Ghost hunting at the Haywood County Courthouse in North Carolina

It’s a cold night in mid-December. Few people are still out and about in downtown Waynesville and there’s a hint of snow in the air. Dale Burris, Haywood County facilities and maintenance director, stands at the door of the Historic Haywood County Courthouse, keys in hand, and waits until the last member of the Cold Mountain Paranormal Society steps inside with the rest of the equipment before turning the deadbolt.

It’s a good night for a ghost hunt.

The Cold Mountain Paranormal Society (CMPS) was founded by Tony Ruff and Terri Rhinehart Putnam, of Bethel, about four years ago. Ruff had always had in interest in the paranormal, but it was a supernatural encounter at their Edwards Cove home in 2010 that prompted him to found the society.

Putnam’s grandmother was 103 when passed she away and Putnam kept her rocking chair in the living room. During the holiday season, she moved it to the basement so she could have a place to put up her Christmas tree. One evening, she asked Ruff to take something down to the basement.

When Ruff passed by the rocking chair, he looked over and saw a woman sitting in it.

“She looked solid. Just like you do,” he said. “And I stopped because I realized … hey, there’s a woman sitting in this chair in the basement. And I turned around and she wasn’t there.”

When he returned upstairs, he told Putnam what he’d seen and she asked him to describe the woman. Having never met Putnam’s grandmother or seen a picture of her, Putnam was shocked when he described her to a tee.

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