The Haunted Museum of Ashe County History

Posted: 12.22.2024 | Updated: 12.22.2024

Located on a grassy stretch of space on Jefferson’s Main Street rests an impressive brick building with an important history. Its striking portico, with four imposing white columns, lends it an appearance of gravity, eliciting both fear and respect in those who stand before it. Although no longer operating as a courthouse today, it still carries a certain aura of authority and power. 

Within the Museum of Ashe County History, you’ll find an assortment of objects heavily tied to the everyday lives of many former Ashe County residents. Exhibits display the wares, clothes, furniture, and household items of those who once lived within the region. Inside, the stories of veterans are told within their uniforms and weapons, and the tales of moonshiners and miners within the tools of their trades. Who knows what spirits may be attached to them? 

Read on to discover the haunting history behind one of Jefferson’s oldest structures. To hear more stories of Southern lore embedded within this striking mountain city, take a ghost tour with Asheville Terrors.

Is the Museum of Ashe County History Haunted?

This magnificent brick building may now operate as a museum, but for nearly a decade, it existed as Ashe County’s Courthouse, overseeing many crimes and cases. This stately structure held hangings on a neighboring lawn in the front of the building, where the gallows once loomed over 100 years ago. 

Inside, many men received sentencing for their crimes, and not all got off lucky. Many residents believe their ghosts still haunt the building in which their fates were decided, lingering for unknown reasons. 

A Judicial History 

The Ashe County Courthouse was built in 1904 by architects Wheeler & Runge of Charlotte. Its appearance is similar to that of nearby courthouses in Avery County, Caldwell County, and Wilkes County. 

The south-facing structure was constructed in a blend of Beaux Arts and Classical Revival styles. Fashioned from red brick and concrete, the three-story building sits in the center of Jefferson. 

The architecture features a high portico on the front of the building with four grand white columns stretching upwards to the pediment. The third story is recessed, leading the eye up to a picturesque red roof. 

The present-day courthouse for Ashe County was built in 2000, leaving the future of this beautiful building uncertain. Luckily, it was decided to turn the historic structure into a museum, harboring regional artifacts and exhibitions. 

It took restoration specialists and volunteers seven long years to restore the building, repairing the original timbers and local soapstone windows. The project was a significant undertaking, as the venture aimed not just to replace worn-down portions of the building but to restore them in a way that is historically accurate. 

This involved stripping down wood finishes, paneling, and plasterwork throughout the building in order to refinish them to their original likeness. All the work required review by experts to ensure it would reflect the original look authentically. 

Today, the building is a museum highlighting the region’s history. Within its walls, you can discover exhibits spanning from the Civil War to World War II, as well as exhibits on mining, moonshining, and trains. 

The Museum of Ashe County History operates as a non-profit. This local county heritage museum collects a variety of objects and documents to shed light on the history of Ashe County and its residents. 

A Paranormal Night at the Museum

In 2011, a local team of paranormal investigators were granted access to the museum for evaluation, hoping to uncover evidence of the otherworldly within the old brick building. 

Many believe the museum to be haunted for several reasons. Not only is the structure over a century old, but within its walls, it decided the fate of numerous people. It also lies in close proximity to where the gallows sat long ago. 

The team brought a constellation of ghost-hunting gadgets, including infrared cameras, electromagnetic field detectors, infrared thermometers, and voice recorders. 

The group determined it to be likely residual energies that clung to the courthouse, capturing audio evidence of a banging gavel and a voice stating, “Order!” Breathing, loud footfalls, and various voices were also captured throughout the building. 

Legends of the courthouse’s hauntings have persisted for a long time, with a record of eerie phenomena occurring over the years. Stories stretch as far back as when the house operated as the town courthouse to its more recent incarnation as a museum. 

One particularly spooky occurrence was reported by a summer intern not long ago. The intern asked museum curator Don Long whether the building ever made noises. Reportedly, while the museum curator was out eating lunch, the intern heard a telephone ringing upstairs and the sounds of footsteps walking across the room to retrieve it.  

The intern was the only person in the building at the time. Who might this ghostly presence have been? 

Long replied that the ghostly activity may have belonged to a well-known lawyer from the 1900s, Tam Bowie, or Will Banks — a man executed in 1907.

The Curse of Will Banks  

Recorded as the last man to be executed in Ashe County, Will Banks’ death is a controversial one. Banks was the son of enslaved people, born in 1875 in Ashe County. He worked in the coal mines of West Virginia, often traveling back and forth between the two places to see his family. 

Trouble began for Banks one day with a young boy named Onny McMillan. Banks loaned the boy money for a train fare, but the debt went unpaid.

When Banks returned to Ashe County, he met Onny and his father, Frank McMillan. The conversation became heated, and an altercation ensued. Banks shot the man five times, claiming it to be an act of self-defense. He fled, heading North by train before being captured and returned to Ashe County for trial. 

The court found Banks to be guilty of killing McMillan in 1906, and Banks was sentenced to death by hanging. As he stood on the scaffolding, awaiting his final moments on the gallows, he spoke for over 40 minutes.

Banks spoke on the injustice he faced, accusing multiple prosecutors before finally declaring he was ready to be hanged. Afterward, one man who had assisted in building the very gallows Will Banks had hung upon claimed the rope and sold it by the foot.

Nearby the jail, there sat an open well. Almost everyone in the crowd who had watched Banks’ final moments had drunk from it that day. About half of them later fell ill with measles, causing many to attribute the occurrence to the curse of Will Banks.

Banks would be buried in Ashe County’s Cemetery for 117 long years before finally having his grave graced with a marker. Will this finally set his soul at peace, or will the curse of Will Banks carry on?

Haunted Asheville

The Museum of Ashe County History holds a number of permanent and rotating exhibits, including those on military history, music, and sports. Many visitors also praise its HO-scale Virginia Creeper exhibit, displaying an expansive view of this historic railway that brought timber and travelers across Whitetop Mountain.

Ready to delve deeper into the history of Asheville and examine some of its less-told tales? Book a chilling ghost tour with Asheville Terrors. Until your departure date, you can keep reading our blog or follow us on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook.

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