This library holds more mysteries than those found in the bound pages and books on the shelves….

During the day the Webb Library is a warm and friendly place to read and study. Every night, the lights are turned off, the doors locked, and the staff goes home.

But at the Webb some thing, or someone never leaves to go home.

The old Wade house and garden one stood on this quiet street corner. Now, hidden in the foundation of the library,only trace of the home are the stones of the old cellar and the remains of a coal storage bin.

The Webb was originally built in the 1930s as business offices. The first floor was a busy medical practice with waiting rooms, exam rooms, and possibly a small laboratory, while the second floor were offices and work area for a garment company. Over the years tenants have come and gone, weddings, meetings, bridge tournaments and recitals have filled the rooms with music and celebration. Today the rooms are filled with collectors editions and classics. No longer the center of social gatherings, there is only the sound of hushed laughter from the children’s section, and quiet whispers of those who come to read.

Port City Paranormal, accompanied by library Director Sandy Bell, came to investigate who or what still roams the halls each night. Who is making the noises and throwing books off the shelves? Perhaps a spirit remains to protect the building, or still waits for the doctor.

Strange Things have been reported at the Webb over the years. The staff has had many personal experiences- lights turning on by themselves, footsteps, bangs and bumps in the night. Stories include ghostly apparitions of an old fisherman and the physical destruction of books, audio and video equipment. After finding several books lying on the floor one morning. Sandy, mustered her courage one day and shouted: “I don’t care what you do, just don’t
damage the books!”

After finding several books lying on the floor one morning. Sandy, mustered her courage one day and shouted: “I don’t care what you do, just don’t damage the books!” Then there was the smell that permeated the building with a death like stench. An odor so foul the library had to be closed. City workers inspected every corner, but the cause of the horrible
emanation was never found. It came as mysteriously as it went. During one investigation, we asked if a spirit had caused the stink, and if it was a negative message. We asked, “What do you disapprove of?“The answer was quite clear: “YOU!”

Three paranormal research teams have come together to share their teams’ experiences and evidence as a joint measure to explain the activity. We have no doubt that the Webb is haunted, the question is why and by whom?

The Evidence:

All teams reported several personal experiences and captured electronic voice phenomena (EVP). Comparisons of our investigation with subsequent vigils, show the spirits have become bolder, and activity has increased.

Random Electromagnetic field(EMF)spikes were noted around the northern end of the building as well as the basement area. A free floating energy field was noted by two teams, apparently one was following a staff member for approximately 15 minutes. Many of the high EMF readings were associated with responses to our questions and that suggest the possibility of an “intelligently directed energy”.

The Port City Paranormal team found repeated activity occurring in certain areas of the Webb. Multiple audio and video recorders were placed throughout the building to collect more evidence. Coincidentally, one of our video recorders went down during a time of high activity. During the evening, a light turned on in an empty room. That particular lamp had no switch and the bulb had to be screwed into the socket to burn.

Things that go bump in the night!

Although some EVP were simple and clear, most were hard to discern. We asked, “what color was this room when you were here? ” The response was “Yellow!” (The “C “room is currently sky blue, but years before, it had once been yellow.

The most disturbing event was when we heard a loud violent crash reverberated through the building. What was that? Did someone slam a heavy door? Doug and Steve ran towards the noise only to find a bicycle, previously been leaning against a near by wall, had been thrown by some impossible force and was wedged tightly under the nob of the cellar door, as if to block our entrance to the basement!

Secretly each of us was hesitant to return to the cellar, but as we stood there debating, we were startled by an electronic ringing. After some searching, we found the sound was coming from the “lost and found basket” stored under the main desk. We laughed when Sandy produced an old beat up calculator, but the laughter died quickly as we wondered why it decided to ring at that moment. Sandy told us “ That’s been in there for 6- 8months!” What we didn’t realize, is that ringing might have been a distraction, to prevent our return to the basement. Was this intentional? Maybe.

One more mystery!

All buildings get cold at night, but at the Webb library the laws of physics are ignored. We know heat rises to the upper floors in a building, that warm layers rest on top of colder air, but that doesn’t happen at the Webb. Near the landing, we found a vertical line of different temperature zones. There were no drafts, the heat was not on, we could find no explanation for the phenomena. How can it possibly be warm in one place and cold an inch further up the stairs? A team member described it “ like walking through a door way into another dimension.”

The Webb Library has its own rules.
The first rule is to never give up the secrets. Our teams agree that the spirits of at least one man and a woman remain at the Webb Library. There is also something almost ancient here; Something strong enough to foul the air, move heavy objects, interferes with, and use our technology against us. That something has the power to touch and speak from beyond.

These spirits deserve respect!
In cooperative effort to explain the Webb Library Haunting, Port City Paranormal collected and compared evidence from our friends at Haunted North Carolina, PSI- NC, and psychic J. D. Michaels