Traces of Ghosts Who Rode the Rails

When the Great Depression hit America in the 1930s, more than a million men and women were forced to seek food and work—thousands of miles from their homes.

Riding the rails.

The only way they could afford this travel was by hopping a freight train, illegally. In just one year, it is estimated that 6,500 hoboes, as they were called, were killed in accidents or by railroad “bulls.”

These bulls were the brutal guards hired by the railroad companies to make sure no one but paying customers rode on their trains.

Many people who became famous later rode the rails. Including the Novelist Louis L’Amour, TV host Art Linkletter, Oil billionaire H. L. Hunt, the Journalist Eric Sevareid and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.

Hopping a freight

Because the bulls were always on the lookout, hoboes were forced to hide near the tracks. As the trains picked up speed and past them, they had to run, then grab hold and jump in the moving boxcars.

Unfortunately, sometimes they missed, which resulted in lost limbs or lost lives.

When the hoboes reached their destinations, they had to jump off the moving trains before the bulls could arrest them. If caught they were often beaten, some so severely they died.

In the small town of Attalla, Alabama, several rail lines met. During the Great Depression, thousands of hoboes traveled through this area.

Mountains around Gadsden and Attalla

Riding the rails was dangerous enough but south of the Attalla rail yards the area was even more treacherous. For this community is surrounded by mountains and down the tracks are steep grades—which meant some hoboes plummeted to their deaths.

Today, passenger trains no longer travel through Attalla, and the freight trains are disappearing as well but the ghosts they brought still linger. For decades strange sightings on the south section of the tracks have been shared.

Countless ghostly figures in worn clothing, carrying knapsacks are seen strolling along the tracks.

Even more dramatic is that strange lights are seen in the surrounding mountains when these figures appear.

Two hoboes walking the tracks after being released by "bull."

The Unseen Guardian Angel

It was the early 1930s in Chicago during the Great Depression. A doctor told this story to his brother…

Dr. Brown late one night was awakened from a sound sleep by the phone ringing. He groggily groped for the receiver trying to find his glasses on the nightstand.

A husky voice on the other end pleaded, “Is this Dr. Brown?”

The doctor reassured the caller that he had reached the right number. The male voice became more desperate, “Can you come quickly? It is a matter of life and death.”

Again the doctor reassured the caller, “Yes, of course, where do you live?” The voice mumbled a number and street as the doctor found his pencil and pad of paper, he asked the man to repeat it. “It is 17 Alan Street, please hurry.”

State Street Chicago 1930s.

Since it was the middle of the night, the doctor drove across town quickly, not having to fight the regular traffic. He drove into a neighborhood that was in a poorer section, that was run down. He knew many who would not venture into this area even in the middle of the day.

He found the street and then the house number, but oddly no lights were on at the address. He hesitated, then grabbed his bag and walked up to the front door. He rang the bell and waited, no answer, so he rang once more. He tried a third time--still no response.

As he turned to leave he heard a gruff voice, “Who’s there?”

It’s Dr. Brown, someone called for medical assistance.”

“Nobody here called you. You best leave.”

The doctor retraced his steps to the car looking to see if he might have read the number wrong. He had written the number “17.” He looked around, but none of the homes on the block had lights on. He headed home wondering if it had just been someone’s idea of a prank.

He did not receive a follow-up call that night or the next day, so he soon forgot about the incident. Several weeks later he received a call from the hospital requesting he come to the emergency ward immediately.

A nurse at the reception area told him that a patient who had been involved in a severe accident had begged the staff to call him. She told him the man did not have much longer to live.

She escorted him into a large ward where a man heavily bandaged lay in a corner bed. Dr. Brown glanced at his chart, but he did not recognize his name.

The man looked up at him, “Dr. Brown, you don’t know me, but I have to talk to you. I need to beg your forgiveness.”

Puzzled, the doctor moved to the side of the bed and nodded to the nurse to leave. The dying man continued.

“Several weeks ago I called you late one night.” He hesitated and then continued, “My family, …I have been out of work for months, there was no money, I couldn’t feed my children…”

As his voice faded, the doctor leaned forward to hear his words. “I need your forgiveness.”

More confused, the doctor shook his head no and stated, “You don’t…”

The man gripped his hand stopping him, “Yes, I do. You see that night I had planned to kill you. I was going to take your money and instruments.”

Horrified, the doctor managed to reply, “But you didn’t kill me.”

