THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Fort Phantom Hill, built in the mid-1800s, was given such a spooky moniker simply because it didn’t have a legal name.
Fort Phantom Hill, built in the mid-1800s, was given such a spooky moniker simply because it didn’t have a legal name. Interestingly, it was built in the wrong place: Instead of being built on Pecan Bayou as originally ordered, the general in charge mistakenly had it constructed in this barren land. Now a historical landmark with legends of hauntings attached, the fort has been seen on TV’s Unsolved Mysteries. Native American ghosts have been seen on the grounds, and other apparitions, footsteps and feelings of being watched have been reported by visitors and employees. Phantom Lake has its own stories as well. One legend surrounds the apparition of a Native American woman. According to legend, she is Nadassa, who drowned herself in Phantom Lake after her warrior lover was lost in a flash flood. Another legend tells of an apparition of a woman in a tattered dress, said to be an officer’s wife who set out to find her missing husband, but she drowned when a storm capsized the boat. However, some dispute the stories because Phantom Lake is a manmade reservoir not created until 1938.