Columbus, Georgia's Springer Opera House: Haunted by Edwin Booth

I recently visited Springer Opera House in Columbus, Georgia to see if the rumors of it being one of the ten most haunted places in America were true; they were.

Springer Opera House is no stranger whatsoever to visits from the other side: there are regular sightings of orbs of light, cold spots in the air, and other paranormal things, as I found from my own experience and from my own research later on. I consider myself to be somewhat interested in the paranormal, so naturally the stories piqued my curiosity.

The most famous spirit that resides in Springer Opera House is Edwin Booth, brother to John Wilkes Booth. As I found, Booth feels quite free to travel around the theatre as he pleases, usually in the box seats and the lobby. At other times he seems to help out the stagehands by moving props or leaving missing bits of wardrobe in plain sight, much to the confoundment of the actors. In addition to Booth, another ghost is said to sometimes appear centre stage. In the upstairs dressing room, children's laughter can be faintly heard, according to my research. Ghosts are commonly said in folklore to be tied to the place of death, because there's something in life that they regret or left unfinished.

So what does this have to do with Booth? Booth was a very prominent actor, born near Bel Air, Maryland. He's often called 'the Hamlet of the 19th century'. Booth came from a family of actors - his father, Junius Brutus Booth and his brother John Wilkes Booth. Early in his career, Edwin performed alongside his father, debuting as Tressel in Shakespeare's Richard III. Two years later, he played the part of Richard, standing in for his father who was apparently ill at the time.
Edwin Booth went on a world tour for the next four years, starting in 1852. His career was to last until 1864, which was his last performance for several years. Before John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln, Edwin appeared with him and Junius Brutus Booth Jr. in Julius Caesar in 1864. The part of Marc Antony was played by John Wilkes, Edwin played Brutus, and Junius portrayed Cassius.