KANSAS        
            
THE PARANORMAL WORLD DATABASE       BAILEY WAGGENER HOUSE (ATCHISON) BACKGROUND: Built in 1884-85 by Balie "B.P." Waggener, a railroad attorney and politician. Waggener accumulated  the largest legal library in the state of Kansas and one of the biggest in all the country. He was well regarded in Masonic circles, being a Knight Templar, a 32nd degree member of the Scottish Rite, and a member of the Shrine. In 1869 he married Emma Hetherington, the daughter of a prominent Atchison family and they had a son who followed in his father’s footsteps at the Missouri Pacific Railway Company and as president of the Exchange State Bank of Atchison. Waggener was very charitable and each year held a picnic for the children of the town on his birthday. The most distinguishing feature of the home are the gargoyles perched on its roof. Historically, gargoyles are placed on buildings to stave off evil spirits. As a result of their presence and their prominence, the Waggener house is commonly referred to as "The Gargoyle House."  Mr. Waggener jokingly told people he had accumulated his wealth by making a deal with Satan and some actually believed it as was then said their presence was a symbol of their deal. PHENOMENA: Urban legend alert >>It’s said the next owner tried to remove the gargoyles as he found them to be unattractive and died on his staircase the following day which resulted in stories of a curse on the property. Current owner Paul Adair grew up in the house and maintains neither he or his wife have ever encountered anything paranormal there. TRIVIA: Atchison is the home of Amelia Earhardt BEAUMONT HOTEL (BEAUMONT) BACKGROUND: Built in 1879 as a stagecoach stop between Wichita and Fredonia. An airstrip was later added when flight became the travel option of choice in the 1940s so travelers could have a mid-flight break. It also served ranchers who would use planes to check on increasingly larger herds of cattle. At one point, the Beaumont was used a brothel. PHENOMENA: Legend states that a female worker there fell in love with a regular customer named Zeke and her husband showed up one day and killed him. Staff and guests report seeing a transparent entity resembling a cowboy at the top of the stairs. He is said to be mischievous and moves chairs behind doors so that guests have a hard time opening them. Clock radios in various rooms have been known to go off at the same time which is usually between 2am and 3am. Guests also experience unexplained banging and the sound of spurs jangling.  BENEDICTINE COLLEGE (ATCHISON) BACKGROUND: This is is a small, private university whose beginnings go back to 1858 when two Benedictine monks were sent by Rev. John B. Miege, S.J., Vicar Apostolic of Leavenworth, to Atchison to run a boarding school called St. Benedict's whose student body was comprised of six children. The following year, the student body swelled to sixteen. In 1868, the college was incorporated and allowed to award degrees. The focus of the curriculum was a career in the priesthood or business interests in the public and private sectors. It eventually became a liberal arts college by 1927. In 1863, seven Benedictine sisters arrived in Atchison to begin a school for more common townspeople and the all-female St. Scholastica’s Academy for 44 young women opened on December 1. In 1877 the sisters purchased Price Villa, now called St. Cecilia’s, and moved from their previous location to the current site of the Mount St. Scholastica Monastery. By 1924 Mount St. Scholastica’s Junior College was opened. In 1971 the two schools merged to form Benedictine College. PHENOMENA: Farrell Hall - a constant, loud pounding at night that cannot be identified. Closet doors open and lights go on by themselves. A student tells of one particular Orientation Week where he was alone in his dorm and heard footsteps coming down the hallway that grew louder and stopped outside his door. When he reluctantly approached the door he could hear raspy breathing outside which abruptly stopped when he flipped the lights on. Eventually he had the room blessed by a priest. Memorial Hall - Urban legend alert >> Legend states that long ago a female student gave birth to a baby in the closet of her room, but shortly later the baby died. Many rooms use double walk-in closets as part of the living space, so one coed was getting dressed inside of hers one day. She then heard her dresser moved to block the closet door and her attempts to open it failed. At first assuming a prank was being played, she called out for an end to the joke but then realized she had locked the room door behind her. Eventually students responded to her cries and freed her. Another student was sitting in front of her mirror when she saw a desk chair begin to rock by itself and then come to an abrupt stop without decelerating at all. She fled the room and did not return for days afterward. BROADVIEW HOTEL (WICHITA) BACKGROUND: Its doors opened in 1922 and the hotel became a popular stop for anyone traveling west. A speakeasy was located in the basement that became a well-attended location during Prohibition. PHENOMENA: One story concerns a man known only as “Clarence” who caught his wife with another man, killed her and then took his own life. His ghost has been known to move objects in guest