Is This Girl Scout Camp in Alabama Haunted?

Everyone knows that some of the best ghost stories are told while camping. All that's needed is a dark night, a campfire, and a good scary story. In Alabama, we have the quintessential location for this: a campground that's rumored to be haunted. It's called Camp Cottaquilla, a campground just for Girl Scouts, located near Anniston. Camp Cottaquilla was founded in 1947, according to the the Anniston Star. Two well-known ghostly legends surround the camp. Are these legends simply campfire tales? You decide!

Camp Cottaquilla GatePhoto byCamp Cottaquilla Public Facebook Page

The One-Armed Girl Scout

Sometime in the mid 1950s, a group of girl scouts were sitting around the evening campfire as they enjoyed their troop's special outing at Camp Cottaquilla. This particular group of girls were very competitive - as they had worked for weeks to see who could sell the most boxes of Girl Scout cookies. As the girls sat talking, several bragged about the number of boxes they had sold. When the most ambitious of the girls heard them, she realized that she was a few boxes short of winning. Not to be outdone, she slipped away from the campfire, picked up her bag of cookies, and ran down the curvy, darkened road away from the camp - hoping to happen upon a house or a car where she could sell the rest of her cookies and win the contest.

One-armed girl scout (computer generated image)Photo byBing image created by April Killian

Down the lonely road, the overly ambitious girl ran. No sooner had she started when she saw headlights approaching. Thinking that she shouldn't let any potential customer get away, she jumped right out in front of the car so she could flag them down. The driver braked and swerved - but the car clipped the young girl on her side and by some freak accident, ripped her arm completely off her body. Efforts to save her were hopeless. Locals say that to this day, especially on a night with a full moon, the ghost of the one-armed Girl Scout can be seen. Sometimes she is seen at the camp itself darting away in the shadows. Sometimes her shadowy figure can be seen waving down cars along the road ...and sometimes people who live near the camp hear a faint knock on their door. When they open it, there stands the ghastly spectre of the one-armed Girl Scout....as she holds out a blood covered box of cookies before she vanishes from sight. Is this a real ghost story or just a campfire tale? You decide!

Legend of the Indian Princess

Another legend that surrounds Camp Cottaquilla goes back to native American lore supposedly told to early settlers in the area. The legend says that the area where the camp is located has been haunted for centuries by the lonesome and grieving spirit of the daughter of an Indian Chief. The story says that the land around Camp Cottaquilla was once inhabited by two warring indian tribes. The chief of one of the tribes had a beautiful daughter. Somehow, she fell in love with a young brave from the enemy tribe. Every night, the two young lovers would slip away and meet in the moonlight on the very spot where Camp Cottaquilla is located today. One night, suspicious of what his daughter was doing on her late night walks, her Chieftan father forbade her from leaving. In her place, he sent his finest warriors to ambush the young brave. When word came back to the young woman that her lover had been killed, she was devastated. She ate a handful of poison berries so she could join him in the afterlife. Only, it wasn't her lover that was killed, but another young brave who was out hunting. It's been said that her spirit wanders in the night to this day, looking for her young lover. People say that you can hear footsteps in the camp at midnight and hear the voice of the young woman calling out to her lover. Several people say they have heard her weeping late in the night.

Regardless of the ghost stories that surround Camp Cottaquilla, it's a beautiful place where thousands of Girl Scouts have made wonderful memories. The campground is private, however, it can be rented at times for church retreats or other gatherings. For more information, visit the Camp Cottaquilla Facebook Page.

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