If you're looking for an eerie sounding location to check out on Halloween you may not have to travel very far at all. In fact, a social media application lists an ?area in Chesterfield County as the vanishing town of Screamersville.
"When I send recent text messages or check-in, like you can on Facebook, the destination that you send from always says Screamersville and I always wondered why," said Mark Umphry.
He lives in Enon, right next to one of the historic graveyards.
"It's kind of in a creepy spot. It's been there for years," he said.
Turns out, tombstones identify freed slaves from the post Civil War era who settled in the town. The area is located along Route 10 near I-295.
Diana Dallmeyer with the Chesterfield Historical Society explains how Screamersville got its name.
"These were people who lived hard lives. They were extremely poor. They learned how to party and make the best of the circumstances that they had, so a lot of screaming and revelry going on. That's one theory," Dallmeyer said.
She says there are several theories behind the name.
"The lack of modern conveniences like telephones, other ways of communication. People just hollered from porch to porch greeting their neighbors and communicating," she suggested.
Today the former community is replaced with modern houses and condos but the few graveyards that remain shed light into another theory.
"One theory is that these are the residents of the cemetery expressing themselves," Dallmeyer said.
Whatever the case, it is perhaps the only preservation of a town with a spooky name that used to be.
"The most we can do is try to record these fascinating nuggets of our county's history," she said.
"I never hear any screams though," Umphry said with a laugh.
Screamersville, Virginia also has a Facebook page where many have checked-in and are talking about on their personal pages.
Copyright 2012 WWBT NBC12.? All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.nbc12.com/story/19963952/spooky-name-surrounds-former-chesterfield-town
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