bathrooms, walk up and down the hallways and dial room service from unoccupied rooms. People have heard unusual sounds, including disembodied voices, one of which is that of a little girl. Doors around the hotel also randomly shake violently. CALLAHAN’S DRUG STORE (LEAVENWORTH) BACKGROUND: The former drug store is now a downtown jewelers and was built in 1868. A gentleman named Gnip bought the store in 1943 and it became Gnip’s Drud Store and remained that until his passing in 1957. PHENOMENA: Current owners claim Gnip still haunts the building and hangs around the counters waiting for customers to show. They report hearing voices, physically being pushed and seeing ghostly figures. It’s also said that employees not displaying goodf work ethic may be snapped to attention by a radio being turned on and off. One employee buzzed what she thought was a older customer waiting at the door who was walking with the aid of a cane. As he entered and very slowly made his way to the counter, she hung up on a phone call she was having and turned to greet him only to discover he had instantaneously vanished. ELLIS RAILROAD MUSEUM (ELLIS) BACKGROUND: The Kansas Pacific Railway built a water station at the site of present-day Ellis in 1867 and then purchased the site under the Homestead Act. Three years later, in 1870, the U.S. Post Office Department opened a post office at Ellis, marking the town's foundation. Kansas Pacific laid out the town in 1873, establishing a depot, a hotel, and a few shops. The museum is home to a host of displays and artifacts and over a thousand unique dolls as well as a train caboose, depot, and a scaled model of an Aero Streamliner. PHENOMENA: The basement is the real hot spot of this establishment and at one point contained a jail cell. Legend states that during a 1958 flood, a prisoner drowned in his cell. Strange noises have been heard from this area and many people have witnessed a shadowy figure standing in the windows. ELDRIDGE HOTEL (LAWRENCE) BACKGROUND: The Eldridge was built in 1855 and served as a sanctuary for emigrants that opposed Kansas becoming a slave state. Pro- slavery supporters set fire to the building the following year, but it was rebuilt by Colonel Shalor Eldridge who pledged to keep doing so no matter how many times it came under siege. That was tested in 1863 when it was again destroyed by the famous attack on Lawrence by Quantrill’s Raiders that devestated the entire city and left more than 150 men and boys dead. Eldridge rose to that challenge as well and rebuilt a second time. Each decade saw changes as it was renovated in the 1920s, closed in the 1970s, reopened in the 1980s and completely restored in the 2000s. PHENOMENA: It’s said the Colonel still roams the building watching over guests as they sometimes find their bags moved inside their locked rooms, hearing doors slam by themselves, and seeing apparitions that fade before their eyes. Room 506 is a particularly active spot and it’s assumed the Colonel likes to play tricks on guests like dead bolting a room shut from the inside. A chair he owned that has been kept in storage, but employees claim they have seen a figure sitting in it. FORT HAYS (HAYS) BACKGROUND: To protect Butterfield Overland Despatch stage and freight wagons traveling the Smoky Hill Trail from Cheyenne and Arapaho attacks, the U.S. Army established Fort Fletcher on October 11, 1865. Named after then governor of Missouri Thomas C. Fletcher, the fort was located on the trail 1⁄4 mile south of the confluence of Big Creek and the North Fork of Big Creek in western Kansas. Lt. Col. William Tamblyn and three companies of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry established the post and were stationed there along with detachments of the 13th Missouri Cavalry. Raids on the stage line continued despite the military presence, and the line soon went bankrupt. Use of the trail ceased, and Fort Fletcher closed on May 5, 1866. The fort saw the likes of Wild Bill Hickok and General Custer come galloping through its gates, and it was also home to the elite buffalo soldiers of the Tenth US Cavalry. Sentinel Hill was a favorite spot to take a stroll for Elizabeth Polly, wife of Ephraim, a sutler for the army. They were at Fort Hays when the cholera epidemic of 1867 began and Elizabeth helped care for and comfort soldiers who became ill or died. Elizabeth eventually fell victim and supposedly begged her husband to bury her on Sentinel Hill. Because the rocky terrain proved impossible for a burial there she was laid to rest in another unknown area of Sentinel Hill. PHENOMENA: In 1917, a farmer reported seeing a woman in old-style clothing walk across the field near Sentinel Hill and go into a shed where he followed and saw no one. In the 50s, a woman walked in front of a patrol car forcing the officer to slam on his brakes and exit to look for an injured party, but he found nothing. Elizabeth has been dubbed, “The Blue Lady” as it’s been said she is seen surrounded by a blue light and is described as having dark hair, wearing a long dress and a bonnet. In the old officer’s quarters, which were moved into town to become apartments, phantom footsteps and other strange sounds are heard FORT LEAVENWORTH (LEAVENWORTH) BACKGROUND: Built in 1827, it is the oldest permanent settlement in Kansas and the oldest