DAPHNE, Ala.—W. Stuart Harris will speak about Alabama ghost towns at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Old Methodist Church of Daphne.

He will read selections from his new book, “Dead Towns of Alabama”, a factual collection of 83 Indian towns, 77 fort sites and 112 colonial, territorial and state towns that have been discovered.

Harris plans to take advantage of the museum’s atmosphere for part of his presentation.

“I’ll talk a bit about a ghost story about an old church,” he said.

According to legend, an angelic figure appears on rainy nights at a Mount Pleasant Church in Tuscaloosa County.

Harris will also share about how towns ‘die.’ Some were built along rivers, he said, but disappeared with the advent of interstate highways. Others met their demise after the town’s industry moved away; natural disasters claimed many areas.

Harris—a former professor of history at Birmingham University—is a researcher of Alabama history. He’s written 13 books, including: “Alabama Place-Names,” “Heritage of Perry County, Alabama” and “Alabama, Things That Go Bump in the Night: A Sampling of Alabama Ghost Tales,” according to a news release.

Harris has three degrees from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, where he received his doctorate in 1970.

He has taught at Birmingham University and Marion Military Institute and Judson College in Marion, Ala.

Guests Sunday can tour marked headstones in the cemetery outside the museum and learn about the people buried there, presentation coordinator Sylvia Ensley said.

About 10 door prizes will be available, according to Ensley. The museum will provide complimentary refreshments such as lemonade, cookies and candy, Mickey Boykin, museum president, said.

This is the second time Harris has presented “Dead Towns” in Daphne. “I spoke about 25 or 30 years ago in Daphne about dead towns, when the book first came out,” he said.

The Old Methodist Church of Daphne—originally constructed in 1858—is at 405 Dryer Ave.

For more information about the presentation, contact Sylvia Ensley at 625-0184 or 610-4202