The Haunting of the Pocahontas Parkway
When we think of ghost stories, certain settings naturally come to mind: abandoned medical facilities, eerie old houses, or shadowy graveyards. Rarely do we consider encountering the unearthly as part of our daily commute, but for those traveling just outside of Richmond, Virginia, along the Pocahontas Parkway, ghostly sightings are more than just urban legends.
Why is the Pocahontas Parkway haunted?
Reports of Native American war parties, complete with the sounds of drums and battle cries, have turned this stretch of road into a hotspot for the otherworldly. Keep reading to uncover the hauntings of this eerie highway, and to see some of Richmond’s most haunted locations in person, book a ghost tour with RVA Ghosts!
Sacred Grounds
The story of the Pocahontas Parkway’s haunting begins with a familiar trope: construction on a site with deep historical and spiritual significance. Before construction crews broke ground on the highway, archaeologists, including Dennis Blanton from the College of William and Mary, conducted excavations that revealed a treasure trove of Native American artifacts. The site turned out to be a significant area, historically inhabited by the Powhatan and Arrohatak tribes, with evidence of their presence dating back almost six thousand years to around 3500 BCE.
Despite the discovery, which might have halted or at least redirected construction in other circumstances, the Commonwealth of Virginia proceeded with its plans. The highway’s route cut directly through what had been sacred villages, hunting grounds, and, crucially, burial sites of these Native American tribes. The toll plaza for the highway was constructed directly on top of Native American burial grounds, setting the stage for the eerie occurrences that would follow.
Virginia State Highway 895, now known as the Pocahontas Parkway, was conceived as a major infrastructure project, intended to connect Interstate 95 with Chippenham Parkway (Route 150) and Interstate 295, ultimately facilitating direct access to Richmond International Airport. The goal was to alleviate traffic through Richmond and provide a streamlined route for commuters and travelers alike.
However, the project was plagued with difficulties from the start. Two construction workers tragically lost their lives during the building process, and the project encountered numerous financial and engineering challenges, including the need for deeper foundations than originally planned. The decision to implement tolls on the highway further discouraged its use, leading to fewer vehicles on the road than necessary to cover its construction costs.
Eventually, an Australian company, Transurban, acquired a 99-year lease from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to manage the toll road. Despite their hopes of recouping the investment through toll revenues, the economic downturn of 2008 dashed these expectations. By 2012, Transurban wrote off the parkway as a complete financial loss, blaming the lack of traffic. Some, however, speculated there was another reason the road failed to attract motorists: it was haunted.
Tales from the ‘Pocahaunted’ Parkway
During the construction of the parkway, workers began reporting strange sightings and experiences. One of the most commonly reported apparitions was that of a Native American warrior on horseback, seen at night near the construction sites. When workers approached to warn the figure that the area was off-limits, the warrior and his horse would vanish without a trace.
Local residents had reported hearing the sounds of war drums, chanting, and whoops coming from the area long before the parkway was constructed. These reports only intensified after the highway was completed.
The parkway’s first widely acknowledged ghostly encounter occurred on the night of July 15, 2002, shortly after the bridge portion of the highway opened. A truck driver traveling over the bridge reported seeing three Native American men standing in the middle of the road, holding torches and dressed in traditional attire with breechcloths and headdresses.
As he passed by, he noticed two more men standing at the side of the road. Believing them to be protestors, the driver stopped at the toll plaza to report the sighting to the authorities. However, when police arrived, there was no sign of anyone on the road, and local Native American tribes confirmed they were not involved in any such protest.
A Spooky Place to Work
Over the years, numerous other strange occurrences have been reported along the Pocahontas Parkway. Toll plaza workers and highway patrol officers have reported seeing misty figures of warriors, hearing disembodied voices, and experiencing unexplained phenomena such as objects moving on their own and dark, shadowy figures passing through buildings. One worker even claimed to have seen the upper half of a human figure floating through the toll plaza building.
In one particularly unsettling incident, a toll worker reported seeing a group of spectral figures on horseback riding through the parked cars and trucks near the toll plaza. Security footage from the toll plaza has allegedly captured the image of a ghostly man appearing out of nowhere before disappearing again, though these tapes have never been released to the public.
In response to the growing number of reports, Virginia State Police Spokeswoman Corinne Geller and local reporter Chris Dovi conducted their own investigation. They spent several nights on the parkway and confirmed hearing unexplainable noises, including drumming and whoops, despite the area being completely deserted.
As if the sightings of Native American spirits weren’t enough, reports of ghost cars also emerged. Toll workers and police officers described hearing the sound of approaching vehicles only to see no car pass through the toll booths. In some cases, they even felt the rush of air as an invisible car seemingly sped past them. These ghostly vehicles have added another layer of mystery to the already eerie parkway.
Haunted Richmond
The stories of hauntings along the Pocahontas Parkway quickly spread, attracting paranormal enthusiasts and curious onlookers from far and wide. Crowds began to gather along the highway at night, hoping to catch a glimpse of the supernatural. The situation eventually became so problematic that the Virginia Department of Transportation had to erect no parking signs along the parkway to deter people from stopping and causing traffic hazards.
Some skeptics have suggested that the ghost stories were a publicity stunt aimed at increasing traffic on the struggling toll road. However, the sheer number of reports from credible witnesses, including police officers and toll workers, lends some weight to the idea that something otherworldly might be at play.
What do you think?
Check out our blog for more terrifying tales of Richmond, and to see some of the city’s most haunted locations in person, book a ghost tour with RVA Ghosts!
Sources:
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/transportation/pocaparkway.html
https://us507.directrouter.com/~haakavls/news/article/ghosts_roamed_varina_parkway1116