active Army post west of Washington, D.C. Today, it’s primarily a maximum security prison for the Department of Defense. Fort Leavenworth was also the base of African-American soldiers of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on 21 September 1866 at Fort Leavenworth. They became known as Buffalo Soldiers, nicknamed by the Native American tribes whom they fought. PHENOMENA: The ghost of Gen. George Armstrong Custer haunts the National Cemetery, kneeling at various graves in prayer. He is also said to roam the first floor of the General’s residence. Civil War soldiers’ apparitions have also been seen in the cemetery. A young priest known as “Father Fred” who died in a fire there haunts the home that replaced the one destroyed appearing as a hooded figure who walks the stairs and has, according to accounts, sometimes joins residents for dinner. He’s known to visit other homes when a party is taking place and in 1978 a woman married to a Lt. Colonel heard the sounds of a sewing machine coming from the empty house next door. When she reported this to the owners, they claimed it was just Father Fred and hear the same sound coming from the Colonel’s house when they are away. A “Lady In Black” made herself known to the 6-year-old son of a resident who would tell his astonished parents historically accurate stories of Quantrill’s Raiders or Jayhawkers claiming “the nice lady in the black dress” would read him stories about them from a book. When his parents approached his room that night they saw a glow from under the door and heard hushed voices. Bursting in, they felt a cold breeze and saw a rocking chair rocking by itself. The boy was upset claiming she would not return because his parents had discovered her. The house was then exorcised by a chaplain and 12 laymen. Next door to the house, doorknobs turn by themselves; lights flicker on and off and a presence is felt in the kitchen, stairway and bedrooms. Dirty dishes have been found scraped and stacked next to a dishwasher. Perhaps she simply moved in there. Another resident claims she was awakened by a touch on her arm and a female voice calling her name. She then saw a woman dressed in black standing by her bed. In The Rookery, the oldest occupied house in the state, a woman with wild, unruly hair is said to rush at people, screaming, her white gown flowing. Other apparitions on properties include an old woman sitting in a corner, a young girl seemingly throwing a tantrum, an old man in a night shirt and various ghosts that hide children’s toys. At Sumner place there is a ghost who likes to flush toilets at six hour intervals. One man claimed this happened at a neighbor’s house he was watching in their absence and they claimed the same of his when he is away.  TRIVIA: In the years between the world wars, graduates included such officers as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley and George S. Patton.            FORT LEAVENWORTH NATIONAL CEMETERY (FORT LEAVENWORTH) BACKGROUND: The cemetery within the fort has been in use since 1844 and was officially consecrated in 1862. It is estimated that the cemetery contains the remains of some 20,000 United States soldiers. The cemetery is the resting place of eight Medal of Honor recipients, but most are the unknown soldiers of war. PHENOMENA: The ghosts that haunt the cemetery are not thought to be soldiers. One is the ghost of Catherine Sutter, a pioneer woman whose children were lost in a winter storm and who lost her life trying to locate them. Tragically, they were kept safe by a Fox Indian tribe and returned home after her death. She is said to wander the cemetery in a calico dress and black shawl looking for and calling her children. A Native American Chief known as Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce also haunts the cemetery after he was incarcerated there in 1877. FORT RILEY (FORT RILEY) BACKGROUND: Fort Riley was established in 1853 and was named after Maj. General Bennett C. Riley. It provided protection for travelers and trade along the Oregon and Santa Fe trails which were largely unsettled territories. Fort Riley today is home to 25,000 troops and civilians. One noted event was Gen. George Custer returning to base without permission to visit his sick wife, an action that earned him a one-year suspension from the Army. PHENOMENA: There is a “phantom escort” of riders who are seen and heard galloping across the base and pulling up in front of Gen. George Custer’s home. Two ghosts are said to be engaged in playing polo, a popular sport at the base for cavalry officers. One witness claimed that one had nothing but a skull for a face and was told by the entity to flee the area immediately. At the first Terriorial Capitol, an unidentified ghost can be seen piloting a ferry back and forth across the water. Building 150 is haunted by a female spirit that greets whoever is working in that building with a, “Hello?” There are also wet footprints that lead from the kitchen to the living quarters even though there is no source of water nearby. One serviceman claimed he watched a spectral old woman comfort his crying infant but she then vanished into thin air. In the 1930s a woman living in Quarters 124 claimed to hear strange noises at night she described as someone dragging a box with chains up and down the stairs. An