Haunted Pillar (Cursed Pillar)
In the early 1800s a bustling farmers' market, the Lower Market, stood at Fifth and Broad in downtown Augusta. Local legend holds that a traveling street preacher, refused permission to preach there, cursed the market — swearing a great wind would level it and leave only a single pillar standing, which no one could ever move without dying. In February 1878 a rare winter tornado tore through Augusta and flattened the market, sparing one lone brick pillar exactly as foretold. For decades afterward, townsfolk whispered of highway workers struck by lightning or crushed by their own machinery whenever they tried to haul it away, and tradition warned that even touching the pillar invited an early grave. The pillar was demolished by an out-of-control car on December 17, 2016 and has not been rebuilt, but its weathered legend still haunts the corner where it stood.
📍 Corner of 5th Street and Broad Street, Augusta, GA 30901, Augusta, GA · Get directions