Fort Hays, Kansas

Fort Hays, Kansas was established on October 11, 1865, as a frontier military post to protect military roads, defend construction gangs on the Union Pacific Railroad, and guard the U.S. mail. Also tasked with protecting the stage and freight wagons of the Butterfield Overland Dispatch, the soldiers defended travelers from Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian attacks.

The post was first designated Fort Fletcher, in honor of Governor Thomas C. Fletcher of Missouri. On November 17, 1866, the fort’s name was changed to Fort Hays, for Union Brigadier General Alexander Hays, who had been killed during the Civil War.

Located on Big Creek about 14 miles southeast of where Hays City would later be built, the post was situated on low-lying land along the creek and was utterly destroyed by a flood that occurred in the spring of 1867, in which several Buffalo Soldiers lost their lives. The fort’s site was abandoned.

General Alfred Gibbs, then a major in the Seventh United States Cavalry, soon selected a new site by order of General Winfred Hancock. The new location was about ¾ of a mile from where Hays City would soon be established and comprised about 7,500 acres. A number of substantial buildings were established and in its early years, nearly 600 hundred troops were stationed there. General Philip Sheridan’s headquarters were at Fort Hays at the time of the Black Kettle raid in 1868.

Some of the famous figures associated with the fort included Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, General Nelson Miles, General Philip Sheridan, and Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. It was also the home of several well-known Indian War regiments such as the Seventh U.S. Cavalry, the Fifth U.S. Infantry, and the Tenth U.S. Cavalry, whose black troopers were better known as buffalo soldiers. After twenty-five years of service, Fort Hays was abandoned on November 8, 1889, after the Indian Wars had ended. The military reservation was transferred to the Interior Department on November 6, 1889, and to the state, by a Congressional act on March 28, 1900.

The original stone blockhouse, guardhouse and officers’ quarters have been renovated. Displays through the historic site illustrate pioneer and military history. The museum was opened in 1967 and is administered by the Kansas State Historical Society. Part of the site is now the campus of Fort Hays State University.

Hauntings:

Sentinel Hill Haunting — When a cholera epidemic hit Fort Hays, Kansas in 1867, a young woman named Elizabeth Polly was among those who attended to and comforted the ill and dying. Some say she was a trained nurse, while others maintain she had no medical training. When she wasn’t working tirelessly with the sick soldiers, she was said to take a moment to stroll upon nearby Sentinel Hill.

Eventually, she too contracted the disease and her dying wish was to be buried upon the hill. In the fall of 1867, she was given a full military funeral but alas, the soldiers were unable to grant her last wish as the hill is composed of bedrock, so she was buried at its base.

In 1905 Fort Hays was closed. The soldier’s bodies were moved to Fort Leavenworth and the civilian bodies were placed in the Hays City Cemetery. Elizabeth’s body was left where it lay.

The first recorded report of her sighting was made by a man named John Schmidt in 1917, who reported seeing a woman dressed in blue walking across his farm towards Sentinel Hill. Following her, the apparition walked into one of his sheds, but when he arrived no one was there and nothing had been disturbed.

In the 1950s a patrolman claimed to have hit a woman dressed in a long blue dress with a white bonnet with his patrol car. However, when the officer got out of the car, there was no woman and no damage to the vehicle.

Elizabeth’s ghost continues to roam the hill in her long blue dress and white bonnet. Purportedly, her ghostly spirit emits a blue light and the locals began to call her the Blue Light Lady. The ghost of Elizabeth Polly has been seen many times over the years haunting the lonely hilltop that she had frequented so often in life.

Today there is a park at Fort Hays that honors her memory. In 1941, Elizabeth’s body was reportedly moved to the summit of the hill and in the 1960s a marker was placed at her gravesite that reads “The Lonely Grave.”

Access to the grave is difficult by car and the last hundred yards or so must be covered by foot. Hays is located at the junction of Interstate 70 and US Highway 183 in central Kansas. Fort Hays is now a state historic site southwest of town. Elizabeth’s grave sits at the top of Sentinel Hill just southwest of Old Fort Hays.

Read more >>

Fort Dodge, Kansas

Fort Dodge was one of the most important forts on the western frontier. It is located to the east of the Caches, a noted landmark on the Santa Fe Trail, and present-day Dodge City, Kansas. The fort was established on April 10, 1865, by Captain Henry Pierce, by order of Major General Grenville M. Dodge. The fort’s primary purpose was to protect the wagon trains along the Santa Fe Trail on their way to New Mexico.

The need for a fort at this location was great; an unusually large campsite for the fort was situated where the dry route and the wet route of the Santa Fe Trail intersected. The dry route came across the divide from Larned on the Pawnee River, while the wet route followed the river.

