 Out of all the stories that I have covered on this channel, my absolute favorite story to this day is the story of Ms. Peggy Snead and her House of Ill Repute. This week my plans went a little awry with this channel. I ended up taking a last-minute trip up to Rome, Georgia to visit my parents. Now, my mother and my stepfather lived in Atlanta for about 15 years, but recently they decided that they wanted to retire in Rome, Georgia. So while I was up there, I took the opportunity to film my mother talking about Ms. Peggy when she was a little girl, when they first moved to Georgia. I also took some footage of Jackson Hill and the old clock tower, which were other stories of ghosts and hauntings that we covered in Rome. I will of course place all the videos down below. Because of my unexpected trip to Rome, my research got pushed back for a couple of days. I do plan on filming all this weekend so we can get back to our study of portals and other interesting topics. And because we've had so many new subscribers to this channel, I thought today we could take the opportunity to listen to my mama and to visit Ms. Peggy's need all over again. So without further ado, welcome to Esoteric Atlanta. My name is Bryce, and today we're going to be talking about my mama and what it was like growing up in Rome, Georgia with Ms. Peggy's House of Ill Repute. I'm Bryce's mom, Alice, and I was born in Charleston, South Carolina. And when I was six months old, we moved to Atlanta, and because that's where my dad's job took him. While in Atlanta, I don't remember a whole lot because we moved when I was five after kindergarten, but there is a funny story I always like to tell. My mother was a southern lady from King Street, South Carolina near Charleston, and she, bless her heart, she had four children under the age of five, and my dad wasn't there a lot because he was at work, and one day she said, girls, girls, come on, we're going to play a little game, we're going to hide under the bed because the church ladies are coming, and I don't want them to know that we're at home, and I'm sure the house is probably a wreck, and she probably had crying babies, and so we all, and my mother included, got under the bed and the church ladies not on the door, and she would, so we were quiet, and then when the church ladies came, she, all right, y'all can go play now. Well, I was always terrified of the church ladies. I didn't really understand at that age what that was all about, but back in that day when, you know, new people came into the neighborhood, the church ladies would come call and bring in cast roles or welcome them into the community inviting them to go to church, and I'm sure my mother was just like exhausted and just didn't want to deal with that at that moment. After kindergarten, we moved to Rome because my dad was recruited by the Harbin Clinic to be a surgeon, so we moved to Rome. I was, went to first grade was my first grade in Rome, and Peggy's, when did I learn about Peggy's? I don't really know. I know that we just always knew about Peggy's. And my people, who was Peggy? Oh, sure. And where, what Rome, Georgia, right? So about an hour outside of Atlanta. Right. And the neighborhood we lived in in Rome, Maplewood, every, we drove by Peggy's most days to get where we were going. It was a great big hill and come over the hill and at the bottom of the hill on the right was Peggy's. And we just always knew it was there, and I guess we knew, I guess we knew what it was, but we used to, I have to admit, this is an embarrassing story, but we used to do prank phone calls a lot because back in the day, of course, we didn't have cell phones and you would pick up the phone and you would call people and say something stupid like is your refrigerator running, and they would say yes, and you'd say, well, you better go catch it. You know, we thought we were real cute. So I remember being, we all went to swim and play tennis that we called at the club. It was just, you know, that we didn't have neighborhood swimming pools, like we just had one kind of swimming pool that everybody went to. And I will remember one day we were sitting in the locker room at the club and we said, let's call Peggy and everybody knew Peggy's number. It was an easy number like 232-222 or something like that. So not only did we all know who Peggy was, but we all knew Peggy's phone number. And we would sit in the locker room and we would make prank calls to Peggy. And I think my mother or father got wind of it. And boy, they were, they were not happy about that because my father was, my mother was like, you respect your adults. You know, Peggy is a member of this community. And they were not really happy about that. Everybody respected Peggy, even knowing, knowing what her job was, she was very well respected. What was her job again? Well, she ran a house of ill-repeat. And so that's very southern that she ran a house ill-repeat for people who are not from the South. What does that mean? She's a prostitute. I think they're calling sex workers now. Well, you could call it a cat house, I think was one of the terms. And I may or may not know some men in this town that may or may not have visited Peggy on occasion, but. Now, for people who are not from the South, now you don't live in Atlanta as a city in the South, but let's talk about small southern towns. What's the culture like in a small southern town? And why was this story such a big deal about having this Peggy's? Well, Rome was, especially then, was a really small town. It was kind of Nassau, kind of a Northwest of Atlanta in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. And we just had our own little community. And what's the culture like? What's the southern culture like for people who don't live in the South? Well, I'm not sure what you're asking me, but we grew up very proper. