Showing posts with label Birmingham AL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Birmingham AL. Show all posts

Monday, October 28, 2013

Haunted Piano of Mountain Brook, Alabama

Dr. William Jordan who lived just outside of Birmingham, Alabama, purchased a piano for his kids to play as they were growing up.  He had the desire to learn how to play himself, but never had the opportunity given his busy schedule.  However, in his later years, he managed to learn and churn out a couple of tunes.  There are some that say even though Dr. Jordan is long gone he can still be heard playing the piano on certain nights.

An old piano in the Old Brower Home in Mountain Brook, Alabama is said to play tunes on it's own in the middle of the night.
An old piano in the Old Brower Home in Mountain Brook, Alabama is said to play tunes on it's own in the middle of the night.

Recent residents of Dr. Jordan's home which is now known as the Old Brower Home in Mountain Brook, settled into the house and made themselves comfortable.  Except for certain evenings when the sounds of the piano that was left in the house when they took over could be heard.  Family members report hearing "Maple Leaf Rag" and "Stars and Stripes Forever" emanating from the old Steinway piano.  When they investigate, no one is sitting at the piano, yet it sounds as if it is being played.  Those two songs are heard being repeated over and over.

Upon further investigating the piano and the former owner, it turns out that Dr. Jordan, in his elderly years learned to play only two tunes on the Steinway, "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "Maple Leaf Rag".


Location: 

3648 Clairmont Avenue, Birmingham, AL 35222
This is a PRIVATE residence!  Permission must be obtained from the owners to investigate the property.
 







References:
voices.yahoo.com

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Restless Spirits of Sloss Furnace - Birmingham, Alabama

Undoubtedly, one of he most haunted places in the state of Alabama, the Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham now abandoned as a former steel making facility has been the subject of many paranormal investigations.


Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama has been the site of many deaths over the years



Sloss furnace began operating in 1882, turning iron ore into tons of steel for many uses across the country.  One of the foremen who oversaw the night shift for a time, was notorious for overworking his crew.  His name was James Wormwood.  He would push the workers in the 120 heat, overworking them and treating them horribly.  Hundreds of workers died at the plant from the deplorable conditions that existed. Wormwood's shift became known as the "graveyard shift".

Sloss Furnace was originally constructed with one large furnace nicknamed "Alice" which remained the largest even after two more were added at the end of the decade

Records state that Wormwood was overtaken by gas fumes one fateful evening, fell and tumbled off of the top of "Alice", the largest furnace, into the fires below.  Although, many believe that there is a terrible secret being kept that the workers of the "graveyard shift", fed up with Wormwood and his ways, tossed him into the molten fires of the furnaces.


One of the tunnels of Sloss Furnace

Over the years many people have claimed to see ghostly figures lingering in the shadows near the furnaces.  Although the furnaces have been inactive for some time, concerts and events are held on the facility.  Many roaming the old furnace complex have seen the same phantom lurking in the shadows, and some have seen another.  Others have experienced other forms of paranormal activity such as hearing strange noises in the buildings, feelings of dread and doom, and more commonly, sudden drops in temperature in certain areas of the furnace.  



Sloss Furnaces can be a formidable site at night

After several witnesses on an individual basis were shown photos of the former workers, there were two common identifications.  One of them being a worker named Theophilus Jowers who loved working at the plant and considered it a close knit part of him.  However, he tragically lost his life to his love one day after he accidentally fell into the furnace.  And the other individual that was most identified as being one of the ghosts spotted in the furnace...  was none other than James Wormwood.



Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama has been made a National Historic Landmark
Sloss Furnaces, the darkened area to the left on this photo, is still a fixture of the Birmingham skyline