The dry route, often called the Jornado de Muerti, the journey of death, was often without water the whole distance and trains would lay up to recruit after making the passage. When the Indians discovered this popular stopping off point, they began to attack the many unwary emigrants and freighters traveling through the area.

Initial fortifications were crude earth dugouts excavated along the north bank of the Arkansas River. Many men first stationed there were Confederate soldiers who preferred a fight with the Indians to languishing, perhaps dying, in northern prisons. The soldiers had no lumber or hardware, so they had to use the available materials, grass, and earth, to create the 70 sod dugouts. These were 10 X 12 feet in circumference and seven feet deep. A door to the south faced the river and a hole in the roof admitted air and light. Banks of earth were bunks for the soddies that slept from two to four men. Sanitation was poor and spring rains flooded the dugouts. Pneumonia, dysentery, diarrhea, and malaria were common in the first year in the isolated fort.

In 1867 Fort Dodge was relocated and rebuilt in stone buildings. In 1868 Comanche and Kiowa Indians attacked Fort Dodge, killing four soldiers and wounding 17. As a result, General Philip H. Sheridan came to Fort Dodge in the summer of 1868. He pitched his camp on the hill north of the fort and started outfitting his command against the Indians.

In the fall of 1868, General Alfred Sully took command at the fort in preparation for a winter campaign against the plains Indians. When the preparations for the expedition were well underway and his army practically ready to march, General Sully was sent home and General George A. Custer carried on the campaign.

In its heyday, up to four companies of troops occupied the post; but, as the Indian threat was reduced, it was only occupied by about a dozen men in its later years. In December 1880, a portion of Fort Dodge’s reserved Lands were opened to homesteaders. However, the vast majority of those who settled were not homesteaders, but, rather, Dodge City residents including saloon keepers, gamblers, and “ladies of the night”.

Two years later, the fort was closed in June 1882, creating surprise among the Dodge City people who were terrified of Indian raids. The last of the troops marched southward to Camp Supply when the flag was lowered on October 2, 1882. Fort Dodge, Guardian of the commercial frontier, the cattleman and homesteader, had fulfilled its purpose. A single custodian was assigned to keep watch over the property. During this period, a number of buildings were torn down or moved away, but many of the stone buildings remained.

The military reservation was transferred to the Interior Department on January 12, 1885. The following year, more of the fort’s land was opened for settlement in May 1886 and about 100 claims were staked off. One of these claims was made by Dodge City entrepreneur, Robert Wright, who managed to exploit the facilities by housing drovers who awaited the sale of their cattle, and by purchasing land surrounding the Fort with money he earned selling whiskey and buffalo hides.

In the meantime, some Dodge City residents were working with government officials to utilize the still functional buildings for a retired soldiers’ home. After much work toward that goal, a federal law was enacted in 1889 authorizing the use of the post as a soldiers’ home by the State of Kansas. The Kansas Soldiers’ Home was opened on in early 1890. When rebuilding and repairing began on the Soldiers’ Home, the character of the famous old post was sustained.

Old troopers began arriving. Most of them were Civil War veterans, but, there were others who were veterans of the Mexican and Indian Wars. Eventually, dependents and relatives of Kansas veterans were admitted along with Confederate and African-American veterans. It would eventually also house veterans of the Spanish-American, Philippines, Boxer Rebellion, World War I, and II, Korean and Vietnam Wars.

The Kansas Soldiers Home now includes a library/museum, a modern intensive nursing home, a recreation center, five residence halls, and 60 cottages. The peaceful park displays, quiet shaded tree-lined walks, and dignified buildings — both old and new.

Fort Dodge Hauntings – Unlike many other Kansas forts, Fort Dodge does not have as many reports of hauntings. However, there have been reports of strange occurrences at the old fort over the years. At a barn upon the site, it is said that at 3:30 some mornings all the lights go on and off and the doors mysteriously open by themselves.

Read more >>

The Haunted Eldridge Hotel, Lawrence, Kansas

Prior to the Civil War, Lawrence, Kansas lay in the midst of the vicious Missouri/Kansas Border War and this old hotel was burned down twice in the mid-1800s.

The original hotel, called the Free State Hotel, was built in 1855 by settlers from the New England Emigrant Aid Society. It was named the Free State Hotel to make clear the intent of those early settlers — which was that Kansas should come into the Union as a free state. The Free State Hotel was intended as temporary quarters for those settlers waiting for their homes to be built.

On January 3, 1855, Colonel Shalor Eldridge arrived in Kansas City from New England where he purchased the American House, which General Pomeroy had bought for the Emigrant Aid Society.

This house was the headquarters of the Free-State men. In early 1856, Shalor leased the Free State Hotel at Lawrence, equipping it as a first-class hotel.

But, just months later on May 21, 1856, the hotel was attacked and destroyed by Sheriff Samuel J. Jones and his posse. Jones, leading a group of pro-slavery forces, aimed a cannon at the hotel and burnt it to the ground.