exorcism seemed to quiet things down for a while, but the ghost reappeared some years later. This is thought to be the ghost of a woman who lived there in the 1860s who drowned herself in a well and was buried in the backyard of this particular house. FOX THEATER (HUTCHINSON) BACKGROUND: Opened on June 8, 1931 and designed by the Boller Brothers who were noted for constructing what were called “movie palaces”. It closed in 1985 and remained empty until 1990 when Hutchinson Historic Theater, Inc, a non-profit corporation purchased it and opened it again in 1999 after a $4.5 million renovation. Artists that performed there included, Art Garfunkel, Jeff Dunham, Jeff Foxworthy, Mark Russell, Doc Severinsen, Blood, Swaet and Tears, Linda Ronstadt Brian Regan and Tommy Emmanuel. PHENOMENA: Visitors and staff report objects moving on their own; doors slamming loudly by themselves and orbs or wisps of a smoky mist that at times appear in photographs. A police officer investigating a possible break-in claimed to watch a theater seat pull itself down, close up again and then hear the sound of footsteps walking away from it. GLICK MANSION (ATCHISON) BACKGROUND: Construction began in 1873 for George Washington Glick who had moved there from Ohio in 1859 with his wife, Lizzie Ryder Glick, his son Frederick and daughter Jennie. He established a law firm with Judge Alfred Otis called simply, “Otis & Glick”. Glick served the Union as a soldier in the Civil War  with the 2nd Kansas Regiment. Lizzie purchased two adjacent lots of land in 1879 to construct another building and expand the mansion. In that same year, George became Governor of Kansas. PHENOMENA: There are long-standing reports of strange sounds attributed to the resident ghost who is said to be otherwise quite benign and friendly. Disembodied footsteps; doors opening and closing are quite common. TRIVIA: Glick Mansion is located on the corner of the same street that is home to the “Sallie House”. The properties are less than 200 feet apart HOLLENBERG PONY EXPRESS STATION (HANOVER) BACKGROUND: The only remaining Pony Express stop still standing in its original location, it was built on Cottonwood Creek in 1857 by Gerat H. Hollenberg. It was also the largest stop along the Pony Express route capitalizing on wagon trains passing on their way to the Oregon- California Trail. The six-room building was initially a grocery store, tavern, and an unofficial post office. Three years later it became a Pony Express station and later a stage coach station. PHENOMENA: Visitors and staff claim to hear pounding hoofs at night and the voices of men calling out as the approach the station as well as the apparitions of these riders. There are constant strange sounds and cold spots within the building. HUTCHISON LIBRARY (HUTCHISON) BACKGROUND: Has been in existence since 1901 when the Women’s Club donated 500 books and held teas and various functions as fund raisers in order to make a permanent library a reality. In 1902, as expansion was necessary, they asked for and were granted a donation of $15,000 from Andrew Carnegie to break ground for a new building. The new library was formally opened on January 19, 1904 PHENOMENA: The library is said to be haunted by a former librarian named Ida Day, a very stoic and staid woman who was the prototypical stern librarian. She is frequently seen in the basement as a shadowy figure and is accompanied by disembodied footsteps and cold spots. A new librarian claimed to be confronted and spoken to her one day as her spirit emerged from under the stairs. As the startled librarian began to respond, her inquisitor simply vanished into thin air. Ida is seen sorting books or browsing the racks and shelves without bothering anyone. KANSAS AVIATION MUSEUM (WICHITA) BACKGROUND: The building‘s origins date back to the 1920s and was once a busy air terminal. During WWII, it was used by the military as a site of aircraft construction. PHENOMENA: There is a ghost who is seen frequently wearing 1940s-era clothing. A pilot named Duke Jernigan died when his crop dusting plane crashed and is said to haunt the building. His plane remains on display here. There is a host of activity that has occurred over the years that includes: Apparitions and ghostly figures; music heard from a by-gone era; doors slamming; disembodied voices engaged in conversations; the feeling people are being followed and observed; light  in the storage hall area flickering from dim to bright to completely off. KANSAS STATE CAPITAL BUILDING (TOPEKA) BACKGROUND: Built on land donated by Cyrus K. Holliday of the Topeka Town Company in 1862. The East Wing was constructed in 1886 using limestone from nearby Geary County and the West Wing was constructed in 1879. By 1881, funds were authorized for a main building to connect them and the project completed in 1903 after 37 years since its inception. PHENOMENA: During construction, no less than nine men perished in work-related accidents. Many report the residual sounds of hammers banging and footsteps on the roof. Legend says they are working until paid the wages owed them. A common apparition is that of a woman in white appearing despondent and sometimes crying. She is believed to have jumped from the roof to her death, an act that is sometimes repeated to the horror of