Surrency Poltergeist Site

The site of Georgia's most famous and documented poltergeist case. In 1872, sawmill owner Allen Surrency's home became the epicenter of violent supernatural activity that attracted reporters from across America, England, and Canada.

The Surrency Poltergeist is one of the most documented ghost stories in American history. In October 1872, wealthy sawmill owner Allen Powel Surrency returned to his large two-story home near the railroad tracks in the town that bears his name - and found his house beset by terrifying forces.

In a letter to the Savannah Morning News, Surrency described watching glass tumblers slide off tables on their own and crockery fall to the floor and shatter. The disturbances quickly escalated. Doors slammed open and closed. Objects floated above the ground. Clocks ran backward. Furniture moved without being touched.

Then the activity turned violent. Children were thrown from their beds. One child was beaten by unseen hands. The family tried to escape by temporarily moving to another house, but the chaos followed them. Whatever force plagued the Surrencys seemed attached not to the house, but to the family itself.

News of the haunting spread like wildfire. Reporters and curiosity seekers from across America, England, and Canada descended on the little Georgia town. Thousands of witnesses saw the phenomena firsthand. Few were disappointed.

Allen Surrency died in 1877, just five years after the haunting began. Some say his death ended the activity; others claim disturbances continued sporadically until the house was abandoned. The home sat vacant for decades before mysteriously burning to the ground in 1925.

Even today, the Surrency Spook Light - a glowing yellow orb - floats along the railroad tracks near town at night. Generations of travelers and locals have witnessed the mysterious glow, a lasting reminder of the poltergeist that made this small Georgia town famous.