'Legend'ary Memories

Apparently Galveston Island has a host of Ghost stories and haunted houses. I grew up making frequent summer visits Bishops Palace, which is thought to be the most haunted home on the Island. Stories of ghosts that protect the mansion have been passed down from generation to generation. But, my own Galveston Island story is about the The Face on Ewing Hall (cue the spooky tunes).

The land and  building now belongs to UTMB and can be seen from the harbor, but is off limits to the public. The story goes that the face of a fisherman who originally owned the land in the 1920's peers eerily from the harbor side wall of the building. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Apparently, he had sternly instructed his family not to sell the land prior to his death, but the money-hungry family went against all of his wishes. One the building was erected, his face showed up on one of the top panels of the backside of the building. His face has been painted over and sandblasted off several times and each time it reappers in a new place.

Currently the face resides in a panel just above the back door. There are three panels directly above the back door and it first appeared in the top one. Once sandblasted from that spot, it moved to the next lower panel. Sandblasted again, it reappeared in the panel just above the door. Legend holds that the University opted not to sandblast again in fear of moving the ghost into the door.

This time it was a cold and wintry night that I stood outside with wind whipping at my back and peered around the corner of a  great friend to see that eery face on Ewing Hall. It was there, just as predicted. The hair stood on my arms and chills ran down my spine. And again, I jumped in the car and was ready to go!

Next time your out on Galveston Island, be sure to take a quick trip around the building and take a peek for yourself.