Paranormal Mertou Imported Post History & Haunting of : Witches Gate,Wichita Falls ,Texas ,U.S.A Between Wichita Falls and Henrietta is where you would find Witches Gate. Going through many articles, it’s easy to find information about the history of this place. Two older men who were brothers; Jim and Kenneth Keith, had lived in this place. In the summer of 1975, Kenneth heard voices, and then a gunshot coming from Jim’s room and as he walked in he found his brother shot in the back. He then was tied as the intruders wanted money and upon opening the safe, Kenneth Keith was released. There were four men arrested in connection to the incident. To make a very long and interesting story short with all of this, in February of 1976 the place was torched. There are tales of both the brothers still haunting this location. There were even sightings of this building being once again on fire when looking upon it from a distance. One thing is certain with Witches Gate, it is a place where most any Wichitan knows about, has visited, and everyone will tell you a story of being there and doing their own personal investigations! This is a flashback for each of us living in Wichita Falls! There are so many countless locations around our area that have their own tales and legends behind them as well. Were these locations really and truly haunted? Ask the scores of people in this area what they have to say about it! When it comes to places of haunted history and strange sightings, Wichita Falls is number one on the list! examiner Witch’s Gate has many faces. The place the kids call Witchs Gate is an old, burned down stone house that can be seen of off Highway 287. The story behind the house (and I have been assured this is true as the person who sent me the information had grandparents who knew the people that lived there) is that there were two brothers who once lived here. They owned a grocery store and were very wealthy, however they didnt keep all of their money in the bank. They instead kept their nice jewellery and their gold in the basement hidden in the walls. One night, a burglar broke in and killed both brothers while they were sleeping and stole what valuables he or she could find and then burned the place down with the brothers inside. The brothers still haunt the place and keep watch over their buried treasure. If you go down into the basement, it’s said to be extremely clean, no cobwebs or disarray, but of course no one lives there since its never been rebuilt. Youll also hear footsteps and whispers. There are signs posted to keep out and entering the property is illegal. The actual gate, itself, is about three miles south of the house. Theres a back road leading to it. Although the kids in the area call the above home Witchs Gate, the real Witchs Gate is a small cave thats haunted somewhere in the area. By Shay~s2.excoboard/ By Noel Kerns Rancho Deserto The ruins of the George D. Keith & Sons ranch house off US-287, south of Wichita Falls, Texas. George D. Keith, Sr. was born 1875 in Falmouth, Tennessee and later became Vice-President and co-founder of the Ben E. Keith Company. He was a rancher and owned the George D. Keith & Sons Ranch near Wichita Falls, Texas. Keiths ranching interests included the breeding of registered Hereford cattle and Palomino horses. He served as the first president of the Texas and Oklahoma Fair Association and was active in civic affairs. In 1897, Keith married Meta Ransom with whom he had two sons, George, Jr. and Calvin. His second wife, Mollie Black, whom he married in 1908, also bore two sons. Ben E. Keith, his brother, operated the Ben E. Keith Company, a fruit and vegetable brokerage, from its Fort Worth headquarters. Mollie Black Keith and her sons, Kenneth and Jim, operated the ranch after George Keiths death in 1955. On a Saturday night in mid-July, of 1975, brothers Jim and Kenneth Keith (61 and 70, respectively) were preparing for bed. Jim had never married, and Kenneth was divorced. Both men raised Hereford cattle, as their father had done before them. Neither man had any heirs and lived alone in their ranch house which was described by the Wichita Falls Record News as sumptuous. Its not known if it was an assumption of wealth or the size of the house that caused rumors to circulate about a fortune in rare coins and guns. Whatever the reason, at least two men entered the house that summer night looking for treasure and were determined to have it. Kenneth heard voices coming from his brothers room, and, as he approached, heard a gunshot. He found his brother in a pool of his own blood, shot in the back. The killer then tied Kenneth Keith to a chair, releasing him briefly to open a safe and then retied him. A second man appeared and after cutting the phone line and ransacking the house, they left about 3:00 a.m. Kenneth managed to free himself and drove to the Jolly truck stop where he phoned police. The sad irony was that, while there actually had been a collection, Kenneth Keith had donated it to a museum the previous year. Kenneth Keith had moved in to a neighbours house after burying Jim and the brothers former home sat vacant. But in February of 1976, when one Clyde Burns was arrested for the murder of Jim Keith, the house was torched. It was almost certainly arson, but there was never a formal investigation. Excerpted from the Texas Tech University Archives and Texas Escapes, with a big thanks to Thorpeland for getting me the latter link to get me started on the research.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 23:04:19 +0000
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