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January 2005

We Have Moved!

     E.C.H.O., (formerly P.O.R.T.A.L. Paranormal Investigations) has moved from West Palm Beach, Florida to historic Bath, North Carolina. We are beginning 2005 in the oldest town in the state which was established in 1705. 
     Bath is also the last home of Blackbeard the pirate who married a local girl and continued his plundering of coastal shipping lanes from a Bath Bay homestead along the Pamlico River. Soon after, Captain Edward Teach raised the ire of local citizens and was beheaded aboard his ship by Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy at Ocracoke Inlet in 1718. 

     To make things even more interesting, Bath is legendary for its reputation as being a cursed town. In 1748 George Whitefield, a fiery revivalist minister who visited Bath and slept in a coffin he carried with him, was mistreated by locals in the "ungospeled wilds of North Carolina," and sought revenge. He raised his voice to heaven and forever condemned the town to be nothing more than a small village. To this day, the town has only a population of 275 people and missed becoming the Beaufort County seat to the city of Washington at the last minute. It seems that Whitefield's curse may have come true.
     Bath is celebrating its Tri-Centennial this year. With its rich 300 years of history, friendly inhabitants, and scenic coastal beauty, it is the perfect place for the East Coast Hauntings Organization to make its home.