Vicksburg getting added attraction: Ghost tours beginning in October

Published 12:00 am Monday, September 29, 2003

The Old Court House Museum lights up the nightscape in downtown Vicksburg.(Jon Giffin The Vicksburg Post)

[9/28/03]Taking cues from a haunted city and another with hallowed ground, Vicksburg is adding another attraction to its offering for tourists ghosts.

Beginning in October, the Main Street Program and several downtown businesses will host Vicksburg Historical Ghost Tours, giving those with a flair for the supernatural an opportunity to walk through downtown and hear all of the town’s scariest stories.

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The idea for the “ghost tours” came from other cities including New Orleans and Gettysburg, Pa., said Bob Ward, economic development coordinator for the city’s Main Street Program.

“I’ve seen what these tours can do in other places, and it’s something we need to do as well,” he said.

In New Orleans, guests can choose from cemetery and voodoo walking tours and ghost and vampire tours. And according to the Web site HauntedPA.com, Gettysburg is one of the most haunted places in America. Ghosts of Gettysburg Candlelight Walking Tours lead guests throughout the city where one of the most notable battles of the Civil War occurred.

“We are on hallowed ground, and we have a lot of great ghost stories because Vicksburg is such an old city and so many things have happened here,” Ward said. “We need to let people know these stories.”

Some ghost stories in Vicksburg date 140 years to the siege of the city during the Civil War.

Ward said sharing stories about the haunted jaunts in Vicksburg is yet another way to increase tourism.

“We can talk about the ghost stories to locals and to tourists and hopefully increase business downtown and all of Vicksburg.”

Ward said many of the ghost stories associated with tour homes are well known and he hopes those who know them will share.

“Anything people will share with us, we would love to hear,” he said.

For the first few tours Ward will be the narrator, but he’s hoping someone will volunteer to tell the ghost stories in the future.

Tours will be each Friday and Saturday night beginning Oct. 10. Ghost tours on the river will be given by Mississippi River Tours on Oct. 18, Oct. 25 and Oct. 31.

Ward said if enough interest is generated, the tours could be a year-round thing.

The first tour will begin at Griz Old Tyme Photography, 1100 Washington St., at 7 and 8 p.m. Oct. 10 and will last about an hour.