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Does the family of a former Texas Ranger haunt this location? Or is there something more
sinister lurking in this historic building? On this episode of Strange Town we investigate
on Halloween night to find answers to the ghostly encounters that have plagued the staff
for decades here at the Austin Pizza Garden We hail from Austin TX the live music capital
of the world We are not scientists or scholars but two
musicians with the passion for tracking down the paranormal
My name is Mark Morrow and I'm here to find answers to what I cannot explain
My name is Billy Driver and I've experienced hauntings my entire life
Welcome to Strange Town
Just 8 miles Southwest of Austin Texas there was an area originally named Live Oak Springs
it later became Oatmanville and by the late 1800's was officially known as Oakhill
Settlers began moving to the area because of the readily available work in nearby stone
quarries The farming community also quickly began to
grow Pecans, cotton, wool, and hides were the principal
commodities shipped from the area in 1870 Texas Ranger James Andrew Patton left
the once brutal life of fighting Comanche Indians and moved to Oatmanville to try his
hand at farming, shop-keeping, and eventually serving as the towns Post Master for over
20 years In 1898 Patton had a stone building constructed
next to his original wooden built store, it was made from limestone that was removed from
the nearby Oatmanville Quarry. This stone building became known as the Old Rock Store,
and it was kept running as such for over 30 years. During the span of a century the building
has also served as a Masonic lodge, a dance hall, a saloon, offices, several restaurants,
and is now how to a popular pizza parlour Even to this day the building remains within
the family, we meet and have a conversation with James White who is the Great-Grandson
of James Patton My Great-Grandfather put this store in was
a general store, and he was the Post Master of Oakhill, his name was James Andrew Patton
and that is who I was named after. This is John Dudely White he was a Texas Ranger and
he got shot by some bushwackers, it was like something you might see in the movies, he
went in there and these people were really hard nosed rough people and he was killed
in White City, TX. Right now their is no White City because when they built a lake down there
they dammed up the water and it flooded a valley and I think White City was there. This
is my Grandmother Rosa Patton White and this is where the had their wedding reception,
right here in this room. She passed away when I was in the Army. If there was a ghost from
the wife of the Pattons that lived in this building I think they would be looking after
me or looking over my shoulder and keeping this building safe and sound.
After our interview with James a current Austin Pizza Garden employee decides to share a few
experiences of her own. Sundays I come in and wash dishes and theirs
never any parties up here at 9 on Sundays we close at 10 o'clock, I always hear what
sounds like people straightening the chairs and moving the tables around. I've been here
when customers have walked in, and one particular instance a lady walked in and she said 'I
feel such a presence in this place' We begin the tour of the building inside the
kitchen, where night manager Jayme shows us around.
This is the area where pots have been moved or dishtrays have been moved on top of the
dishwasher and when I say they are moved, it will be just one pot shaking back and forth
by itself, no fans on and no A/C on just movin' There's always a time when your washing dishes
you always looks up those stairs, like this one time I was washing dishes and this woman
dressed in white was standing at the top of the stairs the lights were off up there and
I thought it was one of my co-workers and when I went to go question them and was actually
in the lobby changing channels on the TV and there is no way that he would've made it from
up there to down stairs in that time She takes upstairs to the old dining room
and tells us about a recent encounter she experienced
The last thing I heard was about 3-weeks ago when I heard a slam at the tables and chair
scoot Like a real quick jerking motion?
Yeah, it was loud Next we enter the new dining area and hear
about an incident that occured during a past investigation the had
One investigation we did there was this shadow on the wall over here it just turned pitch
black in the stairwell and ou could hear footsteps coming up, and around this corning there was
like a mass of black that just shot back into that room
The dark Halloween night has already surrounded us, it is time for the investigation to begin
This is the room where these pots and pans move
We are here in the kitchen, the pots and pans sometimes sway around on their own
EMF detectors measure electromagnetic energy, which ghosts are thought to emit
With no unusual readings in the electromagnetic field we begin asking questions and then proceed
by setting up a flashlight experiment. We are going to use these flashlights and use
them as a form of communication with whatever is here and the trick is you get an ordinary
flashlight, one that will twist on and off, and you twist it to where it just barely turns
on when you touch it and then set it down on your surface. And if whatever is here can
turn on the flashlight it will mean 'yes' to our questions.
If there is anyone here please turn one of the flashlights on
Does the name James Patton sound familiar? Rosa Patton?
That's a yes? Ok, can you turn it back off to show that you can? Please turn off that
light Do we scare you or make you nervous?
After only getting one response in the kitchen, we gather our gear and move to another part
of the building. With hopes of catching the mysterious activity of the pots and pans moving
on their own Billy sets up a GoPro to record thru the duration of the night
As we setup our cameras Billy goes into the other room to retrieve more gear and upon
review of our footage we see this Orbs are hovering translucent spheres of light
thought to be one of the many forms that a spirit can take shooting upwards and into
the room Billy had just entered
We also see this anomaly fly across the room and then disappear into the door. Here it
is again in slow motion Billy returns with his REM pod and places
it in the doorway, it is a device the emits an independent magnetic field and will alarm
if the field has been interrupted First of all is their anyone in here? Move
a chair, knock on a wall I put a little device in the doorway there
so if you get close to it there will be some lights that turn on that will also let us
know that you are here with us. I just had an orb, something just flew what
looked like from the stairs towards you When we take a further look at this strange
anomaly it seems to have traveled up the staircase before disappearing around the corner. Is
the the energy of the black mass that Jayme and the other investigators once saw jetting
down the hallway? We decide to follow it into the next room.
We just want to talk a little bit, get some answers for these kind people that occupy
this building now. Do you know who Jayme is? EVP's, or Electronic Voice Phenomenon are
the sounds of disembodied voices captured by recording equipment
Was this female voice just as startled as we were?
We check the GoPro down in the kitchen and it also captured the same loud ***
Can you come in here with us, if that was you in another room
Billy sets up for a Spirit Box session A Spirit Box allows for realtime listening
of EVP's by emitting whitenoise which theory suggests give entities the energy they need
to be heard Do you have a name?
With minimal interaction from whatever has been witnessed in that room, we check out
the GoPro downstairs and we are startled to find these results
We capture this flying ball of light moving from the left part of the screen, flying above
the camera, and stopping before the pantry room before then disappearing into the darkness
And just moments late another anomaly enters from the right side, again stopping mid-flight
in front of the pantry before disappearing. When zoomed in, the same orb appears to pass
through this metal equipment rather than fly around it. Is there something in this room
that we are unaware of? We also capture this EVP
Is this spirit responsible for turning on the flashlight after we mentioned the name
'Rosa Patton' Is this the voice of Rosa telling us that
she is 'OK' Also recorded are possible residual sounds
of the past Are these the sounds of pool balls that were
played while this building was a saloon Even though it was relatively quiet Halloween
night we concluded that the spirits residing in this location are residual time prints
of the past. There is one exemption however, did we get confirmation that Rosa Patton still
resides at this location, or is she waiting for her husband John White to return from
the call of duty where he was murdered in cold blood and she is assuring us that she
is 'OK'. Is she also the female that is seen in the white dress at the top of the stairs.
Whatever the case may be these spirits are not here to harm the living but to remind
us of the history that they once had Until Next Time, Happy Haunting