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The Ghosts of Tunnel Hill
By Connie Scott
FATE :: August 2002

Strange screams coming from the woods late at night, dark figures and headless phantoms lurking around an abandoned tunnel, mysterious ghost campfires, marching dead Confederate ghost soldiers, and smells of rotted human flesh—these are all things one might expect to read about in the pages of a Stephen King novel. According to some residents of Tunnel Hill, Georgia, the same images also apply to their little town. Especially when it comes to the long-deserted train tunnel and the fields where some of the bloodiest battles of American history were fought.

Ken Sumner of Woodstock, Georgia, claims to have experienced numerous encounters with ghosts in Tunnel Hill. Widely known in the area as a Civil War preservationist and reenactor, Sumner became interested in the Western Atlantic Tunnel, more commonly referred to as the Tunnel Hill Tunnel, seven years ago.

Desolate and bordering on decay, the tunnel was in danger of destruction when Sumner and others decided to save it. Rumors of a ghostly presence in the abandoned tunnel circulated for years. During preservation efforts, Sumner experienced a bizarre occurrence firsthand. While taking a group of people to see the tunnel, Sumner was surprised to see a shape take form out of the fog.

“As we drew closer,” Sumner said, “it became obvious that the shape was a distinct outline of a human male standing just inside the tunnel mouth.”

Intrigued, the group began walking toward it, only to see it dissolve.

Because of the fighting that occurred around the tunnel during the Civil War, Sumner believes the presence witnessed by his group could have been the spirit of a long dead soldier. Another possible explanation is given by 14-year-old Timmy Howe of Tunnel Hill. Howe, whose Boy Scout troop helps direct traffic at the Civil War reenactments held near the tunnel, was told by a reenactor that a circus train passed through the tunnel long ago.

As the story goes, one of the circus workers was riding on top of the train. Another passenger attempted to alert the worker of the approaching tunnel, but the warning went unheard under the noise of the moving train. At the last moment, the worker looked back at the tunnel just in time to glimpse his sealed fate. According to the legend, he was decapitated.

“I believe the accident probably happened,” says Howe. “I don’t believe in ghosts and stuff, but I still wouldn’t go through the tunnel by myself.”

According to an article that ran in the March 30, 1916, edition of The Dalton Citizen News, showman Walter Lewis, employed by the Con T. Kennedy shows, had fallen asleep on top of a show wagon while passing through the tunnel en route to Rome, Georgia. When the train entered the tunnel, Lewis was suddenly aroused and sat up, his head striking the top of the tunnel. He was found in a semi-unconscious condition by a companion and was taken to a nearby hospital. His scalp was almost stripped from his head, and his injuries were critical. The newspaper did not state whether Lewis lived or died.

The history of the tunnel, as well as its abandoned condition, promotes an ambience of mystery and intrigue. But is it haunted? Those curious can soon check it out for themselves. Reconstruction has already begun, and plans for a historical park, which will allow public access to the tunnel, are underway ...

Read the rest of this article in the August 2002 issue of FATE

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