Ghost of Geelong - WhatWasGeelong
There are people that believe, people that don’t believe and people that just don’t know what to believe… Whether or not you are a believer, the stories behind the ‘ghosts’ are intriguing and here are a few stories from the beautiful Geelong.
Believe them or not…
When you think Geelong and ghosts most peoples minds will straight away think of the Old Geelong Gaol – which is indeed known for its very active paranormal presence with in its walls. But Geelong has such a rich history just on our streets, or in the old houses that are dotted around the town, and a rich history goes hand and hand with the paranormal.
Everyone has heard the odd ghost story in our old town, usually told to put terror in to you before your long walk home in the dark, we’re just going to tell you about a few paranormal tales we have heard…
Ghosts it seems, have a long association with the Geelong and its surrounds. From the very earliest times, the local indigenous Wathaurong tribes believed in ghosts. The Moorabool River which flows into the Barwon at Fyansford is named for the ghosts which the Wathaurong people believed haunted a large billabong which lay on the river. Moora means ghost in the local dialect.
The Heights – The Heights is a beautiful house set on top of the hills of Newtown (right near St Joseph’s College) if you head in to the grounds you will see a picturesque white house surrounded by a veranda.
It is said that on that veranda one of the first owners of The Heights Minna sits in a rocking chair, or she sits in the window of her room looking into her gardens.
Minna was supposedly a nice but hard woman who liked to have complete control over her only son… to the point he hid his marriage until her death, all very sad. She liked traditions and didn’t like change, so when the house underwent renovations after her death she apparently let some of the builders know. Children have been known tell their parents they were told by the lady to ‘leave her room and not touch things.’
If you do a tour here you will be lead in to a outside room below ground… It might just be because it’s small and dark, or because of the smell or maybe because there’s strange hooks and levers on the walls but what ever the reason is – it feels a little creepy…
Explore this unique property which still retains many of its mid-nineteenth century charms. The stables, water tower, groom’s cottage and dovecote are all in original condition. Its open for guided tours and you can hire the venue for Weddings.
Black Bull (the old Pancake Palour) – There are two tales that go along with this old wool mill building. Could they be connected? Who knows…
Workers in the building have reported feeling watched or that they have company while being upstairs at night, tables or chairs moving positions. Some patrons have been known to mention thinking they saw a young boy near the toilets…
It is said a young boy working as an apprentice in the wool mills was teased by other workers that he claimed his life or maybe it is a young female ghost who met a sad and untimely violent death out the back in Gore Place.
Myers (Malop St store) – The brightly lit department store we have all shopped at, may not have the happy past we all assume… Tales of books and shoes being thrown from shelves and across the floor, rows of televisions and radios inexplicably turned on, footsteps – all thought to be the handiwork of the 19th century merchant Morrie Jacobs who lived in the Basement of Jacobs Emporium (now Myers).
Geelong High School – Disaster hit Geelong High in the 1960’s – the Fire took hold of the main building and threatened to burn the whole school, there’s stories of students passing piles of books out of the windows of the buildings to save the library. Not much information can be found on the internet about the fire other than there was extensive damage, but stories turned in to urban myth are floating around. One urban myth is, even though no-one died in the fire, it is said that a care taker or teacher may still be wondering the building at night making sure the disaster doesn’t hit again. If you are in the upstairs area of the main building late at night, where the teacher staff rooms are, you may feel see a figure walk past the door or feel like you are not alone.
Geelong University Hospital (Old Swanston Street Primary School Site) – We can’t find any current tales of the building since becoming apart of the Geelong Hospital but there were many stories of the upstairs classroom feeling a little ‘creepy’.
Windows opening, doors slamming, footsteps on the empty floor above, temperature changes and a feeling of not being alone in an empty room have all been reported in the old character filled building.
The story goes a convict escaped the Geelong Gaol and ran across the road to hide from the prison guards. He was cornered in the Swanston Street building and instead of being captured to return to the extremely grim life in the Gaol, he took his life by jumping out of the top story window.
There are also tales of people seeing nuns and doctors in period clothing walking through the tunnels that lead between the two hospital. They are described as being on a mission and unresponsive to others passing them.
Geelong Waterfront – There’s many tails of ghosts along our picture perfect water front, water is supposed to attract paranormal activity so I guess thats why it makes it the perfect place to bump into a spook or two…
A young lady in a ‘beautiful white laced dress’ apparently walks back and forth near where the old pier used to be near Yarra Street and if any one approaches her, turns and disappears. Eyewitnesses have said she looks extremely sad and keeps looking out to sea – perhaps she is waiting for a ship or fishing boat carrying her lost love home to her.
If you decide to take a midnight swim at Eastern Beach, don’t be surprised if you are watched by a 1920’s life guard. Although we wonder who would be ‘brave’ enough to swimming in the swimming enclosure at night we have read stories of people seeing a man wandering near the old baths looking out to the swimmers like a friendly guardian.
Other tales of waterfront paranormal aren’t as pleasant as these two are, some people claim the feeling of being followed or watched, others have felt a tap on the shoulder to turn and find no one there – and when you think of the past history of the area being docks and definetly not as nice as it is now who knows who’s still hanging around down there…
Barwon Park Mansion – The Winchelsea mansion hit the news in the 70’s when ‘proof’ of the supernatural was found. An image of a girl in period dress was discovered and very soon after reveal as a fake. But even though this sighting was disproved stories of the lady of the house still being present are still floating around.
We have so many more stories to tell about presences in private houses, along the streets, in restaurants and more – we aren’t going to tell you all about them at once so keep an eye out for more Geelong Paranormal Tales…
If you have any more tales of any Geelong paranormal please take the time and send us a message – you might even see your tale pop up in future articles…
Please remember these stories are all hearsay and not to be taken to literally.
