Virginia Grzech leads the Ghost Walk of Davidson nightly, including a stop at the Davidson College Cemetery, off North Main Street. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

If you’ve been on Main Street almost any evening this summer, you’ve probably seen groups of people wandering among the old buildings, into the cemetery and through the Davidson College campus. These weren’t folks on the usual college admissions tours. Instead, they’ve been among the first to check out one of our town’s newest activities: Virginia Grzech’s Ghost Walk of Davidson.

Ms. Grzech has been leading the 1 to 1 1/2 hour tours most nights since July 1, tell tales and pointing out some of the more intriguing historical sites in the old part of town. Starting at The Soda Shop, she leads her groups north on Main Street to the Davidson College ours Cemetery on North Main Street and back through the college campus to the Davidson public library branch on the Village Green.

Virginia Grzech

“I’ve always loved going on ghost walks,” said Ms. Grzech, a Mooresville resident who has lived in north Mecklenburg and south Iredell her whole life. As a substitute school teacher, she also has “learned that if you tell a ghost story, you’ve got their attention.”

This summer, she decided to begin offering her ghost walk tours nightly. She’ll keep going until Nov. 14, when she’ll offer the tours just a few days a week.

So what are the ghost stories of Davidson?

Many of the tales are drawn from local history and legend. She tells one story about a ghost in Davidson College’s Chambers Hall. She also borrows a tale from northwest Mecklenburg County about the ghost of Revolutionary War Gen. William Lee Davidson. Another story focuses on the legend of Peter Stuart Ney, a mysterious N.C. schoolteacher who designed the Davidson College seal and who claimed to be France’s Marshal Ney, who fought under Napoleon.

She also recounts a couple of local murders from the early 20th century, including one in which a body was dropped off a train at the Davidson depot. She also looks for Davidson connections in ghost stories from around the region. She said some of her stories come from Stephanie Burt Williams’s 2003 anthology “Ghost Stories of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County.”

Ms. Grzech explains the Davidson College seal, which is on the side of the Visual Arts Center at Main and Griffith streets. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

As someone who grew up in the area and listened to her parents and grandparents tell stories, Ms. Grzech said she enjoys researching both her family history and the history of this region. “My son calls me the keeper of useless knowledge,” she joked.

Some of her favorite stories have come from quizzing her elder family members. “I would pick my grandmother’s brain and she would tell me stories,” Ms. Grzech said.

When she started the tours, she was uncertain about how they would be received. But after giving her tour to several hundred people since July 1, she said, “I’m saying it’s working.”

WANT TO GO?

Ghost Walk of Davidson leaves nightly at 7 p.m., from the Soda Shop, 104 S. Main St. Ms. Grzech takes a maximum of 18 people and says she’s had several sellouts so far. Tours are $10 for adults, $5 for children 8-12. Reservations are permitted (704-928-5452). For more information, visit ghostwalknc.com/

The walk makes a stop at the Davidson College Cemetery. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)