The symptoms of yellow fever are chills, fever, back pain, and jaundice (which is where the name comes from), then the patient begins to hemorrhage from the mouth, nose and stomach. The disease runs its course in about six to seven days and typically results in death. The cause of the disease is a virus carried by a female mosquito species from Africa that has since become quite common in most Southern states. Most of the patients being kept in the building were kept on the third and fourth floors. Also most of the patients were children. Later on, in 1860, a Yankee by the name of James Sinclair decided to stay at the City Hotel. The townsfolk did not appreciate having a Yankee staying in town and decided to form a mob. The mob marched through the town until the came to the steps of the City Hotel. The mob dragged James Sinclair out of the hotel where they stripped him naked and began to beat him. Thankfully, James Sinclair was able to survive the beating but some people wonder if the emotions and trauma experienced that day are etched in the building’s memory. 

In 1864, the City Hotel closed down shortly before General Sherman came through Savannah. It wouldn’t reopen as a hotel again. From the early 1900’s, the building was used as a storage facility for lumber and coal. Then in 1960s it was turned into office space for a few years. Moon River Brewing Company opened on April 10, 1999. Since purchasing the property, the owners of Moon River Brewing Company have tried several times to renovate the upper floors but the construction crews keep being run off due to paranormal activity. One example is what happened to a woman who came to visit her husband while he worked. Her husband was the foreman of the renovation project happening on the third floor. As she began to descend the stairs, she said she pushed hard from behind which caused her to fall down the entire flight of stairs. Her husband was watching as she left and saw that no one was behind her when she was pushed. He quit the job immediately and never came back. 

Some of the other paranormal activity that goes on in the Moon River Brewing Company are varied. Folks who go on the paranormal tours often experience something while on the tour. Even just having a drink or eating a meal in the restaurant can allow a guest to experience something paranormal. In the restaurant, people often feel touched or grabbed while eating. In the main floor women’s bathroom, women often get stuck in the stall. The stall door will be unlocked but feel like its either jammed stuck or like someone is holding the door shut. A waiter that Bob and I talked to while on our trip said that if I find myself in that situation, just politely ask out loud if you can please leave the restroom. Usually when patrons do this, they find the door will spring open easily. In the bar area of the basement and restaurant, bottles of alcohol have been known to be thrown to the ground. Also in the basement is a spirit by the name of Toby. He is known for grabbing and pushes people, especially those that are playing billiards. On the top two floors, a woman is often seen dressed all in white. No one knows her history or why she is seen there. She is often called Mrs. Johnson. Also on those floors, children are heard playing, laughing, and talking. Children can be heard and occasionally felt running around. As with the foreman’s wife, people have often claimed to feel like they have been pushed or pulled down the stairs especially during the tours. When I was going up and down the stairs, I really didn’t feel anything but the stairs did make me nervous because of how steep and narrow the steps were. I don’t want to dismiss anyone’s experiences but I can’t help but wonder how many people mistook the sensation of old stairs for being pushed or pulled… 

The Moon River Brewing Company is a beautiful building with a lot of history. I love how they have embraced the paranormal side of their business and allow folks to investigate and tour the building. I hope to go back and do a proper investigation but I know that it will be a difficult investigation. Due to the location near busy streets and it being an operating business, they will be a lot of noise pollution that would make most EVPs captured unusable. Also with neighboring nightclubs and bars, some other equipment like REM pods for example, may not give accurate information. I hope that there was a few paranormal teams that were able to use the shut downs due to COVID to be able to investigate with a cleaner slate so to speak. 

The next location I want to talk about wasn’t suggested specifically by Melissa but I wanted to cover because of her. When she was talking about Savannah, Melissa mentioned the book Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil often. I read this book in high school and LOVED it. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. The book follows Jim Williams, an antiques dealer who also played a huge part in preserving much of Savannah’s historic district, who was on trial for the murder of young man named Danny Hansford. At the time of the murder, Jim and Danny had been lovers. Before the murder, Jim was known for purchasing historic homes and restoring them to how they were when they were first built and lived in. One of the homes he helped restore is the second subject of today’s post, the Hampton Lillibridge House. 

