Groves Building

Since its construction around the turn of the twentieth century, the Groves building has served primarily as a furniture store—as well as a mortuary. In fact, most of the funeral homes in Albemarle began as furniture stores. Because of the materials on hand, furniture makers also made coffins and it was common for local furniture dealers to act as undertakers. Indeed, one local furniture store even began an ambulance service. As you might expect, the bodies of the deceased were prepared for burial inside these walls.



The Groves building is said to still host some of its deceased patrons. There have been several reports of strange, ephemeral footsteps coming from the second floor, where the bodies would have laid out in their coffins. Electric lights have the tendency to turn themselves off and on, and it is said that one can hear a heavy, mournful sigh when standing near one of the second story windows. But of all the eerie incidents passed on from this site, the most disturbing is probably the oft repeated feeling that one is being watched—not by an individual, but by many persons.



*Ghost Stories from Albemarle, collected and written by Jonathan Underwood and Christopher Lambert