True crime, murder and ghosts: New spooky tour links wild history to haunted buildings
by Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal
Caitlin Zoeller has all the gory details about century-old murderers and hell-raisers, who once roamed downtown Shelbyville.
Or perhaps, they never left.
Before Shelbyville's Main Street was a charming district of cozy boutiques and restaurants, three different fires ravaged and reshaped the downtown skyline. Shootouts, revenge plots and Civil War-fueled disputes loomed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the kind of chaotic energy Zoeller says could inspire spirits to linger behind generations after they’ve died.
For the past couple of years, the Shelbyville native has visited with people who work in the businesses and offices, and she’s kept records of all the hair-raising unnatural things they’ve heard, seen, and sometimes even felt.
Then she consulted newspapers, history books and early Shelby County maps to figure out what the town once looked like and who, historically, lurked where.