In 1857, Colonel Eldridge, along with his brothers Edsin, Thomas, and James re-erected the hotel at a cost of $80,000, vowing that it would be rebuilt again if it was destroyed.

Perhaps his statement was a prediction, as the hotel was again destroyed in 1863 when it was attacked by Quantrill and his raiders.

William Clarke Quantrill, an Ohio native, had joined the Confederate forces several years prior but was unhappy with their reluctance in aggressively prosecuting Union troops. Therefore, the young man took it upon himself to take a more aggressive course with his own-guerilla warfare.

In 1862, Quantrill began his infamous raiding career in western Missouri and then across the border into Kansas by plundering the towns of Olathe, Spring Hill, and Shawnee. His raids gained the attention of other desperados.

By 1863, Quantrill recruited others who joined his company including “Bloody” Bill Anderson and the James brothers. In the summer of 1863, they set their sites on Lawrence, Kansas – the site of their most infamous destruction.

Early on the morning of August 21, 1863, Quantrill along with his murderous force of about 400, descended on the still sleeping town of Lawrence. Incensed by the Free-State headquarters town, Quantrill set out on his revenge against the Jayhawker community. In this carefully orchestrated early morning raid he and his band, in four terrible hours, turned the town into a bloody and blazing inferno unparalleled in its brutality. Quantrill and his bushwhacker mob of raiders began their reign of terror at 5:00 a.m., looting and burning as they went, bent on total destruction of the town, then less than 3,000 residents. By the time it was over, they had killed approximately 180 men and boys, and left Lawrence nothing more than smoldering ruins.

The proud City of Lawrence was determined to rebuild and quickly adopted the motto “from ashes to immortality.” Using an original cornerstone from the burned hotel, Colonel Eldridge promptly rebuilt the hotel, which opened again in 1865 with a new name — The Hotel Eldridge.

In 1867, Colonel Eldridge built the Broadway House in Kansas City, now known as the Coates house. In 1877, he built the Eldridge house at Coffeyville and the next year the Otis House in Atchison. Colonel Eldridge died January 16, 1899, in Lawrence at the age of 82.

For the next several decades the Eldridge Hotel stood as one of the finest hotels west of the Mississippi River and continued to play an important role in the early development of Lawrence and the State of Kansas. But by 1925, the hotel had begun to deteriorate, when a group of Lawrence business leaders decided that due to the hotel’s importance to the city, that it should be torn down and rebuilt to its former dignity and elegance. The community stepped forth to ensure the success of the undertaking and the hotel again displayed its former splendor.

However, by the 1960s it had again began to deteriorate and trends had changed. Downtown hotels were no longer popular, given over to the many motels springing up on the outskirts of town. Finally, the old hotel closed its doors on July 1, 1970, and was converted into apartments.

However, in 1985, a new group of investors again wanted to restore the old hotel to its former splendor and the City of Lawrence supported the project by committing two million dollars to match the one million raised by private investors. The top four floors of the hotel were completely rebuilt and converted into 48 two-room luxury suites and the lobby was restored to its original elegance.

It is no surprise with its rich history that the hotel continues to host some ghostly spirits.

The fifth floor is said to contain a portal to the spirit world – especially room 506. In this room witnesses have reported breath marks on recently cleaned mirrors, doors opening and shutting on their own, and lights turning on and off by themselves.

Others report cold spots throughout the old hotel. Some guests have even encountered apparitions on the fifth floor and an “elevator ghost” likes to open and close the elevator doors on the fifth floor. Several photographers have also mentioned having inexplicable technical difficulties with their cameras when near the elevator.

The hotel is located at the corner of Massachusetts and 7th streets in downtown Lawrence, Kansas.

Read more >>

Haunted Atchison – Most Ghostly Town in Kansas

Atchison, Kansas is proclaimed to be the most haunted town in Kansas, so much so that a haunted homes tour is available on the Atchison Trolley. This old town once played host to over 1600 wagons per day as settlers made their way west en route to the goldfields of California in the 1850s. Some of these early settlers have apparently chosen to stay in Atchison in a ghostly form. The town is full of stories about ghostly sightings and other paranormal events.

Located in northeast Kansas, Atchison is situated on the bluffs along the Missouri River and is one of the most scenic and historic towns in Kansas. Brick streets climb hills and wind along river bluffs, offering sweeping views of the river valley beyond. Grand Victorian homes with carriage houses recall glorious days when wealthy lumber merchants and railroad magnates walked the streets.

The town of Atchison is so haunted that the Travel Channel has done a special segment called Haunted Town that depicts many of the haunted places in Atchison, including Sallie’s House, Benedictine College, and more.

