BLACK CAT TOURS - About Black Cat Tours

Husband & wife Mark R. Jones and Rebel Sinclair are
full time professional tour guides, authors, historians
and paranormal investigators who have given more
than 10,000 tours. Their goal is to offer every customer
a professional and fun experience with each tour.

Most Charleston tour companies take 20 people on each tour.
Often, tourists are being herded around the city
in a large group with screaming kids and a tour guide
who has been working for six months or less.
BLACK CAT limits their tours to no more than
12 people, and NO YOUNG CHILDREN.

WHY ARE WE CALLED "BLACK CAT TOURS"?

In the 1640s Charles I of England owned a black cat whom he fiercely loved. In late 1648 the cat
fell ill and died. Charles I was heard to proclaim, “Alas my luck is gone.” The next day, he was
arrested and charged with high treason. Ultimately he was beheaded. His son, Charles II, is the
namesake of Charleston, SC.

When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, they brought with them a devout faith in the Bible
and a deep suspicion of anything deemed of the devil. They viewed the black cat as evil - a
companion, or a familiar to witches. Anyone caught with a black cat would be severely punished
or even killed. The early settlers of Charles Town were hard-drinking Scots-Irish and English
merchants, the complete antithesis of Pilgrims. In fact, they looked upon the New England
Puritans with suspicion and disdain.

Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Ft. Moutlrie in Charleston during
the 1820s. His first published story, "The Gold Bug" is set on
Sullivan's Island. Another Poe story which uses Charleston includes
"The Oblong Box". Of course, one of his most popular works is "The
Black Cat".
In the Lowcountry Gullah culture, Black Cats are considered
"plat-eyes" - spirits that manifest into the shape of a feline only at
night, and are usually found near graveyards and cemeteries ...
close to home.
But of course, the REAL reason is ... Mark & Rebel have a black cat
at home named Edgar Allan Poe.