The Raleigh News and Observer says the Webb Library in Morehead City, NC may be haunted. Books have been found in the morning in different places than where they were left, with no sign of intruders. Glass picture frames have been found several feet from where they were hung with the glass fully intact.
[Library director Sandy Bell] decided to move the children’s section from its longtime home upstairs to a new room downstairs. Soon after, she said, the staff left the library in perfect order and returned the next day to find large art books on the floor with the pages balled up.
“They were very expensive,” Bell said. “It was really kind of attention-getting when they started ending up on the floor with the pages all scrunched.”
She said the building had been locked and there was no indication of entry from outside. At the suggestion of one employee who had some experience with extra-sensory incidents, Bell said, she went into the upstairs room and explained her rationale for relocating the library — downstairs would be safer. After that, the books stayed put.
The Downtown Morehead City website has a nice description of the library (as well as a photo of the reading room):
Earle W. Webb Sr., a native of Morehead City and a descendant of early Morehead resident Silas Webb, became President of the Ethyl Corporation in 1925. In this position he made a fortune with Esso Oil in New York. Although he lived in New York, he became Morehead City’s greatest 20th century benefactor. About 1932 he constructed a large brick building at the northeast corner of Evans and 9th street to serve as an office building. The Colonial Revival-style building, three bays wide and nine bays deep, has entrances facing both streets. Each features an arched opening with paneled soffit and decorative fanlight, flanked by Doric pilasters supporting a shallow pediment. Marble plaques bearing the names “Public Library†and “Civic Center†flank each entrance. The library has a small enclosed garden. The library was built on the site of Mr. Webb’s homeplace, the Alexander H. Webb Sr House. In 1937 Mr. Webb gave the building to Morehead City in honor of his son. At this time the library moved into the building. The interior, finished with elegant Colonial Revival woodwork, contains game rooms, reading rooms, and meeting rooms. During the summer months the Childrens Room is packed for Storytime and the Antique and Classics Collections boasts copies of books which are no longer in circulation.
Could the ghost perhaps be Mr. Webb?