The Hauntings

Atchison Street – This road, once known as Ferry Street, travels down a steep hill toward the Missouri River. Long ago locals would board the ferry at the landing at the bottom of the hill. When it was still referred to as Ferry Street, a woman traveling down the road in a buggy lost control of her horses, became unhitched from the animals and plummeted down the street into the freezing river. Trapped inside, her drowned body was never recovered. Today, men walking along the riverbank have heard a woman calling them to join her in the murky water below.

Gargoyle Home, 819 N. 4th Street –  More often referred to as the Waggener House, this turn-of-the-century home was built in 1884-1885 by B.P. Waggener, who was a lawyer and politician in the Atchison area in the late 1800s. While gargoyles are usually erected to scare off evil spirits, legend has it that Waggener accumulated his wealth through a deal with the devil and the gargoyles were constructed in honor of the pact. It is said that the house is afflicted by an evil curse. One homeowner, who attempted to remove the gargoyles, fell to his death on the staircase. A segment on the Travel Channel reported that Kansas City Ghost Hunters while visiting the home, picked up the presence of ghosts on their special equipment and reported having felt a presence in the house. This house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 3, 1974, and is located at 819 N. 4th Street.

Jackson Park – A woman by the name of “Molly” is said to haunt this park. Supposedly, moaning and terrifying screams can be heard throughout the park around midnight. According to one legend, Molly was a beautiful young woman who was found dead in the park the day after her prom. She was found hanging by her neck to a park tree in a hollow with her clothes badly torn. Allegedly, she and her date had argued the night before and when Molly exited the car, her date drove off leaving her in the park. It was never determined if her death was by her own hand or was a murder. Though some suspected that her prom date killed her, no one was ever charged.

Another legend of the park’s haunting states that Molly was a black woman who was lynched by a white mob years ago. Rather than the eerie screams of a young prom girl, the cries instead come from the brutal slaying of an African-American Molly. In any case, the area today is known as Molly’s Hollow where couples go to “park.” In addition to Molly’s chilling cries, many witnesses also claim to have seen a ghostly figure hanging in the tree where her body was discovered.


Nellie Trueblood

North 3rd Street Home – This home was once inhabited by an elderly, single schoolteacher named Nellie Trueblood. Legends told say companionless and bereft she died in the house. When the house was sold, the new owners began to make renovations, evidently to Nellie’s chagrin. It is said that when crews are working within the house they report seeing gleaming balls of light measuring 18-24 inches, which hover just out of reach. If approached, the lights quickly move away. Frightened the work crews quickly abandon the project before the restorations are ever completed.

We heard from Nellie’s Nephew, Scott Neilson from Denver Colorado in 2012.  Neilson says that his Aunt was far from bereft, and that she actually died at the Atchison Hospital in 1958.  Neilson added though “I’m not surprised to hear Nellie may haunt the 3rd. St. home. But that haunting would not be at all negative, beyond a possible desire for the old home to remain as it always was. She came from a large family and there was a lot of love in that old home.”

Riverview Drive Home  – Several strange occurrences have been reported in this house such as the television and stereo mysteriously turning on at full volume and noises from rooms where no one is occupying. On one such occasion, the resident thought the noise was her dog and called out to him. However, instead of the dog responding to her call, an elderly woman’s ghostly spirit entered the room. Wrapped in a shroud, the spirit smoothed a place on the bed and sat next to the resident. Screaming, the resident ran from the room to be answered by the slamming of the attic door behind her. Another strange experience has occurred to several guests who have stayed within the house. Apparently, when guests stay in this home they are instructed to place their luggage at a space at the top of the stairs, which leads to the attic.  However, the spirit seemingly doesn’t like the suitcases stored in this area because the luggage is often found tossed to the bottom of the stairs.

Kearny & 5th Street Home – According to the former owners of this house, a friendly ghost lingers here. While there are many unexplained events, such as the sounds of someone walking throughout the house, this ghost is seemingly very helpful. At one point, the ghost helped the man of the house into his dinner jacket. Thinking his wife had helped him he turned around to thank her, but no one was there. On another occasion, when the couple was returning home from a trip, the wife mentioned that she would love to have a cup of tea when she got home. Upon their arrival home, a teakettle was hissing and a cup, saucer, tea bag, and spoon were sitting on the counter.

Riverview Drive & R Street Home – When this home was purchased by the current owners, it came completely furnished including several paintings on the wall. Making changes to their new home, the new owners removed several of the paintings, wrapped them carefully, then placed them in the basement for storage. However, the very next day, every single painting was back in its original location.

Sallie’s, the Heartland Ghost, North 2nd Street Home – Sallie, the “Heartland Ghost,” is said to haunt this house that once belonged to a local doctor. The tale of Sallie’s ghost has been featured three times on the popular 1990’s paranormal television show Sightings, as well as Unexplained Mysteries. Long ago, six-year-old Sallie grew terribly sick during the night with severe abdominal pains. Sallie’s mother rushed her to the doctor’s house, where his family lived on the upper floor and he operated his practice on the main floor.

