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“Does Winchester Have More Ghosts Than Average?"

How many ghosts does a town typically have? It seems like it has a lot of ghosts, why is that?”

I was asked that question recently on a tour, and while I’m not sure what the average number of ghosts is for a town (or how one would even measure that!) But there are many towns across the US that have a reputation for spooks, I do know Winchester is very haunted. But why is it so haunted? That is easier to answer than trying to figure a town’s ghostly GDP.

Age has something to do with it. Winchester was chartered 280 years ago in 1744, it’s seen a lot a lot of war, it’s seen a lot of comings and goings. And just because someone has passed away, doesn’t mean they go away. But the land here is much older than Winchester itself and the Indian tribes who lived here have legends of their own.

But what about Winchester, especially downtown Winchester? Many, if not most, of those ghosts can be traced to the Civil War. Winchester was on the frontier or the war, positioned perfectly between the North and the South. The town was nice to have but hard to hold onto because the surrounding hills were able to hide the encroaching armies, which explains why Winchester passed hands at least 72 times with 13 major occupations.

Each occupation spelled disaster for residents, especially when General Robert H. Milroy came to town. His hatred for the South was unrivaled; in a letter to his wife he boasted, “I intend to play tyrant to these traitors. I will make them beg for everything and will give them nothing.” Many civilians suffered and died due to his policies, and their spirits have remained seeking justice.

The third battle of Winchester marked the South’s last claim on the town. They were greatly outnumbered, and this time the fighting happened right on main street, not on a battlefield on the outskirts of town, but within the town. The fighting was so bad that when bodies dropped dead, they were trampled beyond recognition. The bodies never made it home, and so the spirits stayed behind. Restless and wanting to be remembered, they haunt the town to remind us that the streets we now walk, they once walked too.

Admiral Byrd’s Mysterious Flight

Admiral Richard E. Byrd. It’s a name you’re bound to hear in this area. He has streets and schools named after him. A Winchester native born in 1888, he became a world renowned aviator and explorer, especially lauded for his polar expeditions.

But one expedition has been shrouded in mystery from the very beginning: his flight to the North Pole. Did he or didn’t he make it?

On May 9, 1926 Richard Bryd and fellow pilot Floyd Bennet set out to be the first men to fly over the pole. While Byrd claimed they made it, evidence claims otherwise. Here is what we know.

Mysterious Navigation: Early pilots got lost, navigation is an art form and a science, but some believe Byrd’s methods and tools were intentionally imprecise. His tools and the treacherous Arctic landscapes with converging lines of latitude and longitude provided the perfect cover for him to claim having made it to the pole when he did not. A Race to The Top: When Byrd, Bennet, and their crew arrived on the island of Spitsbergen, they weren’t the only ones there. A team of European explorers were already there setting up for their own flight to the North Pole, determined to be the first to reach it. Anxious to claim first place, Byrd was willing to lie about his flight to beat the other team. Vanishing Act: The flight logbook for the aircraft Josephine Ford, mysteriously went missing. Without the log book, discrepancies are easier to hide. However, a discovery of Byrd’s diary kept in his flight-shed tells us, in his own hand, that he turned back while still 160 miles from the North Pole. The absence of one book and appearance of another continues to fuel suspicions of a cover-up. Low Fuel and flight times: Doubts linger about the aircraft having enough fuel to make it to the Pole, and that 16 hours wasn’t enough time to make it to the Pole and back. Byrd claims they had a fortunate tail wind helping them, but there’s no way to verify that. A Key Witness: Byrd and Bennet were awarded rare peacetime medals of honor for their flight. Bennet was reluctant to accept his award. He told his friend Bernt Balchan, “I don’t want to go down to Washington and get another medal for the north polar thing.” His honesty must have gotten the best of him and that’s why he tried to refuse the award, because Bennet later confessed that he and Byrd were short of reaching the North Pole

The mystery of Admiral Byrd’s flight remains an unsettling mark in his otherwise impressive career. The questions about his North Pole claim are a testament that darkness and deceit can lurk just below the veneer of heroism and triumph.

Can Animals See Ghosts?

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that supports animals being able to see ghosts. The Apparition Trail even has its own story! *In 2021 a private tour group brought their two dogs along for the tour. Outside of the old Arlintong hotel and with their hackles raised, they began to snarl at the empty building where *Dysentery Dan is known to open and close the front door before running upstairs. Was there a ghost? I’d like to think so! Here are a few reasons why dogs and cats might be able to see what we miss.

Animals have heightened hearing. But how good is good? Well, compared to us, dogs can hear sounds at frequencies as high as 65,000 Hz, whereas humans can only hear up to about 20,000 Hz. Additionally, dogs have a more extensive range of hearing, being able to detect sounds at much lower volumes than humans can. Cats have even better hearing than dogs and thanks to ears that can rotate independently, they are able to easily pinpoint the source of a sound. While paranormal enthusiasts might need recorders to pick up ghostly EVPs, Dogs and cats might just be able to hear ghosts with nothing but their own ears.

Don’t forget their exceptional eyesight. Cats have night vision that far exceeds ours and dogs can pick up on slight movement we might miss. Some also theorize that animals can see wavelengths of light or energy outside of the range of human vision, and while ghosts might give off that an energy we can’t sense, our animals might be able to sense it.

Animals have an uncanny sixth sense and don’t over think things, making them more likely to pick up on actual ghostly activity and ignore things that aren’t while us humans rationalize away spooky experiences or turn something benign and purely random into something more sinister. In short, they trust their gut. If something says ghost, it’s probably a ghost. And why wouldn’t it be? Especially when it comes to the tour

*Yes, dogs are welcome to join us on private tours!!