Look Around Mississippi: Historic Home needs saving

WASHINGTON COUNTY, MS (Mississippi News Now) - There are a few of these old houses that once were show places on Lake Washington south of Greenville that have fallen into decay for one reason or another. Most folks in the area don't want to see them go. They are landmarks.

My friends who restore old buildings tell me that if the roof looses its integrity, then the structure is in grave danger.

Mike Jones, who owns Bait-N-Thangs just down the road from the house, says the leaking roof coupled with four feet of rain in the area in just the last five months is making it urgent to do something quickly.

"Just from November till now what's happened from all the rain and the roof leaking it's so much worse," said Jones.

But Mike has a plan that might help bring in enough funds to at least fix the roof and stabilize the house. There seems to be a lot of interest from people like the Delta Paranormal Society, formed partly from a group called SPARS, in wanting to come investigate the house.

"People coming from all over the country, literally all over the world stop in the bait shop and they ask about this house and they love the vines on it and the haunted house look. Actually it's been two movies that this house is actually shown in. You know, I'm hoping that with the SPARS people and the movie folks that somehow or another we can at least get some funds together to where we can get the roof repaired," commented Jones.

I did go along on a couple of interior nocturnal treks with the paranormal folks inside the house after midnight. And we did hear quite a few knocks and creeks downstairs. But no doubt the most startling thing that happened was a door in an upstairs bedroom leading into a bathroom closed on its own. And here's the difference between me and ghost hunters. As soon as they heard the door close, they went into the room with it. I, on the other hand, would have been down the stairs and out of the house. But, I'd have never seen this had I run; the door, untouched, opening and closing on its own. No doubt it was the wind. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

But if it was wind, and it can rock an interior door like this, it just points out how urgently the house needs saving, before the whole thing becomes a ghost.

Copyright 2012 WLBT. All rights reserved.