Sallie’s mother listened as the doctor diagnosed young Sallie with a severe case of appendicitis, requiring immediate surgery. The little girl panicked at the sight of the surgical tools and the doctor was forced to hold her down to give her ether.

However, in his haste, the physician did not allow the anesthesia to take its full effect and began operating. Sallie awoke during the initial incision and began fighting and wresting against the pain. Before she died, she was said to have looked at the doctor with both fear and loathing and remains within the house to this day.


Back of Sallie House

In 1993, the house was rented to a young couple who reported that Sallie made an almost immediate appearance, playing frequent pranks such as turning electrical appliances on and off, turning pictures upside down, and scattering their child’s toys about the nursery.

Shortly after these harmless pranks, the ghostly activities turned malevolent, with the young husband suffering from frequent attacks. The couple also experienced a number of small spontaneous fires throughout the house. In fact, when the Sightings crew was at the house filming for the upcoming show, a red welt appeared on the stomach of the man and then began to bleed. The man, who described a severe drop in temperature prior to the attacks, would often be left with a number of long bloody scratches.

At their wits end, a psychic was consulted who informed the couple that there were actually two spirits within the house. The psychic indicated that it was not Sallie who was responsible for the malevolent activities, but rather a ghostly woman of about 30. While Sallie may have been responsible for the harmless pranks, it was this older woman who was the evil one. Allegedly, this mysterious woman was, at first, fond of the gentleman who lived in the house and tried to get close to him, while at the same time, attempting to drive a wedge between him and his wife. When she was unsuccessful at this, she began to attack the husband.

Finally, after the husband felt a strong shove from behind that nearly sent him over the stair railing, the couple could no longer take it and moved from the house.

Since this couple has moved, later residents have reported no activity occurring in the house.

In addition to being featured on the popular TV series Sightings, the Sallie House Haunting was also made into a made-for-TV movie called Haunted Heartland that first aired on Showtime.

Legends of America Visits Sallie’s House


Stairs in Sallie House

On November 13, 2004, we had an opportunity to visit Sallie’s House with local Atchison resident Jerry Talbert. Obtaining permission from the home’s current owner, we entered the house along with Jerry’s crew, who were carrying boxes of sophisticated electronic equipment. Newly remodeled, the home sported brand new carpet, paint cans about the home, and the sound of a radio playing faintly from the upstairs rooms.

The first sign that perhaps there is still some activity in the house occurred when I was the first to climb the staircase to the upstairs rooms. Suddenly, the volume on the radio increased fivefold. In no time at all, Renae, a member of Jerry’s group, appeared behind me, “Did you turn up the radio?” “No, I responded.” The volume had increased before I ever had a chance to reach the third step. Later, one of Jerry’s crew picked up an odd noise on a voice recorder that might have been described as a little girl’s voice, and another member reported having felt being pinched.

The psychic that Legends of America brought along described; that while the house still has some type of presence, it has little activity. She did get a sense of anxiety in one upstairs room. Of the many pictures that we took along the trip, only one suggests the possible sign of something unearthly. On the staircase where I had stepped when the volume increased on the radio, an orb appears in the photograph. While this might be contributed to the use of a digital camera, the coincidence is interesting.

Update from Jerry Talbert, April, 2005: Legends of America originally visited the Sallie House with Jerry Talbert, an Atchison resident in November 2004. Jerry and his crew have continued their investigations and reported recording audio of several sounds in the house during their 60-hour investigation. These include audio of little girl singing and playing, one that sounds like a little boy, one of a man, and another of at least one woman, maybe two. Other recordings include the sounds of coins hitting a wood floor, footsteps, thumps, growls and whispers. Often when the crew is talking, other voices have been heard interacting with their conversations. Jerry concludes that the house is still haunted, though there is nothing left that is evil. He continues by expressing his opinion that whatever malevolent presence was there when the young couple lived at the house, left when they did.


Glick Mansion

Glick Mansion, 503 North Second Street – Construction on the Glick Mansion began in 1873 by George Washington Glick. Glick had moved to Atchison from Fremont, Ohio in the spring of 1859 with his wife Lizzie Ryder Glick, son Frederick H. and daughter with his Jennie. Soon, he established a law practice with the Honorable Judge Alfred G. Otis under the firm name “Otis & Glick”. When the war between the states broke out, Glick served as a Union soldier in the 2d Kansas Regiment during the Civil War.

In April 1873, Glick purchased two lots for $950.00 and razed a structure that was on the property to begin the building of the mansion. First built in the old Gothic Victorian style, construction of the grand structure would continue for the next 39 years.

Glick was elected to the Kansas Legislature in 1862 and served 14 of the next 18 years in that post. In 1874, Glick also became active in farming and stock raising on his 600-acre “Shannon Hill” farm, which was well known in the area.

