The Haunted Trees of Alabama

The title of this article may sound like a mistake, but it's not. Not only do we have hundreds of haunted homes, buildings, and backroads in Alabama, but we also have our share of haunted trees. Here are a few of the more famous haunted trees in Alabama.

Photo byDave HoefleronUnsplash

Boyington Oak

Charles Boyington was a young man with the world at his fingertips. He moved from Connecticut to Mobile, Alabama, in 1833, where he worked as a printer. His best friend was Nathaniel Frost. When Nathaniel was found murdered, Boyinton was blamed. Boyington was arrested, tried, and sentenced to hang, but he never wavered from professing his innocence. With his last words, he said, "I am an innocent man. You'll know this when a mighty oak tree grows from my very heart." Decades later, after Boyington was long dead, another man confessed on his deathbed that he had murdered Nathaniel Frost. Boyington was innocent, after all. Mysteriously, as he promised, a mighty oak tree sprang up from his grave. The tree stands in Mobile today and is named in his honor: the Boyington Oak. Legend has it that sometimes late at night when the wind is blowing, the whisper of Charles Boyington's voice can be heard in the leaves, still professing his innocence.

Boyington Oak, MobilePhoto byAltairisfar (wiki commons)

Photo byWilliam G Pomeroy Foundation of Alabama

Booger Tree

Booger tree isn't just a tree - it's a small populated area in Alabama, named for the legendary "Booger Tree." The small, unincorporated community lies in Winston County where Walker's Chapel Church of Christ once stood. Although the church building has been gone for decades, a small cemetery remains. Locals say the area has been unofficially called Booger Tree for decades. There are two legends associated with Booger Tree. One says that the area was named for a huge tree that once stood near the cemetery where several people were hanged during the Civil War. With Winston County's secession from Alabama, not wanting to be a part of the Confederate states, that legend does hold some credibility. although Unfortunately, no records have ever been found to substantiate that claim. The other legend is associated with local folklore of the "Downey Booger." By all accounts, the Downey Booger was a bipedal bigfoot-type creature that was sighted by several residents of Winston County in the late 1800s. The first two locals to see it were brothers John and Joe Downey, thus the name, Downey Booger. Legend says the creature jumped out from behind a tree and terrified the brothers one night when they were returning from a dance. From that point forward, the tree was named the Booger Tree.

Ghost Cat Tree

In Fort Conde Village of Mobile, stands a tree that people claim is haunted—but not by a normal "human ghost." This tree is haunted by a cat. Several paranormal investigators say that they have detected a small ball of energy in the tree that is the same size as a cat. Others have seen the figure of a cat run up into the branches of the tree, only to disappear upon closer inspection. The tree is very old, with eerie-looking twisted branches. The purr-fect place for a ghost!

The Hanging TreePhoto byAla. State Parks

The Hanging Tree

Blakeley State Park holds an important place in the history of Alabama. According to the Blakeley State park website,

Historic Blakeley State Park encompasses more than 2,100 acres of the largest National Register Historic Site in the eastern half of the United States. Within the park's grounds are the site of the last major battle of the Civil War, including several miles of unspoiled Confederate and Union fortifications associated with the Battle of Fort Blakeley of April 9, 1865; the site and remnants of the important early Alabama town of Blakeley; colonial-era homesteads; and evidence of American Indian habitation from the Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian and Historic periods.

The site of the former town of Blakeley, now within Blakeley State Park, is a place rumored to be haunted. The haunting centers on a massive oak tree that was the site of many hangings in the town of Blakeley. The tree often gives guests of the park a feeling of fear and choking. Voices have been heard around the tree and a few people have seen the spectre of a body hanging from it's limbs.

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