Psychic Tour of Wickland

Ever been to Bardstown's historic Wickland house? Well, maybe tonight's the night you should check it out: A Visit With the Spirits of Wickland, billed as "a psychic tour of the 1826 Plantation house with a small group" is being held this very evening at 7:30pm sharp.

Then again, apparently they do this every Friday.

I'm not really sure what a psychic tour entails. Since it's implied - well, no, heck, it isn't implied, it's actually stated that you'll be visiting with spirits - is this going to be some sort of seance kinda thing? Or, like 1,001 lame TV programs with soulless scammers like Sylvia Browne, is the host going to close his/her eyes at some point and start channeling "Ozmo, the Fifth Ascended Celestial Angel Guide from the Great Magellanic Cloud"? I'd rather go back to 1942 and hang out with Madam Brent behind her beaded curtain and get some phrenology.

It says on the Visit Bardstown site: "Take a 90 minute paranormal family-friendly tour which includes the opportunity to interact through a psychic medium and the friendly spirits who once lived there." Click through that link if you have a strong stomach for fried baloney and hogwash - it runs down a detailed list of the characters, with a highly detailed "backstory" for each of them. I don't know whether it makes me angry or just sad. Both, maybe?

Ask yourself: if you had psychic abilities, would you use your God-given supernatural powers to help mankind, or would you host "ghost tours" of an allegedly haunted house in a small town in Kentucky for a $15 admission price?

Say what you will about Edgar Cayce, but even if he was delusional, he at least loathed the idea of making money off his alleged psychic gifts.

I'm not carping on this because I'm a skeptic - I'm carping on this because I know there are such things as ghosts and psychics and hauntings and channelled entities, and I don't like seeing them presented as goofy tourist attractions. I've had some "psychic" experiences myself, and you don't see me even talking about it, let alone hyping myself as a medium, let alone claiming it's something that can be repeated with guaranteed results, every Friday, week after week, year after year.

Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say.

Okay, okay, I hear ya, "Don't be so wedged, Jeff, it's just all in good fun", right? Fine. Go, have a great time, give yourself some spooky shivers, and tell 'em I sent you by. Reservations are required, so call 502-507-0808 to make yours.

Wickland and Wickland

There are at least two historic estates called Wickland in Kentucky - the first and most famous is the one in Nelson County, on the outskirts of Bardstown.

It was built in 1813 for Charles A. Wickliffe, a Whig member of the Kentucky House of Representatives who later became Governor of Kentucky. The house has also been lived in by Charles' son Robert C. Wickliffe,(who was governor of Louisiana from 1856 to 1860) and by Charles' grandson J. C. W. Beckham. Beckham, who was born at Wickland, also went on to become a Governor of Kentucky (from 1900 to 1907).


The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels have a barbecue here every summer, and the Wickland Corn Maze Halloween event is held on the grounds every autumn. You never know what sort of horrific entities will jump out at you when you walk the corn maze, and the proceeds go to the local Future Farmers of America chapter.


Wickland is vaguely listed by some as a haunted house, but if anyone's given any specific data about this, I've missed it.

Kentucky's other Wickland is located in Shelby County, and was (rather unimaginatively) named after the first one. Charles Cotesworth Marshall, built it in 1901 and named it in honor of his wife, Elizabeth Wickliffe, who was the daughter of the aforementioned Louisiana Governor, Robert C. Wickliffe and was raised at the original Nelson County Wickland.


Wikipedia says it's in Shelbyville, but the closest major town to it is clearly Simpsonville, and if you want to be perfectly old-school accurate about it, it's in Veechdale. Remind me to drive back out there soon and take a photo.