Some Of Putnam’s Ghosts To Be Scared Out Saturday

Putnam County features numerous stories and folktales full of ghosts and a monster or two.

Locals will have the chance to get a taste of these scary stories at the Boogers, Haunts, and Haints Folklore History Hike Saturday. Cookeville Museums Education Specialist Ashley McKee said it is important to share these stories as oral history can easily get lost if not properly documented.

“Probably in the older parts of town, probably in Algood there are some swamps and witch stories that might be told late at night,” McKee said. “There’s quite a few up in Monterey. There’s a headless trainman and a witch.”

McKee said their most famous story is about Crazy George, a man who lost his head on a set of train tracks and supposedly haunts a local bridge to this day.

McKee said the hike can start at either the Cookeville History Museum or the Depot Museum and goes between the two. McKee said the event takes place on Saturday from 10:30am to 2:30pm.

“These stories are all from the Upper Cumberland,” McKee said. “It’s not just Cookeville and, well mainly Monterey, Monterey has a lot of spooky stuff going on. But it’s also Livingston and Smithville and it’s a lot. I try and do a little bit of everything.”

McKee said there is an entry form people can fill out with information from panels along the hike to enter a prize drawing.

“Our prize winner is actually sponsored by Vertical Coffee and the Friends of the History Museum,” McKee said. “So there will be one prize winner for each museum.”

McKee said she started the history hike around six years ago as a way to give more people an opportunity to learn about local folklore.

“More and more I get people that come back and do it over and over again,” McKee said. “And I try and change it slightly, I tweak it every single year, but then I also get that are new and very excited about it.”

McKee said the hike was modeled after an old exhibit of the museum’s with the same name that she wanted to preserve for the community.

“We always get a really good turnout and we always get a lot of people that are interested in it,” McKee said. “Because it’s folklore and it’s something that you probably don’t hear about unless you grew up here and unless you hang out here and listen to the spooky stories. And of course they’re folklore and they’re superstitions and they’re traditions, but they pique people’s interest.”