SPRINGFIELD, Ga. — On any given day in Springfield, the city’s timeworn theaters, houses, and shops sit quietly — but sometimes, that quiet is deceiving.
Upstairs in her mom's photography studio at Anna’s Tea Room, six-year-old Everlee Calton plays with her dollhouse — and whispers that she isn’t alone. In the Mars Theatre’s dressing room, investigators have felt a chill creep along their spines. At the local firehouse, firefighters speak of flickering lights, phantom footsteps, and the unsettling sense of unseen eyes upon them. And inside Olde Towne Barbers, one co-owner glimpsed a spirit in the bathroom that stole her breath away.
In Springfield, where history and mystery seem to linger in every shadow, the unseen might be closer than anyone expects. This year alone, four separate paranormal investigations have taken place inside these storied buildings, further deepening the town’s reputation for the unexplained.
But these glimpses of the otherworldly are rooted in centuries of history — the streets and buildings themselves seem to hold memories that won’t stay buried. Established in 1799, likely named for a nearby plantation, and incorporated by the Georgia General Assembly in 1838, the town has witnessed generations of life — and death. Its aging structures, from historic homes to theaters, churches, and firehouses, seem to hum with echoes of the past. Some of those echoes, locals say, never truly fade.
“I think this paranormal activity has a lot to do with the land these buildings were built on,” said Patrick Welsh, founder of the Paranormal Society of Savannah. “A town with a long history has seen its fair share of battles, unfortunate events, and even murder. People in Effingham County don’t like to talk about this stuff. But times are changing. People are more accepting of the paranormal.”
Not everyone buys it. Norman Turner, 74, has lived in Springfield his entire life and is recognized by the Effingham County Historical Society and Museum as something of a local expert. To him, ghost stories belong more to imagination than investigation.
“I don’t believe in this paranormal stuff,” Turner said. “There are no ghosts in Springfield. It’s just a bunch of nut cases from Savannah stirring all this up.”
Still, for those willing to venture upstairs, wander down the street, or slip around a quiet corner, Springfield’s weathered buildings may be hiding stories that watch, wait, and refuse to stay buried.
Upstairs at Anna’s Tea Room
At Anna’s Tea Room on First Street, housed in a converted home built in 1900, that mysterious presence seems to linger upstairs. The tea room on the bottom floor is run by Cindy Daugherty-McCumbers, who suggested bringing in the paranormal investigators. Asked if she’s experienced any paranormal activity herself, she laughed softly and said, “No.” But Daugherty-McCumbers admits she never goes upstairs. “That’s Constance’s space,” she said.
Photographer Constance Calton leases the second floor for her business, Constance Calton Photography, where she sometimes brings her six-year-old daughter, Everlee, to play while she works. The stairway to the studio has two landings, with walls and ceilings of stained pine shiplap planks. Portraits of Calton’s photography cover the walls, and a motion-sensor camera — which so far has not detected paranormal activity — is mounted on the wall after the first landing. Upstairs, a dressing room, photo studio, and small living area fill the space, complete with a couch, TV, and toys — lots of toys.
Everlee says she isn’t alone while she plays. “She says she plays with a little girl named Elizabeth — and her family — who live here,” Calton said. “It could just be a child’s imagination. But I do believe there are supernatural entities, and that children can see things adults can’t.”
When the Paranormal Society of Savannah visited Oct. 17 to investigate, Everlee confirmed what her mother had long suspected. She clung briefly to her mother’s hips and nodded. “Yes,” she said simply, her voice barely above a whisper.
The team, led by Welsh, brought out the latest ghost-hunting tools: REM pods that detect shifts in electromagnetic energy, thermal imaging cameras that reveal temperature changes in the environment, and a spirit box — a device that scans radio frequencies to capture audio snippets that some believe can be used for communication with spirits. Even with nearly 300 investigations under their belts, the ghost hunters could not contact the little girl and her family members.
“I think there was too much energy in the room — too many people,” Welsh said. “And because it’s a child, she may have been too afraid to communicate with adults.”
If you’re thinking about becoming a ghost hunter, there’s good news — no formal training is required. Paranormal investigators don’t need certification, and there is no standardized credential, said Jennifer Morin, one of the team members. “We basically train ourselves, with guidance from Patrick,” she added.
Phantoms in the footlights: Mars Theatre
A few blocks away on Laurel Street, the historic Mars Theatre seemed to hold its breath during a Sept. 29 overnight investigation by Chris Soucy and Madison Timmons, co-hosts of the podcast "The Most Haunted City on Earth." Timmons and Soucy, who is also co-owner of the Savannah Paranormal Museum, led the investigation at the request of theatre director Maddie Greer.
The theatre originally opened in 1945, closed in 1957, and reopened in April 2014. Greer, who became director in April 2025, said she ordered the investigation after sensing unusual activity herself.
“From the moment I stepped into the building, I knew there was an energy,” she said. “It felt alive. It never felt nefarious to me. It felt mischievous, not evil. Knowing what I know now, I’m not surprised by what the investigators found. I invite anyone to go upstairs into the balcony while the theatre is empty and try to tell me they don’t get a little bit of the heebie-jeebies.”
