Locals Say This Virginia Plantation Is Haunted By Six Murdered Boy Scouts
Six Boy Scouts And Their Leader Decided To Camp In The Woods
Photo: Internet Archive Book Images / flickr / No known copyright restrictionsIn the summer of 1920, six young Boy Scouts and their Scoutmaster set out for a camping trip in the woods near Charlottesville. It was the boys' first outing with this new leader. Unfortunately, the Scout leader was neither familiar with the forest they were hiking through, nor had he heard the tales of the mysterious witch or ghost in the area. For this reason, they unknowingly passed onto the witch's property at Dunlora and decided this seemed like a suitable place to camp for the evening.
At first, everything went okay. The group set up their tents, cooked dinner, and when night fell, they all went to bed. It was the last night the troop ever spent together... at least alive.
The Boys Went Missing During The Night
Photo: Internet Archive Book Images / flickr / No known copyright restrictionsLate in the evening, the Scout leader stirred awake due to a strange noise. He thought something odd occurred in one of the tents nearby. Initially, he assumed it was just the boys playing a game or goofing around, and got up to tell them to cut it out and go to sleep. However, when the Scoutmaster went to the tents, he found they were empty.
The boys were not inside the tents, and there was no sign of what happened to them. Still thinking it was a prank, the Scoutmaster called out for the boys to return, but only received silence in return.
Now worried, he began to venture into the woods, screaming their names and searching for any sign of them. He found nothing at all, and he began to fear for the boys' safety. Then, in the distance, he saw a single light flickering. With nothing left to do, the Scoutmaster followed it, hoping he would find the boys there.
The Scout Leader Came Across The Mansion
Photo: Internet Archive Book Images / flickr / No known copyright restrictionsAs he emerged from the woods, the Scout leader found he was standing in front of a large mansion or farmhouse. It was beautiful, but appeared abandoned. There was dust everywhere as he walked up to the porch, and spider webs lined the windows and doors. The front door was wide open, and as he entered, he saw the furniture was old and untouched.
He suspected the place was vacant. He searched the house, calling for the Scouts, but they did not reply. He found no sign of them. Turning to leave, he thought he heard a small voice - a child's voice - coming from the cellar of the house.
He descended the stairs and found a large empty room, with no one at all inside. He was again going to leave when he saw what looked like a Boy Scout's hat lying on the ground. Just then, he heard a sound from the stairs and turned around, hoping to find the boys there waiting for him. What he saw instead made him scream.
The Scout Master Fled And Found His Disemboweled Boy Scouts
Photo: Internet Archive Book Images / flickr / No known copyright restrictionsThere, only inches from the Scoutmaster's nose, was the leering face of a witch. The light from the Scout leader's flashlight showed the witch smiling maliciously, her eyes gleaming and staring straight into her victim's soul. The witch's pointed teeth glistened in the darkness.
The Scoutmaster, as you might guess, shrieked and rushed out of the cellar, up the stairs, and out of the house. He fled back into the woods, searching for a road so he could get help.
Behind him, he heard sounds suggesting a pursuit. Even as he found the road, whenever he looked back, he could see the intense eyes of the witch getting closer. Once, when he turned around to run further from her, he saw something even more frightening: all the Scouts standing in a row on the dirty road.
Their eyes stared at him, unmoving. With all the boys' stomachs carved open and their entrails dropping out onto the road, it was about this time the Scout leader lost consciousness.
When The Police Came, The Boys Were All Dead In Their Tents
Photo: Internet Archive Book Images / flickr / No known copyright restrictionsEventually, the police showed up. They found the Scoutmaster, curled up on the road, babbling nonsensically. It seemed he had lost his sanity, and kept talking about the disemboweled Boy Scouts. Once the cops coaxed a little bit of information from the poor man, they located the camp. When they arrived, however, a grisly scene awaited them.
Inside the tents were all the Boy Scouts, their stomachs slashed open as they rested atop their sleeping bags. Some lacked intestines, and the authorities later found these organs in the still-hot fire. Adjacent to the fire was a knife belonging to the Scoutmaster, the blood of the Scouts still glistening on it. Police arrested the Scout leader for murder shortly afterward.