onlookers. KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY (MANHATTEN) BACKGROUND: Established in 1863 as Kansas State Agricultural College, Kansas State University is one of the oldest universities in Kansas. It is renowned as a research institution and accommodates somewhere around 24,000 students. It was only the second such institution of higher learning to accept man and women equally in the country. PHENOMENA: The Purple Masque Theater is thought to be haunted by the spirit of a former Kansas State football player going by “Nick” who was fatally injured during a game (no record of this). His residual footsteps have been heard in the theater and he’s said to play pranks like rearranging chairs, turning up the volume on music at night, activating fire extinguishers and spilling paint. At the Pi Kappa Phi house the ghost of a pledge named “Duncan” gets agitated and expresses it by disturbing objects and frat brothers. The Delta Sigma Phi house is a former hospital and its said a former nurse has been seen doing her rounds to this day and a former patient named “George”, the last to die in the hospital, rearranges furniture and creates a general nuisance. MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE (WICHITA) BACKGROUND: The base has existed since 1929 and was named for two WWII veteran pilots. PHENOMENA: Urban legend alert >>One truly odd report revolves around Halloween. On foggy nights, people claim to see a vintage WWII aircraft attempting to land and then vanishing from sight when it does. There are also claims of odd lights appearing over the base. Aircraft technicians report hearing strange sounds and other witnesses choose not to disclose any of what they have experienced, maintaining their silence lest they be disciplined for reporting it. MIDLAND RAILROAD HOTEL (WILSON) BACKGROUND: Built as the Power Hotel by Philadelphia native Wilke Power in 1899 and considered a first-rate hotel back then. In November of 1902, fire destroyed the hotel and it was then rebuilt and given its present name. Up to the 1920s it remained a premier hotel but the Great Depression caused its fortunes to change. At one point they raised their own chickens on the third floor to feed guests. The hotel remained open, however, even serving as a backdrop for scenes from the 1973 film, Paper Moon, starring Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. PHENOMENA: Stories suggest that the spirit of a young orphan girl haunts the third floor as guests and staff hear the sounds of her running down the halls or knocking on someone’s door. Custodial staff have found tiny footprints on beds that suggest she had been jumping on them. Also on that floor is a room where a local sheriff named Bart was lynched and it’s claimed to be the only room in the hotel where the master key will not work. There are also reports of doors slamming, vacuums turning on and off during cleaning and other related mischief. Third floor guests have smelled smoke and at times seen flames sending them into a panic but they soon dissipate and leave no trace behind them. One employee claims a spray bottle flew off a sink and landed 7 feet from its perch and apparitions dressed in period clothing have been spotted wandering the halls. MOLLY’S HOLLOW (ATCHISON) BACKGROUND: The hollow was filled in by a local foundry back in the 1980s, but the legend of Molly remains and like many, there are varying versions. One legend states that Molly was a beautiful young woman who was found hanging from a tree in the park with her clothes badly torn the day after her high school prom. It’s alleged that she and her date got into an argument, Molly got out of his car, and her date drove off leaving her there. It is not clear if her death was in fact a murder or a suicide, but no one was ever charged with her death. A second legend states that Molly was actually a black woman who was lynched there by a white mob. PHENOMENA: Urban legend alert >>Moaning and blood-curdling screams are heard throughout the park sometimes around midnight. Many witnesses are teenagers who use the park for romantic purposes. Many have claimed to see a ghostly figure hanging in the very tree where Molly’s body was found. OLD ABILINE TOWN (ABILINE) BACKGROUND: The town of Mud Creek was established back in 1857 but the name was not changed to Abilene until 1860. The town grew quite rapidly and in the 1890s the family of General Dwight D. Eisenhower moved there and “Ike” went on to attend elementary and high school. Historic Abiline, Inc. now runs the site and restoration efforts continue to bring the town back to its glory years. PHENOMENA: Perhaps one of the most haunted towns in the country. Many who attend ghost hunts here have recorded both photographic and video anomalies. Disembodied voices are often heard throughout the town; cold spots are felt and people report being touched by phantom hands. Apparitions of Cowboys and townspeople alike have been seen. OLD LAWRENCE COMMUNITY THEATER (LAWRENCE) BACKGROUND: In the 1950s the building was used by the Full Gospel Christian Assembly for services and gatherings. When the church dissolved in 1984 because of disunity in the assembly, it was purchased by the Lawrence Community Theater group. A fire in December of 2003 did over $150,000 damage to the theater and its contents. A faulty lighting