Paranormal activity has always been an interest for Sandy Bates Emmons. “I got it from my dad, who was into UFOs, Bigfoot, and all things strange,” she says. Because of her father’s work in the oil business, Emmons grew up in South America, Brazil, and Venezuela. “I’m trilingual, so it makes it easier to communicate with almost anyone, living or dead,” she adds.
After moving to Houston in the 1980s, she bought a house and discovered it came with a surprise: a “very active” haunting. Emmons worked in media at the time, so her friends at CBS brought in investigators for a Halloween segment on her home. After seeing that investigation, Emmons was hooked. “It helped me comprehend and validate the happenings in the house,” she says.
In 2020, Emmons and her husband, artist and rancher Andy Don Emmons, settled in Waxahachie, a town of 50,000 people about 30 miles south of Dallas. “It’s like living in a Hallmark movie town,” she says, “except all the old buildings have ghost stories.” That includes her current house, a 1910 Queen Anne-style farmhouse whose previous owner died there.
By day, Emmons works as the administrator for the Ellis County Museum, but her evenings and weekends are for paranormal investigations. “I’m looking for proof of hauntings and taking deep dives into historical research—it makes history come alive,” she says.
Emmons shares these stories through her own Haunted Hachie tours and as fundraisers for groups like Odd Fellows. Waxahachie, with sites of a former jail and gallows and more than 80 historic buildings in the National Register of Historic Places, has no shortage of haunted locations. “Hauntings don’t always have to be tragic,” she says. “It can be because people were happy—they want to stick around.”
Emmons’ Waxahachie Picks
1 ⁄Railport Brewing Company
On the site of a one-time cotton gin, the locally owned Railport Brewing takes its name from the nearby railroad. “They have a big outdoor seating area where you can watch the trains go by and see live music on weekends,” Emmons says.
2 ⁄College Street Pub
Order fish and chips or shepherd’s pie and a pint at this British-style pub—but watch your glass. “The owners and the employees have fondly nicknamed their prankster ghost Winston, like Winston Churchill,” Emmons says. “He likes to make glasses fly off the bar.”
3 ⁄Getzendaner Park
Encompassing 33 acres, the park connects to Waxahachie Creek and has hiking and mountain biking trails that stretch to Waxahachie City Cemetery and toward Lake Waxahachie. There you will find people jogging, biking, and walking their dogs.
4 ⁄OddFest
As an Odd Fellow, Emmons looks forward to this annual arts and music festival in October. Dozens of artists, food trucks, and craft brewers bring out their weird wares. “People love it, and there’s usually great weather,” she says. Proceeds help fund the renovation of Odd Fellows Lodge, which has been in use since 1911.
5 ⁄Gingerbread Trail
The intricate details adorning Waxahachie’s Victorian homes have earned it the nickname “Gingerbread City.” Every June, visitors can explore the architecture and history of selected homes and buildings, including Ellis County Courthouse, which is known for its ghostly encounters. “Practically everybody has a ghost story in Waxahachie,” Emmons says.
