Ghost stories are part of
the fabric and culture of
the American South. They
remind us of the days before
radio and television when
our ancestors would sit
around crackling fireplaces
at
night and captivate their
family members with stories
of unusual things and
events. Whether you believe
in ghosts or not, these old
stories (often told with a
wink of the eye) are
important relics of our
early culture and folklore.
And, quite often, they have
a basis in historical fact.
Washington County, like much
of the South, has its share
of unusual stories and
tales. One of the best known
is Chipley's legend of the
lime sink.
The lime sink legend is a
ghost story that grew over
time about a tragic 1890
drowning at a lime sink or
"sinkhole" in Chipley. These
unique geological features
are commonly found in
Florida and result from the
unusual karst topography
that is found under the soil
in much of the state. Water
passes through the limestone
subsurface over hundreds and
thousands of years,
gradually eroding away the
subsurface rock to create
caves. Often, as these caves
continue to enlarge over
time, they become unstable
and collapse, creating deep
holes known as lime sinks or
sinkholes. Sometimes these
features remain dry, but in
other places they fill with
water. They can be quite
deep and quite dangerous.
The late Washington County
historian E.W. Carswell
researched the true story
behind the lime sink legend
for his 1991 book,
Washington -
Florida's Twelfth County
(available for purchase
through the Washington
County Historical Society).
The facts he uncovered tell
a story that is both tragic
and haunting.
During the late spring of
1890, a group of teenagers
were playing at the lime
sink, then on the property
of Captain Angus McMillan.
One of them was his
18-year-old daughter, Neta.
The others were 14-year-old
Nannie Callaway and
18-year-old Graymore
Pridgeon.
The girls were apparently
wading in the water when
they stepped off into a deep
chasm that drops to a depth
of over 30 feet. They could
not swim and began crying
for help.
Jeff McMillan, Neta's
14-year-old brother, was
working in a nearby field
and heard the screams coming
from the lime sink. He
arrived in time to pull one
of them, Graymore Pridgeon,
from the water, but could
not save his sister or
Nannie Callaway.
Residents from through
Chipley rushed to the scene
and launched a search and
rescue
mission. Using grappling
hooks, they were able to
recover Nannie's body later
that night. No trace of Neta
was found.
A diver was brought in from
Pensacola to continue the
search, but he also failed.
He reported that he could
find nothing on the bottom
of a the sink and believed
the body might have been
drawn down into an
underwater cave that was too
dangerous for him to enter.
Efforts were then made to
drain the lime sink, but the
water rose from its natural
source almost as fast as it
could be pumped out. The
body of Neta McMillan was
never found.
Over the years, a story
began to grow in Chipley
related to the 19th century
tragedy. Some residents
claimed to have seen the
shadowy figure of a young
woman, rising from the night
time mists of the sink and
walking silently across the
water for a minute or two.
Such sightings, it was said,
always took place on very
still, foggy nights.
The story has been told in
and around Chipley for many
years.
The lime sink today is on
private property and is not
accessible to the general
public.
