Before there was a Bellaire, before Westmoreland Farms (the property on which Bellaire was founded), perhaps even before Texas, an Indian burial ground was said to be in this area. Exactly where no one seems to know (so far), not even Mike McCorkle, co-author of Life and Times Around Bellaire, Texas. According to one of my brothers, however, it was once off Bissonnet. Nevertheless, the burial ground lay somewhere in the city limits, and belonged to a cannibalistic tribe.
As the story was told, a nightly veil of gloomy fog blanketed the cemetery. A mysterious blue light moved erratically about the grounds in a seemingly endless search—for what or who, no one knows. It meandered without really going anywhere, yet never stopping. This was the spirit of Kuan-timi-ti, though nobody seems to remember who he was or how he died. Still, the legend warned that anyone caught in the cemetery at night was decapitated, and their heads randomly left upon gravestones.
If that weren't enough, there are other stories from more credible source. Take Buster Adams, Parks Superintendent with the City of Bellaire, he mentions a story from the old recreation center that was torn down around 1990*. On or about the night before its demolition, some kids broke in to do whatever kids do when they break into a condemned building. As the story goes, one kid never got out—having met his demise along with that of the building.
As a result, it’s said he haunts the current center. “I’ve heard and seen some things that don’t make sense,” Mr. Adams confides.
“It started back in the days when we had Midnight Madness. Afterward, another guy and I walked through the building to clean up and lock it down. We’d start from the back and work forward, turning off lights and securing everything. Toward the back is a water fountain with a trigger that sticks. We came up on it and it was running. We shut it off, as we usually do, and did our sweep back up to the front.
"Then, we thought we heard a voice and some rustling coming from the back. We went to check and that’s when we saw the fountain running."Adams explained the faulty handle meant the fountain couldn’t come on by itself. It had to be manually reset. Also, both men had been in each other’s company, and they knew no one else was in the building.
Adams detailed other incidents, including a night that a surveillance camera captured an apparition. He described a pair of lights, one atop the other, dancing across mirrors. “These mirrors don’t line up with any windows out to the streets,” Adams insisted. “I double checked the angles and nothing panned out.” Again, it took place in the back part of the building. He also reiterated that he and his partner knew the building was empty. “We travel in pairs after hours, and once it’s locked up, it’s locked up,” Adams said.
You might also check Secret Histories for the story on the old haunted convent in Bellaire. And if you have a Bellaire ghost story, leave a comment here.
*Taken from an interview conducted in 2004.
You might also check Secret Histories for the story on the old haunted convent in Bellaire. And if you have a Bellaire ghost story, leave a comment here.
*Taken from an interview conducted in 2004.
