Sneak Peek: Little Five Points Ghost Tour

In addition to supporting law firms and businesses, I also love to work with local organizations. So when I heard that the Little 5 Points Business Association was thinking about hosting a ghost tour this October — I jumped at the opportunity to be involved. I worked with the Business Association, and later, the Little 5 Points Center for Arts and Community, on researching and writing their ghost tour script. A few months… multiple interviews…. countless records searches… and one AJC archives subscription later, I presented them with the completed project.

This year’s ghost tour is a 90-minute walking tour of the Little 5 Points neighborhood. Over eight different stops, guests learn about the history of L5P, the leaders who helped shape the community, and the “residents” who just don’t seem to want to leave. In life or in death.

Here’s a sneak peek of the Little 5 Points Ghost Tour:

“Pete and Wilma Avgikos had a company in New Orleans where they salvaged pieces from old, elaborate homes and then re-sold them to the public. They relocated to Atlanta, purchased this house, and named it The Wrecking Bar. The upstairs area was a beautiful, 8000-square foot showroom filled with treasures Pete and Wilma had collected from the Southern US and all over Europe. You could purchase luxury, historic items like stained glass windows, paneling, hardware, lighting…. You name it, they either had it or could find it for you.

Now, there was one item that Pete Avgikos desperately wanted to add to The Wrecking Bar’s inventory – jade. He was obsessed with it. In the months leading up to his death, his business associates said he was negotiating all these mysterious deals and planning secret trips, just to get his hands on these precious gemstones. In February 1974, Pete was scheduled to fly down to Miami – his co-workers suspected to purchase a collection of jade. Pete was at his home in Druid Hills; he called Wilma at the store so she could drive him to the airport. But when Wilma got to their house a few minutes later, Pete was nowhere to be found. His truck was missing. He never showed up for his flight.

Fast forward a few days. Atlanta Police found Pete’s briefcase and an ammunition box in a dumpster behind Ansley Mall. But, where was Pete? Police eventually found him sixty miles away in Monticello, Georgia. Police said his watch had stopped several days prior. Someone had stripped Pete of all identification and stolen the $9,000 he’d had on him for the Miami purchasing trip. It took almost a year and a half to find the murderer.”

The Little 5 Points Ghost Tours run throughout the month October. You can learn more about the event and purchase tickets here. On a personal note, this was such a fun writing project for me, and I’m so glad that I was able to help raise funds for these two wonderful non-profit organizations. If you’re a business or organization that needs help with a historical tour, scavenger hunt, etc., please reach out!