John Sevier Center

Credits, Links, Resources and Suggested Reading:

1. To read a full account of this story, please pick up a copy of Haints, Witches, and Boogers: Tales from Upper East Tennessee by: Charles Edwin Price

2. This story also appears on the Ghosts and Spirits of Tennessee page.

3. This story also appears on Linda Linn's Kentucky Home and Ghost Stories: Stories from Kentucky and Tennessee page.

On Christmas Eve in 1989 in Johnson City, The John Sevier Center, an retirement home caught on fire. The flames were only on the first floor but the thick black smoke claimed 16 lives that night. After the fire department arrived, smoke was almost everywhere inside the building, some waving their hands from the windows to attract attention. Firefighters worked for hours trying to save as many people as possible. Many of the bodies were found in apartments and in the hallways. After the fire, the rumors of ghosts being in the building began to be heard. It is said, that ghostly victims of the fire could sometimes be seen at the windows waving for help. A man with a walker, can also be seen in the third floor hallway. Many other reports of seeing apparitions have been reported. 1, 2, 3