The Black Lady of Opryland

I've lived in the South for a good while.  I've lived here long enough to remember when Opryland was a theme park with short lines and a kennel for your dog.  Those days are gone now and the once popular amusement park was transformed into an outlet mall and enormous hotel.   The outlet mall is called Opry Mills and the hotel has become a destination in and of itself.   It is a kind of indoor city.  In the winter it is filled with ice sculptures and people come from all over to see this enormous indoor wonderland.

It is not surprising that a place this big and well known would have its fair share of ghost stories.  The most famous ghost in Opryland is known as the black lady.  Unlike many of the other Opryland ghosts, she has been seen all over the hotel and even in Opry Mills.  She is always dressed in black from head to toe and is said to be a young woman.  She wears old clothes that look antebellum in style.  She's described as wearing a long black veil that somewhat obscures her face.  She is usually seen at night and tends to cling to the dark places.  

One cleaning crew saw the black lady and were so terrified that they called security.  The entire team said they saw the black lady hovering above the floor.  Another employee quit after having an encounter with the black lady.  Author Christopher Coleman believes the black lady may be the ghost Mrs. McGavock.  Her family once owned a glorious mansion and the land around it.  That land is now the location of Oprland and Opry Mills.  Apparently, the black lady bears a striking resemblance to photographs of Mrs. McGavock and the ghost could be easily linked to the land she once loved.  Whoever she is, the black lady still wanders the grounds today, scaring all those who wander the area at night and reminding them that the land is older than what now stands on it.