Spooky Stories Part 3- Haunted Hillsborough

As a young girl I had always enjoyed Ghost Tours and have taken several road trips to nearby states and have had the opportunity to be a part of some really cool experiences. 

During high school and onward, I visited Savannah, Georgia a few times for various trips. Once as a road trip stop on the way to Florida, another time with my Girl Scout troop to visit the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, and another time as a prospective SCAD student. 

Savannah,GA  has a lot of history and a lot of ghost stories, so whenever I travelled there I tried to learn more and get my travel companions to indulge on a tour with me. Ever since, I have looked for other ghost tours to experience!  I find they are a great way to learn the history of a place in a more narrative delivery. So when I discovered Hillsborough has an October ghost tour, Haunted Hillsborough, I had to investigate! They offer two different tours, the “Original Historic Ghost Tour” and the “‘Haints’ Misbehaving Ghost Tour.” Unable to determine which sounded most interesting, I booked them both! I won’t spoil the contents of either tour or overindulge the information and stories shared, but for anyone considering attending either tour, here is my experience and breakdown: 

Both tours are led by Enoch Pugh, a ghost who shares his own tale to start off the tour. Enoch came to Hillsborough with his family in 1760, moving from Pennsylvania, and died after the Battle of Alamance in 1771. While I was concerned that a “ghost”-led ghost tour would either be full of jump scares (not my idea of a good time) or terribly cheesy, it was really great. Relating the tales to his “own” time and experiences made the stories more involved and fun to listen to and share.

(Image courtesy of Haunted Hillsborough and Visit Hillsborough)

The “Haints” Misbehaving tour was my first of the evening. I knew this tour would be more narrative, less strictly factual. Enoch shared with us tales ranging from those passed on in the Occaneechi tribe (there is a historically kept settlement recreation in Hillsborough I highly recommend visiting whether you take the Haunted Hillsborough tour or not!), tales of disturbances where factories once were, a few haunted houses (viewed and discussed from the street), and a walk through the historic cemetery.

I was hoping to grab some more photos during the tour, but the dark October evenings had other plans! I love the way the historic courthouse looks at night. Spooky! 

The Original Historic Ghost Tour was a longer walking tour filled with lots of background about Hillsborough. While I am from this general area being from Wake Forest, there was a lot I didn’t know about the history of Hillsborough. I really enjoyed hearing the history in addition to the spooky narratives. The Original tour went further into Enoch’s tale as well, which I appreciated after only hearing snippets in the earlier tour. All of the tales had been thoroughly researched and fact-checked by Haunted Hillsborough, making it one of the most factual and educational tours I have experienced. 

Haunted Hillsborough truly did their research when creating these tours and the stories shared during. I found the experience to be truly enjoyable and I would highly recommend them for anyone looking for a fun Halloween activity in the future! 

I hope you had a fun and safe Halloween - definitely consider adding this tour to your Halloween plans for 2022!

Written by: Mary Daley