“I intended to, but when I saw the big powerful young man standing at your side I was afraid. So I sent you away. Can you forgive me?”

“Yes, of course.” Dr. Brown replied in a daze. The man’s grip loosened and fell from the doctor's hand. He had held it the whole time. He took one last gasping breath and died.

As Dr. Brown recounted this story to his brother he paused, "I suspected it was just a prank. I came close to death and didn't even know it. I didn't know that my guardian angel had saved my life that night." He shook his head in wonder, "he only appeared to my assailant."

Florida: Cedar Key’s Haunted Hotel

Just off Florida’s Gulf Coast sits a small barrier reef island. Over the years, several
hurricanes and fires have devastated the community of Cedar Key on this island. But this small town has always managed to bounce back. 

1884

One structure in Cedar Key, in particular, survived both natural disasters and human tragedy. This structure’s history has left its mark in the shape of several ghosts that have been seen many times.

Today “The Island Hotel” is one of Florida’s most beautiful Bed and Breakfasts and is on the National Register of Historic Places. This structure formerly housed a general store and post office in 1859. Its walls are 12 inches thick which allowed it to weather many storms. One hurricane that hit Cedar key in 1896 flattened the whole town except for this building.

During the Civil War, the island played a vital role. Confederate Blockade Runners used Cedar Key to export cotton and lumber, and import badly needed food and supplies for their troops. 

As a result, Union troop burned down the town. This structure was the only one to survive. Confederate troops managed to take back the town, and they used this building to billet officers. After the war, the structure was used again as a general store.

One ghost that is spotted from this era is that of a young black boy who did odd jobs in the general store for the manager, after the Civil War. One day the boss spotted this boy putting something in his pocket, assuming he had stolen something he chased him out the back door. The boy was never seen again. 

A year later, when the water cistern located in the basement was being cleaned, workers found a skeleton of a child. The boy had evidently hidden in this large cistern to avoid capture and drowned. This area is accessed by a trap door at the back of the building, and it is stated that this boy’s ghost still haunts this very dark low-beamed room.

Yet another ghost from this era appears quite often at the hotel. A Confederate soldier is seen early in the morning standing at attention just inside the second-floor balcony doors. Once spotted, this apparition disappears quickly.

By the 1880s this building was being used as a boardinghouse and restaurant. It is rumored, President

Grover Cleveland stayed the night. 

In 1914, the building was renovated, and a second-floor balcony was added to the structure. 

A man by the name of Markham re-opened it as the “Bay Hotel.” One of the town’s citizens, Simon Feinberg objected to the fact that Markham had an illegal still in his attic. 

Markham denied its existence and Feinberg mysteriously died of food poisoning. 

A ghost that is spotted fits the description of Simon Feinberg. His apparition is seen mostly at night wandering the halls and rooms. He disappears quickly as well.

Credit: Ebyabe

During the Great Depression, the hotel was run as a speak-easy and brothel. At this time the structure was saved from a fire because several of the town’s firemen were visiting the hotel when this fire broke out. 

A female ghost haunts Room 27 and Room 28 in the hotel. It is said that she was a prostitute that worked in the hotel when it was a speak-easy. 

She was murdered in the hotel. She is known as the” friendly ghost” because guests who stay in these two rooms are awakened when she approaches their beds. She kisses them on the cheek and then disappears in a smoky haze.

By World War ll, the structure was so run down it was basically condemned. But in 1946 a couple, Bessie and Loyal Gibbs bought the building and brought it back to life. 

They renamed it “The Island Hotel” and its first-floor bar became well known. Regular patrons included: Pearl Buck, Vaughan Monroe, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Francis Langford, Myrna Loy, Richard Boone and John MacDonald. 

Yet another hurricane hit Cedar Key in 1950, this time the structure lost its roof, but it was quickly repaired. Since the Gibb’s passing several new owners have made even more improvements to the hotel.

Bessie Gibbs, who lived at the hotel for twenty-six years, until she became too ill to run it, is also often seen. Late at night, she is spotted walking through walls, and she likes to slam doors. 

Others have witnessed the result of her handy work. It is said she likes to move pictures and furniture around the hotel. 

Some state The Island Hotel hosts more than ten ghosts. Other ghosts at the hotel include two Native American Indians, a fisherman and a tall, thin man that has not been identified. 

Bessie’s old room is considered to have a "portal" that brings many ghosts into the hotel.

Bessie Gibbs
Florida State Archives