Most Haunted Places in America: Gurdon Ghost Light

The Gurdon Ghost Light is an infamously inexplicable light, or series of lights, that illuminate a specific area of the wood in Gurdon, Arkansas – approximately 75 miles south of Little Rock. The lights are said to be of supernatural derivation, though the ghost story behind the hovering lights varies, depending on who you ask.

For about 80 years now, there have been reports flooding in of the yet-to-be explained glowing orbs, always found near the railroad tracks in an isolated woodland area of Gurdon. According to a multitude of observers who have witnessed the Gurdon Ghost Light phenomenon, the light or lights seem to be hovering in the air, almost buoyantly bobbing around.

The Gurdon Ghost Light of Gurdon, Arkansas are quite notorious, having been featured on local media on several occasions, eventually receiving so much attention that they were featured on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.

The lights have been described in a myriad of colors over the years. Some say they appeared with a bluish tint, others claiming green, white and even an orange hue to them. Those who’ve experienced the Gurdon Ghost Light often relay that they seem to be bobbing, as if held aloft from a string. Of course, there was no string to be found.

The actual location in which the Gurdon Ghost Light has been seen can vary, but always falls within a distinct geographic area of the woods, and always near the railroad tracks.

The railroad is still in operation near the Gurdon Ghost Light, and the folklore that surrounds the floating lights is mostly derived from the railroad itself.

One legend states that the Gurdon Ghost Light is derivative of a lantern holding railroad worker who was tragically killed when he fell into the path of an oncoming train. The railroad worker’s head is said to have been severed from his body. Though the body was found, the head was not. According to this legend, the Gurdon Ghost Light is the lantern of the railroad worker’s ghost, walking the area near the tracks in search for his missing head.

Another local folklore legend states that it is the ghost of William McClain, a local man who was killed in the same area back in the days of the Great Depression during a violent dispute with one of his employees.

Non-believers in the paranormal phenomenon of the Gurdon Ghost Light claim that the illuminations are nothing more than headlights of passing cars on the highway in the distance. While there is a highway about 2-1/2 miles from the area, and headlights could feasibly cause lights to appear in the woods where the Gurdon Ghost Light is often reported, hundreds of claims were made by observers since the time of the Great Depression. The highway was not even built until 1974.

The Gurdon Ghost Light is the most popular Halloween “haunted” attraction in Clark County, Arkansas. There is a plethora of evidence supporting that the Gurdon Ghost Light truly does exist, including pictures and videos. However, the source of the Gurdon Ghost Light remains to be explained beyond a supernatural phenomenon.

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