On the land the Holiday Inn Express now sits on in Erwin, a horrible battle took place. The bloodshed was so severe that old folk in the town believe that’s why the banks of the river behind the hotel are red. Sounds of battle are still heard at times by those staying at the hotel.
Not too long after the war, in the late 1800s, there was a 2-story house that sat higher than most of the other homes that was considered old even before the Civil War, and sits now beside this land. Aunt Sarah was steeped in the superstitions of Longmire (now, Erwin), and one day heard conversations of local folk mixed with the sounds of the near this house. She said to hear such a thing, the conversations of all the dead in the field beside the river, was a bad omen; and it was. A terrible flood came from North Carolina and wiped out most of the houses in the area; all except the 2-story house. In fact, this house that is still standing has survived numerous floods.
One day Aunt Sarah decided to call on the Browne Family, who owned the house at this time. When she climbed to the second floor to converse with Mrs. Browne, who often sat in a room where she could hear the sounds of the Nolichucky River while she quilted, she heard the same noises coming through the window. She thought another flood was coming, and later remarked that “the dead are out and about instead of in their graves, where they belong.”
Since then, this house has been believed haunted, especially in the room where Mrs. Browne used to sit. Locals would say that you could hear voices coming from the room, and that anyone who lived in the house kept the door closed and locked against the ghosts that lived inside. One person who dared to enter said that the only odd thing she witnessed in the room was a yellow quilt with small balls of hair sewn to decorate the top; this was once a “charm” against witchcraft and evil spirits. 1
