Workmen Vouch for a Real Ghost Story

In October 1905, New Orleans house mover/shorer George J. Abry reported on his workers' encounter with a spooky place:


“I had a house back in the rear of the city to raise, repair and generally overhaul – just where that house is I won’t say, because I don’t want to give it a bad name; that might cause tenants to taboo the place – and put quite a number of men on the job.

The house was an old one, had been on its alto for a long time, I guess but until our experience we – my men and myself – didn’t know that it had the reputation of being haunted by a former occupant who had died there.

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Believe me there was consternation among my men, and all were of the opinion that the house was certainly haunted, and that a ghost had taken it upon himself to superintend their work. Everybody went about with a nervous uncertain air, and at the least sound, other than the noises consequent to the work underway, each man would drop his hammer, hatchet or whatever other implement he had in his hand, and stare about with frightened eyes.”

The Times Picayune 22 October 1905

Modern House Moving 1906

In 1906, New Orleans businessman George J. Abry (caricature above) published an article in the locally produced journal, Architectural Art and Its Allies. In it, he addressed the science of house moving:

"A great part of the work of to-day is remedying defects of all kinds, growing out of many causes, such as building adjoining, undermining foundations, irregular settle and overloading.

In such cases it requires experience to know where to take hold. In many instances it is of financial interest to the owner of a building to have it raised, lowered, moved or shored.

House moving was not so extensively carried on in times past as it is at present; streets were graded to conform with the buildings thereon while now the buildings are made to conform with the grade of the streets; small buildings were demolished to make room for the erection of larger ones, while now the small ones are moved to a new location to make room for the larger ones; buildings can now be raised and additional stories built under them, or roofs can be raised and additional stories built on the old walls; fronts of walls of adjoining buildings can be shored up while the walls of new buildings are sunk, all of which come under the head of House Moving."

Read an earlier post about the Abry business.

George J. Abry. "Modern House Moving and Shoring." Architectural Art and Its Allies II:4 (October 1906): p. 5. Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Image above:  W.K. Patrick & Assoc. Club Men of Louisiana in Caricature. East Aurora, NY: The Roycrofters, 1917, p. 215. As viewed 3 Jan 2012 on the Internet Archive: http://archive.org/stream/clubmenoflouisia00patr#page/214/mode/2up