HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 1 further entry on record
Corner-store building whose original store opened in 1897 in Charlotte's Fourth Ward — originally the Crowell-Berryhill Store — leased by A. Michael Troiano Jr. and Alexander Copeland III in January 1983, with longstanding lore about a 'lonely local' said to be the spirit of Ernest Wiley Berryhill.
401 W 9th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Operating neighborhood tavern with standard pub-fare and drink pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Street-level corner tavern in Fourth Ward; flat Uptown grade.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1897 · Original Crowell-Berryhill Store opened in 1897 · Fourth Ward Victorian-Era Commercial Architecture · Building leased in January 1983 by A. Michael Troiano Jr. and Alexander Copeland III
The original Crowell-Berryhill Store at 9th and Pine streets in Charlotte's Fourth Ward opened in 1897. The structure functioned as a grocery and general store for surrounding Fourth Ward residents, then a residential and commercial neighborhood that retained many of its Victorian-era homes despite Charlotte's overall pattern of mid-twentieth-century demolition.
Ernest Wiley Berryhill — one of the store's operators — died in 1931. Local accounts emphasize that Berryhill was deeply invested in the store as his life's work. The building continued in commercial use under various tenants.
In January 1983, A. Michael Troiano Jr. and Alexander Copeland III leased the building at 401 West 9th Street. The tavern's branding leans on the building's nineteenth-century corner-store roots and on its position as a community gathering space.
The Fourth Ward neighborhood's preservation of its Victorian-era residential fabric makes Alexander Michael's one of the standard walking-tour stops for Charlotte historical and ghost tours.
Sources
The most persistent legend at Alexander Michael's is what Queen City Ghosts calls the 'Lonely Local' — a ghostly figure seen sitting alone in a corner booth after closing time, often described as a quiet, solitary man who appears late at night. Servers cleaning up after the last guests have gone home report seeing him at the same booth, always in the same spot, who vanishes on a second look. Charlotte Ghost Tours and North Carolina Haunted Houses identify the figure as the spirit of Ernest Wiley Berryhill, the original store operator who died in 1931 and is said in the lore to be unwilling to give up his life's work.
A secondary report concerns an apparition believed to be Berryhill peering out from an upstairs window of the building, occasionally noted by Fourth Ward walking-tour participants from the street.
Accompanying phenomena include unexplained cold spots in specific zones of the dining room, disembodied voices when the restaurant is quiet, and the sensation of being watched in the upstairs spaces. These reports cluster in regional press coverage of Charlotte's haunted restaurants and in Fourth Ward walking-tour itineraries; the tavern itself acknowledges the lore as part of its Fourth Ward identity.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Visit the neighborhood tavern in the former Crowell-Berryhill Store, which opened in 1897; the building was leased by A. Michael Troiano Jr. and Alexander Copeland III in January 1983. Diners and staff have reported a man sitting alone in a corner booth who vanishes.
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This Charlotte tour includes Alexander Michael's (Crowell-Berryhill Store) on its route.
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