Anderson’s Haunted Courthouse

Trying to decide just who is haunting the Grimes County Courthouse, seems to be a bigger problem than deciding if the place is actually haunted at all.   In some circles, the ghost’s existence seems to be a foregone conclusion.  A Houston paranormal team investigated and caught an unexplained shadow on video.  

The potential phantom candidates are many.  

Could the shadow be a fatality from a five-day gun battle 1899?  The gunfight took place around the courthouse and you can still see the bullet holes.  Or maybe the member of Clyde Barrow’s gang, convicted here in the 1930s, has come back to make the courthouse home?  He did threaten to burn it down.  It’s also possible the visitant could pre-date the 1894 structure.  The Italianate-style, Victorian era building is the fifth courthouse built on this site.  Previous structures fell prey to wind or fire. 

But we didn’t know a thing about the courthouse ghost when we drove into Anderson, Texas.  We had no idea this low-slung town of less than three hundred residents

would be the Grimes county seat.   We were on our way to tour a nineteenth century stagecoach inn nearby and only had minutes to spare before closing time.  One look at the old courthouse and we saved the inn for another day.  We just had to go inside.

If we had come to Anderson by horseback, we could have easily secured our mounts. The old rings are still in place all along the main street.  

All of the businesses appeared to be closed for the day.  We didn’t see another soul. 

 We parked in front of an antique store advertising Civil War books; walked to the courthouse; and climbed the steps.  The door was unlocked, so we went inside.

The floors are scarred from more than a hundred years of wear.  This is no museum; the building is still in use.  

Overhead, the ornate detailing of the stamped-tin ceiling looked bronze in the afternoon light.  A nice woman came out of a doorway and invited us to go upstairs and look around.  At the top of a steep flight of stairs, we found two dimly lit courtrooms.  We stepped inside one, but we didn’t stay long.  We didn’t explore the stairway upwards to the third floor; and we didn’t attempt a photo.  And while on the second floor, we spoke to each other in whispers.

Now, before you start thinking we have sensitivity to other worldly beings, I’ve got to confess that as far as I can tell, our sensitivities seemed to be confined to our palates.  We can taste a butter substitute in a sixteenth teaspoonful of banana pudding, but this ghostly thing is out of our realms.  Still, when you stand in a darkened room — inside a creaky old building like this one — and you both feel a little chill, you can’t help but wonder why. 

 We’re anxious to return to see the stagecoach inn, and to see if some of Anderson’s retail establishments will be open next time we visit.  The antique stores have to be great; just look at what’s rusting right outside their doors. 

If you don’t mind, we would like you to take another look at the photos of the courthouse above.  If you see anything out of the ordinary, be sure and let us know. 

We like to believe we were alone in that hallway, but you can never be sure.