How much of a boost does the ghost world trail give alabama tourism?
In Wilcox County, Ala., it’s known as “The Billie Hole,” where in antebellum times, a female slave is reputed to have jumped into a wooded pool because she didn’t want to be sold. Stories abound that on nights of the full moon, Billie can be seen to rise up out of the hole wearing a long white dress. Officials in Alabama’s historic Black Belt region hope that story and others like it will make tourism rise as well. In an effort to cash in on the history of things that may or may not go bump in the night, city officials here and across the USA are increasingly turning to ghost tales and trails to boost tourism. The Southwest Alabama Regional Tourism and Film Office is working to establish a ghost trail stretching through the 18 counties that make a swath through the middle of the state starting this summer. Named for its rich black prairie soil, the Black Belt was where cotton was king before and after the Civil War. “The Black Belt is rich in the history and culture of the Scots-Irish