fixture in the costume storage area was the cause and almost two thirds of the theater's costumes were destroyed, while the rest of the building suffered extensive smoke damage. PHENOMENA: During a dress rehearsal a picture was taken of the actors on stage and a woman appeared between two of them who was not part of the production, not unusual except that she was translucent. Casts and crew report cold spots and the feeling of a presence there with them. One actress claimed she was shoved down a flight of stairs by an invisible force. Lights don’t work properly and props moevaround by themselves. ORPHEUM THEATER (WICHITA) BACKGROUND: A group of local investors built the theater and it was operated by theater mogul Karl Hobitzelle. It opened on September 4, 1922, and was one of three theaters that were designed with elements of what would later become the atmospheric style of movie palace. By the time it closed in 1976 it was an adult film venue and the structure had considerably deteriorated. It reopened showing Spanish language films for a short time, but closed again in 1978. In 1984, it was given to the Orpheum Performing Arts Centre, Ltd., a non-profit corporation created to the preserve, restore and utilize the theater. Originally designed with 1,700 seats, it now seats 1,281. PHENOMENA: Disembodied footsteps; whispered voices; shadow figures near the dressing rooms, possibly former actors; spirit of a former projectionist has been heard in that booth; under the theater there are tunnels that lead out of a former speakeasy and female voices have been heard along with the clinking of bottles. PAWNEE ROCK STATE PARK (PAWNEE ROCK) BACKGROUND: Pawnee Rock was long a meeting place of the Comanche, Kiowa, Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians. Numerous battles were fought at Pawnee Rock between the tribes, and as a result, many bones have been found in the soil in the vicinity.[3] Pawnee Rock was for many years a place where Comanche, Kiowa, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Pawnee tribes held their councils of war and peace. Many Indian battles were fought nearby in the days before the white men came to Kansas. PHENOMENA: Reports of ghostly raiding parties on horseback; sounds of war drums; cries of battle and what are termed “hallucinogenic visions”. An old trader who is often mistaken for a drifter has been seen still trying to sell his wares. TRIVIA:  Among the plainsmen it is said that the Rock got its name in 1826. Kit Carson was on his first trip west and only seventeen. He was working his passage on a wagon train which near the Rock. While on guard duty, he shot his own mule, thinking it was an attacking Pawnee. His associates commemorated his experience with the name. RIVERVIEW DRIVE HOME (ATCHISON) BACKGROUND: Very little is available about the history of the home. PHENOMENA: It’s said the spirit of an old woman dwells in the attic of this home and she affects the environment in varying ways. TVs and stereos will turn on by themselves at full volume; noises originate from rooms that are unoccupied; one woman thought her dog was making those noises, but when she called him, a ghostly old woman wrapped in a shroud came into the room and sat down on the bed beside her forcing the terrified resident to run screaming from the house with the attic door slamming behind her. Guests are instructed to place their luggage in a designated place at the top of the stairs but it is often found tossed to the bottom of the stairs. New owners moved into a fully furnished house, but during renovations, pictures were removed from the walls and moved to the basement but the following morning all he pictures had been returned to their original places. SALLIE HOUSE (ATCHISON) BACKGROUND: Because of media exposure, probably the most famous haunted location in a town full of them. The house was built some time in 1867  by M.C. Finney and at one point or another the family had ownership of the house until 1947. At least 4 members of the family died in the house. One of the owners, Charles Finney Jr, was a doctor who ran his practice out of the home. His father, Charles Sr., was also a doctor and lived next door. In 1992, Tony and Debra Pickman rented the house from then owner Les Smith, Jr. PHENOMENA: Most of the activity here is attributed to the spirit of a little girl named “Sallie” who made her presence known to the Pickman’s almost immediately after they moved in. According to local legend, Sallie was 6 years old when she was brought into the doctor’s office there with an appendicitis attack and in the end, died on the operating table either from resisting anesthesia or being misdiagnosed. At first they noticed the family dog barking at something unseen and then it escalated to electrical disturbances and children’s toys being moved by an invisible force, at one point placed in a perfect circle. At one point, Tony claimed he came face to face with Sallie in their kitchen and drew a now-famous sketch of the child. Small fires would break out in the house that would seemingly extinguish themselves. Tony eventually came under attack with scratches and bruises on his arms, stomach and back, each time feeling a chill in the air that would signal the attacks. This phenomena was documented by a film crew from the TV series Sightings in the