The Highland Park Manufacturing Company, or as locals call it, Highland Mill #3, is located at 2901 N. Davidson Street in the NoDa community in Charlotte. Although the original mill opened operations here in 1903, it has been converted into apartments.
The original mill was designed by Stuart W. Cramer, an American engineer who designed and built nearly 150 cotton mills in the southern United States. It features a four-story tower capped by fancy corbelling and crenelated parapets.
While the old building was being rehabbed and turned into multi-dwelling units (MDUs), some former workers may still be working extended overtime shifts.
According to an article in the Charlotte Observer from October 2019, Matt Lemere, a NoDa resident, and his wife, Michelle, shared a creepy story about the man from Highland Mill #3.
“Lemere first heard this story about 10 years ago: A woman moved into a second-story apartment at the back corner of the Highland Mill Lofts, closest to the railroad and the YMCA.” Didn’t we cover those haunted railroad tracks on The Lantern?
“She was one of the first to move into it after the renovation. She loved it, except that she kept smelling a smoky, acrid scent. It was a machinery-type smell, and it wasn’t all the time. It was a random occurrence. The woman became friendly with her neighbors and overheard their 4-year-old son talking to someone.
The woman asked the mom who her son was speaking to, and the mom answered, “Oh, he talks to him all the time; it’s his imaginary “friend,” but was told he had to leave. The woman told the boy, “Tell your friend I’d love to meet him.”
“A couple of days later, the woman came home to her apartment at Highland Mill #3 with large bags of groceries. As she was putting them away, she turned and saw a man standing two inches from her face. He was wearing overalls and a white t-shirt. She screamed. The man looked sad and disappointed. Then he disappeared.”
The next-door neighbor heard the woman scream and came running. “The little boy from next door grabbed her shirt and said, “That was my friend, and you said you wanted to meet him. He came over here to play with you. The smoky scent the woman had grown accustomed to lingered in the air.”
It sounds like this guy is the life of the party, just looking for a good time. But it’s enough to make you lose your mind. I hope you sleep well tonight because he isn’t. You never know who is lurking in the dark while you’re sleeping.
Written By: John G Clark Jr.
Sources: Charlotte Observer article, October 2019.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
