Author Nikki Stephens, with the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau, compiled a list of five hot spots around The American Dream City that are said by some to be haunted:
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The Screaming Bridge at River Legacy Park
Legend goes that one night a car full of kids were driving too fast coming up to the bridge, and hit an oncoming car. Both cars caught on fire and crashed into the river, killing everyone involved. The road and bridge have since been closed and can now only be accessed by walking through the park, which most people try at night. But, they say the dates and names of those who died can be seen glowing in the river late at night. ((Shiver)) People have also witnessed lights on the bridge, as well as mystic fog and strange feelings. Yeep!
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Hell's Gate at River Legacy Park
There is a trail at River Legacy that leads up to two old fence posts. It is said that the gate which used to stand there was the last thing captured Union soldiers saw before being hanged during the Civil War. Some say you can hear the sobs of those soldiers as you approach Hell's Gate. Other say you see a redheaded man in a confederate uniform standing guard there. Like the screaming bridge, people feel quite uneasy while visiting this spot and have felt the sensation of someone watching them, weird sounds and sometimes voices. Once again, this phenomenon is said to be better when visiting Hell's Gate at night.
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According to legend, Annie lives in the Texas section of the park. She is said to be the spirit of a little girl who died in or near Johnson Creek in the early 1900s. She is said to be a very friendly spirit that is as mischievous as she is notorious. She has been seen by SFOT employees in the past turning the lights on and off in her "room," located in the yellow house near the entrance to the Texas Giant. Some have also seen her in Runaway Mountain -although it's so dark their eyes could be playing tricks on them.
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Back in 1894, society was a different place where single mothers were, for lack of a better term, social pariahs and shunned from the general public. That's when Reverend James Tony Upchurch created the Berachah Industrial Home for the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls. Here, the women were taught employable skills that could help them rejoin society. The Institute turned into a "self-sustaining" village that eventually morphed into an orphanage by 1935. The only thing that remains of the land Reverend Upchurch developed is a well-hidden graveyard right of UT Arlington's campus. The "lost cemetery of infants" most likely marks the graves of stillbirths and complications, as most of the women in the Berachah were unwed mothers. According to Tui Snider's research, activity reported here includes "shadowy figures seen darting between the trees, the sensation of being watched, the sounds of children's voices, and small toys appearing (and disappearing) on graves."
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"Fred" is the name of the ghost-in-residence owner Jean Collins has come to know over the past 6-7 years at Arlington Music Hall, Arlington's 65-year old Downtown music venue. Not only did she catch the sounds of an invisible being moving onstage with her own ears, but she and countless other AMH employees are dead serious when they tell you lights have come back on after being completely shut off. Howard Ball of AMH's next-door neighbors Babe's Chicken Dinner House has had some strange occurrences happen to them, including Fred himself walking up to him and asking for a look around the restaurant, stating that "he used to live here," only to then disappear. Ahh! Even the Dallas-Area Paranormal Society caught clear EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon) and the conclusion that there may be more than one spirit that roams the hall, as a female voice was also recorded with the team. "Fred is a good ghost, and he's here," says Jean.
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