HAUNTED TALES OF THE CAPE FEAR

At the Burgwin-Wright House, we often get questions about ghost stories and strange experiences. In a 250-year-old home built on top of the city's first jail, it is understandable why people might ask! So we thought it would be interesting to talk about not only the ghost stories at the Burgwin-Wright House, but also those at other historic sites in the Cape Fear. But we are doing it with a twist. No ghost story just materializes out of thin air, so we are investigating these stories through the lens of the real history that inspired them and talking with local historians about how they might be helpful in preserving this history for the future.

Episodes include historic sites like Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, Bellamy Mansion, Latimer House, Wilmington Railroad Museum, Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts and others.

Listen to the all the "Haunted Tales of the Cape Fear" episodes in the player below, or explore individual episodes beneath the player.

Episode 1: The Burgwin-Wright House

This season on Burgwin-Wright Presents..., we are chasing down the Haunted Tales of the Cape Fear and talking about the history behind these persistent stories. What gives a good ghost story its credibility? There's no better place to start than at home with the Burgwin-Wright House. With museum director Christine Lamberton, we look at how the dual history of the city's first jail and its grandest Colonial home has come to inform centuries of spooky encounters and what they say about the house's history.

Episode 2: The Wilmington Railroad Museum

The Wilmington Railroad Museum tells the story of the Cape Fear's century-long history as a pioneer of the railroad in the United States. But it also tells the stories of the people who kept the lines running, who gave their blood, sweat and tears to the job. It is those real experiences that have helped inspire ghost stories at the museum, which sits on the former site of the Atlantic Coastline Railroad.

Joining the episode to talk those persistent stories and the misinformation associated with the railroad industry is Wilmington Railroad Museum director Holli Saperstein.

Episode 3: Brunswick Town

The origins of the Cape Fear region as we know it began at Brunswick Town, the first permanent settlement established in 1726. It wouldn't survive past the Revolutionary War, but its few decades of life have inspired tales of life and loss, success and failure –– all of which fuel the ghost stories that continue to live on its shores.

Joining the episode to talk about the sightings at Brunswick Town and the ways in which these haunted tales get started is Jim McKee, the site manager of Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site in Winnabow.

Episode 4: The Latimer House

A house isn't a home without the stories and experiences of the families that live under its roof. But lives leave behind more than just stories.

In the case of The Latimer House, some reckon with the tremendous loss associated with its namesake family by telling stories of children lingering in the windows and racing across the floors long after they are gone. But is it true? And what does the Latimer House teach us about life and death in the 19th century?

Joining the episode to talk about history and hauntings is Dr. Ginger Davis, the executive director of the Latimer House, the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society and the Ida B. Kellum Archives.

Episode 5: Poplar Grove Plantation

Poplar Grove Plantation has seen progress sweep past it on all sides since it first started producing peanuts in the late 1700s. Over the past two centuries, it served as a home and a haven for the Foy family, and has become an important vessel for talking about Gullah Geechee history in the Southeastern United States. But has all that life spawned any ghost stories on the site?

Joining the episode to talk about the history, evolving narrative and haunted happenings of Poplar Grove Plantation is executive director Caroline Lewis.

Episode 6: Thalian Hall

Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts has been an icon of Wilmington since it first opened its doors in 1858. From world-class productions on its stage to vitally important work done inside the city hall under the same roof, few structures have been as consequential to Wilmington's history as Thalian Hall. But a century and a half of indelible experiences has also left behind stories of unexplained presences and ghostly helping hands.

Joining the episode to talk about this haunted history is Shane Fernando, the CEO of Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts.

Episode 7: Bellamy Mansion

When you see an old home from outside its iron gates, your mind makes up stories of what could possibly be hidden behind the front door. In many cases, that air of mystery conjures stories of ghosts and unexplained occurrences.

At the Bellamy Mansion, life-long residents just out of reach led locals to wonder if the antebellum home at Fifth and Market Street may have more residents than just those among the living. Decades later, those stories persist, but are they true?

Joining the episode to talk about the house's history is Leslie Randle Morton, the associate director of the Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design Arts.

Episode 8: Battleship North Carolina

Battleships bear witness to the worst side of the human condition. They share in the triumphs of war and bear the scars of defeat in equal measure.

It is no wonder that the Battleship North Carolina, the most decorated American vessel from World War II, garners a lot of interest for its ghost stories. But are they true? 

Joining the episode to answer that question is Danielle Wallace, the programs director for the Battleship North Carolina.