In the spirit of Halloween, here's a ghost story that I have heard regarding the Pickens County Courthouse, the most famous haunted courthouse in Alabama. I have been to this courthouse and have seen the “face in the window,” but refused to go inside!

Pickens County is located in west Alabama close to Tuscaloosa. The Pickens County Courthouse, in Carrollton, is probably one of the more notably haunted places in Alabama. The courthouse is said to be haunted by Henry Wells, whose face is supposedly burned into the attic window.

Henry Wells was a freed black slave, who lived just outside the town of Carrollton around 1870. Henry was thought to be a troublemaker by the citizens of Carrollton. In fact, any unexplained wrongdoing was usually blamed on him, whether or not Henry really had a part in it. Most people believed Henry carried a straight razor with him wherever he went and would attack people on sight.

When the Pickens County Courthouse burned down in 1878, people naturally blamed Henry Wells, although there was little to no evidence to support such a claim. In fact, most people believed that Wells had broke into the courthouse in an effort to steal and/or vandalize everything inside and then decided to burn it down for spite.

After the new courthouse was built, largely in order to pacify the angry citizens of Carrollton, Henry was arrested and charged with arson, burglary, carrying a concealed weapon and attempted murder. He was detained in the sheriff's office inside the courthouse.

Word quickly spread of Henry’s arrest. Given the citizens’ hatred of Henry, the sheriff knew that it was only a matter of time before a mob formed. Later that stormy night, the sheriff’s fears became reality. An angry mob gathered outside the courthouse where Henry was being held. It was a small group of drunks at first, but then it began to grow and grow, reaching an unmanageable size. The sheriff hid Wells in the attic of the courthouse and told him to stay there until the mob dispersed.

But the mob began demanding that the sheriff turn Henry over to them so that they could hang Henry outside the new courthouse. Henry could see and hear everything from the attic window and eventually yelled down to them, “I am an innocent man, if you kill me, I will haunt you for the rest of your lives!” At that very moment, a bolt of lightning struck outside the courthouse and burned the image of Henry's face onto the window pane he was behind.

The mob eventually broke in to the courthouse. They grabbed Henry and dragged him outside, where they lynched him. The image of Henry Wells’ face looking down at the mob is still there today, imprinted into the glass by the flash of lightning. People have tried to remove the haunting image, but it always reappears.

To see the image, go to http://ghoststoriesandhauntedplaces.blogspot.com/2010/06/face-in-window-ghost-of-pickens-county.html.