hunters report seeing her wander about her beloved home, speaking in a soft voice or singing quietly.
Behind the scenes There’s a lot to do in this pretty city. Earlier in the day, Rosie and I took a sightseeing tour aboard a mahogany trolley. We rolled along brick streets and passed impressive Victorian homes. We learned about the Start Westward Monument, commemorating the Northwest Territory’s creation in 1787; the Ohio River Museum; and the Mound Cemetery. The cemetery has an ancient burial mound, called Conus, at the center
Opposite and previous page: The Anchorage, built in 1859, is the home of the Washington County Historical Society — and maybe a few ghosts of previous residents. This page: True believers say the ghost of a previous owner still watches over the Lafayette Hotel (below), while many a paranormal experience has been reported at the Mound Cemetery, which was developed around an ancient burial mound.
that’s surrounded by a graveyard brimming with the graves of more Revolutionary War officers than in any other cemetery in the country. Harley Noland, operator of Historic Trolley Tours and a longtime Marietta resident, is a bit skeptical of all the supernatural hype. “I don’t believe in ghosts,” he says. “I give history tours in Marietta.” Yet the area’s rich history makes it ripe for spooky tales. Hidden Marietta offers three ghost treks downtown, from June through October. The original Front Street Ghost Trek includes a stop at the 77-room Lafayette Hotel, which was built in 1918. The ghost tour ventures into areas that are normally off-limits, such as the servants’ staircase and the Continued on page 28
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