Here is a report from one of our freelancer's in the Houston
area:
(Code Named - Jezebel)
"On Friday, a few friends and I went on the Houston High Spirits tour I told
you about. The tour was given by Scott Arthur, a former TV & radio
personality here in Houston. He and his partner, Sandy Webb (she was not
present that night) have been running the tour for about three years. They
claim to have had over 10,000 people take it. I would describe the tour
itself as a bit "sensationalistic," but it was definitely worthwhile.
Unfortunately, it was lighter on history than I would like. Nevertheless,
since I took some interesting photos, I will go ahead and give a mini-report
and send you copies of a few of them. :)
The tour begins at the Spaghetti Warehouse-- a restaurant in downtown
Houston. It was once a cotton and pharmaceutical warehouse. Supposedly,
it is a "portal," like a train station, to the spirit world. Hence, the
reason I'd describe the tour as a little sensationalistic. The restaurant
is renown for being haunted, and the area nearby it has been under heavy
construction for quite some time. In any event, I took some interesting
pictures there. The upstairs is the place which is reputed to be the most
haunted. I took a picture of a very clear orb above the picture of a man
who at least one psychic has said is the "gatemaster" to this spiritual
portal. Another girl on the tour took a picture of a bench in the ladies
bathroom and the picture had a clear face on it. It was truly bizarre.
I've asked her for a copy of her pic. Additionally, downstairs, the EMF
readers we had were going batty, so I snapped a few shots and ended up with
a few orbs. (The tour gives you an EMF reader. I thought about buying one,
but was wondering if you could recommend a better one?)
The second place that we went, via bus, was the Founders Memorial Cemetery,
located on Dallas Street, due West of Downtown Houston. It is not very big,
about a half acre, if I were "guesstimating." Nevertheless, some very
prominent people are buried there including: the Allens (the founders of
Houston), Robert Barr (a postmaster general for the Republic of Texas) and
many veterans of the Texas War for Independence. Supposedly, although some
markers exist, there are about 850 people buried there who died of cholera
or sickness and whose graves were not marked. The trip there was one of
the highlights. The tour guide, Arthur, maintained that an actual ghost has
appeared. However, as you can see from my photos, there appears to be a
face on the grave of Robert Barr. It was not there or visible to the naked
eye.
The third stop a bar named the Brewery Tap. I've been going there for
years. It supposedly has a ghost, named William, who will talk to the
owners. I took several pictures with a few clear orbs in them. One photo
that the tour guides showed-- taken in the same spot as I took the orbs--
appeared to show ectoplasm with a man from the 40's materializing out of it.
Since it was on the ceiling, it is definitely an interesting story. I
cannot vouch for their photo's validity, but mine did pick up orbs.
The fourth stop was the Julia Ideson Building. This is the archive portion
of the Houston Public Library System. The building opened in 1926.
Supposedly there was a black man, a Mr. Cramer, who worked as the janitor.
He loved to play the violin and could read. He died in 1936, in the
building's basement. His body was taken to Kansas, but because ghostly
violin music is now heard, the story is that Cramer has returned to haunt
the place. We were unable to go inside, but outside there is a tree that
Mr. Cramer supposedly planted. I snapped two photos of this tree with orbs
in them. Additionally, there appears to be an energy "vortex" (i.e. a band
of light) in one.
The final stop was the Jefferson Davis Memorial Hospital. This hospital has
some of the most interesting history in Houston. Sadly, it has been mostly
a crack house and in total disrepair for years. Nevertheless, it originally
was a 30 acre cemetery and mass burial ground for the diseased in the 1800s
and many civil war veterans. In the 1920s, the City of Houston paid off the
City Council to have the ground approved to build a hospital. Supposedly
110 different spirits have been seen there. The hospital closed in the late
80s or 1990, and it was moved to another location. It has recently been
bought by a private foundation that intends to restore it and turn it into
artists' lofts. The foundation has a security guard and it is now "private"
private property. We did not see anything, and we were unable to go inside.
Ordinarily, it would be a marvel of gothic architecture, but sadly, the
gangs and crack heads have reduced it to a defaced shell. It will be
curious to see how the restoration goes.
I am thinking of taking their tour in Galveston. Again, the tour itself I
found to be a bit on the sensationalistic side, but it was a good
foundation. I definitely plan to return to the places we went and look at
some others. I hope you enjoy the pics. By the way, I took about 35 pics.
The ones above happened to show up with things perhaps you could shed some
light on? I also included one of Jeff Davis Hospital for you to see what it
looks like. Like I said, it was probably the most disappointing stop, and
it definitely is not a place I would go back to without a decent group--
mainly for safety."
