Ghost Hunt: Gray & Holt

​Athens Iconic Business Featured In New Paranormal Investigation Event Fundraiser Happening in October

Anyone who recalls the last three years remembers that Athens, Mooresville, and Limestone County celebrated their 200 year anniversary and its cumulative history, places, and faces. However, the bicentennial only marked the official existence created by the newly formed Alabama territorial government not the duration of trials and tribulations of early settlers nor early lore that has past to legend.


Much like these early times, the darker history of Athens-Limestone Alabama often goes ​...

...unspoken of as well with few exceptions like Shane Black’s “Spirits of Athens” and the October walks based on his tales hosted by Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association. A time has come for even more chapters to be opened to exploration as Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association and Southern Ghost Girls Tours and Paranormal Investigation join together for events in some of Athens-Limestone iconic locations.


The first of these combined-effort grand explorations will feature the Gray and Holt building in downtown Athens just days before Halloween and certain to be a spooky treat. Founder of Southern Ghost Girls Tours, Lesley Hyde hopes she and those attending will find any lingering spirits during this family-friendly event with discretion advised for small children who may find the topic frightening.
With two tours available on October 24th at this never before investigated location that has operated as the Dixie Theatre in the early 1900’s and Gray and Son general mercantile store, eventually becoming the well-known Gray and Holt, from 1934 until 2018 when it was purchased by Zach Walker.


Attendees of the tours will have the chance to be part of the night’s investigative activities collecting evidence and data like Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVPs), photographic and visual evidence like orbs and visual disturbances, and other deployed techniques. Attendees are welcome to bring their own cameras and voice recorders but those who don’t have such equipment will get a chance to use professional paranormal investigation equipment to go in search of restless souls much like what has been seen on tv. It’s to be seen if any whispers will be captured, cold spots encountered, or otherworldly efforts to contact the living will happen – as the history of the location appears benign on the surface but one must remember the near forgotten history of Athens sitting upon tribal hunting grounds and early settlers driven from their farms by troops by means of musket and flame.


Anyone interested in joining this historic investigation of the Gray and Holt Building can visit Eventbrite.com and search Athens, AL Gray and Holt or Facebook.com users can search for “Ghost Hunt and Paranormal Investigation, Gray and Holt on Market Street”. Two times are available for the October 24th event, 6:00PM and 8:30PM. Tickets are $30.00 (plus fees) per person and a portion of the proceeds benefits the Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association, a 501(c)3 non-profit serving the community by promoting and developing quality of life activities and recruiting travelers, conferences, conventions, tournaments, historians, students, and industry for the benefit of economic development, economic impact, and local travel and tourism industry.