Haunted Hot Spot of Buford, GA
Way Of The Ray
Haunted hot spot
Some say Buford is haven for supernatural
By DON FERNANDEZ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CHARLOTTE B. TEAGLE / AJC
Chip Coffey, a local intuitive healer and former downtown Buford
merchant, visits table No. 12 at the Aqua Terra Bistro to see if he
could sense a "presence."
CHARLOTTE B. TEAGLE / AJC
Mary Pratt, who runs a co-op gallery in downtown Buford, says she has
heard voices and footsteps.
Mavis Stevens has all but memorized each crack in her stairwell.
Nine years treading up the steps at J. Reid Gallery, nothing changed
save for a new splinter here and there.
But a year ago, something caught her eye, something that appeared out of
nowhere, she said.
Etched on an eye-level brick was a clear but aged signature:
I M Levinson 6-27-1917.
According to historical records, Stevens said, a man named Levinson was
one of the contractors who helped build the streetscape where her store
was located.
"I have been up and down these stairs a million times," she said. "It
was not there. It's the absolute truth."
Welcome to downtown Buford, try not to scream.
"Everyone in Buford knows that the joint's haunted," said Chip Coffey, a
local intuitive healer. "It's like that crazy relative nobody wants to
talk about."
Amid the art studios, restaurants and tchotchke shops, there's a
not-so-secret secret on Main Street. Within the brick and mortar of this
corridor, supernatural shenanigans are an everyday occurrence.
Eerie sounds. Voices with no one there. Cold spots in warm rooms. Flying
pottery. Moving furniture. Some even refer to the corridor as the
"Buford Triangle."
Even doubters have been converted.
"I didn't believe it but it was scary," said Marie Refert, who works at
the gift shop Patina, describing her unnerving excursion into a
neighboring storefront's basement.
No one here appears immune. Nearly everyone is a believer. Ask about
city politics and voices hush. Talk about ghosts, and no one can stop
gabbing.
"I have all kinds of haunted things," said Laurie Attaway, owner of the
restaurant Aqua Terra. "Some really strange things have happened there."
The strangest was when a coffee cup went flying across the eatery's
picture window, she said. Meanwhile, table No. 12 in the basement is
rumored to be a paranormal hot spot. The temperature here is a bit
colder than the rest of the restaurant. Some patrons have become uneasy
while seated there, Coffey said.
Mary Pratt at Main St. Gallery has heard a man's voice while alone in
her studio. She's also noticed odd sounds and felt the presence of a
person when no one was there.
"It's not a bad feeling," she said.
Ghost hunter visited
Supernatural activity in downtown Buford became so pervasive a renowned
ghost hunter strode into town last year to gauge the paranormal levels.
"The energy level there was just phenomenal," said Patti Starr, a
certified ghost hunter from Lexington, Ky., and the president of Ghost
Chasers International Inc. "It's almost like a train station. There were
a lot of [ghosts] there. It's not a negative energy."
Meters judged static electricity, magnetic fields and the temperature
shifts. Starr also filmed a video inside downtown stores and captured
what she called "moving activity."
"There were some very strange shapes I have never gotten before," said
Starr, who has made hundreds of ghost hunts nationwide. "I was so
honored when I went. It's probably one of the best ghost hunts I've been
on."
A history of the bizarre
So what makes Buford such a hot spot for hauntings?
Well, there are railroad tracks adjacent to downtown. Apparently, ghosts
love railroads, Coffey said. Several underground springs line the area.
Again, the spirit world is attracted to water, he said.
Not to mention the hanging.
When the area began its renaissance in the early 1990s, an artist named
Michael had taken studio space in the area. As the story is now told,
his art went from pleasant to darker in tone. He ended up taking his own
life.
One of the area's founding artists, Lee Bomhoff, died of a mysterious
ailment four years ago in one of the buildings. He was in his late 30s,
and his death is still mourned.
"It was this great mystery," said Margret von Keiser, owner of the
Atelier gallery. "We all wanted to know what happened, because we all
loved him."
Most of the activity involves noises and inanimate objects suddenly
becoming mobile. But not all the episodes are so benign.
Virginia Lincoln, owner of Metamorphosis Antiques and Home Furnishings,
moved into a storefront up the street before she realized it was too
small for her inventory. But before she could move to her present
location, she was truly spooked by what she witnessed.
"I came downstairs and saw two black men [hanging] from the rafters
naked," she said. "Something happened there."
Her new store turned out to be a spiritual hub as well. One incident
revealed just how cavalier the attitude toward apparitions was in
Buford.
"I was hearing things turn over upstairs, and I heard footsteps,"
Lincoln said. "I called the police, and they searched the place and
found nothing. The last two officers said, 'It's not big deal. It's just
ghosts.' "
The mystical aura fits well in this area.
An artists' haven brimming with eclectic shopping and upscale eateries,
Main Street swells with colorful characters filled with stories, passion
and superstition.
"Maybe that's why all the artists came down here," von Keiser said.
Not everyone is convinced of the spiritual settlement -- at least not on
Main Street.
Not just Main Street
Sandy Sumner once owned three buildings on Main Street with her husband,
A.R. Wood. She never heard a peep. Not that she's closed to the
possibilities.
"I just think it's cute," said Summer, who now lives in North Carolina.
"We owned three buildings, but we didn't have a specific ghost story.
We're all a little wacky."
It's not just Main Street. Several of the imposing mansions and homes
that pepper the town have been rumored to be haunted.
Sumner still runs the city's historical museum and owns a home in the
city. But while she's away, she has a housesitter of sorts standing
guard.
"We have ghosts in our house," she said. "We own the old Maffitt
Boarding House. You can hear old man Maffitt walking over our heads."
Spirits and visions -- whether they exist or not -- have become part of
the downtown Buford family.
Attaway is in the process of opening a jazz-piano bar at 37 Main St.
Several years ago, a Decatur antiques dealer moved her business into the
space, Coffey said. After some unpleasant spiritual encounters, she
bolted Buford.
No problem, Attaway said.
"Bring it on," she said. "Not much fazes me anymore."