We had to dig up at least one Local ghost story for Halloween Month! (compliments of the Virginia Pilot)
The Ghost of The Black Pelican (one of our favorite restaurants in Kitty Hawk)
Hostess Paula Midgett will not go upstairs after dark in The Black Pelican restaurant in Kitty Hawk – on Halloween or any other time. She saw an apparition in the corner of a dining area after closing one night that she said could be the ghost of T.L. Daniels, the man with a grudge who was shot dead inside this building 138 years ago, back when it was the Kitty Hawk Life-Saving Station.
"It scared the crap out of me," said Paula. According to local historian Bill Harris, two accounts of the shooting are kept in records by the U.S. Lifesaving Service. Both tell about the same story.
On July 7, 1884, Lt. E.C. Clayton arrived at the Kitty Hawk Life-Saving Station to investigate charges from Daniels that Keeper James Hobbs had used government-owned paint to coat his personal boat. The two had long disliked each other.
The prized station keeper positions were politically appointed in those days. Keepers typically supervised six surfmen who were charged with rescuing victims of ships wrecked off the Outer Banks, which saw enough sinkings to be nicknamed the "Graveyard of the Atlantic."
Daniels was not one of the surfmen but may have wanted Hobbs' job, Harris said. Some say he insulted Hobbs' wife. Others say he accidentally spit tobacco on her.
Clayton investigated the case that day while unsuccessfully trying to keep the two adversaries calm. Right away, Daniels cursed at Hobbs, and they squared off as if to fight.
Daniels told Hobbs, "If you ever draw so much as a penknife on me, I will kill you." Hobbs denied carrying a weapon and accused Daniels of having a pistol in his pocket.
Daniels reached for the pistol and kneeled beside the sitting Clayton for cover. Harris drew a shotgun from the closet. The surfmen cleared the room. Daniels struggled to get the loaded and cocked gun from his pocket.
Hobbs stepped forward, placed the shotgun on the lieutenant's shoulder and fired, striking Daniels in the left shoulder. He recovered and stepped toward Hobbs. The keeper fired again, killing Daniels.
"Apparently, he fell right here," Black Pelican manager Summer Copeland said pointing to a dark place on the old wood floor not far from the front desk. Staff and customers have seen and heard otherworldly things. Footsteps and closing doors are common.
"It is very scary at night," Copeland said. Hostess Lauren Wood said a child once saw blood running down the wall while at one of the tables. The staff could not find anything. A boy went into the bathroom and began screaming he had seen a ghost. No one could find signs of it, she said.
The original Kitty Hawk station, built in 1874, once sat at about milepost 4, east of N.C. 12 on a spot that would be in the ocean now. The building was moved twice, the second time to its current spot on the west side of N.C. 12. The old station and later additions became part of the Black Pelican in 1993.
A new station was built nearby in 1911, Harris said. That station now sits not far away on N.C. 12 as a private summer home, he said.
Hobbs was cleared of any wrongdoing and remained the keeper until 1891, according to records at the Outer Banks History Center. The story goes that Daniels still seeks after Hobbs' job.
