For years, I’ve been intrigued by this sign.

It sits at the railroad crossing at the intersection of Langtree Road and NC Highway 115, and I pass it every time I take my son to school. Beneath the standard DOT railroad warning is a small rider that simply reads: “Haunted.”

Naturally, the kid in me goes straight to the obvious conclusion- some long-forgotten train accident on a cold, rainy night, headlights flashing, a car stalled on the tracks… you get the idea. But Norfolk Southern has no record of a fatal incident at that crossing. Yes, I checked.

Regardless of why the sign is there, it makes for a perfect segue into a lesser-known but very real piece of local history that happened in the exact same area.

On February 2, 1781, the Battle of Torrence’s Tavern took place in what would eventually become Mooresville. The skirmish was part of the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, occurring as British forces under Charles Cornwallis pursued American troops led by Nathanael Greene following the Patriot victory at Cowpens. The Tavern was run by Mrs. Torrence whose husband had been killed earlier in the war. Her first name is unknown. Langtree Road and Hwy 115 were actual roads or trails at the time and the tavern sat near the intersection.

As Greene’s army retreated north, they were racing to cross the Catawba River before the British could catch them. Torrence’s Tavern served as a key way point, a militia gathering place where local volunteers stopped to eat, rest, and await orders. British cavalry under Banastre Tarleton launched a sudden attack on the militia forces stationed there.

The American militia, commanded by William Moore (ironic?), were caught completely off guard. Most historians estimate that roughly 300 North Carolina militiamen, largely farmers and local volunteers, were present and roughly 150–200 British cavalry dragoons.

The engagement was brief and chaotic. Poorly armed, lightly trained, and unprepared for a cavalry charge, the militia scattered quickly. Casualties were minimal- only a handful killed or wounded- but the psychological impact was real. While the skirmish was a British tactical success, it was a strategic failure, as it still failed to stop Greene’s army from escaping across the Catawba River and continuing the campaign that would eventually wear down British forces in the South.

So… could the “Haunted” sign at the railroad crossing be connected to that skirmish?
I’m going to lean toward a hard no.

More likely, some kid slapped a sticker on a DOT sign years ago and it stuck—literally and figuratively. But standing there today, knowing armed men once scattered into the woods in the same vicinity nearly 250 years ago, it does make for a pretty good story.

And sometimes, that’s enough.