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Yes, you had your, you know, manners was very important. It's the Bible Belt. Yeah, my parents were very strict about being polite and having good manners. And that's why they got so upset with me about that. Because, you know, Peggy also sold fireworks. People went to Peggy's to buy fireworks. So she, you know, she was an entrepreneur that she was. So she had a pink kind of laugh, right? Yeah, you know, I don't remember that, but that's what I hear. I, you know, I, and I don't know at what age she passed away and at what point I kind of quit. I think when I was fascinated with her was probably when I was like fifth grade, sixth grade, seventh grade, you know, when you're just kind of becoming aware of stuff like that. So I think after that, I, you know, we lost interest. We, you know, really, it wasn't that novelty anymore for us. So we let her be. We quit making those prank phone calls. She was always a good sport. So growing up in Rome in the 60s and the 70s, early 70s before I went off to college, it was just back then it was just a different time. You know, in your neighborhood, you, your parents were like, bye, go play. They wanted you out of the house and we would go all over the neighborhood and it at night when it was time to come in, my parents had a dinner bell and they would ring it and we would hear it. Call the cows to come. Yeah, come home. It's getting dark. It's supper time. And so we would have been on a bike. So we'd all come home and my mother always had a big supper and we always sat around the supper together. It was a, it was a wonderful time. I remember one time when my sister was four and I think about that four years old, mama was like, where's Kathy? I was like, I don't know. She didn't seem too worried. She started calling the neighbors and sure enough, she called Miss Tate and Miss Tate, they lived down the street and they had a big old trampoline that we loved to go jump on. She said, Dot, is Kathy there? Dot, so I don't know. Let me look outside and she went and looked outside and sure enough, she said, yeah, she's out there jumping on the trampoline four years old. Mama's like, send her home. It was like, they didn't worry about us. Like we worry, like I worried about my kids and my children worry about their, their kids. So it was just a different time. You didn't worry about people grabbing your children or, you know, it was just a safe place to grow up at that time. Now, you know, times have changed and I understand that, but it was a, it was a fun, fun town to grow up in for sure. Well, I have to tell another funny story. So I told you, my mother had four girls under the age of five. So by the time we moved to Rome, my youngest sister was three. That's Kathy that jumped on the trampoline. And my older sister was about eight and I know she just needed a break. So one day she, my daddy had rounds at the hospital, which is when he'd go check on his patients like on a Saturday morning or something. And mama, I guess if you could take the girls with you and think about that. Now he did, which wasn't an unusual thing. He would take us to the hospital, keep the windows rolled down in the car, leave us in the car, run in, check on his patients and come back out and take 30 minutes, maybe an hour, but we would sit in that car like good little girls and well, one Saturday morning he, he, he just never came back. He was just gone and gone. Well, we had to go to the bathroom, one of my sisters especially, and we knew not to leave the car. And it's so funny because as other doctors were coming in, they would see us and they'd stick their head in the window, hey girls, go on their merry way. It was just not an unusual thing. But we waited and waited and waited and Debbie was like, my older sister, we cannot get out of the car. We'll get in trouble. So those that needed to go to the bathroom just proceeded to go to the bathroom and in the car on the floorboard where it was dipped and, and then doctors would come by and stick their heads in the wind and we'd be so embarrassed because we're like, oh no, I hope they, they don't know that it's TT on the floor. So when my dad got back and he's, you know, we said, we're sorry, but we had to go to the bathroom and he apologized because he ended up doing surgery. He ended up having an emergency surgery and he, he did a surgery, but he just picked up the rubber, matted them on the floorboard of the car and just poured the pee out and we went on our merry way. So he couldn't get mad at us. He understood. So my dad, he was very strict about manners. Now he was on the flip side. He was pretty good about letting us choose our own, make our own decisions and then suffer the consequences if they were bad. So, you know, it was a good balance there, but he was very, very strict about manners, very strict. I mean, we had to have impeccable manners, especially at the dinner table. I mean, our hands had to be in our lap. We had to use the right utensils. I mean, we were, we were watched over and, you know, actually as an adult, I always appreciated that because I felt like that was a good lesson in life for us to learn. So therefore, when my children were born, my oldest, Bryce, I was very strict with my children about table manners and I'll never forget, we were eating supper at my parents' house and Bryce was just a little, I think she was still in a little high chair or something and she did something or didn't have put her napkin in her lap or something and, you know, so I kind of got on to her, Bryce. No, we're at the dinner table, you put your napkin in your lap and my daddy said, oh, she's fine. Don't be so strict on her. And I was like, daddy, look who's talking. You were so strict on us. I can't believe that. He said, I was too strict on y'all. You just leave, you leave that precious girl alone. Now, he just adored Bryce and let me tell you something. She was named after him and he adored her. So in a few weeks, I'm going to come back and I'm going to interview one of your childhood friends, Beth Jones, about her haunted house she grew up in in Rome. Do you remember that? Can you give a little, yeah, I do