Swan Pond Church



Swan Pond Methodist Church is located in the Swan Pond Community of Harriman, TN. The church is located on top of a hill, and is surrounded with woods, giving it the feel of an authentic haunted site. The church was founded long ago, and Swan Pond was one of the oldest communities of Harriman, actually predating the city itself. After all those years, one can expect the area to boast at least a few spooks.

Swan Pond Methodist Church is most notorious for a preacher who supposedly hung himself in the church during the early to mid 1980s. According to legend, if you drive around the church after dark, you can sometimes see the preacher hanging from the bell tower. I have actually spoke with someone who claimed to have seen the body.

She reports: "It was Friday night, and I was out with some friends cruising, the usual Friday night teenage stuff. Well, one of my friends mentioned the church, and told me the story about the preacher who hung himself, and how he haunts the church now, and how you can still see him hanging. I had heard stories to that effect before, but didn't believe them. Well, we decided to go there and look for ourselves. It was really late, I would guess 1 or 2 AM. We drove up to the church and stopped. It was pretty spooky. Then my friend yelled that he saw it. I looked up, and sure enough, there was what appeared to be a man dangling from the bell tower. I screamed, and almost needed a new pair of pants! Needless to say, we slammed on the gas, and sped out of there."

The most interesting thing about this legend is that the story of the preacher who committed suicide never happened! A former member of the church told me that this tale was only a myth. So what did that lady see hanging from the bell tower? There's no way to know, though there are some interesting facts which can be proven that could possibly deal with the ghost. Located in the church's cemetery are two headstones who say that the person laying there was murdered. The graveyard is also said to be a haven for paranormal activity, but we'll get to that later. Also of note is a social gathering that took place in the Swan Pond Community nearly a century ago. After the gathering, at least six people became ill and died mysteriously. It was widely suspected that someone poisoned the people, but no proof was ever found. Perhaps their restless spirits like to mess with teenagers who go parking at the church.

The cemetery surrounding the church is also said to be haunted. The ghosts of the long dead are said to roam about the grounds at night. In addition to the general "Black Aggie" tales, there are also lights that move about the graves. These lights are usually red, and sometimes take the shape of eyes, so that it appears someone or something is staring at you. There's also an unusual mist that rises from the graves. It has appeared prominently in some photos taken there.

I've seen online another tale which says that if you drive around the church on a certain Saturday of the month at midnight, everything around you seems to disappear momentarily. Quite bizarre indeed.

So what causes the haunting at this church? What did the lady see out that night? Was it really someone hanging from the bell tower? Or was it just the result of a wild Friday night? Who knows. The church still has services, but has fewer than ten members. Of course, these members would prefer not to talk about the ghostly happenings there. Still, tales do usually have some basis in fact, and this one is likely no exception.

 

More Info...




Read my Dreambook!
Sign my Dreambook!
Dreambook



©2002-2005 John Norris Brown. Part of John Norris Brown.com