The Order Of Gimghoul Secretly Meet In A Castle In North Carolina (2024)

In 1889, a small group of college students at the University of North Carolina decided a secret club was in order. The new secret society eventually decided on a well-intended Arthurian mission based upon chivalry.

There was (and still is) a legend circulating around Chapel Hill about a young college student named Dromgoole, who in 1833, fought to his death in a duel over the hand of a local girl with whom his dueling opponent was also in love. Several legends surround how that duel played out, but all of them end up with Dromgoole losing the face-off. The most heinous version places the body of Dromgoole under a rock (supposedly behind the castle) that's forever stained with his blood.

In another twist, they eventually changed their name to the Order of the Gimgoole, which was later changed to Gimghoul. In 1924, $50,000 was spent on constructing their meeting place: Hippol Castle, now commonly referred to as Gimghoul Castle.

As for the secret society, it's still active and new members are only added by invitation. It's said that it's only open to a select group of (very wealthy) juniors and seniors at UNC, as well as a few faculty members.

After doing some digging we were able to find some interesting evidence. The UNC University Archives contains 4,000 items related to the Order of Gimghoul, a collection which occupies six linear feet of shelf space. The items are available for public browsing; however, there is a caveat: only items 50 years and older are available to the public. It makes you wonder what goes on behind those stone walls. Why the secrets and why the cover?