In 1879, Lizzie Glick, George’s wife, purchased two adjoining lots north of their home for $1,000 and another building was raised to make room for expansion of the mansion. It was also during this year, that George Washington Glick would become the 9th governor of Kansas, and the first-ever Democratic governor of the state. Though he only remained in office for one term, he continued to remain active in the political arena, as well as being active in local businesses, participating as one of the original founders of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.

After years of civic service, George Glick was forced to abandon his political career because of a throat infection that nearly destroyed his ability to speak. He continued, however, as an attorney for various railroads. He also managed his farm and served as a charter member and first vice president of the Kansas Historical Society.

In October of 1909, George deeded the Glick Mansion property to his daughter Jennie and her husband James Orr. Just two years later, at the age of 83, George Washington Glick died on April 13, 1911.

In 1912, James and Jennie Orr began to remodel the home, retaining the appearance of the mansion but transforming it from a Victorian style to the current Tudor Revival Manor style. When James Orr died in February 1927, the mansion was left with Jennie until her death in 1944.

Having no children, the estate was divided among relatives, friends, the First Church of Christ Scientist of Atchison, Kansas and the Atchison, Kansas Public Library. The mansion was then sold by the estate to the local mortician, named William Stanton Jr. in January 1945 for $4,000 dollars. After Mr. Stanton passed away in August 1962, his wife Amelia sold the property to James M. and Christeen Griffith. It passed through several hands until it was purchased by its current owners Ray and Joyce Barmby, he currently owns and operates the beautiful, restored mansion as a Bed and Breakfast Inn.

The Glick Mansion was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 26, 1992.

Along with the rest of Atchison, the Glick Mansion is also said to have a ghost of its own rattling around in this century-old home. Allegedly, the strange sounds heard in the night are that of a resident benevolent ghost. The sound of doors being opened and inexplicably closed by unseen forces is a common occurrence, as well as the sounds of footsteps when no one is around.

Today, guests can enjoy the century-old home by sipping English Tea or wine and tasting the lovely d’oeuvres in the parlor.

Contact Information:
Tuck You Inn at Glick Mansion
503 North Second Street
Atchison, Kansas 66002

McInteer Villa – This stately mansion, called the McInteer Villa, at 1301 Kansas Avenue was built by Irish Immigrant, John McInteer in 1890. The villa was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 1975, and odd phenomena is reported in the mansion, including lights turning on and off in the tower, which does not have electricity. People walking or driving past the building have often reported seeing figures at the windows when no one is in the house. Figures have often been reported to appear in photographs taken inside the old villa.

Benedictine College – Located on the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River, the 150-year-old Benedictine College, is also said to be haunted. Not by evil spirits, this historic college is said to remain home to the spirits of some of the old monks who founded the institution more than a century and a half ago. Continuing to look after and protect the old school, at least one of these spirits is known to be lurking about Ferrell Hall, a campus dormitory.

It all began in 1858 when the monks opened a boarding school with just six students. The following year, St. Benedict’s College was officially opened with 16 students.

From there, the college continued to grow into the beautiful 120-acre campus which now serves the educational needs of over 1000 students.

At another dormitory called Memorial Hall, several eerie things have been known to occur. According to legend, a girl who was in her closet changing, when the dresser mysteriously moved in front of the door. When she tried to open the door, it wouldn’t budge. Immediately believing her roommate was playing a prank on her, she yelled out “haha, very funny, let me out.” However, her roommate wasn’t even in the room. It wasn’t until she began to scream at the top of her lungs, that someone finally came to her rescue.


St Benedict’s Abbey

Another girl reported that while she was at the mirror in her room, her desk chair began to rock, then suddenly stopped. Frightened she immediately left the room and was too afraid to return for some time.

While all manner of freakish occurrences have been reported at the college, they are seemingly harmless to the students of Benedictine College.

Reader Update:  I am a sophomore at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas and last year, when I was a freshman, I lived in the Memorial Dorm. On my very first night at the dorm, I was awakened at 3:00 a.m. by a noise in my room. When I opened my eyes, I was startled to see someone standing in my closet rifling through my belongings. Exhausted and thinking it might be some kind of prank being played as part of “Recruitment Week,” I said nothing, as the person came and went several times, always returning to the closet. The next morning, my roommate stated that she had also heard the commotion from the night before. Checking the closet the next morning, I found it to be a mess. When I reported the strange event the next morning to the Resident Director, she responded that perhaps someone might have inadvertently gone into the wrong room. However, our door was locked. To this day, both my roommate and I are convinced that we were visited that night by a ghostly spirit. – Maria, October 2004


Muchnic House

Muchnic House – Built in 1885, this old home was host to frequent Saturday night parties. On one such evening, the event ran into the wee hours of Sunday morning. Having been kept up very late, a maid who had worked the party the prior evening overslept the next morning. Rushing from her bedchamber, she ran down the back staircase to the kitchen and fell to her death. Today, witnesses report that lights from the back staircase turn on and off by themselves on Sunday mornings, followed by the smell of cooking bacon from the kitchen when no one is there. This house, which serves as an Art Gallery today, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1974, and is located at 704 N. 4th Street.

