Every town has its ghost stories and Commerce is no different. With Halloween approaching, these stories tend to be brought to the forefront of the mind.
The Rail bar and grill is one establishment in Commerce which has a consistent ghost story all year long.
Located at the cross streets of Main and Locust, The Rail has been open and supposedly haunted since 1991.
But the ghost is not a bother according to Rail manager Jerry Tice.
“He’s a nice ghost,” he said.
According to Tice most people see the ghost out of their periphery. The ghost is said to be a black silhouette wearing a black cowboy hat that walks between the dance hall and the poolroom in the back of the bar.
Tice, who was a patron of The Rail before taking it over, said one of the bars former owners used to be uneasy about the ghost.
“When ever he opened and I was there, he would ask me to go into the bar first and turn the lights on,” he said.
Currently The Rail sits on property which was formally the Lyon-Grey Lumber Company and is adjacent to a railroad interchange which Head of Special Collections for Texas A&M University-Commerce James Conrad said could have easily been the scene for a deaths and maiming.
“Railroading was very busy in 20’s 30’s and 40’s,” he said. “Accidents could happen all the time.”
He said people would be crushed between two train cars in the interchange.
“Railroading was the fourth or fifth most dangerous business in the nation,” he said.
Tice said the ghost has done some things in the main room of the bar though.
“It has not happened in awhile but the channels on the TV over the bar used to change while the remote was just sitting on the bar,” he said.
There have also been times when the ghost has made some audible noises according Tice.
“There was a girl who was working here and she heard me go outside,” he said. “When I came back in she said she heard me talking to someone and I said you didn’t here me talking to anybody.”
Former owner of The Rail and current owner of Charlie’s Café Jeannie Gentry said she has had some different experiences with the possible specter.
“Whenever I would sit at the bar I would see something walking back toward the pool room,” she said.
But seeing the ghost was not the eeriest thing which has happened to Gentry while she owned the bar.
“One night I saw what I can only describe as lightning shot out from the cooler across the kitchen,” she said.
Gentry said she also has heard some noises from the ghost.
“You would always here foot steps going toward to the pool room when no one would be back there,” she said.
Former bartender for The Rail Liz Chadwick said she had some creepy experiences involving the ghost as well.
“It always sounded like a lot of keys were jingling behind me then I would turn around and there would be nothing there,” she said. “Then I would turn around and start walking and the noise would start again.”
Many of the Rail’s patrons have also claimed to see the ghost, which has perpetuated the mystery for some time.