Before I start this next one, I just want to clear something up….Not everywhere in the state of Maine is considered Downeast, so stop it. Downeast is when you can’t possibly cross another bridge. Once you hit Washington County, drive another hour. NOW, you are downeast. This is where our next story takes place.
You’re traveling along the most rural of towns, waiting for Bigfoot to jump out in front of you when the road begins to narrow. It then begins to wind around the boulders and trees on one side and Fox Pond on the other. This is what makes up what is notoriously known as Black’s Woods.
This is the place of spirits and haunts, riddled with sadness and bad luck. For instance there is still a Model T in the bottom of Fox Pond, evidence of unlucky travelers who couldn’t quite get past the dangerous curves. Then there is the family who went off the road and dove head first into the pond but were lucky enough to survive thanks to Local fisherman. Then the murder that took place on top of Catherine’s Hill in 1983. Catherine sure likes to hold a grudge…as they say, misery loves company. But who is Catherine?
Once you pass the pond on your right, you begin to climb Catherine’s Mountain, (or Catherine’s Hill as some like to call it). If the thrill ride through the twist and turns through the woods didn’t scare you, then the legend of Catherine just might. Hang on, kiddo’s, you’re not out of the woods yet.
(Sorry, I couldn’t help it.)
Others claim Catherine was a witch, hung for practicing her craft in the deep Maine woods. Others say she wasn’t a witch but a Native American woman, brought to the top of the hill and hung for reasons unknown. This isn’t out of the realm of possibilities, and it would explain why there is no record of her death or a grave site. I could only find one grave for a Catherine in the area and her date of death doesn’t coincide with her fiancé/husband’s date of death. Speaking of fiancé…..
Others claim her and her fiance’ died when their carriage spun out of control and hit a tree…how fast was that thing going? Did they have a race horse pulling that thing?! To this day Catherine is wandering around looking for her beloved and trying to get a ride to Bah Hahbah. (That’s Bar Harbor for those of you who have the letter R in your alphabet). This is the oldest and most likely cause of Catherine’s spirit.
Some have twisted the story for scare sakes claiming Catherine is wandering around the road looking for her head since the carriage accident beheaded her. I would like to know how she can be looking for something that is still attached….I mean as far as ghost bodies go…no one has ever reported a headless Catherine. Try Again.
Others have replaced the carriage with a 1950’s automobile, placing Catherine and her fiancé at the scene of front end collision with a tree and Catherine sailing out the windshield, taking her head clean off.
Another explanation is the Model T that still sits at the bottom of Fox Pond. Divers discovered the wreck years ago, all but confirming the stories that Catherine died in an automobile accident in the 1920’s. An eyewitness who allegedly met Catherine’s spirit, insisted he picked this lady up to give her a ride to Bah Hah-bah only to see she had disappeared from the back seat of his car. Baffled, the kind gentleman got out and looked in his back seat for the young girl. The girl had vanished, however, the back seat was soaked as if someone had crawled straight from the pond and into his car. Interesting…..
The only issue with the automobile stories, is Catherine’s Mountain (or Hill) had been named long before these stories had begun circulating.
Other stories include a woman who drove straight thru the apparition, not seeing her in time to stop.
Several others who have met this mysterious woman claim having some sort of car trouble or accident shortly after driving past her or refusing to help. So many people have confirmed that Catherine is real, that it’s hard not to believe it. But which is the true story? Tell me which one you think holds the most clout.
In the meantime, no matter where Catherine is from or who she really is, it’s always safest to just give her a lift, just in case.
My mum actually has a couple stories about Catherine's Hill!
Another version of the legend includes Catherine singing to her potential victims, specifically men, and encourages listeners to be wary if they hear unexplained singing while traveling Black Woods Road at night, specifically around the hill.
Well, when my mum was in college, she was traveling back from a movie with my dad and one of their friends when they started having car troubles. Apparently, both men she was travelling with claim to have heard Catherine singing and were legitimately freaked out, including my father who never believed in ghosts.
The second is involving my sister. She was probably about seven or eight at the time, and had not heard…