The Face in the Courthouse Window: Carrollton's Henry Wells Legend

Carrollton is the small county seat of Pickens County in west Alabama. In the middle of its square stands the 1877 to 1878 Pickens County Courthouse, a red brick Italianate building that still houses county business. People come from far away to look at one window.

The story of the Face in the Courthouse Window is one of the best-known ghost legends in the South, thanks to Kathryn Tucker Windham’s 1969 book 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey, a historical marker and decades of retelling. Here is the legend, the documented history behind it, and what to look for when you visit.

History of the Pickens County Courthouse

Carrollton’s first courthouse was destroyed by Union forces in 1865 near the end of the Civil War. Its replacement burned in 1876, and valuable county records were lost with it, which left the town angry and looking for someone to blame.

Suspicion fell on Henry Wells, a freedman who had already been named in an 1876 newspaper report of a fight near Fairfield. A man called Bill Burkhalter was arrested near Tuscaloosa on January 6, 1878 and told investigators that Wells set the fire while searching the probate office. Wells was caught on January 29, 1878 near Fairfield; the newspaper said he tried to escape and was shot twice.

A “Dying Confession of Henry Wells” was sworn before Probate Judge T. G. Williams on January 30 and printed in the next edition. Wells died of his gunshot wounds on February 3, 1878. He was not lynched, as the legend says. A later report said the county paid $7 for his coffin and burial, and where he lies is unknown. Writing in 2023, P. J. Gossett of the Journal Record noted that the confession could have been coerced; there is no way to test it now.

Meanwhile the new courthouse was going up. It was the third on the site, finished in 1878, and is the building you see today. It was placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1976 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

The Face in the Window

The legend

As the story is usually told, Wells was held in the garret of the new courthouse to protect him from a lynch mob gathering in the square. A storm blew up, and as he pressed his face to the north window to look down at the crowd, he cursed the people below. Lightning struck, and when the storm passed, his terrified face was etched into the glass, where it has stayed ever since. Washing, scrubbing, soap, gasoline, lye and acid are all said to have failed to remove it.

What the records say

The dates do not work. A newspaper of February 20, 1878, more than two weeks after Wells died, reported the courthouse windows being fitted, so he could not have looked through the garret glass. Wells died of gunshot wounds, not at the hands of a mob, and Southern Spirit Guide points out that a lynch mob did gather in Carrollton, but for a different man, Nathaniel Pierce. The legend seems to have merged separate events. Wikipedia’s article reaches the same conclusion.

The face that came back

The image itself is older than many think. A 1928 newspaper reported that a hailstorm on December 30, 1927 shattered one pane of the window, “but the picture remained unharmed and still stares one in the face”. Carpenter J. E. Oglesby replaced the panes on January 6, 1928, and a face was then said to appear on the new glass, fade and return. In those years some locals thought the face was Burkhalter, or the man who killed a deputy in 1926, not Wells at all.

Why it endures

Kathryn Tucker Windham fixed the Henry Wells version in 1969, and in 2020 the William G. Pomeroy Foundation and the Alabama Folklife Association put up a legends marker outside. A local caretaker and historian told CBS 42 in 2020 that the face is still there and draws visitors into the courthouse gift shop. Whether you see a face depends on the light and the angle, which may be the real explanation.

Where to look

• The north garret window: look for the lower right pane, high in the gable.
• The legends marker: the 2020 Pomeroy Foundation sign on the square, which tells the story.
• Court Square: where the crowd is said to have gathered in 1878.

Visiting the Pickens County Courthouse

The courthouse stands on the square in Carrollton, where State Routes 86 and 17 meet. You can see the window from outside at any time, and the legends marker on the square tells the story. The image is on the lower right pane of the garret window on the north side.

The building is a working county courthouse, so go inside only during normal business hours, be respectful of people there on court business and do not expect a guided tour. There is no ghost hunting, and no access to the garret.

• Visiting A working courthouse; the window is seen from the square outside
• Ghost hunting No; it is a working county courthouse

Tips for your visit

• Bring binoculars or a camera with a zoom lens: the window is small and high.
• Try different spots on the square; the face is clearer from some angles than others.
• Visit on a bright day, when the old glass catches the light.
• Combine the trip with the Drish House in Tuscaloosa, another of Windham’s 13 Alabama ghosts.

More haunted places nearby

• The Drish House, Tuscaloosa: fire in the tower, another Windham legend
• Haunted places in Alabama: Old Cahawba, Sloss Furnaces, Maple Hill and more
• Haunted hotels in Alabama: places to stay
• Haunted places in Alabama

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

• Wikipedia: Pickens County Courthouse (Alabama)
• The Cullman Times: Truth about the face, is Henry Wells the face in the courthouse window? (2023)
• CBS 42: Alabama ghost stories, the face in the courthouse window (2020)
• William G. Pomeroy Foundation: Henry Wells marker
• Atlas Obscura: Henry Wells' lightning portrait
• Southern Spirit Guide: Alabama hauntings county by county, part VI
• Wikipedia: 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey (1969)