Soucy said the most active area in the theatre was the dressing room. “The room was exuding a certain sense of dread,” he said. “Madison felt negative energy right away. Other members of the team felt uneasy, too.”
Inside the mirrored walls, the team encountered what they described as a mimic — a shapeshifting spirit attempting to imitate one of the investigators. “We couldn’t determine exactly what kind, but it was trying to copy him,” Soucy said.
Folklore suggests mirrors can act as portals or traps for spirits, and in a theater, the ambient emotional energy seems to amplify that possibility. “There’s a lot of electric, emotional, and communal energy in a theater,” Soucy said. “That kind of energy draws spirits.”
The investigators also explored the balcony, where Soucy said they encountered the presence of a man who may have been a victim of mob violence. “He seemed to be telling us a story that was not linear,” Soucy said. “He sounded like he was being chased and kept saying, ‘I didn’t do it.’ At one point, it sounded like he said his name was Larry. It also sounded like he said he had drowned.”
Not everyone working there has felt the presence. Linda Golson, the Mars Theatre’s house manager for more than 10 years, said she’s never seen or heard a ghost. “I’m in and out of here all the time, including between 2 and 6 a.m. I have to see one to believe it. Maybe they like me and don’t want to scare me.”
Lingering spirits: Firehouse No. 12
A short walk from the theatre, Effingham County Fire & Rescue Station No. 12 has its own spectral stories. Earlier this year, Welsh’s team investigated after firefighter Amy Page reported activity that unsettled even skeptics.
“I just kept getting an uneasy feeling,” she said. Lights flickered without explanation, footsteps echoed in empty halls, and the sensation of being watched never fully lifted.
Much of the activity seems concentrated in the shop area at the back of the building. Before the structure became a firehouse, historian Turner said, it was a dress factory during the 1960s and ’70s that eventually went out of business. Amy said every time she goes out to the back shop area, the feeling is sometimes overwhelming. “There’s something about it. Somebody is definitely there. You feel it. It’s very strong. Most people who go out there report the same feeling.”
People who have entered or passed by the shop area, including teachers from neighboring Springfield Elementary School, reported seeing a woman’s spirit out of the corner of their eye, and some of the unexplained occurrences inside the firehouse — tapping on shoulders, stove knobs turning on and off — are believed by firefighters to be connected to a deceased firefighter, Matt “Kick” Kicklighter, who died in 2019. His portrait sits atop the station’s fridge. “Kick was known as a jokester. This fits his behavior,” Amy said.
Welsh said his team made contact with two spirits: Kick, whose playful presence seems to linger, and the woman in the back shop, whose presence carries a weight of unfinished business.
To confront the lingering energy of Kick, battalion chief Matt Hendrix, a skeptic who knew him personally, agreed to take part in a segment of the investigation using the Estes Method — a technique that combines sensory deprivation with a spirit box to communicate with spirits. When Hendrix asked a question only Kick could answer, the spirit box gave the correct response, and Amy recalled him saying in awe, “Oh, wow — this just got real.”
“There’s a lot of history here,” Welsh said. “These energies linger, and sometimes they just want to be acknowledged.”
Unsettling energy inside Olde Towne Barbers
Down the street from the Mars Theatre, activity at Olde Towne Barbers has kept its owners on edge. Co-owners Hannah Hodges and Brittani Koshinski, who have operated the shop since March 2025, lease the building’s first floor. Above them, the second floor operates as an Airbnb.
Hodges said she and Koshinski called in Welsh and his team for an investigation after months of unexplained events inside the shop. They are hoping the investigation will reveal more about the unusual activity that has unsettled them and their customers.
“Objects move in the barbershop,” Hodges said. “We’ve seen plastic trash can lids lift up and fly a few feet from the trash can. The breaker box, which has a latch, unlatches sometimes and opens by itself.”
During remodeling, she said, an electric sander once switched on while no one was near it. “We were about 10 feet away when it started running,” she said.
But it’s what Hodges saw near the back of the shop that unsettled her most. “I’ve seen a spirit in the bathroom area,” she said. “I think it’s a woman — it’s hard to tell. It’s a shadow that moves around. I’ve seen it. It takes your breath away.”
Understanding Springfield’s ghosts
Soucy said Springfield isn’t suddenly haunted — its ghosts were always here. “It’s just a broader acceptance now,” he said. “People are sharing these small, unexplained moments — and that’s how a community ghost story takes shape.”
Renovations and new development may stir these energies, he added. “All that activity can wake what has been sleeping.”
Still, locals like Turner insist there’s nothing to worry about. “I’ll believe it when I see one myself,” he said with a laugh.
So if you’re out trick-or-treating this Halloween, or wandering the streets of Springfield after dark, remember: these old buildings have stories that don’t always stay in the past. Upstairs at Anna’s Tea Room, in the shadows of the Mars Theatre, behind the shop doors of Firehouse No. 12, or in Olde Towne Barbers, the town’s unseen residents may be watching — quietly, patiently, waiting for the next curious visitor to notice them.
