The Galveston County Daily News

Looking for a good ghost story this season? You don’t have to go far. Galveston County, infamous for its tragic past and grisly murders, is crawling with spooky stories.

Some say Galveston Island is one of the most active haunts in the country, largely because the island still holds the distinction as being the site of the nation’s deadliest natural disaster.

More than 6,000 people perished in the 1900 Storm — but those ghosts aren’t the only ones haunting the county.

Slaves, Civil War prisoners and plague victims died here, too.

For more about the county’s frightening history, check out these reportedly haunted sites.

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Ashton Villa, 2328 Broadway , Galveston

Is Ashton Villa really haunted with the ghost of “Miss Bettie” Brown?

The Galveston Historical Foundation only will hint at the mansion’s alleged spirits.

The foundation gives spooky tours of the antebellum mansion through Oct. 31, but you can check it out for yourself anytime.

The Victorian home was built in 1859 by a wholesale hardware merchant, railroad corporation president and banker, James Moreau Brown.

Bettie was his daughter. She is said to appear from time to time on the second-floor landing in a long turquoise gown. Some have even heard the piano in the Gold Room played at night by unseen hands, even though Bettie never played the piano.

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The Mediterranean Chef, 2401 The Strand, Galveston

Dash Beardsley, Galveston’s most famous ghost hunter, claims the building now occupied by the Greek restaurant is haunted by a young Galveston police officer named Daniel, who was shot during a robbery in 1920 when the building was a bank.

Daniel wasn’t ready to die.

Restaurant employees have long complained of unexplained happenings, such as plates moving by themselves or a toilet that continually flushes.

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The Strand, Galveston

Beardsley says most buildings on The Strand are haunted by ghosts of the victims of the 1900 Storm, still the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

Some buildings on The Strand were used as makeshift morgues after the hurricane.

Shop owners have reported bizarre occurrences, such as seeing items being pushed off shelves and hearing footsteps.

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Tremont House, 2300 Mechanic, Galveston

A ghost of a Civil War soldier is said to haunt the first floor lobby, bar and dining areas of this downtown hotel.

Staff members have reported seeing and hearing the ghost marching up and down a hallway in the front lobby near the elevators, GalvestonGhost.com reports.

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Green Caye Golf Course, Dickinson

Golfers at Dickinson’s Green Caye Golf Course have claimed they have heard a woman crying at dusk.

“The White Lady,” as players named her, reportedly slides open the clubhouse’s automatic doors at 9 p.m. every few days.

A paranormal specialist and psychic concluded that the spirits of a mother and her daughter, beaten to death with a shovel, wander the clubhouse’s hallways and the second-floor apartment.

The Hotel Galvez

2024 Seawall Blvd., Galveston

Paranormal stories abound at the 98-year-old luxury hotel on the Gulf of Mexico.

The most well-known story is that a spirit of a woman resides on the fifth floor.

As the story goes, the woman checked into a room on the fifth floor and would spend her days at the turrets, scanning the sea for her fiancé.

When she heard he had died, she returned to the turrets and hung herself, according to GalvestonGhost.com.

Hotel staff members report feeling a sudden cold breeze on the fight floor and seeing a strange light in the turrets.

Staff members have also reported that stall doors in the women’s restroom will violently rattle, according to GalvestonGhost.com reports.

For those interested in the spooky side of the Galvez, the hotel concierge gives guided tours where guests can use electromagnetic field detectors and infrared thermometers to do their own paranormal investigation.

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Haunted Happenings

• Ashton Villa’s” Are We Haunted?” Tours: Every Friday in October at 5 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Special tours at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Oct. 31.

• Hotel Galvez Ghost Tours: Every Thursday through Oct. 29. The tour begins at 5:30 p.m. and lasts one hour. Tickets are $10 per person and available in the hotel’s gift shop. Ticket holders will also receive a 20 percent discount at Bernardo’s Restaurant at Hotel Galvez.

• Haunted Harbor Tours Aboard Seagull II : Every Friday and Saturday in October at 4:30 p.m. Special tours at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Oct. 30 and 31. The one-hour narrated excursion around Galveston’s harbor, aboard Texas Seaport Museum’s Seagull II, stresses ghostly legends and lore based on the harbor’s often tragic history.

• Galveston Ghost Tours: Paranormal expert, Dash Beardsley, gives tours at 7:30 p.m. every Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30pm and at 6 p.m. Sundays starting at the Railroad Museum, 25th Street and Strand.

• Haunted Cemetery Tours: A guided walking tour at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Oct. 29, Oct. 30 and Oct. 31 in the island’s historic cemeteries on Broadway.

• Colonel Paddlewheel Boat Dinner Cruise and Halloween Contest: 7 p.m. Oct. 31.

• Halloween Fun at The San Luis: Be a “Victim” at H2O and The San Luis Bar on Oct. 30 and 31 for The San Luis Resort’s “All Hallows Eve & Halloween Festivities.”

Source: Galveston.com