THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Many ghosts allegedly haunt Augusta State University, including the spirit of Emily Galt, a woman, who over 140 years ago, opted to join her recently deceased soldier fiance by jumping to her death from a window of Bellevue Hall.
Many ghosts allegedly haunt Augusta State University, including the spirit of Emily Galt, a woman, who over 140 years ago, opted to join her recently deceased soldier fiance by jumping to her death from a window of Bellevue Hall. Emily and her younger sister, Lucy, also etched their names and the date, 1861, in one of the hall’s windows. The engraving was said to have been done with Emily’s engagement ring. Witnesses have heard residual hauntings of a man and woman arguing, presumably Emily and her fiance discussing whether he should go to war. Phones and TVs here seem to have a mind of their own, and doors open and close by themselves. Benet House, the school’s admissions office, is also believed to be haunted, by a gray flash, footsteps, and a rocking chair that rocks by itself. And at Walker Cemetery, the ghost of a Confederate soldier in a long gray coat and yellow sash walks among the graves. The college campus was once occupied by Civil War-era homes and a military arsenal.