![]( "Pat Dexheimer, left, presents a check to Marzie Bartee, the Treasurer of the Burleson Historical Foundation, and Robert Hernandez, the President of the Burleson Historical Foundation, following a investigation event earlier this year. BURLESON STAR/COURTESY PHOTO")
Pat Dexheimer, left, presents a check to Marzie Bartee, the Treasurer of the Burleson Historical Foundation, and Robert Hernandez, the President of the Burleson Historical Foundation, following a investigation event earlier this year. BURLESON STAR/COURTESY PHOTO
Since childhood, Pat Dexheimer has had an interest in a paranormal activity.
Dexheimer, a retired Burleson ISD teacher, also has an affinity for Burleson’s history.
She and Vivian Wright, a fellow retired Burleson ISD teacher, lead tours each Friday and Saturday around Old Town Burleson and weave tales of local ghosts with the history of the area.
The pair guide the tours that begin at 7:30 p.m. and ends around 10 p.m.
“The route goes through Old Town then about 10 o’clock we hit the railroad tracks and have some stories about the ghost train,” Dexheimer said. “It’s a walking tour and that’s usually a good stopping point.”
While some people take the tour because they enjoy ghosts and paranormal activity, some tour groups are made up of birthday parties or civic groups.
But the smaller groups sometimes get the best results.
“Sometimes we just have a couple of people on the tour and that’s when things get really active (ghost wise),” Dexheimer said.
Once a girls birthday party drew the attention of one of Old Town’s more active ghosts - George.
According to Dexheimer, George likes young ladies and has been known to play with their hair.
George is the ghost of George Conway, a veteran of World War I who adopted Burleson as his hometown after leaving the military.
George suffered from shell shock following the Great War and was a homeless person who lived in the current Old Town area of Burleson.
Later, George moved into the motorman’s house of the interurban and spent the rest of his life in Burleson.
Some ghosts come and go through the area like the one whose nickname in life had been Grumpy - so of course, he spent a couple of week’s hanging out at Grumps Burgers in Old Town.
Wright said Grumpy didn’t stay long and hasn’t been heard from in a while.
Many of the ghosts in Burleson have stayed for a specific reason according to Dexheimer and Wright - they want to protect the Old Town area of the city that they cherish.
“The ghosts in Burleson have stayed to make sure Old Town Burleson stays Old Town Burleson and doesn’t get torn down,” Dexheimer said.
Some business owners have great respect for the ghosts and ask the pair to visit their business to make sure that remodeling or other changes being made are ok with the ghosts.
Dexheimer and Wright said that for the most part, the ghosts are fine with the direction Old Town is headed.
“We incorporate a lot of the history of the town in our tour,” Wright said. “So we like to think we have a little something for everybody. If you aren’t into ghosts but like history, come to the tour because we are going to give you a lot of the town’s history.”
The next tour will be Friday night. This week’s Saturday night tour has been canceled because Boo Bash will be taking place in Old Town.
There will also be a tour on Halloween Night starting at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the tour are $10 for adults and that is cash only. The tour doesn’t accept credit cards. Group rates are available for 10 or more.
To make reservations for a tour call 817-295-5121 or 817-889-1610.
For those wanting to delve deeper into the local ghost scene, there will be a ghost investigation beginning at 9 p.m. on Nov. 11. The cost is $20. All proceeds from the investigation benefit the Burleson Heritage Foundation.
Investigation sites will include the trolleys, the city of Burleson for the Old Town Shopping Center, the Baker Foundation for the two Baker houses, Grumps, and the Old Texas Brewery.
“Since we lost Founders Day this year this will be the only fundraiser for the Burleson Heritage Foundation,” Wright said.
There are two investigations a year and the last one, which took place in June, raised $600 for the foundation.
“The ghosts like Founders Day,” Wright said. “They like seeing the people dressed up and like the gunfighters. They enjoy Founders Day.”
Trunk or Treat
The Burleson Child Development Center will be holding a Trunk or Treat event from 6:45-8 p.m. Friday at 390 SW Johnson Avenue.
The event will provide parents with a safe place for their kids to have fun.
The sponsors will also be taking can food donations for Burleson’s Harvest House.