early to mid 1990s. It is surmised, but not proven that Sallie may have resented Tony because he resembled the doctor who may have cost her life. There are other theories that Sallie may actually be a demon who has taken the appearance of a child to trick the living into thinking its intentions are more benign than they truly are. Since the Pickmans moved out, subsequent residents claim no activity in the home, yet investigators still report odd phenomena happening there. They include: full bodied apparitions; object manipulation; furniture being moved; odd sounds, thumps and scratching on walls; disembodied voices; strange odors and claims on ongoing physical attacks on visitors. SANTA FE DEPOT DINER (LEAVENWORTH) BACKGROUND: Built in 1886 and in service until 1982 when it was temporarily abandoned. In 1983 it was renovated into a restaurant. The station ran passenger and freight trains from 1887 until the 1980s. PHENOMENA: It’s most well-known ghost is that of a small child who will leave hand prints on glasses that have just been washed. It’s said the child was murdered outside the building decades ago. Other activity centers around cold spots, the sound of footsteps and disembodied voices in the dining area, the apparition of a woman in a long dress in the dining room that vanishes as she walks into the hallway, lights turning off by themselves, serving carts that move on their own, faucets turning themselves on and objects that go missing from their normal places. The building is also said to be haunted by someone named “Hangman Bill” who was a railroad worker who would hang on the freight being offloaded from cars. he was killed when a cable snapped and he was trapped under some cargo. Footsteps are heard on the second floor, but the restaurant has no second floor. STUBBS MANSION (LAWRENCE) BACKGROUND: The former home of Governor William Roscoe Stubbs is now home to the U. of Kansas’ Sigma Nu fraternity. Stubbs and his wife invited a young woman named Virginia into the home which eventually led to an affair between her and the Governor. In April of 1911, Stubbs came home to find Virginia hanging from a closet and his wife calmly sitting in a rocking chair which raised the lingering question of whether this was a suicide or a murder. After suffering with heart trouble for some time, Stubbs died on March 25, 1929 in Topeka, Kansas at the age of 70. PHENOMENA: Fraternity brothers claim to see the ghost of a woman staring out a window as well as walking through the hallways. Lights flicker, doors slam shut and some students report having disturbing dreams. One returned to the house one night and saw a light come on in a closet that had no lights mounted. STULL CEMETERY (STULL) BACKGROUND: Stull first appeared on territorial maps in 1857. During this time, the settlement was called Deer Creek. During the late 1850s, the handful of families living in Deer Creek organized a church that met in the homes of its members until 1867, when a stone structure called the "Evangelical Emmanuel and Deer Creek Mission" was built. In 1867, a cemetery was chartered for the town next to the church and in 1922, those living in Stull raised $20,000 to construct a new, wooden-framed church across the road. PHENOMENA: Urban legend alert >> The cemetery is considered to be one of the most haunted places in the state with some fascinating urban legends attached to it. The rumors about the cemetery were popularized by a November 1974 issue of The University Daily Kansan  (the student newspaper of the University of Kansas), which claimed that the Devil appeared in Stull twice a year: once on Halloween, and once on the spring equinox. People soon said that the cemetery was the location of one of the Seven Gates to Hell and that the nearby Evangelical Emmanuel Church ruin was "possessed" by the Devil. Rumors persist that witches and other occult groups still use the grounds for ritualistic purposes which may be born out of the name “Wiitch” that was inscribed on one headstone there. It’s said a pine tree that has since been cut down was once used to hang those accused of being witches in the 1800s. It’s also said there is a hidden set of stone stairs near where the church once stood that only appear on Halloween and the Spring Equinox and those who descend them encounter a gate to Hell at the bottom. A trail Called “Devil’s Road” is known as the site where a man accidentally set fire to his own son while burning a field and another missing man was found hanging from a tree. Other legends include: the spirits of those who died violent deaths and are buried there will rise on Halloween night and the Devil will appear to visit the grave of a witch who bore his child; a child who can manifest into the form of a wold haunts the nearby woods and the land the cemetery stands on is cursed for all eternity. Police have in the past looked the other way when hundreds have shown up to witness these events, but are a bit more stringent these days. Those caught inside the cemetery after it is closed could face a maximum fine of $1,000 and up to six months in jail. TRIVIA: One legend states that Pope John Paul II ordered his private plane to fly around eastern Kansas while on his way to a public appearance in Colorado because he refused to fly over “unholy ground”. The cemetery is also the