The Hauntings of Poogan’s Porch
If your travel adventures ever lead you to the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, be sure to make your way to 72 Queen Street. Here, you will find a restaurant known as Poogan’s Porch. Converted from a grand Victorian home built in 1888, this establishment still maintains its Southern charm of serving indulgingly sweet iced tea and its specialty of chicken and waffles.
This renowned restaurant retains its original knotted heart-of-pine floors and unique and stylish dual staircases. The screened doors still allow warm breezes to circulate through the restaurant and its iconic first and second-story porches, an architectural testimony to the sophisticated elegance of Charleston in days gone by.
But besides the distinctive features of this grand edifice and its mouthwatering menu, Poogan’s Porch also offers a heaping helping of the unearthly. This place has been the domain of ghosts for over one hundred years.
Why is Poogan’s Porch Haunted?
The neighborhood in which the house that is now the restaurant was built remained predominately residential for nearly a century. When the home was purchased, the previous owners left their dog behind. This scruffy little white dog was named Poogan, and he was found, fittingly enough, on the porch. The new owners adopted Poogan and named their restaurant after the orphaned pooch. Poogan was such a mainstay at the restaurant that he served as a greeter until 1979 when he passed away due to natural causes.
However, Poogan’s loyalty to this house continues even now, and the ghostly apparition of a wiry little dog has been seen and even photographed by patrons and restaurant staff. Poogan still resides in the place that was once his home and refuses to leave behind the people who adopted him.
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The Ghost of Zoe
In the early 1900s, long before the porch belonged to the spunky little dog Poogan, Zoe Saint Amand lived in this house with her dear sister, Elizabeth. Both women were schoolteachers, but they had entirely different temperaments. Elizabeth, the older sister, was engaging and sociable. On the other hand, Zoe was a shy woman who rarely spoke.
Zoe was the quintessential schoolteacher and was considered an eccentric spinster who quite convincingly played the role of a schoolmarm. She was quiet and reserved, dressed in drab dark colors, and maintained a reserved demeanor. Strangely, she and her sister seemed to have no real friends in this life, and they kept to themselves in that massive Victorian home.
Sadly, in 1945, Elizabeth passed away. Understandably, with her only true friend gone and with no other human contact, Zoe became increasingly withdrawn, descending into madness. Tormented by the loss of her sister, Zoe was known to wander about the neighborhood, calling out to her dead sister, searching for her in vain. She was eventually committed to a mental hospital, where she lived out the rest of her miserable and sad existence.
Well, her corporeal existence, that is.
You see, the phantom of Zoe still haunts her old home, returning to where she had lived and still looking for her beloved sister, Elizabeth. Reports of her spirit within the home began shortly after she died but intensified once her residence was turned into a restaurant.
Staff members and guests alike have seen her ghost wandering around the house, often suddenly appearing and quickly disappearing into the shadows. Some restaurant guests who had noticed Zoe had no inclination that she was actually a ghost.
Other witnesses, staying at the hotel across the street from Poogan’s, have claimed to have seen an elderly woman in a black dress standing in front of the top-floor window, peering out, seemingly in search of something. Is this the sorrowful apparition of Zoe’s ghost, known to dress in black clothing? This ghost has often prompted calls to the police, with people reporting that someone is locked in the restaurant after hours.
The Poogan’s Porch Dining Experience
If you find yourself at Poogan’s Porch, indulging in the Southern hospitality of the waitstaff or enjoying a sampling of the restaurant’s famous entrees served up with its unique South Carolina flair, be aware that you are a guest in this former home and a few ghosts are keeping an eye on you.
Poogan is always on duty, greeting guests and enjoying his afterlife, still reclining on his porch. Some guests have claimed to have felt the furry spirit brush against their legs while at dinner as the apparition of Poogan was begging for table scraps. Indeed, the vaporous pooch is such a staple at this restaurant that some eat here hoping to get a glimpse of him! Many have, and some patrons even captured his ghost on camera.
Also, don’t forget about the human ghosts; watch for Zoe. It seems that in the afterlife, she is not as reserved as in this one, becoming a bit more personable. She has been reported chatting up women in the bathroom. Often, however, the spirit of Zoe becomes quite forlorn and asks, “Have you seen Elizabeth?” before dissolving into nothingness. Zoe is also known to drink people’s coffee when they aren’t looking.
Poogan’s Porch is a delightful mixture of Southern cuisine and the paranormal. restaurant encapsulates the history of a grand city and may hold the spirits of those who once resided there in life. This restaurant is a unique opportunity to interact with the ghosts who called the building home and linger on even now. Acknowledge them, maybe even drop a little something from your plate onto the floor for Poogan, and keep an eye on your coffee as Zoe might be prowling about.
Thank them for their hospitality and for allowing you into their world, and enjoy the rest of your stay in Charleston!
Want to discover more haunted locations in Charleston? Take a Charleston ghost tour with Charleston Terrors tonight!
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