GHOST 1: The One-Legged Man
Click here for walking directions to the haunting referenced on this page: Head past 9450 Pacific Street - look across the street in the direction of the highway. The House to the east of the house with the crow's nest.
On March 3, 1888, it was posted that “a one-legged man was seen running through the town of Plymouth burglarizing houses on Main Street.” The newspaper reported the man was drunk with no place to sleep. The only reason he was not shot, was because the moon was full, and the man looked “harmless” – a fateful mistake the bustling mining town would soon discover. The night was stormy. The air thick. The full moon ducked in and out of thunder clouds as rain periodically pummeled the streets.
Across town on Pacific Street was the Plymouth Empire Mine. Overlooking the gold extraction process sat a regal mine superintendent’s house – complete with crow’s nest granting a 360-degree view of the entire operation. Directly north of the superintendent’s house was another more nefarious house - a brothel perhaps? Both houses were grand by the day’s standards – with the brothel boasting double French doors opening to the outside from every room.
At about 7 p.m., on March 4, 1888, as the sun sank low in the sky, a lantern glowed from the crow’s nest of the superintendent’s home and two figures could be seen arguing.
Mabel H. watched from the windows of one of those the French doors. From her location she recognized one of the figures to be the mine superintendent, the other she couldn’t make out. The silhouette was unfamiliar to the girl who knew most of the miners and men in the camp – if not from personal experience, then from those that came to socialize at the brothel. Not all of those who patronized the house, partook in the ladies, many came for a drink, a game of cards and salty conversation. The second man in the window did neither.
Mable watched as the heated discussion turned physical. The second man had a crutch and was no match for the burley superintendent. The latter must have tired of the scuffle as, finally, he took the weaker man by his collar and escorted him swiftly out of view only to reappear at the front door. The man with the crutch was cast out – headfirst down the steps.
He sat for a moment, bewildered? Hurt? He struggled to get up. Mable noticed he had but one leg. When he looked in her direction – he seemed to catch her eye. Something in his face caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end. She backed away from the window and extinguished her lantern.
The next night as the doors to the brothel opened, Mr. Greene looked for Mable. She was one of his favorites. Green worked for the mining company but he was not a miner. He had a considerable estate and the means to spoil Mable. He knew she'd be expecting him.
Mable’s friends reported seeing her last the previous evening arguing outside one of the boarding houses by the Alpine with the one-legged man. His voice was loud – hers piercing - together they echoed all the way to Main Street.
Greene looked for Mable for two days. On the third, her body was found behind the boarding house. The one-legged man was never seen again.
Greene brought flowers to the spot every week for the remainder of his life. Mable’s voice still rings through the air on stormy nights.
Head past 9450 Pacific Street - look across the street in the direction of the highway and you'll see the two-story houses with the crows nest on top. The "brothel" was next door.
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