site of the final confrontation between Lucifer and Michael in "Swan Song", the season five finale of the television series Supernatural. TOPEKA HIGH SCHOOL (TOPEKA) BACKGROUND: The school was established in 1871 and then moved to its current location in 1931. It was among the first school costing a million dollars built west of the Mississippi. The 1931 campus is a stunning, three-story Gothic building of almost 278,000 square feet designed by Thomas W. Williamson, a 1907 graduate of Topeka High School. PHENOMENA: The school was built on an old graveyard with construction workers moving as many bodies as they could and incorporating others into the foundation. Many reports involve disembodied whispers, full conversations coming from empty rooms and temperature drops so extreme that people can see their breath even in mid-summer. It’s said that apparitions are sometimes spotted walking around the campus. TRIVIA: In 2007, Topeka High School was ordered to stop providing free condoms to students, as it was contrary to school district policy. THEOROSA’S BRiDGE (VALLEY CENTER) BACKGROUND: Located just outside the town of Valley Center in Kansas, United States. Over the years, it has burned down and been rebuilt. There are several versions of the urban legend, but none have been confirmed historically or otherwise. PHENOMENA: Urban legend alert >> Several legends surround the bridge and one revolves around settlers passing through in a wagon train that were attacked by an Indian tribe who stole an infant named Theorosa. Her mother left the others to search for her child and does so today as she can be heard calling out her name. A different version tells of a skirmish between the cavalry and a First Nation tribe living by the creek with a Native American woman stabbed and dropping her baby into the creek where it drowned. A third version has Theorosa as a young Native American woman who has an illegitimate baby with a white settler and to hide her shame, she throws the baby into a nearby river and drowns it. Overwhelmed by grief, she also hurls herself into the water. A more modern version of the story has Theorosa as a local farm wife who has an illegitimate child with a hired hand. To hide her guilt, she throws the baby from the bridge, jumps in after the child and then returns to haunt the place. Those who stand on the bridge and speak aloud that they are Theorosa's child will be attacked by her ghost as she rushes up from the river to throw the person into the water below. Another modern variation involves a mother and her family living near the creek. The mother has two sons and a daughter named Theorosa. She, her husband, and sons all have blonde hair, but her daughter's hair is brown. Her husband suspects her of cheating with their neighbor and drowns Theorosa in the creek. When she asks her husband where Theorosa is, he confesses that he killed her; the mother searches day after day for her baby. While she searches, her husband takes the two sons and abandons her. She ends up farming and living on her own until she dies of natural causes; but every day of her life, she returns to the spot that her husband described, "down the creek at the end of the bridge." If someone recites a chant about having her child, she will try to hurt them. Phenomena said to take place there include: floating balls of light, eerie shapes, and the apparition of a woman in the area around the bridge. Cars are said to mysteriously stall as they cross, or if they should stop, will feel the entire vehicle begin to shake. Others report cold breezes which seemingly come from nowhere, and the sounds of mournful voices or the chilling cries of a baby. Yet others say that the weather is consistently different at the bridge than it is in the rest of the area. WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY (WICHITA) BACKGROUND: Wichita State University began in 1886 as a private Congregational preparatory school, founded by Rev. Joseph Homer Parker. Initially it was referred to as "Young Ladies College", "Wichita Ladies College", and "Congregational Female College". In 1895, on the same site, Fairmount College opened collegiate classes for men and women with funding by the Congregational Education Society.  On July 1, 1964, the school officially entered the state system of higher education as Wichita State University. PHENOMENA: George Wilner was the head of the speech and theater programs at Wichita State from 1923-1960 and students believe paranormal activity including voices, doors opening on their own and lights flickering are Wilner seeking the attention of people and making sure his building is well maintained. Henrion Hall was the first permanent gym on Wichita State University’s campus and it is now used as studio space for art students. In the mid-1950s a maintenance worker was killed on the job and it’s said he walks around the building late at night or early in the morning. Fiske Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus and used to be a men’s dormitory before becoming a building full of classrooms. While there are no specific ghosts connected to Fiske Hall, many have reported lights coming on without anyone in the building and doors opening and closing on their own. RETURN TO PARANORMAL WORLD DATABASE
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