Grouping | Ghost |
---|---|
First attested | 1822 |
Country | United States |
Region | Pawleys Island, South Carolina |
In South Carolina ghostlore, the Gray Man is a ghost reportedly seen on the coast of Pawleys Island, South Carolina that warns residents of coming severe storms and hurricanes. Although there are many variations of the legend, most say the Gray Man was first seen in 1822, three years before the town government was incorporated. The last reported sighting was just before Hurricane Florence hit in 2018 [1] and previously just before Hurricane Hugo hit the area in 1989. [2]
Legend holds that the Gray Man is the ghost of a young man traveling from Charleston to see his fiancée in 1822. [3] On the way, he and his horse were caught in quicksand-like pluff mud in the marshes before Pawley's Island, and died. His spirit has haunted the shore nearby ever since, looking for the girl he loved. [2]
The legend appears to have first entered print in Julian Stevenson Bolick's book Waccamaw Plantations, published in 1946, [4] and was repeated more elaborately in his 1956 book of ghost stories. [5]
The Gray Man got national attention just after Hurricane Hugo when residents Jim and Clara Moore were interviewed on the television show Unsolved Mysteries , which aired in 1990. [6] They told their story about seeing the man on the beach and how he disappeared when they waved. Their house was spared in the storm while the homes of their neighbors were heavily damaged. [2]
The Weather Channel aired a series in 2014, American Super/Natural, that devoted an entire episode to the Gray Man. [7]
People who have allegedly encountered the spirit have credited him with saving them or their homes. Either they have come ashore or left the area and returned to find their homes and belongings unscathed by severe storms. [2] He has been described as a man wearing gray clothing, a long coat, dressed "like a pirate," and sometimes as having no legs. [2]
Georgetown County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 63,404. Its county seat is Georgetown. The county was founded in 1769. It is named for George III of the United Kingdom.
Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Lowcountry. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 9,163. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Black, Great Pee Dee, Waccamaw, and Sampit rivers, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina, handling over 960,000 tons of materials a year, while Charleston is the largest.
Murrells Inlet is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,547 at the 2010 census. It is about 13 miles south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and 21 miles north of Georgetown, the county seat.
Pawleys Island is a town in Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States, and the Atlantic coast barrier island on which the town is located.
Garden City, sometimes known as Garden City Beach, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 9,209 at the 2010 census. Garden City Beach is located directly south of Surfside Beach. The developed part of the beach extends south beyond the limits of the Garden City CDP, into Georgetown County, and ends on a peninsula at the mouth of Murrells Inlet.
Hurricane Hugo was a powerful tropical cyclone that inflicted widespread destruction across the northeastern Caribbean and the Southeastern United States in September 1989. The eleventh tropical cyclone, eighth named storm, sixth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season, Hugo arose from a cluster of thunderstorms near Cape Verde on September 10, 1989. This cluster coalesced into a tropical depression and strengthened into Tropical Storm Hugo as it tracked west across the Atlantic Ocean for several days. On September 13, Hugo became a hurricane and continued to intensify through September 15 when its sustained winds peaked at 160 mph (255 km/h), making it a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Between September 17 and 21, Hugo made landfall on Guadeloupe, Saint Croix, Puerto Rico, and lastly South Carolina, with major hurricane strength winds. The storm weakened inland and accelerated north over the Eastern United States, transitioning into an extratropical cyclone on September 23 before it was last noted in the far northern Atlantic on September 25.
The 1989 Atlantic hurricane season was an average hurricane season with 11 named storms. The season officially began on June 1, and ended on November 30. The first tropical cyclone, Tropical Depression One, developed on June 15, and dissipated two days later without any effects on land. Later that month, Tropical Storm Allison caused severe flooding, especially in Texas and Louisiana. Tropical Storm Barry, Tropical Depressions Six, Nine, and Thirteen, and Hurricanes Erin and Felix caused negligible impact. Hurricane Gabrielle and Tropical Storm Iris caused light effects on land, with the former resulting in nine fatalities from rip currents offshore the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, while the latter produced minor flooding in the United States Virgin Islands.
The Grand Strand is an arc of beach land on the Atlantic Ocean in South Carolina, United States, extending more than 60 miles (97 km) from Little River to Winyah Bay. It is located in Horry and Georgetown Counties on the northeastern South Carolina coast.
Scariest Places on Earth is an American paranormal reality television series that originally aired from October 23, 2000, to October 29, 2006, on Fox Family, and later ABC Family. The show was hosted by Linda Blair, with narration by Zelda Rubinstein. The show featured reported cases of the paranormal by detailing the location's history, and then sending an ordinary family to visit the location in a reality television-style vigil.
