The spookiest season has arrived in Farmville! Walk down High Street and you’ll see pumpkins dotting the porches of hundred-year-old houses. You’ll feel chilly air raise goosebumps on your skin. You might even sense some restless spirits or specters about. We’re ready for Halloween! Are you?
Here in Farmville, we have ghost stories that will send shivers down your spine, featuring those who walked the historic grounds of Longwood University’s campus, right at the center of our small town.
Read on to hear more about Farmville’s frights. Then, schedule a visit to partake in some of our fun (and frightening) Halloween haunts!
Longwood Lore and Legends: An Interview with Larry Robertson
To gather some of Farmville’s creepiest tales, we spoke with Longwood’s Assistant Vice President of Student Development, Larry Roberston, a Longwood graduate and current keeper of the university’s ghost stories. Robertson heard many of these stories as a student from Dr. Jim Jordan, a retired professor and the “true keeper of all that is Longwood lore.”
Robertson says that telling ghost stories is about “bringing back and remembering the history — remembering that there are thousands of alumni out there, people who are no longer with us.” He believes that ghost stories “help build a community. When you have a school that was built in 1839, these stories remind us how unique it is to be at a school with such history. The true value of these types of stories is in the telling and the retelling.”
Here are two of Roberston’s spookiest stories (in his own words):
Edith Stevens and Leola Wheeler: The Light in the Attic
The Stevens Building is named for a former science professor, Edith Stevens. On July 21, 1945, she and her students were performing an experiment in the building, and something went wrong — a fire occurred. Some students were trapped.
Professor Stevens picked up the science experiment and took it out. She was very seriously burned, but she saved the students and saved the building. She died shortly after, on October 31 — Halloween Day.
Professor Stevens was very good friends with Leola Wheeler, who is the namesake of Wheeler Hall. Ms. Wheeler died a fairly typical death. When she passed, the students were sort of lost and created a way to recognize her with a memory stone in the sunken gardens. Because Leola Wheeler and Edith Stevens were such good friends, legend has it that, if the maintenance staff does not do a good job of keeping Ms. Wheeler’s stone clear, you will see a burst of flames in Stevens Hall — that’s Ms. Stevens when she’s mad. When she’s happy, a light appears in the attic of Stevens. Nobody has a key to the attic, so no one can quite figure out how that happens.
The Longwood Bell
A story that is probably the most told would be the story of Longwood’s bell, which took place in 1896. You have to keep in mind that in 1896 a bell was a much bigger deal than it is now. The bell was used to tell the women to come to campus or to go to class or to go to sleep. So the arrival of a new bell was a big deal. Allegedly, the bell had arrived at the Farmville Train Station, and the administration was not moving fast enough to pick it up, so the ladies of Longwood decided that they were going to go to the train station with a wagon and carry it back to campus.
What you also have to remember about the day is that the ladies were wearing very long dresses, and the streets were not necessarily paved, so there was a lot of mud and stepping stones.
So, as legend has it, the ladies were carrying the bell back. Getting the wagon over the stones was much more difficult than anybody thought it would be. At one point, the wagon started to tip, and all of the ladies — except for one — were able to get away. One lady had fallen and twisted her ankle, and the bell fell upon her — you’re talking about 1,027 pounds on top of her — and that was the last breath that she took.
As Longwood lore has it, the bell was taken and hung in the Rotunda, and every so often, for no reason apparent, the bell would skip a beat. The misbeat was a reminder of what happened to the young girl a century or so ago.
Halloween Happenings About Town
In addition to its storied past, Farmville offers present-day frights for all of your little ghouls and goblins — and for you too! Here are some fun dates to add to your October calendar:
Sandy River Distillery’s Haunted Trail and Family Fun Fest Weekends
All month long, starting at noon on Fridays and Saturdays, book tickets for Sandy River Outdoor Adventures’ Family Fun Fest, which includes pumpkin carving, live music, food trucks and a haunted trail that opens at 6 p.m. (with the first hour geared towards little monsters).
Hampden-Sydney College Trick-or-Treating
On Wednesday, October 26, from 4 to 6 p.m., bring your costumed kiddos to Hampden-Sydney College’s annual trick-or-treat. Sponsored by faculty, staff and students, this free community event promises fun all around!
Town of Farmville Halloween Costume Parade
Join the Town of Farmville Parks and Recreation Department to trick-or-trick with Downtown merchants at the annual Halloween Costume Parade on Monday, October 31, at 4 p.m. on Main Street. Children 12 and under are welcome to participate!
More Local Legends
Interested in exploring more local legends before your next visit? Here are some links to Farmville lore:
- Listen to Dr. Jim Jordan’s Ghost Stories, recorded at Longwood in 2016.
- Read about the real-life scandal that consumed the Randolph family’s so-called Bizarre Plantation in the 1790s before Farmville was even formed: A House Called Bizarre or Scandal at Bizarre. Thomas Jefferson’s daughter and Patrick Henry both make an appearance!
- Read accounts of the two ghost stories above, written by Dr. Jim Jordan himself in the Farmville Herald: Through Three Great Fires Longwood Rises from the Ashes and The Tale of Longwood’s Ghostly Bell and Baggage Wagon.
We hope that these spine-tingling tales and fun family events will entice you to visit and scare yourself silly in Farmville! Don’t forget to share your pictures with us via #VisitFarmville.
Happy hauntings!