house just making noises.”
“I wonder who the spirits are that haunt your inn, Mary,” I replied.
“I don’t know who they are, but I know that they’re nice!” she replied. “They don’t bother me at all. As long as they behave themselves, they are more than welcome to stay.”
When it was about time for Allen and me to leave, she offered to show us the photographs that the members of T.R.I.P.P. had taken during their investigations. Several photos plainly show a large, illuminated orb that was reportedly captured during coinciding times of activity. Judy McCollough and her team believe that these orbs were a sign that a spirit may have been near them and interacting with them.
While a lot of paranormal researchers disagree on the subject of orbs, it is interesting to note that, in this case, the activity the investigators were experiencing seemed to coincide with when these anomalies showed up in photographs and in correlating locations. Anyone interested in seeing the photos is welcome to do so when they visit the inn.
The house has seen its share of joys and sorrows. When it served as a hospital, it was visited by many people in the midst of trauma or tragedy; but plenty of Archer City residents were also born there. The Lonesome Dove Inn continues to gain popularity among those with a curiosity for the paranormal, and it is sure to generate more experiences in the years to come.
“We have a fun little thing we offer here,” said Mary. “Anyone who was born in the house is welcome to come and stay with us on the night of their birthday, free of charge. We’ve had people take us up on it, too, which we have thoroughly enjoyed! They find it a treat to come and stay in their birthing room.”
Allen and I had such a pleasant visit with Mary, exploring the old hospital-turned-inn. So many people have come and gone through the years, it was obvious to me that a little bit of each of them is still very much a part of the inn today. With such a warm and inviting atmosphere, it is no wonder that spirits may call this beautiful place home.
CHAPTER 5
Hill House Manor
GAINESVILLE
Hill House Manor exterior (Linda Hill)
I AM ALWAYS A BIT SKEPTICAL when I hear about new places that have gained a reputation for being haunted. The more stories I hear about any particular place, the more I want to see for myself that its claims of paranormal activity are legitimate.
Victoria DuPree, one of our field investigators with The Paranormal Source, Inc., began telling Allen and me about Hill House Manor over a year ago. She and her boyfriend Chris had made the trip to Gainesville from the Dallas area several times to stay overnight in the house, and they truly believed something paranormal was occurring on a regular basis within its walls.
Del and Linda Hill purchased the house in May 2004 as a triplex rental property along with several other homes in Gainesville, but they have no record of who originally built the house. In her research to learn more about the house’s history, Linda located a bird’s eye view map with a copyright date of 1883,
leading her to believe the house was originally built as a small private residence. Several additions have been made throughout the years, and today it’s what the locals refer to as the “spooky old house on the corner.”
My team and I decided that we would like to book an evening at Hill House Manor to see if any of the supposed ghostly residents would show themselves or communicate with us. We recently had that opportunity, and upon Victoria’s recommendation we reserved an entire night at the house. Thirteen of us met in front of Hill House Manor just before sundown, and Linda Hill greeted us all on the front porch. The team waited outside as Linda graciously escorted me on a tour through the house, explaining to me what she believed we might encounter during our time there.
“We have reason to believe that prior to the late 1960s, this home might have been a speakeasy and quite possibly a cathouse,” said Linda. “It has become very well known for its EVPs. Our non-corporeal residents are more likely to be heard and not as often seen, but there are times when an apparition appears to visitors in person or on film.”
“Has anyone ever died in the house?” I asked.
“I know of one,” she replied. “A woman who previously owned the property several years back died here, but there might be more than that. We just don’t know. Finding records is complicated, as the street name and house numbering have changed several times in the past.”
As we continued the tour, Linda mentioned that she and her husband couldn’t seem to keep tenants in two of the house’s three livable units for any lengthy period of time.
“We rented the units on a twelve-month basis,” Linda explained. “No one ever stayed in the upstairs unit for more than two months, and residents often left the downstairs unit after having lived there no longer than six months. It went on that way for over three years.”
The house is now exclusively used for paranormal teams and enthusiasts to investigate, and is no longer used as a triplex. So who is haunting Hill House Manor, and are they responsible for scaring tenants away? We didn’t know, but we were sure going to try and find out!
Investigator Victoria Dupree has investigated the home more than half a dozen times, and she contends that something paranormal has occurred on each and every visit.
“I believe there are at least three spirits in the house,” she began. “There is a man, a woman, and a little girl. The gentleman seems to be the most interactive. He provides direct answers to questions asked on audio recordings, and I have multiple EVPs of his voice. He speaks with a distinct southern dialect that is consistent throughout all of the recordings. The woman’s voice, however, does not turn up on my audio as often. She seems very soft-spoken and not as aggressive as the man.”
“Have you ever captured anything anomalous in the pictures you’ve taken at Hill House?” I asked.
“No, although Linda has a few pictures of what looks like a little girl in the house,” Victoria answered. “I have recorded the peculiar sound of a child cooing, almost like whispering, but have never caught an apparition on film.”
Victoria went on to describe an incident where she and others had heard the singing of a small child, but upon review of their recordings they did not find any evidence that it had actually occurred.
On the night of our investigation, thirteen of us split up and dispersed throughout the house directly after my tour had ended. Because the home was most famous for its EVPs, we set a block of time to remain still and ask questions in each section in hopes of capturing any resulting responses on our recorders.
Investigator Adam Norton reported that he had put fresh batteries in his recorder, as well as his fiancé Gabriela’s, just prior to going in.
“By the time we got to the upstairs bedroom, the battery in my recorder was half-dead,” he said. “The batteries in both of our recorders were completely drained before the night was over.”
It is a popular theory in the paranormal community that spirits need a source of energy to manifest themselves to the living, often taking that energy from batteries and causing strange drainages. What I find most odd is that even after the batteries placed in various pieces of equipment seem to indicate that this is happening,
