Spirits, spectres and seraphs

It’s the time of year where the chilly breezes raise bumps on your arms and make you shiver. But there just may be more behind those hairs standing on end. Macon is a very old city and has had many residents throughout the years. Some of these residents may have never left. Here are just a couple of Macon’s famous ghost stories.
The Columns: This house is located at 315 College Street. It earned the name the Columns because of the columns on the front of the house, but the house was originally built in 1860 and owned by Nathan Beall. Because of the Civil War, various people moved in and out of the house and it finally fell into the hands of Captain Sam Dunlap in 1901. In the 1940s, it gained the pet name “The Columns” from the hostess. During the 1970s and 1980s, the house was remodeled and used as a restaurant, and it was at this point the ghost stories began. Some claimed that the stories were manufactured to create allure, but others tell of the traditional ghost clues, such as blinking lights, cold spots, strange noises and mysterious markings.
There are many stories about the haunting of the house as a restaurant, including ice jumping out of glasses, apparitions of girls in white dresses and lights on the same light switch going on and off at different times with no one near the switch. The creepiest story, however, is the story of the stain that cannot be removed close to the house, where a young woman jumped from the second story to her death.
Uncle Pliny: “Uncle Pliny” and his wife Mamie haunt the Bennett house at 990 Georgia Avenue. They were the second owners of the house. Homeowners frequently hear unexplained footsteps, especially late at night. Eccentric Uncle Pliny and his wife Mamie arrived to Macon early in the 20th century. Mamie loved moving around and living in different places, but Pliny was tired of trying to restart his practice in every city, so the couple settled here in Macon in the house on Georgia Avenue. It is quite possible they never left.
Allman Brothers Big House: At 2321 Vineville Avenue, The Big House stands as a museum dedicated to the Allman Brothers Band. Long before it was owned by the famous rock group, it was owned by Nathaniel Harris, governor of Georgia and one of the founders of Georgia Tech. Supposedly, the alleged ghost haunting the house comes from his era. Women living in the house have frequently had accidents on the stairs of the home, usually in the same place. This place in the stairs has been replaced since the house was built and the spindles of the railing have been replaced. There have been strange door sounds, dogs acting oddly, electrical disturbances and even strange smells inside of the building. The strongest ghost sign would be an apparition of a woman around a resident’s bed.
“At the top of the stairs people have felt an energy force,” stated Executive Board Member for the Big House Museum John Lynskey, “It definitely is a belligerent force.” Lynskey described people claiming they were knocked down the stairs by a negative energy force and that the force has been around for years and years.
It isn’t all negative though. Lysnkey also described a positive force experienced when listening to Allman Brothers Band music on the third floor of the house. He says he experienced the positives waves himself and believes they are lingering energy from Duane Allman and Berry Oakley.
So next time you go out, remember to put on your jacket and maybe keep an eye out for a lonely spirit walking around Macon.