This Good Deed Will Save Your Life!

Catherine's Hill

Maine has a beautiful landscape and where there is beauty, there is terror. This legend starts like most paranormal hot spots and that is with an unfortunate death leaving a spirit trapped on earth to forever wander. Catherine's Hill is located near Fox Pond and Black's Woods Area in Hancock County (between Franklin and Cherryfield on Route 182). The legend says that Catherine will approach vehicles and ask for a ride, sometimes to Bar Harbor, for those who decline to suffer a variety of consequences.

This legend has at least 7 variations of it over time but they all end the same. Never try to ignore her presence for she will bestow a curse on you and you too will die a horrible death. Catherine has been described as a woman in a white wedding dress to a light blue evening gown or prom dress. This apparition has been seen with her head in some accounts and headless in others.

The one variation of Catherine's story goes back to the 1860s. It is believed she and her lover had left Bar Harbor from their wedding or prom and got into an accident with their horse and buggy. During the accident, Catherine got beheaded. Her head and her lover were never found. It is believed that she roams this area looking for all that she has lost. One account of the headless Catherine comes from that of a traveling salesman who was said to have seen the headless women. He was so startled by the headless appearance that he sped past her trying to ignore her. When he looked in his rearview mirror, hoping his mind was playing tricks, she was sitting in his back seat. He then crashed his vehicle and perished that dark night.

Another variation of Catherine's story dates to the 1920s. In this variation, Catherine was a waitress at a private club. It's said that on her break she took a gentleman up on a ride in his Model-T automobile. Everything was going smoothly until they approached a bend in the road near Fox Pond. Turning the bend, the driver lost control of his vehicle, becoming airborne off the embankment and landing in the water of the pond. During the event, the windshield became dislodged, ultimately beheading Catherine in the process.

The second variation I shared seems more believable due to divers actually finding a Model-T automobile at the bottom of Fox Pond. However, stories of Catherine were around in the 1860s leaving one to wonder that if women by the name of Catherine just have a bad time on this road or if it got the name from another Catherine.

Another account of the spirit was by a motorist driving down that same stretch of road and seeing a young lady standing by the roadside. Having compassion in his heart he stopped and asked the young lady if she needed any assistance. She proceeded to the vehicle and told the man she was headed back to Bar Harbor. Happy to help he offered her a ride and she got in. Once on the road again he looked in his rearview mirror but to his surprise, she had seemingly vanished. Nearly positive she had gotten in the vehicle, he stopped and got out to check the backseat. To his dismay, she had vanished, not only was the backseat empty but there was a spot which she had sat that was soaking wet.

There are still encounters to this day. If you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods, I would highly suggest if you see a young woman on the side of the road, that you pull over and help her. Your life might just depend on it.

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