Fountain Ct Louisville, KY
East of the St. James Court Fountain lies the luscious green path known as Fountain Court. Through the path, you’re greeted to some of the most stunning Victorian homes in Louisville. And if you’re lucky, one or two ghosts.
By the 1940s, families could no longer afford the upkeep of Old Louisville’s stunning mansions, especially on Fountain Court. Because of this, many of the estates became apartments that people could rent out at a much lower price.
One of the residents that lived in Fountain Court was the widow Mrs. Hoag, and she had just watched her only son get drafted into the United States Air Force.
In just a few short weeks, he would be off fighting in the Pacific. And one day, as the war waged on, Mrs. Hoag would receive a knock on the door by a uniformed man who would inform her that her boy had died.
It would seem that he was attempting to land his plane on an aircraft carrier when a tragic accident occured. The body was never found, but Mrs. Hoag clung on to a fool’s chance for many years, convinced he would come home one day.
She became a recluse, waiting day in and day out in her small apartment for her boy to come back to her. The same apartment she would one day die in.
But even in death, she’s still there, waiting patiently for the son she loved.
The Widow Hoag has become one of Old Louisville’s most well known ghost stories. And ghosts, for that matter.
There have been numerous sightings and reports in Fountain Court over the years, some of which have come from the apartment she died in.
There was a story about a Jefferson Community College student who had an interesting run in with the Widow Hoag, and she just so happened to live across the street from the apartment she lived in.
The student herself already knew about the stories of the Widow from her boyfriend at the time, who also just so happened to be with her the night they saw her.
They were walking through the court to go see a movie, when suddenly a black shape unsheathed itself from the shadows. They described her as an old lady in black who seemed to be floating as she moved.
She moved through the boyfriend before disappearing,an icy draft blowing through them both. They stood there in panicked amazement, figuring that Mrs. Hoag believed the boyfriend was her son finally returning home.
There was another incident involving the Widow and a family that had moved into the now renovated apartment. The family’s teenaged son had returned from a party to find himself alone in the apartment.
Well, not as alone as he thought.
He saw the apparition of a woman in black ash she glided across the living room and into a solid wall. Terrified, he rushed outside and waited for his parents to return. When he told them what happened, they refused to believe him.
The teenager would end up seeing the spirit several more times during his time there, each time becoming less and less afraid. And the longer he lived there, the more he ended up knowing about the Widow and her plight. Soon, he grew sympathetic towards her.
Like the student’s boyfriend, it could have been that she believed the teenager was her son returning home.
While it was sadly not the case for both, there is still hope that one day she will be reunited with her boy.
On a cold winter day in 1912, onlookers gathered and gawked at the blackened, hallowed remains of the fourth and fifth floor of the Saint James Apartments building.
At least they would have been if the building hadn’t been converted into a horrid ice sculpture of ash from the battle between the fire fighters and flames. The subzero air had frozen the water solid.
The surviving floors still stand there to this day, and although no lives were lost, it didn’t stop the rumors and stories from circulating into local legend.
Some say on the fiery night a young boy had made his way to the top floor to escape the cold. Unaware to the coming disaster, he fell asleep—never to wake again. His charred body was found that morning, curled up in a corner.
It is believed that on the coldest night of the year, the spirit of the young boy can be seen in tattered rags wandering Fountain Court, looking for a warm place to huddle up.
One only knows how cold it really is in the afterlife.
Is this the most haunted place in Kentucky?
Learn about the Cassaday Infirmary