Reader Update: My husband and I took a guided tour of the Muchnic House two years ago, and I had quite an interesting experience. The nice lady who gave us the tour was giving us all the history of the house when I happened to glance up to the top of the stairs and saw a young woman, maybe early 20’s, peering over the edge of the banister.

She seemed to be regarding us with wary curiosity as if to say, ” What are you doing here?!?” When we went upstairs to tour the rest of the house, no one was up there!! It wasn’t until we took the Haunted Trolley tour that I learned about the young woman who supposedly died there, falling down the stairs. I’ve also had some other spooky experiences at other places in Kansas, as well. – Anonymous, February 2005


Atchison Theatre

Theatre Atchison, 401 Santa Fe Street – Built in 1913, as the First Church of Christ, Scientist, the building was modeled after the architectural lines of its Mother Church in Boston. In 1973, the Presbyterian Church bought the building and ten years later they created a community theater organization. Today the building is known as the Presbyterian Community Center and is home to Theatre Atchison. Allegedly, it is also home to an unearthly spirit. Guests often describe feeling an unknown presence with them while visiting the theatre, while others working in the building describe odd noises that are often heard that have no apparent earthly cause.

The Santa Fe Depot – Built in 1880 as a freight depot for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, the old depot stands as a landmark to Atchison’s historic past. The restored building houses a Kansas visitor information center, historical museum and the Chamber of Commerce offices. A trolley takes visitors on tours around the historic city, including a Haunted Atchison Tour.

The Depot is reportedly haunted by the ghost of “Hangman Bill,” a railroad worker is known for his habit of hanging from freight being loaded on and off cars. However, this prankish skill got him killed one day when the cable carrying one of the loads snapped and he was buried beneath the freight cargo. At the Santa Fe Depot today, staff reports hearing the sound of footsteps coming from above; however, the depot does not have a second floor.

Read more >>

Fort Leavenworth - Leavenworth,Kansas

A bevy of ghosts haunt this base, the oldest continuously operated military post west of the Mississippi. Many people have witnessed the ghost of Catherine Sutter walking among the tombstones of the National Cemetery and on the grounds of the present Golf Course. Bound for Oregon, she stopped over at the fort in 1880, with her husband and two children. One day, her husband sent the children out to collect firewood, but they never returned. The Sutters stayed on through the winter, hoping against hope that their loved ones would be found, and Catherine spent many lonely hours walking through the snow calling out to her children. That same year, the distraught woman caught pneumonia and died. However, her apparition, wearing an old calico dress and black shawl, is still seen desperately searching for her lost children. Sometimes she is observed carrying a lantern, while other times just her voice can be heard, calling out from the darkness. Another ghost reported in the cemetery is Chief Joseph, a proud Nez Perce Indian leader, who was incarcerated here in 1877. Several ghosts populate the Rookery, the oldest house on the base. The apparitions of a busy-body old woman, a bushy-haired old man in a white robe, and an angry young girl disturb residents trying to sleep in the 162-year-old house. Sheridan House is haunted by the vengeful spirit of Mrs. Sheridan, wife of General Philip H. Sheridan. In 1869, he deserted his wife on her deathbed to go to Chicago on business. A few doors down, at the Chief of Staff's Quarters, the sounds of a tea party can be heard coming from the empty parlor. The presence of a man with a mustache and goatee is occasionally felt at the McClellan Officer's Quarters. His apparition has appeared in the fireplace, and his loud footsteps are heard late at night, stumbling through the house. The former site of St. Ignatius Chapel is haunted by the ghost of the priest, who burnt to death in a 1875 fire that destroyed the building. Father Fred has turned up at the fireplace, in the kitchen, near a sewing machine and other places in the new house that was built on the site. Houses along Sumner Place are haunted by the presence of a Lady in Black. No one knows what she wants, but she is very domestic, and is sometimes seen trying to calm crying children or attempting to help with the dishes. The ghost of General George Custer has been seen roaming the first floor of the General's Residence. While still a colonel, Custer was court-martialed in 1867 for shooting soldiers who disobeyed him. The hearing was held in the commanding general's quarters, where Custer was found guilty and given a year's suspension without pay. Perhaps the stubborn general wants to lodge an appeal against the blemish on his record. The men he sacrificed at Little Big Horn, some of whom are buried here, have also returned. Their ghostly figures have been reported marching on the Main Parade. (Fort Leavenworth is 2 miles north of the city of Leavenworth on Hwy 73 in the northeastern corner of Kansas. The Rookery is at 14 Sumner Place. Sheridan House is at 611 Scott Avenue. The Chief of Staff's Quarters are at 624 Scott Avenue. The haunted Officer's Quarters are at 605 McClellan Avenue. The house built over St. Ignatius Chapel is at 632 Thomas Avenue. The Lady in Black has been seen at 18 and 20 Sumner Place. The General's Residence is at 1 Scott Avenue. Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth, KS 66027. Phone: 913-684-4021.)