The Hampton Lillibridge House was built in 1796 and is extra special because it is one of the few clapboard houses from the late 1700s to survive the fire of 1820 which is a miracle. The fire of 1820 is a huge fire that burned for twelve hours before being put out. Many, many buildings in Savanah were destroyed in the fire. When Hampton Lillibridge passed away from yellow fever, his widow sold the house. The new owner turned the home into a boarding house. While the house was a boarding house, a sailor hung himself in one of the bedrooms. Over the course of the history of the house, death would visit this house often until Jim Williams purchased the home. He wanted to restore the home to its former glory. From the get go, Jim, his friends, and the construction workers he hired to renovate his home dealt with the paranormal. It also didn’t help the situation when Jim Williams had the house moved a few blocks down the street. This move seemed to really upset the spirits that called the house home. While the home was being moved, part of the ceiling collapsed which killed one of the laborers helping to move the home. 

While working on the home, construction crews would often feel a tingling sensation on their necks. They also had to deal with their supplies and tools constantly being moved or disappearing. When the local news station got wind of this activity, they decided to stop by one night to see what was going on. The news crew was greeted with construction material being thrown at them from unseen entities. Another time while Jim Williams was out of town, his neighbors called him to tell that he needed to control the party going on at his home. He explained that no one should be over there and asked two of his friends to go take care of the situation for him when the neighbors said that not only could they hear the noise and music from the party but they could also see people dancing on the third floor. The two friends went to the dark house and walked into house. While standing on the first floor, they heard footsteps on the next floor. They raced upstairs to see who was in the home. While on the top floor looking for the source of the footsteps, one of the friends was grabbed by the ankles and dragged towards the open hole in the floor that use to be a fireplace. The second friend was able to grab him before he fell down the hole. They immediately left. 

Some of the spirits didn’t stay invisible though. An apparition of a tall man in black suit and a light colored tie has been seen watching people from a third floor window. A spirit of a middle aged man wearing a grey robe has been seen occasionally walking through the house. Jim Williams had also seen a shadowy figure walk up to him but the figure disappeared as it reached him. Another time, Jim Williams chased a spirit down a hallway and had to stop the chase when the spirit slammed a door shut behind it. Jim Williams found the door locked tight. Jim Williams reported that he was often woken at night by the sound of footsteps but it was the regular footsteps that most people associate with haunted homes. Instead it sounded like someone was walking over broken glass. When Jim Williams would investigate, not only would he not find anyone in his house but he also wouldn’t find any broken glass. Jim Williams and the construction crews also had to put up with lights turning on and off by themselves and with the front door opening of its own accord often. 

In an attempt to be able to live peaceably in his home, Jim Williams had a bishop come out to conduct an exorcism. The exorcism happened December 7, 1963. The bishop went through the house blessing the home. It seemed to have worked because Jim Williams was able to live in the house comfortably for a few days. The footsteps and other activity came back within a week of the exorcism. Jim Williams ended up selling the house a few years later. 

The Hampton Lillibridge house, while it may be a stop on some paranormal tours in Savannah, is currently a private residence. Please be respectful of the current families privacy by not bothering them and be mindful of what photos you take from the outside. I can’t imagine how creepy it would be to have strangers taking pictures of the outside of my home at all hours of the night. Definitely do not go onto the property if you haven’t been invited by the owners. 

The final location I want to talk about has a dark history. If you have little ones around or are sensitive to violent deaths, I recommend not listening to the history of this next location. For the rest of y’all, let’s continue. The last location I want to talk about in this podcast is the Gribble house. This house has always interested me not only because of the paranormal stories told about it but because of the history of the house. Many like to call the Gribble house Savannah’s Villisca Axe Murder House. 