The decade of the 1820s featured the 1820s Atlantic hurricane seasons. While data is not available for every storm that occurred, some parts of the coastline were populated enough to give data of hurricane occurrences. Each season was an ongoing event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation in the Atlantic basin. Most tropical cyclone formation occurs between June 1 and November 30.
The Waccamaw Neck is a long narrow peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the Waccamaw River in Georgetown County, South Carolina. The town of Pawleys Island is located on the Waccamaw Neck, as well as the unincorporated mainland area, which includes the areas of Litchfield Beach and North Litchfield Beach. The entire area shares Zip Code 29585. The Waccamaw Neck is located south of Myrtle Beach on the Grand Strand, and just north of the historic seaport of Georgetown.
Robert Francis Withers Allston was the 67th Governor of South Carolina. He was born in Waccamaw, South Carolina.
Litchfield Plantation in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, is one of the oldest rice plantations on the Waccamaw River.
Hurricane Dennis caused severe flooding in Miami-Dade County, Florida, in August 1981. The tenth tropical cyclone and fourth named storm of the season, Dennis developed from a tropical wave well south of Cabo Verde on August 7. The depression intensified into a tropical storm early the next day. Dennis then encountered strong wind shear, causing the storm to weaken to a tropical depression on August 11. After crossing the Windward Islands on August 12, Dennis degenerated into a tropical wave several hours later over the Caribbean Sea. The wave became a tropical depression again late on August 15 while approaching Cuba. Dennis reintensified into a tropical storm before landfall in Matanzas Province. The cyclone emerged into the Straits of Florida on August 16, before striking the Florida Keys and then mainland Monroe County early the next day. It drifted across Florida, reaching the Atlantic near Cape Canaveral on August 19. Dennis continued to intensify and made landfall near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, but moved east-northeastward and soon tracked offshore. Late on August 20, Dennis deepened into a hurricane with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), before weakening to a tropical storm over colder waters on August 21. Dennis became extratropical northeast of Bermuda early on August 22 and persisted until being absorbed by a frontal system on August 26.
All Saints Church Pawleys Island is a historic church complex and national historic district located on Pawleys Island, Georgetown County, South Carolina. The district encompasses three contributing buildings and one contributing site—the sanctuary, cemetery, rectory, and chapel. In 2004, it left the Episcopal Church to join the Diocese of the Carolinas, now part of the Anglican Church in North America, a denomination within the Anglican realignment movement.
Hurricane Cindy impacted the Carolinas, the Mid-Atlantic states, New England, and the Canadian Maritime Provinces during the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season. The third storm of the season, Cindy originated from a low-pressure area associated with a cold front located east of northern Florida. The low developed into a tropical depression on July 5 while tracking north-northeastward, and became Tropical Storm Cindy by the next day. Cindy turned westward because of a high-pressure area positioned to its north, and further intensified into a weak hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas on July 8. Early on July 9, Cindy made landfall near McClellanville, South Carolina, and re-curved to the northeast along the Fall Line as a tropical depression. It re-entered the Atlantic on July 10, quickly restrengthening into a tropical storm while it began to move faster. On July 11, Cindy passed over Cape Cod, while several other weather systems helped the storm maintain its intensity. Cindy transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on July 12 as it neared the Canadian Maritime Provinces.
The 1804 Antigua–Charleston hurricane was the most severe hurricane in the American state of Georgia since 1752, causing over 500 deaths and at least $1.6 million (1804 USD) in damage throughout the Southeastern United States. Originating near Antigua on 3 September, it initially drifted west-northwestward, soon nearing Puerto Rico. Throughout its existence in the Caribbean Sea, the hurricane damaged, destroyed, and capsized numerous ships, and at Saint Kitts, it was considered to be the worst since 1772. By 4 September, the storm arrived at the Bahamas and turned northward before approaching the coast of northern Florida on 6 September. The hurricane eventually came ashore along the coastline of Georgia and South Carolina while producing mostly southeasterly winds. A severe gale was noted in New England later that month, on 11 and 12 September, although it was likely not the same system as that which had passed through the Caribbean and southeastern United States earlier that month.
Cedar Grove Plantation Chapel, also known as Summer Chapel, All Saints' Episcopal Church, and Waccamaw, is a historic plantation chapel located near Pawleys Island, Georgetown County, South Carolina. It was built in 1898, and is a small, frame vernacular Gothic Revival style chapel. It features a pedimented portico supported by four, paneled, square columns. The chapel is associated with All Saints Church.
Hurricane Dorian caused severe flooding and hurricane-force winds over parts of the coastal Carolinas during early September 2019. After stalling over The Bahamas for three days as a Category 5 hurricane, Dorian proceeded generally to the northwest, before moving along the Atlantic Coast, striking the town of Buxton, North Carolina, on September 6.