EDITOR’S NOTE: Strangeville explores the legends, folklore, and unexplained history of Western North Carolina. From Cherokee mythology and Appalachian ghost stories to Bigfoot sightings and UFO encounters, the Blue Ridge Mountains have long been a hotspot for the strange and mysterious. Join us as we dig into the past and uncover the truth behind the region’s most curious tales.
WAYNESVILLE, N.C. — In the Balsam Mountains of western North Carolina, locals tell of a creature called the Boojum. The story places him on Eaglenest Mountain in Haywood County near Waynesville, where a grand resort called the Eagle’s Nest Hotel opened in 1900. Records show the hotel burned in 1918, leaving only ruins on the mountainside.
According to legend, the Boojum was neither fully man nor beast. He was said to stand seven or eight feet tall, covered in shaggy gray hair from head to toe except for a humanlike face. He roamed the ridges, hoarding gemstones found in the mountains and hiding them in caves. Some stories say he kept them in old liquor jugs. People claimed he watched women bathe in mountain streams, startling most into fleeing. One woman named Annie did not…