By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
Carolyn Burke hears strange noises — and she’s not alone.
Burke and her colleagues at the headquarters of BHM Regional Library in Washington often hear friendly thumps and scrapes from upstairs in the courtroom of the old Beaufort County Courthouse.
The trouble is, no one is up there to make those noises.
“Just a subtle bump or rattle,” said Burke, an Internet technology specialist and reference librarian with the library, located at the corner of Second and Market streets.
“After 15 or 16 years, I learned that every truck that turns this corner makes these lights rattle,” she added, gesturing to fluorescent fixtures suspended from the ceiling.
But if trucks are to blame for some of the mysterious sounds, other eerie knocks and shakes remain unexplained, according to Burke and fellow staff members.
“You go up there and your imagination just takes over,” Burke said of the courtroom.
Some people even insist that they have caught a whiff of pipe tobacco in the dark, former courthouse, portions of which date to around 1786.
A local paranormal investigator claimed to photograph the manifestation of spirits in the murky depths of the room where Beaufort County jurists once dispensed justice.
“If you can disprove it, that’s fine,” said Burke.
BHM Library is just one of a number of stops on the third-annual Washington Haunts tour.
The event will raise money for Downtown Washington on the Waterfront, a nonprofit organization formed to help revitalize Washington’s downtown historic district.
Tour groups will meet at 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday at The Map Room on Main Street. Tickets cost $10 per person in advance or $15 per person at the door. Children under 12 are admitted for $5 apiece.
Tickets will be dispensed upon receipt of cash or checks only; neither credit cards nor debit cards will be accepted.
The tour lasts approximately one hour.
For more information, call 948-9415 or 800-546-0162.
According to DWOW’s Web site, Washington Haunts will feature two tour guides: Terry Rollins, whom the site describes as “a masterful, local story teller,” and Mike Rummage, a student of East Carolina University’s School of Theatre and Dance.
Advance ticket sales appeared strong as of Tuesday, related Paula Stephenson, a hostess at the Washington Visitor Center.
“The 7:30 is packed,” Stephenson said, adding that there still was space available in the two later groups.
Washington Haunts has drawn its fair share of spook-seekers in the past, among them Joey Toler, executive director of the Beaufort County Arts Council.
Toler said he has taken the tour twice, though he will be unable to attend this year.
“I think it would be a lot of fun, especially for older people that enjoy this holiday,” he said. “It’s really unusual, it’s very creative, and it’s just a lot of fun and in keeping with the season.”
But if the tour were to involve being alone in the library at night, it’s unlikely that Burke would be there.
She recalled her reaction when, upon entering the courtroom alone, she mistook workmen on the roof for something more spectral.
“My first thought was, ‘How fast can I run from that door to the exit door by the step?’” she said.
Washington Haunts
• Tours begin at 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. Friday.
• Tour groups will assemble at The Map Room, 201 W. Main St., Washington.
• Tickets are $10 per person in advance (reservations must be made by 5 p.m. Thursday) or $15 per person at the door. Tickets cost $5 each for children 12 and under.
• To make reservations, call 948-9415 or 800-546-0162.
Source: Downtown Washington on the Waterfront