HAUNTED MICHIGAN: The Ghosts at the Bottom of the Lake

Harrison, Michigan was a lumber town back in the olden days of the 1800's. The area still has plenty of original old homes and structures.....with a nice handful of ghost stories to go with 'em.

In the 1800's, the Wilson Brothers built a sawmill on the shores of Budd Lake; the area is now known as Wilson State Park. Since the 1930's, the ghost of a young woman has been seen walking along the beach and near the beach house.

The story goes like this: back in the early 1930's, some teens were at the park, boozing it up. They decided to take a boat onto the lake when it was after dark; needless to say, once out on the lake, the boat capsized and they fell into the dark waters of Budd Lake. No one on shore could see them due to the darkness and their yells & screams for help couldn't be heard. They all drowned and sank to the bottom of the lake...all except one girl. She evidently was able to make it to shore where fishermen found her dead, sitting on a beach house bench.

After a few days, the bodies of her friends washed ashore and the legend began, about how the ghost of this girl would forever be searching the beach house grounds for her lost friends. Since then, rangers tell campers at the park to NOT take a swim after midnight, since no lifeguards were on duty that late.....and also because they might run into this ghost.

One hot summer night, one particular camper left his tent to cool off and walked down to the beach. As he sat there in the dark, he heard footsteps and a female voice say "where are you?" and a few seconds later, "help me!"

He saw the image of a female near the stone walkway and asked her what was wrong. According to clarecountyreview.com, "The woman turned towards him as if she were going to say something; she looked surprised to see him, but as she turned at him, he could see she had no facial features; he could make out the outline of her face and hair but in the place where her eyes should have been was just blank."

When the man grabbed his camera and took a photo of the ghost, the apparition "shrunk and faded into a small bright dot, the dot stayed for a few more seconds and then flew away."

True or false? Many locals believe the tale is fact.

Another quickie Harrison ghost story involves a rich woman who owned much of Harrison. She was beaten to death by her grandson in the 1960's and now her old white house is haunted to this day: doors slam, the toilet flushes, and sounds of screams and the disembodied voice of an old woman. Which old white house is unknown. Care to explore and find out for yourself?

Visit Harrison and see if you can find out more...and spend the night sometime along the beach at Wilson State Park.

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