The next full moon will see an increase in the number of ghouls and goblins on the streets of Old Louisville, a neighborhood that is fast gaining national recognition for its haunted history. So says Nore Ghibaudy, director of the Visitors Center in Historic Old Louisville since it opened last spring in the 200 block of West Oak Street. “Our ghost tours of Old Louisville have been so popular that we’ve decided to create specialty tours that capitalize on seasonal events and unique occurrences like the full moon,” he says. “What better way to explore the ghostly legends and stories associated with Louisville’s premier Victorian neighborhood than by the light of a full moon?” According to Alan Bird, president of the Old Louisville Chamber of Commerce, Old Louisville has the third largest historic preservation district in the nation and boasts the country’s largest purely Victorian neighborhood, with roughly 50 square blocks of stunning architecture and interesting history from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Local author, David Domine, put the spooky past of this unique neighborhood in the national spotlight last year with the publication of his best seller GHOSTS OF OLD LOUISVILLE: True Stories of Hauntings in America’s Largest Victorian Neighborhood. “There are over a thousand unique structures in this area,” says Domine, “most of them over a hundred years old, where generations have lived and died, so, it’s really not surprising that there would be a couple of ghosts knocking around.”
The monthly full moon ghost tours will visit many of the haunted hotspots mentioned in Domine’s first book, as well as some of those highlighted in his upcoming book, PHANTOMS OF OLD LOUISVILLE: Ghostly Tales from America’s Most Haunted Neighborhood. According to Domine, who often guides the tours himself, popular stops on the chauffer-driven tour include a haunted orphanage on First Street and the steps of the magnificent First Church of Christ, Scientist on Third Street, where the sad phantom of a young woman who died in the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918 still waits for her fiance years after he failed to show their planned elopement. The tour will also include a romantic walk through gas-lit Belgravia Court in the heart of Old Louisville to hear some of the district’s most chilling stories.
The Visitors Center in Historic Old Louisville at 218 West Oak Street will offer full moon ghost tours on Tuesday, July 11; Wednesday, August 9; Thursday, September 7; Saturday, October 7; Sunday, November 5; and Tuesday, December 5 this year. The tour will depart at 9:00 p.m. and will last roughly two hours. The price is $25.00 per person. The wildly popular “Ghost Tour of Old Louisville” still departs every Friday at 7:30 p.m. throughout the year. Those interested can call 502-637-2922 or go online at www.ghostsofoldlouisville.com. David Domine can be reached at 502-718-2764 or davidram13@iglou.com.
