WACO, Texas — It’s a mystery that has loomed over Central Texas for nearly six decades.
There are people in the Waco area who claim there’s a 'Witch’s Castle' at Cameron Park, but is it real?
The supposed Witch's Castle sits on a three-acre tract at 3613 Greenwood Drive. The piece of land was once known as Eagle Rock, which is the highest point in all the Cameron Park trail system.
All that’s left is a two-hole concrete outhouse and the frame of what used to be a house. The home was built in 1912, but it burned down in 1961 and became known as the Witch's Castle.
“The story was that the witch was a woman whose son died in World War I in a machine gun attack in France,” said Waco surveyor John Kamenec.
Kamenec said he set out to debunk that story, so he did his research and found the son of a man named Elmore Rack, who built the house on this land more than 100 years ago.
“He used to call this the monkey ranch,” said Kamenec. “I said, 'Why did you call it that?' He said, 'Well we used to go there to monkey around.'”
Kamenec said Rack was an avid rock collector, and the castle-like gate at the main entrance may be why some people believe a witch once lived here.
“Everywhere gets that reputation," he said. "There’s some old house, or some old lady or that there’s a witch somewhere.”
Trent Dougherty is the chair of the Trail Building Committee for the Waco Bicycle Club. He said in his opinion, the big detail that created the mystery around the house was the fact it was simply abandoned.
“It was the emptiness. You’ve got this burned out shell of a house high on a hill, and it just screams boo-hoo, you know,” Dougherty said.
Dougherty said the structure that was naturally seen as spooky and scary is now the most popular area in the Cameron Park Trail area.
“It’s no longer an abandoned place for spooky things like that. Now, it’s a place for recreation,” Dougherty said.
He said Waco businessman Todd Behringer acquired the land in 2014 and set out on a mission to transform it to a cyclist's paradise.
“As you see here today, we have cyclist all around us,” Dougherty said. “We just replaced people coming out here for drugs and prostitution with people coming out here to recreate.”
Dougherty said he visits the property frequently, and he’s never seen a witch.
“The only thing that haunts these woods are all these cyclists having a great time,” said Dougherty.
As for Kamenec, he said his message to park-goers is that there's no need to fear this place.
“There’s a lot of history to everything, and I’d like them to make sure they don’t misuse it,” Dougherty said.
There’s still a small mystery that remains. Kamanec said he was told there was an unmarked cemetery on the property. He said he’s working to find out who the people are and where their gravesites are located.