VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - You've probably passed the Old Coast Guard Station while walking the Oceanfront.
Old Coast Guard Station
"We don’t think this building is haunted, we know this is haunted," said William Hazel, the administrative director at the Old Coast Guard Station.
The light tower is one of the most historic monuments in Virginia Beach, and they give ghost tours every week to tell about the hauntings of the area.
Click here to explore the rest of our Haunted Hampton Roads segments
One story you can hear on the tour that you may know of, the Witch of Pungo.
"Virginia Beach's very own witch was born in 1660 down in Pungo. She was born Grace White and she was pretty eccentric from the start."
Grace was an only child during a time when most families were large in order to have enough hands on the farm. Instead, she had to work the farm, and turned out to be pretty good at it. And because that was unheard of at the time, people though witchcraft had something to do with her success.
"After years and years of being accused of witchcraft grace agreed to a trial by ducking."
They tied her hands and feet and threw her in the Lynnhaven River. In a ducking trial, if you come back up, you're considered a witch.
Grace tore off her bindings and made it back to the top, not once, but twice!
"She began to swim around the judges table, cackling at them. It's at this point that they decided that Grace Sherwood must be a witch."
After hearing the stories and first hand accounts, it's hard to deny the history of Hampton Roads and the hauntings that come with it.
"The stories are genuine," says Hazel. "Not only will you hear first hand stories from most of your tour guides, but you'll also hear the real legends of Virginia Beach the stories that have been experienced by so many at so many different times. That same repeated story of that same ghost you'll have a tendency to realize that somethings going on in this area."
The Ghost Walks run Tuesdays and Fridays through the end of October. But they have special Halloween tours October 29 and Halloween night.
