Haunted Attractions in Elizabethton Tennessee

Tennessee is both beautiful and ghost-filled.

Tennessee is famous for its green rolling hills, musical history and barbecue, but it has a rich paranormal history as well. Elizabethton, Tennessee, is a rare city whose civil war, slave holding and Native American past continues to resonate among its current day residents. With a population of about14,000 as of 2010, ghost hunters can hear plenty of local ghost stories and check out some scenic and spooky sites when visiting this Appalachian Mountain town.

Watauga River Bridge

The Old Steel Bridge is a historic fixture of Elizabethton.

Built in the 1920s, the Watauga Bridge or Old Steel Bridge was a gathering place for teens to romance and find some privacy. During the 1930s, this scenic retreat became the scene of a horrific attack and murder. Two young lovers were viciously stabbed; the woman died immediately, while the young man ran to an approaching car and was whisked away to the hospital, where he later died. Police never found the attacker or the girl's body.

Teens now head to this bridge after dark to experience paranormal events. They see the apparition of a dark figure wandering the locale and hear otherworldly sounds of car doors slamming and often the shuffling of someone in the back seat.

Watauga River Bridge
Elizabethton, TN 37643

Gwendolyn's House

Old homes seem to hold spiritual energy.

Located off Bristol Highway, this century-old home is the apparent residence to spirit dogs and the apparition of a small girl who seems to want to be left alone. A mix of residual and intelligent hauntings, the Gwendolyn House is a popular paranormal hunting ground. The actual location of this house is a highly guarded secret, but talk to locals in Elizabethton to get directions from the Bristol Highway to this known haunt.

Gwendolyn's house
Elizabethton, TN 37643

Carter Mansion

An archeological dig on the Carter Mansion location brings lots of questions.

Built in the late 1770s on Cherokee land, this mansion's history is steeped in tragedy from the very start. Before the mansion was even complete, John Carter, the builder, died of syphilis. Generations of Carters continued to live the good life there without respecting the home or land.

After many generations, the Carter family diminished, and the home fell into disrepair. Late, multiple skeletons had been discovered by the archeology department of the University of Tennessee, and it seems that the spirits of slaves, Indians and Carter family members continue to visit this place from another realm.

Tours of the location are available so that everyone can enjoy paranormal happenings like otherworldly screams and apparitions of little boys, slaves and Cherokee warriors.

Carter Mansion
1013 Broad Street
Elizabethton, TN 37643
[phone]
[phone]
elizabethton.org

References

• Ghosts of America: Tennessee
• John Norris Brown: Ghosts of Tennessee: Watuaga Bridge
• Appalachian Ghost Walk: Gwendolyn's House

Resources

• Shadowlands: Tennessee Haunted Places
• Haunt Masters Club: Carter Mansion
• Elizabethton: Historic Places: Carter Mansion