The Scouts' Spirits Were Captured In Trees
Photo: Pimskill / flickr / CC-BY-NC 2.0As he was too insane to stand trial, the Scoutmaster entered an asylum for the rest of his days. He never stopped alleging the witch killed the boys. As if to support his claim, something strange happened only a short time later.
On the Dunlora property, seven fully grown trees suddenly appeared one day by the side of the road. They stood in a row, six of them straight, but one was twisted and gnarled.
The six regular trees supposedly contain the spirits of the dead Boy Scouts, their souls trapped there by the witch for all eternity. The last tree is said to confine the broken mind of the poor Scout leader, claimed by the witch when he fainted. Those trees allegedly still stand on the property to this day, acting as a warning for any who would even think to stop for a night in the nearby woods.
The Mansion Was Supposedly Home To Something Evil
Photo: Internet Archive Book Images / flickr / No known copyright restrictionsSome say that around the 1900s, a woman, who may or may not have relations with the original family, acquired the house. However, this woman was not just a simple plantation owner. Instead, she was a witch - an evil one. She lived covertly in the house, letting it fall into disrepair and shambles. Some people even say she died there, and it was only her ghost inhabiting the property.
People in the area know to steer clear of the witch's property. Some did occasionally camp in the woods, but they gave her property a wide margin. However, the witch's lands were still beautiful and covered in forests. The place seemed inviting to those unaware of her legend. It was only a matter of time before someone ventured too close for her comfort.
If You Visit, You May See And Hear Strange Things
Since then, the Dunlora property became a small private community, and the houses sell for incredibly high prices. However, this hasn't stopped the place from being a hotbed of paranormal activity.
Many people ventured into the woods in search of the historic haunted mansion, looking for the place the Scouts died. It is said if you go there, you will feel a dark presence in the area, and perhaps even see the spirit of the witch watching you. In one account, strange things happened with the trees, and bizarre sounds surfaced:
When driving down the old dirt road you count eight trees in a row, driving back up the road, you only count seven. We decided to stop the car in the middle of the road and roll down the windows... Not two minutes later, we heard the boys screaming! We rolled up the windows, locked the doors, and speed [sic] out of there!
You Cannot Find The Mansion On A Map
Photo: SØ JORD / flickr / CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0Of course, this fascinating and dark tale has a little problem. The story spread around on Facebook in 2016, but there's not much of a written record of it before then. Many maps list the dirt road that leads to the farmhouse and plantation, but the farmhouse itself doesn't appear to have a fixed address.
Locals Are None Too Pleased About The Legend's Popularity
Although the legend is fascinating, it hasn't made the residents of Dunlora very happy. They say teens cruise through the area in search of ghosts, and sometimes trespass on their property or cause damage. Because there's no exact location for the Dunlora Mansion, it leads people to traipse all over the private community, which is a few hundred houses in size.
As for the actual owners of the property, they are anything but pleased with the notoriety. While the witch may not drive kids away, the living owners certainly will. The caretaker, Kenny Taylor, said:
The plantation has been here since 1730. It's been in the hands of the same family ever since then. I have heard the stories before, but nothing from the family itself, or anything about Boy Scouts. We just tell people that it's private property, and we live here - that it's not abandoned, and [to] please respect our privacy.
The House Was Supposedly Built In The 1730s
Photo: Internet Archive Book Images / flickr / No known copyright restrictionsThe history of the area called Dunlora is still greatly shrouded in mystery. What we do know, however, is it's one of the oldest established places in Charlottesville, and perhaps even Virginia itself. The land, given to Major Thomas Carr for "services to the crown," dates back to 1724.
Builders constructed a farmhouse - sometimes called a mansion - on the land in 1730, which supposedly housed not only the wealthy, but many slaves as well. There are even rumors of a slave graveyard near the premises, possibly adding to the evil energy many feel as they pass the property.
