Opelika, Alabama
The old Ward's funeral home Avenue A Opelika, Alabama 2018 |
Historical records indicate that the sur name “Ward” may come from one of Lee county’s earliest settlers; a mixed race Creek Indian known as Joe Marshal. He had a sprawling plantation known as, “The Ward Place”. Joe Marshal was a slave holder, many of which would have been given the last name, “Ward”. It is suspected that this is the origin of the name associated with the Ward family and the old Ward funeral home.
The house alone is indicative of a rotting corpse, a seemingly timeless wreck of what was once a glorious and grand reconstruction era home. It’s skeletal, Victorian charm is still stunning and the architecture of the time is still visible to the trained eye. They definitely don’t make them like this anymore.
Remnants of Victorian-style wallpaper and the shadows of ornate mantels are all that's let of this once magnificent funeral home. |
An interesting feature of the old Ward place are the flakes of turquoise that scarcely drift down from the porch ceiling. Older photos show there was once a pale blue paint that covered the underside of the front porch. In ancient African and Native American cultures, particularly those that were once very prominent in the American south, a common practice was to paint ceilings and porches in light blue. It was said that the color resembled water and evil spirits could not pass over it. Today, even paint companies list certain shades of blues and turquoise as, “haint blue”.
It may be a coincidence that the funeral home was owned by African American families with the last name Ward; whose descendants may have come from a plantation of a mixed race Creek Indian, and that the porch is painted in a traditional African/Native way to deflect negative forces, but it does lead one to wonder if this is possibly where the term, “ward off evil” comes from? Probably not, but it’s an odd coincidence indeed.
The building is now condemned and unsafe to enter but urban legends involving the old house are as thick as the kudzu that is slowing devouring it. Many explorers have come here to see and photograph the old building, most are smart enough not to enter but a few braver souls have and been scared out of their wits either on a dare or by sheer morbid curiosity.
To date, sightings of ghostly figures in the windows, strange floating apparitions in the hallways, and the haunting but playful voices of children are just some of the reports from the old Ward Funeral home. No official investigation can be conducted here due to the condition and on going deterioration of the building. As paranormal phenomenon around the the Ward place continues to grow, it’s likely the spell of the haint blue paint has been broken. But thinking back, why’d they paint the porch blue in the first place?
I'm not sure where you came up with your info, but records clearly show that the name WARD came from the people who ran the funeral home from 1953 to 1989.
ReplyDeleteAccording to records, the structure was originally built as a home in 1870, and eventually became home to African American physician Dr. Eugene Anthony Lindsey and his wife Clara Brown Lindsey. He moved to Opelika with his wife in the 1920s and was the owner of Lindsey’s Drugstore and Soda Fountain. She was a school teacher. They lived there until the early 50s.
The Ward family came into ownership of the old house after that and Ward’s Funeral Home was established in 1953 by K.C. Ward and Christine Ward. K. C.
They ran the funeral home until it closed in 1989.
Pretty straight forward.
You need to stay away from this place, and get you stories straight about it. There are people out there that know exactly what happened in that place.
ReplyDeleteWhat did happen?
Delete