remember that. When I used to spend the night with, I think her name was Mary Beth and you'll interview her and she'll be able to tell you more about that. That may not be right, but she was a friendly girl. So they loved her. They didn't have a problem with her at all. But I was, I guess because of their attitude toward her, but I was always fascinated because they would tell me stories about what would happen in the house, you know, and ghost stories are a huge part of the south southern culture, aren't they? Yeah, they really are. Especially being from South Carolina. Yeah, South Carolina had a lot of ghost stories. You told my first ghost story I ever heard was from you. And that was about the gray man story on. Yeah. And I can't remember much about that, but we used to, I had a book of ghost stories that we used to read to y'all and tell y'all. When we'd go to the beach, we'd go to the beach every year. So your family's area? Yeah, that's where my family was from. They grew up on the coast of South Carolina. So we always have that beach in us. We still like to gravitate toward the beach because that's where my family's from. And I will say, sorry, Florida folks, but there is nothing more beautiful than the coast of South Carolina. The beach is there. The strand is wide and the sand, very good walking beach. We used to love to walk. Well, we were raised to have South Carolina pride. Yeah. Like it was very instilled in us that we were, even though we lived in Georgia, that we were South Carolinian. Yeah, my parents were very proud of their South Carolina heritage. Absolutely. As am I. We were South Carolinian. And I was born in South Carolina. As was I. As was you. That's right. So we're here at Jackson Hill. All right, here's the labrith at Jackson Hill. Not that big, but it's all right for a small town. So here's an old cotton gin. The South was known for cotton. De Sota came through Rome. We have a De Sota theater as well here in this town. I think he was one that was also looking for the proverbial fountain of youth, him and Ponce de Leon. So it looks like there's more than one trail here at Jackson Hill. And so Ravi, my mom and Maggie and I are going to do Lee's Loop because we think it is probably the longest, which is about two miles. All right, here we go. So if you remember, there was some ghost on Jackson Hill. Mayor Ridge's daughter apparently haunts Jackson Hill. We can drive by his house after we're done. It's close by. I could see this being a rather spooky little walk on a cold October evening. And here the cicadas. The cicadas always make my stomach turn a little bit. Just being hot as a child and just the heat of Georgia. It's just a sense memory of being really hot. Look at this little magical bridge. We're coming towards the end of Lee's Loop. I wonder what the story is with this bridge. I'm sure it's pretty old maybe, or maybe it was just built to look old. I don't know. It's like the bridge to Terabithia, isn't it Ravi? Haven't seen any ghost yet. That's okay. I've seen plenty of ghost. So we're at the end of the trail. We're coming back to the trailhead. That was a cute little walk. We've got a two-mile loop-de-loop. So if you live in the Rome, Georgia area, that's something fun you can do. That's also free. Again, we didn't see any ghosts, but that's okay. There's two cannons right there. Are y'all hot? Ravi, you're from India. This should be normal for you. His daughter is the one that haunts Jackson Hill, apparently, if you can remember from the video. We did on Mayor Ridge and Jackson Hill. This was his house. This is called Chieftain's Museum, and I will obviously attach the video I did over Jackson Hill and Mayor Ridge to this video for those who haven't seen it, but this is the house. Again, it's a museum. It's a beautiful house. I think I might have mentioned, I can't remember, but when I came here in third grade for a field trip, this is where I learned the lyrics to the song Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot. For the kid in my class, if you're watching this, you know who you are. You taught me those lyrics while we were here on our field trip, and the river is just over the way beyond those trees. Again, Mayor Ridge was able to do a lot of work with the river because back in that time, the river was their highway. Again, I can remember correctly, they were Cherokee. We'll just walk over here and see what we can see. You guys can see the river now up and down the river, down past the bike path, but maybe you can see it through the trees. I'll see if I can get a little bit closer for you guys. Here's the river again. This is a bike path. You can see that you can take it along the river. The river is just right over here. Again, there are three rivers in Rome, that meet in Rome. That's why this area was so lucrative for a very long time. We've got a little paddle border coming up the way here. I don't know if you guys can see them. There's the trail. This was the highway back in those days, so having this piece of property for Mayor Ridge was good for him. You can see how close the house is. There's the house right there. There's the river. All right. Broad Street, Rome and Georgia. This is where Ms. Peggy would take her ladies to come shopping in her pink Cadillac. I feel like I was just telling my mom that I feel like Rome is trying to become another Highlands, North Carolina. We have a lot of artsy shops and coffee shops downtown. Of course, the river there is paddle morning and it's trying. It's really trying. Shops in downtown Rome. Very different shops than when I was a kid. Again, when I was a kid, there was nothing to do here. Absolutely nothing to do in Rome. Cobblestone. But guys, this is the clock tower that we did a story on. I think that was one of our first stories in the Rome Georgia series. This hill does freak me out though. It's so steep. Apparently, there is a museum inside the clock tower. I've never been to that museum ever. Have we ever been to the museum inside the clock tower?