Monday, April 25, 2011

Carmichael Inn

The Carmichael Inn located in Loudon County, TN was built in the 1810. It served as a place for restless travelers to lay their heads and was convenient to the ferry as this predates the bridge connecting Loudon County to it's sister Lenoir City.
It has also been used as a civil war hospital, a battle post, a Restaurant, and a coffee house over the years. The building houses an upstairs spacious apartment, the basement area of the building was used in the dark days prior to the emancipation proclamation and housed the "help." The attic is the only remaining "guest room" from the days when the building was still an inn and is now used as the manager's office.  The entire building is said to be haunted by not one, but by several entities.
The Photos on the wall are of the original Carmichael Family
The Building now serves as Wharf Street Coffee House, & Carmichael Inn Restaurant. The Staff and current tenant of the upstairs apartment have witnessed and felt classic signs of a haunting. The woman who is currently renting the apartment which is located upstairs on the property says she has heard voices, seen drawers and doors open or close on their own, cold spots, and has heard a child laughing, she said she is fine with it, and whatever it is has never tried to harm her.
In the restaurant, the staff complain of items being moved or missing In one instance the manager said she opened the store one morning to find that all the pictures on the walls had been rearranged. She walked into the dining room to find the chairs had been put back under the tables even though she had stacked them on top of the tables the night before at closing time. Katy Storm who is currently the manager of Carmichael Inn said this "I was the last one of out the night before, I locked it up, set the alarm and came back the next morning to find all this furniture had been moved around. My chairs, the photos on the walls all moved."  (The photos on the walls are of the Carmichael family, who are also the family that would go on to create Carmichael Jeans Co. in New York city. )
Another event I found entertaining was about a Coffee shop attendant who was turned believer. The manager said "At one time we had a Barista working with us and he was a big time skeptic. One night after he had been working with us for about a year, he went to the basement to pull some wine. Well he didn't come back for about 5 minutes, so I sent another employee to see if he needed any help. The other employee said that when he opened the door the Barista ran out of the basement and accused him of holding the door closed and shutting off the lights in the basement. The lock on the door requires a skeleton key which no one here has access too, the employee was with me until the Barista got out of the basement... The Barista would NEVER go in the basement again after that and never told us the full reason why. The Basement is scary anyway, it's about 15 degrees cooler, it's damp, it has it's original black as coal stone walls... but personally I've never seen a ghost, but I won't say I don't believe in them either."
Another girl who worked during the summer in the coffee shop. She opened the shop and was making coffee when the radio system turned itself on. She turned it off only to have it turn on again, the second time she went to touch it she claims she heard a voice say "leave it alone." The same employee states she has felt as if she were being pushed or pinched but activity is at it's peak during early morning hours just before sunrise.
Other employees claim to have seen lights on in the building from the parking lot after hours but describe it more as a candle light. The evidence points to supernatural activity at Carmichael Inn. It is a historical landmark, and is private property. But stop in, have a bite to eat or a cup of coffee... maybe you'll have a ghost story to share.

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