Paddlers who run the lower Gauley River may have gotten to know W.Va. Route 129 west of Summersville Lake in Nicholas County, but this tale of a strange haunting along the way may have escaped the attention of many. As summer rafting season is upon us in West Virginia, I thought it might be a good time to revisit the legend.
The tale of the “Ford Ghost” southwest of Summersville, West Virginia, makes its appearance several times in local lore, but this telling by J.W. Benjamin, published in the W.Va. Heritage Encyclopedia, couches the story in manner that captures the essence of a good ghost story with the help of Lonnie E. Legge, who might have provided enough detail about the location of the haunting to surmise where it occurred.
I’ve reprinted the tale here as it appears on pages 1633-1635 of volume five of the encyclopedia:
https://wvexplorer.com/2017/06/03/haunting-near-summersville-lake-may-be-largely-forgotten/