Stone Lion Inn

Guests have trouble sleeping at this bed and breakfast located in Guthrie, Oklahoma. A small child often bothers them.

In 1907, F.E. Houghton had this 3-story, 8,000 square foot home built for his wife and six children. Once they moved in, the Houghton’s had six more children.

Tragedy struck his family when their 8-year-old daughter contracted whooping cough. This young girl, Augusta was bedridden and despondent.

She was given the only medicine used at the time. It was cough syrup laced with codeine and opium.

The nurse accidentally gave her too much, and she died.

The Houghton family leased the house in the 1920s, to an undertaker, who used it as a funeral home for eight years.

The Houghton’s moved back into the house in the 1930s. Mr. Houghton died of a stroke in 1943. Mrs. Houghton, her children grown, then ran the home as a “boarding house” until her death in 1958.

Stone Lion Inn

By 1986, Becky Luker turned the building into a B&B. The renovations made on the old home, during this time, stirred the paranormal activity up.

But ghosts were present before this.

F.E. Houghton is believed to haunt the home as well as a dark, intimidating male presence in the basement. This mysterious entity is connected to this room because it was once used as the morgue.

Embalming table.

The embalming table used, still remains in the home.

But the ghost at Stone Lion that is seen the most is Augusta. She is a mischievous presence.

At first, Luker and her sons, hearing footsteps on a nightly basis, called the police—afraid of intruders. But these officers never found anyone.

On the third floor is a toy chest that once belonged to the Houghton children. The new owners often found the toys strewn about in the morning.

The remaining Houghton family members reassured them not to be concerned. It was just Augusta playing—as she had done for years, after her death.

Augusta is also heard running up and down the back staircase as well as running around the third floor. She is often heard giggling.

Many guests at this inn have reported encounters with this little girl.

Guest room.

They have seen her small figure tucking them into bed at night, and she often strokes people’s faces to wake them up in the morning.

She likes to squeeze guests toes as they sleep.

Other guests have complained that they couldn’t rest because Augusta played on their bed all night. Or that she bounced a wooden ball throughout the night.

Paranormal teams that have investigated this B&B have picked up cold spots throughout the inn, as well as EVPs of both a child’s voice and a male voice.

Augusta’s Cursed Pillar

An odd solitary pillar in the Romanesque style is located in the center of downtown Augusta, Georgia. This pillar is connected to a curse that was placed upon the town by a fanatical preacher in 1829.

Near where this pillar stands was once the town’s bustling open-air market—known as Lower Market.

Old postcard of Augusta market,
piller portico not pictured,
was to right of this view.

One afternoon as the residents bartered for fruit, vegetables and livestock a preacher was tying to make his sermon heard above the din of the shoppers.

In one version of this story, it is said a policeman approached this preacher and told him to stop preaching for he was disturbing people.

In another version, the preacher became frustrated because no one was listening to him.

Regardless, he became so angry he entreated the heavens to curse the town. He shouted that an “ill-wind” would sweep away the marketplace.

He told the people who were now paying attention that proof of his prophesy would be one stone pillar would remain standing. He concluded his threat with the statement that if any one touched or tried to remove the pillar they would die.

One story states this preacher—an abolitionist-- had come to Augusta to preach against slavery.

Original cursed pillar standing
amidst the rubble
after tornado.

Forty-nine years later, on February 8, 1878 the preacher’s prophecy came true. A freak winter tornado leveled the Lower Market. Only one pillar was left standing.

This pillar was part of a row of columns that held up a portico that was the entrance to the market. The market was not rebuilt and this lone pillar then oddly stood along a grand boulevard.

Various attempts to defy the preacher’s warning have become legendary in Augusta for over a century.

The first attempt was made right after the 1878 tornado. One man clearing the debris away decided to impress the crowd that was gathered.

He tied ropes to the pillar and tried to pull it down. But as he did this he dropped dead of a heart attack.

Another legend connected to the pillar states a grocer bought the pillar for $50.

He had it moved to Fifth and Broad Streets near his store hoping to attract attention. Shortly after this he died.

A few years later as construction was being done on Broad Street, two more men tried to pull the pillar down with ropes. Lightning struck the pillar killing both men.

It is also stated curious visitors who have taken chips of the stone pillar away with them have become ill and have had to extend their stays in Augusta.

In more recent years, a man driving along Broad Street hit the pillar with his car by accident. Though his car was barely damaged, this driver died at the scene.

In 1935, another car hit this pillar—this time the driver survived but the pillar was reduced to a pile of brick and cement—according to the Augusta Chronicle.

By this time the pillar and the legends that surround it were viewed with affection so a local market owner had it rebuilt.

Replica of pillar.

In 1936, it was moved to the southwest corner of Fifth and Broad Streets—none of the men who moved it suffered from the curse. But this was not the original cursed pillar.

On Friday the 13^th in June of 1958, a bale of cotton on a passing truck fell off and bumped the column knocking it over. The driver was not injured.

After this, the pillar was moved an additional 8 feet from the curb to prevent further accidents.