Shadows fall over the historic streets of Portsmouth once more, as a chilling hush settles upon this Ohio River town. In the heart of this seemingly peaceful city, the secrets of the past stir. Welcome to another compelling chapter of “Paranormal Portsmouth,” where the ordinary and the unexplainable collide. Prepare to step into the unknown, where ghosts’ whispers echo through hidden chambers and the spirits of Portsmouth’s past awaken to share their stories.
If you have visited the Boneyfiddle District in Portsmouth, you probably have seen the large brick building sitting on 2nd Street between Market and Court streets. If you haven’t, just look for the sign with the three ghosts and the flags waving outside of its doors. Constructed in the 1860s, the building that now houses Ghosts in the Attic: Antique Mall wasn’t always a gallery of trinkets and oddities from years past. The building has gone through phases of housing many different enterprises. The J.F. Davis Drug Company occupied the space until the 1920s, then the Ohio Valley Coffee Company was there until the 1950s. However, the then-two-and-a-half- story building began as a furniture shop and funeral parlor, and some people question whether the departed served by the funeral parlor ever truly left.
Sharon Bender, current owner of Ghosts in the Attic: Antique Mall, mentioned a one-time employee of J.F. Davis Drug Company named John as the source of some of those questions. John was killed while using the elevator inside the building.
“While John was loading and unloading crates of pharmaceuticals, something happened to the lift and resulted in him being decapitated,” Bender said.
During the Halloween season, Ghosts in the Attic hosts an annual ghost walk, introducing members of the community to the possibility that John’s ghost still inhabits the space.
“People were taking pictures up the elevator shaft and snapping photos of ghost orbs,” Bender said of past ghost walks. She also recalled one visitor leaving the tour in tears due to fear.
As this chapter of “Paranormal Portsmouth” ends, the spirits of the past beckon us to explore the unknown, to embrace the mysteries that dwell in this Ohio town. In the end, we are reminded that, in the dark of the night, even the most peaceful of places can come alive with the whispers of ghosts.
