Missouri is one of those states that you probably don’t know much about. However the state of Missouri has a few haunted sites and ghost stories that might chill you to the bone.
The James Farm located in Kearney, Missouri is one of those haunted places. Robert James moved onto the farm with his new wife Zerelda in the 1840s and settled into a peaceful life of solitude. He worked as a preacher in the community and was well liked. After his death his wife remarried twice and another of her husbands died on the farm.
Zerelda Cole James was married three times and a mother to eight children over the years. The farm where she lived was home to more than its fair share of murders including two of her sons and a husband. Zerelda was known as a kind woman, so kind that when she released her slaves and yet many stayed on to work at the farm.
During the Civil War the James Farm was raided by Union soldiers, in part because of Zerelda’s Confederate leanings. The raid led to her younger son joining the Confederate troops, but when he was discharged he turned to a life of crime. You might recognize him better as Jesse James. Though he was killed years later, the body of Jesse James was sent back to his old family farm and eventually buried there.
There are numerous stories of ghostly hauntings taking place at the James Farm. People claim to feel cold spots moving through the house and well as doors shutting on their own. There are also stories of people seeing strange lights moving through the old house after everyone’s left for the night. The house is now used as a museum and some have claimed to hear horses in the woods and hear people talking when no one is around.
Missouri also has the haunted Guibourd-Valle House, a 1784 house located in St. Genevieve. This haunted house supposedly has several ghosts dressed in old Spanish soldier outfits dating back to the 1700s. Others have heard people moving around in the house or seen things moved when they walk back into a room.
Also in St. Genevieve is the haunted Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery was used for decades, but was closed in 1881 due to overcrowding. Local legend claims that the spirits of those buried here come out on Halloween night every year. Many others though believe Memorial Cemetery only gave birth to the stories because it’s abandoned and neglected.
The small town of Arrow Rock, Missouri is also rumored to be haunted. This small ghost town has the haunted Old Tavern where people claim to hear people walking and talking long after the building has closed for the night.
In Columbia, Missouri you’ll find the haunted Stephens College. The school was once known as the Columbia Baptist Female College and near this location the Confederates were dealt a crushing blow during the Civil War. Union soldiers moved into the all female school and began taking over.
One night a female student woke to find a battered Confederate soldier in her shared room. The two women helped him and decided not to share the news of his arrival. The student who found him was named Sarah and before long she found herself falling in love with the man. Unfortunately word spread of her paramour and a massive search began to find him.
The couple devised a scheme to sneak him out of the school and north to Canada where he’d hide until they could be together. Instead a group of her classmates arrived in her room and the crowd drew the attention of the officials. The soldier was captured and tried as a spy. Just minutes after he was executed on school grounds, the young woman hung herself. The girl’s ghost now haunts the dorm where she once lived, wandering through the halls as if looking for her long lost love.
Stephens College isn’t the only haunted school in Missouri though, so too is Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. Roberta Hall was the site of a massive explosion in the 1950s and the original Roberta (Steel) was killed. There are stories of people hearing the woman walking through the halls or playing a long forgotten piano. Legend says that if you leave a burn mark on your door, you’ll be safe from Roberta’s ghost.
A favorite haunted spot among locals is the Governor’s Mansion. Supposedly the daughter of a former governor has haunted the house ever since dying there in the 1880s. Some have spotted the girl in the house over the years, sometimes playing in the attic. There are also stories of people hearing laughter, the sounds of people talking and even seeing things move on their own.
Missouri also has the haunted Hotel Savoy in Kansas City. Strange things have been reported in the bathroom of one room, the same spot where a woman once died. There are also stories of ghosts walking through the hallways, problems with the electricity and also doors that refuse to stay closed.
In Fayette you’ll find Lilac Hill. This haunted house was finished in 1832 and owned by the same family for over 200 years. The next family to move in claimed to hear something dragging along the hallway late at night and also feel someone or something in the house. There are even stories of a friendly ghost that cleans up around the house.
These stories are by far not the only haunted sites in Missouri, but a few of the local favorites.
Sources:
http://theshadowlands.net/places/missouri.htm
http://www.prairieghosts.com/hauntmo.html
