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Spanglers Spring

Spangler's Spring in Gettysburg has a couple of tales associated with it, and oddly, the star spook has nothing to do with the bloody battle.

The first story dates a couple of decades beyond the Gettysburg conflict, to the 1880s. A woman met her lover boy at the spring, their favorite trysting spot, and the cad told her that the relationship was over. Distraught, she killed herself then and there, dying in his arms. (Talk about your messy break-ups.)

Another version claims she killed herself after she realized her married Romeo wasn't going to leave his wife. It's said that she still roams the spring area with a broken heart, known to the neighbors as the "Lady in White."

Two nurses that went ghost hunting, according to local lore, found her one night. They heard a popping sound, followed by a rising mist from behind a tree that morphed into the Lady in White. One woman felt deep sadness and the other felt crippling fear. Neither feeling was very comforting; they both skedaddled and never looked back.

It's also said that there have been sightings of rebel soldiers in the area. Spangler's Spring was the site of heavy combat during Gettysburg, although according to legend, the thirsty troops on both sides would allow one another a temporary cease fire during the two-day bloodfest so they could take turns at having a water break.

It looks like a couple of the troops are still around, drawing on their only source of solace during the slaughter.

The spring is a popular tourist spot, and the Park Service was forced to cap it because the visitors were so numerous that they collapsed the banks. So now, for all intents and purposes, it's a grotto with a railing around it. But hey, it's still home to the Lady in White and her gray buddies, and that's good enough for us.