Do You Dare Enter This Haunted Tunnel in North Carolina?

Seeing and experiencing paranormal or supernatural activity is a seemingly common occurrence. Hundreds and thousands of people report seeing the paranormal in various places around the world. And while there has never been any definitive proof of this happening, enough people have reported it for something to be going on.

And if you want to experience the paranormal for yourself, there are hundreds of different locations in the country that are supposedly haunted. And one of these particular places is the Cowee Tunnel. This 700-foot tunnel is on the eastern side of the Tuckasegee river. But before we tell you about the paranormal nature of the tunnel, let’s take a look at the history of the area.

On December 30th, 1882, a group of thirty convicts entered a boat on the river. The water was frigid and a rainstorm had just occurred the previous night and heavy puddles in the boat from the storm were rocking the boat, their destination was the tunnel, which had been built prior to the railroad line to help keep up with construction.

After the puddles continued to make the boat heavier, some of the passengers feared the boat was going to go under and drown, but the police guards on the boat yelled at them to calm down. But they wouldn’t and with all the commotion and people moving, the boat capsized and fell into the freezing waters.

The men were all chained together, and that made it incredibly hard to stay afloat. In total, 19 people had fallen into the water, while 11 somehow remained on the boat. One by one, the 19 people sunk to the bottomed and drowned, while the other 11 were swept down the river. Everyone had perished in this awful accident.

On New Years Day, the 19 bodies were recovered from the water and were buried in unmarked and shallow graves, which was right where the entrance to the tunnel was (though there has been speculation they may not have actually been buried there). And soon after, the tunnel was complete, but strange events kept happening at the location.

Over the years, the spot remained a place for a number of major mishaps and accidents. A number of apparent mechanical glitches (such as train derailment) caused a number of big train accidents as well as a pitch black curve in the middle of the tunnel that made life very hard for conductors.

Local folklore has said that the accident way back in 1882 has left the tunnel curse by the 19 men that died there. There is also supposedly constant moisture on top of the tunnel which runs down the walls, which is said to be the tears of the deceased men. In the modern day, the tunnel is quite hard to access as the landscapes around it have obviously changed in almost a century and a half, but it can still be found somewhere along the Great Smoky Railroad if you dare seek it out.