On December 10, 1909 three women were brutally killed within the Gribble house. At the time of the murder, Eliza Gribble lived in the home with her daughter, Carrie Ohlander. She also rented a room to a young woman named Maggie Hunter. Maggie, 35 years old, had just moved into the house the day before the women were attacked. She was in the process of leaving her marriage. When their bodies were found Eliza, who 76 years old at the time of her death, was found sitting in her chair in the back bedroom. Her skull had been crushed from two blows from an axe. Carrie, who was only 36 years old at the time of her death, was found in the hallway with her throat slit. Their tenant, Maggie, was found by the front door with her head beaten and her throat also slashed. Unlike Eliza and Carrie though, Maggie was still alive when found. She was quickly taken to the hospital. The city of Savannah quickly turned out to try and find the attacker but they wouldn’t have to wait long for the identity of the killer. As Maggie was dying in the hospital, she was able to whisper to the minister that sat by her bedside. Reverend John Wilder was told by Maggie that her husband, JC Hunter, was the one that attacked all three women. Maggie would soon die after her confession. JC Hunter went on trial for the three murders. The jury convicted him and sentenced him to death by hanging. However a year later his sentence was changed to life in prison. Twelve years after that change in sentence, JC Hunter received a pardon by Governor Clifford Walker. 

Since the murders, the Gribble house has been torn down and a warehouse has been built where it was stood. This warehouse seems to be storing spirits along with the other items being stored there. I have heard that as many as 30 spirits may roam the hallways of the warehouse. Some of the spirits are said to be slaves that use to live on the property. A variety of different paranormal activity has been reported over the years. Voices and footsteps can be heard often. A shadow figure in the shape of a large man has been seen running through the warehouse. A woman dressed in white has been seen on some of the paranormal tours. Be careful when going to this house because many people have been scratched by unseen hands. There use to be a paranormal company that would do guided tours and offer investigations at this location but I can’t tell if they are still in operation. Their website and phone number aren’t working so I am going to assume no, they are no longer operating these tours. Which is a shame because according to the reviews I came across, many guests were able to learn how to use paranormal equipment and had many experiences. This location has been feature on Ghost Adventures. 

There are so many haunted locations and creepy stories out of Savannah that I could probably make a whole season out of Savannah’s spooky locations. I have spent many vacations down there and it will always feel like another home to me. Not only do I feel at home among the many spirits that call Savannah their home but the people of Savannah are some of the nicest folks you’ll ever meet. I really recommend going to Savannah for your next vacation, especially if you want to experience something spooky.

Thank you so much for listening to this podcast episode. If you are in the mood for more spookiness, go check out my blog Paranormal Housewife dot com. There I talk more about haunted locations, creepy cryptids, and spooky urban legends. I have hundreds of posts on a variety of interesting topics. So definitely go check it out. This week on the blog, though, there won’t be any new posts because I am trying to play catch up on some projects I have been neglecting, as well as training for a new job and starting a huge jewelry order for my husband’s unit. I am also getting ready to celebrate my birthday in about a week or so.  But I will have new post next Tuesday and Thursday! The topic for next week is haunted location in Puerto Rico! I wish I was celebrating my birthday in Puerto Rico but I will settle with sunny San Diego instead. I just want to be somewhere warm and fun. 

If you would like to read a copy of the transcripts for this episode, please check out the post on my blog about this episode. Also on that post, you can find a list of some of the resources I used while researching this topic. You can also check out my social media pages to see all the cool things going on with me, my family, our pets, and our spirits. On most platforms you can find me as Paranormal Housewife. The only exception is twitter where I am ParanormalHW. If you would like to reach out with suggestions, questions, or feedback either dm me on one of the social media platforms or send an email to me. My email address is kelly at paranormal housewife dot com. Just fyi that’s kelly with a y. I hope y’all have a great week and that you get a chance to do something spooky. If you do, tag me in your posts. I love seeing what y’all get up to. Y’all stay spooky! Bye y’all! 

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