Est. 1889 · National Register Downtown Historic District · Burke County Seat History · Civil War-Era Commerce · Western North Carolina Settlement
Morganton is the seat of Burke County and has functioned as a western North Carolina hub since the late 1700s. The downtown corridor along Union Street and adjacent blocks developed heavily in the post-Civil War period, with brick commercial buildings from the 1880s through the early 20th century forming the National Register Historic District's core.
The City of Morganton administers a ghost walk through this district that covers approximately 1.5 miles on foot. The walk was researched in part by Joshua P. Warren, a well-known paranormal investigator based in Asheville who has published books on the paranormal and has appeared in media covering unexplained phenomena in North Carolina.
One documented stop on the walk is the Burke County Services Building, where employees have reported hearing voices emanating from the chimney stack — a specific, place-tied account rather than generalized haunting claims. Another stop covers the site of the former Morganton Savings & Loan, associated with a legend holding that Civil War-era businessman Charles Gordon Tate made a deal with Satan to preserve his business. The origins of the Tate legend are documented in local tradition without a single authoritative source.
The walk's scope reportedly extends to accounts reaching back 500 years, incorporating Indigenous history and early European contact-period lore from the Burke County area. The district's 62 contributing buildings provide a well-preserved architectural frame for the walk.
Sources
- https://www.morgantonnc.gov/main-street/page/downtown-morganton-ghost-walk
- https://www.hauntedtrails.com/blog/tour-morgantons-spooky-history-ghost-walk-around-downtown
Disembodied voicesApparitionsResidual haunting
The Burke County Services Building is the walk's most specific paranormal site. Multiple employees have reported hearing disembodied voices inside the chimney — a recurring and located claim that distinguishes it from the more generalized haunting stories that make up many ghost walks. The voices have been reported without an identified historical trigger, though the building's long public function history means it has hosted considerable human activity.
The legend of Charles Gordon Tate and the Morganton Savings & Loan is more typical of 19th-century American moral folklore. According to local tradition documented in the walk's materials, Tate made a bargain with Satan during the Civil War to protect his business interests. The legend falls within a broad American tradition of Devil-deal stories tied to crossroads or crisis moments, and its specific details are not independently confirmed in the sources available.
Joshua P. Warren, who researched the walk, is documented as a paranormal investigator with books on North Carolina's unexplained phenomena and has appeared in media and documentary formats. His involvement gives the walk more systematic historical research backing than typical commercially operated ghost tours.
Beyond these named stops, the walk reportedly includes accounts from pre-European contact periods, suggesting the 500-year scope draws on Cherokee and other Indigenous history of the Burke County area, though those specific accounts are not detailed in the publicly available sources.
Notable Entities
Charles Gordon Tate (Civil War-era businessman, legend)
