Posted on 08/21/2004 9:33:42 PM PDT by CurlyBill
Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times
The discovery of a possible Civil War-era skeleton buried next to the main branch of the El Paso Public Library on Thursday was not a surprise, library employees said Friday.
"We figured that's why we have our ghosts," said staffer Charles Apuan while walking down a shadowy row of bookshelves in a sub-basement that is said to be the epicenter of eerie phenomena at the library, 501 N. Oregon.
Several members of the library staff have reported apparitions, strange noises and items moving by themselves.
Workers excavating a site behind the library Thursday discovered a skeleton, thought to be a soldier because in the 1860s the land was a military cemetery, which was later relocated. Skeletal remains were also found in the neighborhood in 1998 by crews replacing water and sewer lines. Library staffers expect other remains to be found as construction continues.
A tall gentleman specter, called "The Captain," and the ghost of a woman, called "The Nurse," have appeared in the sub-basement, situated about 20 feet below ground and used for storage and technical services, library staffers said.
A heavy, old wooden chair, nicknamed "The Captain's chair," was said to move back to its corner overnight if it was moved -- inside a locked section of the sub-basement -- Apuan said. The chair was later moved to the Magoffin Home, built in 1875.
"I was not scared enough to quit," said a 10-year employee, Terri Grant, while telling how "a force" pushed her when she went to investigate the sounds of a commotion in an empty part of the library at closing time a few years ago. Employees said the happenings are just part of the work ambience. The tales are collected in "A Chance of a Ghost," a 2002 book on El Paso-Juárez hauntings.
"You don't believe it until you are down there; (in the sub-basement) you believe it," said Dane Aguilar, who says he once saw a water faucet handle turn by itself.
Thanks for the ping. Great ghost story.
Thanks for the ghostly ping.
Thanks for the ping! The Travel Channel had some pretty good ghost stories, today.
We don't get the travel channel locally ... I've asked Comcast twice now to add it to the local programming.
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