A pale green house that sits just off Washington County square looks like any other Southern home.
But, oh the stories inside.
The house was home to the sheriff and the jail, the law in the front and the prisoners in the back. And that might make for enough of a spooky tale, but it's only one part of what happens in the hallways.
Eddie Mae Miller has volunteered for five years at the old jail.
"I believe her spirit is one of playfulness," Eddie Mae said.
Miller and the rest of the staff are familiar with Essie.
She was the daughter of a sheriff and in the afterlife she might be playful, but her young mortal years came to a horrific end.
Loretta Cato told us the story.
"This is the fireplace where she was standing and her clothes caught on fire," Cato said.
"All she knew to do was run. And she ran to the steps and called to her family screaming."
Cato says the 16-year-old died in the house and she is the predominate spirit that comes to visit.
"Well this Victrola over here it will start running I've seen it and several people have seen it," Cato explained. "The turntable just starts running and it doesn't even have a needle in it and normally you have to wind it up it's an old Victrola."
And then, there's the jail.
"It is a very sad place to come and think of spending a lot of time here," Miller surmised.
The jail shut down in the seventies, and since then a group that does like spending time there are paranormal investigators.
They've hung out a few times at night among the dingy iron gates.
"We actually did have times where we would hear a knock or you would hear a noise and you would look around and try to figure out where was the sound coming from," Miller said.
PHOTOS: Old Washington Co. jail is said to be haunted
" A couple of other people have said the hair on the back of their neck sort of rolls a bit when they were actually in here. Because if you're in here late at night it is a little scary."
The ghosts may have had a scary past but it seems they're harmless in the afterlife.