Williamsburg Ghost Tour

14. Haunted Goal

Williamsburg, VA

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The gaol was Williamsburg's jail from 1704 to 1910. It was small, unheated, and flea ridden. Prisoners slept on straw mats infested by insects and were exposed to the elements. The cells were overcrowded and filthy with rats and mice residing in the walls; and prisoners were often chained to the floor. Execution was considered to be more humane than forcing a prisoner to stay here. Listen closely and perhaps you will hear the tortured cries of prisoners, or the clink of the chains. Prisoners here would await their fate: whether it was to be branded, tortured or hanged at the gallows down Hangman's road a mile from the prison, where prisoners were executed. It is now present day capital landing road. In March 1719, 13 of Blackbeard's pirates were hanged along hangman's road and left to rot for days on gibbets, before their lifeless and decayed bodies were taken away on the hangman's wooden wagon. Today, there are several accounts of unusual sounds that cannot be explained. The most common sounds resemble that of an old wooden wagon creaking down the street, and apparitions of hanging bodies. Others spoke of the sound of straining gallows, followed by long and agonizing moans. Source: Penguin Press, Jackie Eileen Behrend The Hauntings of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown: http://www.amazon.com/The-Hauntings-Williamsburg-Yorktown-Jamestown/dp/0895872102