Good times and ghosts on Barnhardt Circle
The city of Fort Oglethorpe has been in existence for 66 years, and Virginia Black has been living in it for 50 of them – in a former officers’ barracks dating from the 1940s on Barnhardt Circle.
“The day my husband bought the house, he went to our son’s school and took him out of class to show it to him,” says Black. The little boy was six years old and not impressed: “Dad, I can’t believe you bought that dump,” he said.
“We spent days shoveling garbage out of the house, everything from trash and ashes to potato and fruit peelings,” says Black. The family’s labor of love proved worth the work, though. “We’ve had the most fun in this house and living here on Barnhardt Circle. We’ve raised six children here and had wonderful times with neighbors.”
“I remember when one of our neighbors, David Debtor, used to invite everyone for Christmas dinner. Afterwards, we would all sit around and tell ghost stories.” Another Christmas tradition was a public tour of many of the homes on the circle, a practice that lasted for 12 years. Black says the tours began with candlelight walks around the circle, led by a local ROTC group. The public was invited to see the insides of participating homes along the way – homes restored to their historic beauty and adorned for the holiday.
“We prepared all year for those tours. We
“We’ve had the most fun in the house,” says Virginia Black, who has lived on Barnhardt Circle for 50 years. Virginia Black’s Christmas Tree has stood sentinel in her living room year-round for 18 years now. (Catoosa News photos/Tamara Wolk)
dressed in old-timey clothes and really did it up. My husband once made over 300 cookies for guests.” One year, after Christmas, Black’s husband looked at their tall, ornate tree and suggested they just not take it down. It’s been the focal point of their living room for 18 years now. They changed ornaments from time to time, but the tree stood sentinel 12 months out of every 12. For their 50th wedding anniversary, they decorated the tree in white and gold, which is how it remains today, in memory of Larry who passed away in 1992.
“Larry and I used to turn on the old phonograph at Christmas time and dance. One of my friends said she loved seeing us dance together – we looked as if we were made to go together. Larry was a fine man. I was lucky to have him.”
Virginia and Larry Black grew up in Indiana, she one of six children and he one of 13. “My father died at the age of 40, leaving my mother with young children to raise. It was
a struggle. My sister closest to my age and I had only a few dresses. We would wear them one day, wash them out that night and switch with each other the next day.”
When Black was 19 years old, she was forced to put plans for nursing school aside and go to work 75 miles from home to help support her family. In the meantime, her husband-to-be joined the Navy and served in the South Pacific during World War II.
The couple married after the war and settled down to help raise her siblings. When their own children were young, Larry’s health began to falter. He wanted to get away from the cold northern winters. He’d been fishing and hunting in the North Georgia area and settled on that as a good move.
“Once we were here, we just became a part of the community,” says Black. “I ran the old pool for a few years, back when it was owned by my church, St. Gerard’s. I was on the historic preservation society. My husband and one of my sons were volunteer firefighters, and my husband coached kids’ sports.”
At one time, says Black, the fire department staged huge Labor Day picnics on the polo field for the public. “Larry was a good cook and he worked for weeks ahead of time getting barbecue ready for those picnics. They froze the meat, because they had to do it so far ahead of time.”
The Black home was full of joy and fun. “It was a great place for kids to grow up. We always had company. Sometimes we even had guests come to see the house because it’s where they lived back when it was an army post. One lady remembered having her 11th birthday party on the front porch and wanted to see it again.
“One day when my children were young, it snowed. I heard one of my sons running to come tell me something. ‘There are a million diamonds on the polo field!’ he said. The sun was shining on the snow and making it sparkle like jewels.”
The inside of Black’s home is a cross between comfortable and inviting, antique shop and a testament to the owner’s faith. Three grandfather clocks sit throughout, as do dozens of oldfashioned dolls, and all manner of unique pieces of furniture and what-nots, and walls and tables hold pictures and icons of Jesus, Mary and the Saints. “We were on vacation in Florida once and I was buying an old spinning wheel I’d found. A little boy in the store asked my son, “Does your mom always buy junk and take it home?’”
The question of ghosts is a common one when you live in an old historic house associated with wars and bordering a battlefield where thousands of men lost their lives.
“You have to believe in them,” says Black, “but they won’t hurt you.” Black recalls numerous nights when the sound of footsteps on their stairs forced her husband out of bed, often with his gun, to try to find the source.
But the most personal experience was more recent. “I was taking a nap before a friend was supposed to pick me up for Mass a few years ago,” says Black. “I woke up and was sitting on the edge of the bed putting on my shoes. I looked up and saw a woman standing very close to me. ‘Who are you and how did you get in here?’ I asked her. She didn’t say anything, so I repeated the question. She still didn’t respond and I noticed that her clothes were very old. Her dress looked like it might have been made from a flour sack, and her hair was pulled back in a bun. Then I realized she was beginning to disappear and soon she was gone.”
Black says that one of her caretakers has seen a man walk through a bookcase on the second floor of the house several times. But she’s not concerned. “We are God-fearing Christians. There is nothing better than to serve the Lord, and he watches out for us.”