Lily's Lore and Legends

The Haunting of Alexander Hostler Wilmington, North Carolina's Best-Known Buried Alive Legend Location: St. James Churchyard Cemetery, Wilmington, NC 28401 Every city, town, and village has at least one ghost story about someone being buried alive. This is the story every ghost-loving, taphephobia-having local in Wilmington, North Carolina, knows by heart - the untimely death of Samuel Jocelyn and his subsequent haunting of his best friend, Alexander Hostler. Preface Now, before we get into the lore, I want to give y'all a glimpse of the rabbit hole my mind has been going down with this piece and why it will be slightly different than my usual pieces. I often use Pinterest as a way to locate my Pocket Lore articles, find new locations to research, or see a word perfect for my Lily's Lore Lingo. In this case, it was "taphophila," or (per Pinterest) passion and enjoyment of cemeteries, which I could not locate on Merriam-Webster (I like solid sources, even for lingo...

Revisiting Lily's Original Lore and Legends A Year Later Join Lily as she goes back over her first few lore and legends and adds her thoughts a year later. The Legend of the Monkey Junction Monkeys Read the written post The Haunting of the Battleship USS North Carolina Read the written post The Legend of What's Beneath Lake Norman's Waters Read the written post

Photo via the Naval Historical Foundation, Maher Collection. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. The Haunting of the Battleship USS North Carolina Decommissioned ship turned museum... but what about the ghosts??? Location: Wilmington, North Carolina 28401 Growing up in Wilmington, NC, the Battleship was just a part of the local city layout. Everyone has at least one photo they have taken of it, mostly from Water Street, looking across the Cape Fear River. And everyone has heard the stories - faces looking out from the portholes, overwhelming emotions in certain locations, footsteps when no one else is around. But is the battleship USS North Carolina really haunted? Or is it all just local legend? The Lore The USS North Carolina saw war, death, and destruction, both as the cause and the recipient, during her time on the water in the 1940s. With so much terrible history lurking in her metal walls, something, or someone, was bound to stick around. Reports from mus...

"Monkey Junction Monkeys, Wilmington, North Carolina" (1985) The Legend of the Monkey Junction Monkeys Escaped Circus Act? Or Simple Tourist Trap? Location: Wilmington, North Carolina 28412 If you have ever been to Wilmington NC, you may have noticed a particular area of town called "Monkey Junction", where highways 421 and 132 merge (locally known as Carolina Beach Road and College Road, respectively). Just a quick little pit stop on the way to Carolina and Kure Beaches, locals and tourists alike often wonder how this area got its funny little name.  The Lore There are more than a couple of stories floating around town and the internet as to how Monkey Junction arrived at its name. 1. References Tregembo Animal Park/Tote-Em-In Zoo. 2. Circus monkeys escaped in the area. 3. Man with an organ grinder had a monkey and sold peanuts. 4. A gas station owner had a few monkeys to entice tourists to stop and spend money. Historical and Current Maps marking the intersection ...