Read more >>

IACH (The Hospital) - Fort Riley, Kansas

In the Bio Medical room the fire alarm sounds frequently without being triggered. One day, after the alarm had gone off eight times, the fire marshall came and disconnected it; the alarm sounded three times after that.

Read more >>

NCO Club - Fort Riley, Kansas

Ghosts are haunt the doors of this club. An MP reported that a ghostly forced jerked the door he was guarding open; the door was locked.

Read more >>

Post Cemetery - Fort Riley, Kansas

This museum was once the home of a wealthy family. The family had a church built into the house and nuns even lived there. After the family died, the mansion was converted into an orphanage. Today, the "Lady in Red" guards over the orphanage. She is believed to have been the matriarch of the family.

Read more >>

Buried in the Back - Kansas City, Kansas

Many years ago, a crazed man killed his wife and two children inside this home. He then buried them in the back yard and jumped from the third floor balcony and fell to his death. Today, lights mysteriously flicker and objects move themselves.

Read more >>

Strawberry Hill Museum - Kansas City, Kansas

In this cemetery, many have seen Native Americans being chased across the street by cavalry soldiers. Others have spotted Confederate soldiers walking down the street during the night.

Read more >>

Lynch House - Lawrence, Kansas

During Quantrill's Raid of the city, a young girl was raped and killed in the basement of this house. Today doors open and close and lights turn on and off. Some have even by slapped and tickled by unseen phantoms, while still others have seen ghosts walking through the hallways.

Read more >>

Eldridge Hotel - Lawrence, Kansas

In the latter part of the 19th century, this building burned twice. During these fires, many died and today their spirits remain. There are numerous cold-spots throughout the home and lights also flash on and off.

Read more >>

Kansas State University - Manhattan, Kansas

Established in 1863 as Kansas State Agricultural College, Kansas State University is one of the oldest universities in Kansas. It has a student population of around 24,000, and is known as a research institution. It was the second public institution of higher learning to admit women and men equally in the United States. Though its students are focused on the sciences, behind closed doors they whisper about several ghostly happenings around campus. The Purple Masque Theater is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a Wildcat football player named Nick who was fatally injured during a game. According to Tom Ogden, author of Haunted Colleges and Universities, his footsteps have been heard throughout the theater, and he is known to cause all kinds of mischief, including rearranging chairs, playing loud music at night, setting off fire extinguishers, and spilling paint. There are two haunted fraternity houses on campus, the Pi Kappa Phi and Delta Sigma Phi houses. At Pi Kappa Phi, the angry spirit of a pledge named Duncan expresses his displeasure over removal of a paddle leftover from the days the house was used by Theta Xi. Delta Sigma Phi occupies a former hospital, and its ghosts are leftover from those days. One, a nurse, continues her rounds in the afterlife. The other, George, was the last patient to die at the hospital, and he makes himself known by rearranging furniture and generally making a nuisance of himself.

Read more >>

Red-Eyed Man - Piper, Kansas

Many years ago, a young teenage girl was killed by her jealous adopted sister. Today the house is plagued by paranormal activity. A toy horse, which must be pressed firmly to produce sound, makes loud noises with no apparent aid. Lights flash on and off, and children report seeing a red-eyed man.

Read more >>

Satanic Cemetery - Stull, Kansas

In this old cemetery lies an old, burnt church that was the site of Satanic rituals many years ago. Many have seen ghosts walking around the site which is thought to be on of the seven gateways to hell. Today, the area has been fenced off due to the large number of visitors.

Read more >>

The Albino Woman - Topeka, Kansas

The "Albino Woman" is often seen walking through he cemetery wearing long, white dresses. Sometimes, she tends graves. Mostly, however she frightens those who venture into the cemetery after dark.

Read more >>

The Capital Building - Topeka, Kansas

Many years ago, mentally handicapped woman entered the building, climbed several flights of stairs, and jumped to her death. Today, her moans are still heard.

Read more >>

Thearosa’s Bridge - Wichita, Kansas

When this area was first being settled, a woman named Thearosa lived near this bridge along with her children. Though the exact details are unclear, Thearosa eventually killed her children and then herself. Today, she haunts the bridge. The weather on the bridge is never the same as anywhere else in town. The bridge has also been set on fire several times; investigations reveal nothing.

Read more >>