Ghosts of Wilderness Park - Lincoln, Nebraska

There are two stories that revolve around a stretch of woods west of Lincoln, Nebraska known as Wilderness Park.  One regarding rail disaster in the late 1800s and the other regarding what people claimed to be a child murdering witch.

Wilderness Park in Lincoln, Nebraska is thought to have many spirits that haunt it's woods and trails.

Ghosts of the Rock Island Train Disaster

In 1894, a train headed northward was crossing the trestle over Salt Creek.  Something went terribly wrong and the locomotive along with a few cars tumbled off of the 40 ft long bridge to the ground below.  A fire broke out and in the end, eleven people lost their lives.  The real tragedy is that it was no accident.  The bridge was sabotaged.  The saboteur was found and convicted, but that did not change the fact that people died.  Some say they still roam the area near Salt Creek in what is now Wilderness Park.

In the late 1800s a train derailment at the bridge that crosses Salt Creek near Lincoln, Nebraska left almost a dozen dead.  Many claim those lost souls still roam Wilderness Park to this day.

Some who hike through Wilderness Park at dusk, report strange whispering noises coming from the trees.  Others who have lost track of the hour and get caught by the setting sun in darkness, say they have heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind them in the area of the rail bridge.  However, when they turn and look, nobody is around.  Many feel that these noises are the spirits of those killed in the Rock Island rail disaster, perhaps seeking justice because the man who killed them only served 10 years of his sentence before being released on parole. A marker along the Jamaica North Trail marks the spot where the disaster occurred and these souls lost their lives.

Location: 40°44'38"N 96°42'45"W

The Witch of the Woods

In the early 1900s there was a short period where about half a dozen or so local children went missing in the Lincoln area.  Many believed they ran away, but some believed that they disappeared in Wilderness Park.  It wasn't until one boy went missing and his sister claimed to see him with a woman who lived in a secluded shack in the woods in what is now Wilderness Park.  Locals called this woman "Witch of the Woods".  Police searched the wooded areas and eventually the bodies of the children where found.

When you are walking the trails of Wilderness Park and you run out of daylight, beware the "Witch of the Woods".

Local police questioned the woman who lived in the shack and she only complained because the children always ran all over her property.  There was no hard evidence against her, so the authorities did not make an arrest.  However, once locals heard what the woman had said, they took matters into their own hands.

The "Witch of the Woods" was found one day, hanging by the neck from a tree with a chain.  Many say when you walk the dark woods of Wilderness Park, you can hear the moans of the "Witch of the Woods" and occasional the rattling of chains.  Some say they have actually found buried chains that have led to the tree where the woman was hanged.  Be careful what you find at the end though, because they say the "Witch of the Woods" was buried there with the chains still on her. Somewhere in the woods a shrine exists that memorializes the children that lost their lives there so long ago.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilderness_Park

View the Index of Haunted Places

Dead Man's Pond - Cottage Grove, Minnesota

In quiet little Hamlet Park of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, a tragedy would occur years ago that still ripples through to this day.  Many believe that a small, swampy pond located in the park is haunted and just waiting to claim the life of its next victim.  The algae covered pond is very shallow, but the underlying mud goes very deep.

There are lots of swampy algae covered ponds all over.  Some of them hold more dark secrets than others like the one in Hamlet Park of Cottage Grove, Minnesota.

It began back in the 1950s when a little boy and his friends were at the park.  The boy wandered into the wooded area where the pond was located.  He was chasing a frog around to amuse himself.  The frog hopped into the water and he decided to wade in after it.  However, when the boy realized he was too far and attempted to turn around, he started sinking into the mud.  The harder he fought, the deeper he sank. His friends came looking for him as he began to yell for help.  Just as they arrived, he screamed that something had a hold of his leg and he was pulled under, never to be seen again.

Stories say the pond has claimed the lives of others who have attempted to go into it. So it earned the name "Dead Man's Pond".  No one ever dared go near the pond after that.  However, there is always one in the crowd. In more recent years, another man who had been at the pond went missing.  After searching the park for him, they decided to drain the pond and search for his body.  When the pond was emptied, nothing was found but a little boy's shoe.

Dead Man's Pond at Hamlet Park in Cottage Grove, Minnesota shown here only half full of water.

Location:
Latitude  44.822586  Longitude  -92.957200

View the Index of Haunted Places

Phantom Monks of Benedictine College - Atchison, Kansas

In 1858, two monks arrived in Atchison, Kansas and set up a boarding school for boys on a rise overlooking the Missouri River.  They started off hosting just a half a dozen students.  Heavy wagon traffic, with settlers heading west, kept the town very busy and some chose to settle in Atchison.  Within a year or two, the boarding school grew into St. Benedict's College.  In the 1970s, the school combined with the Mount St. Scholastica College for women, resulting in Benedictine College.   Many students have come and gone through Benedictine, but the monks who originally founded the school, never left!  And, they have a few ghostly friends that hang out with them.

Phantom monks are thought to haunt Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas

Atchison is considered one of the most haunted towns in Kansas if not the country.  And Benedictine is a big source of some of those hauntings. Over the years dozens of students have reported strange encounters at the school.  

Benedictine College overlooks the Missouri River on the highlands of Atchison, Kansas, one of the most haunted towns in the mid-western United States.

Little Boy in Blue

Some on campus say they have seen a little boy wandering the walkways of the campus.  He wears a blue T-shirt and shorts and seems to bounce playfully along around all over campus.  Students have reported seeing this little boy in blue a lot.  However, he is always wearing the same blue T-short and the same pair of shorts which leads many to believe that this particular little boy is not of this world at all!

Memorial Hall

A young woman was in her closet one day deciding which clothes she was going to wear that day.  When she turned, to exit, she discovered that the door had been closed behind her.  It was apparent to her that her roommate had entered the room and was playing a joke on her, locking her in somehow.  After calling for her roommate to let her out, there was no response.  She then began screaming in earnest to get out, banging loudly on the door.  Finally someone heard her and came to her rescue.  As it turned out, someone had moved a heavy dresser in front of the closet door.  And when her roommate returned, she exclaimed that she was not the one who did it.  And how would she move that heavy dresser, unnoticed?  The young woman never did find out how the dresser moved itself in front of the door.  What is really spooky is there could be a logical explanation for this poltergeist activity, it is rumored that once upon a time a student gave birth to a child in a closet in Memorial Hall.  However, the infant died in the closet.  Many residents of the hall have reported hearing the sounds of giggling children, and some have even felt the sensation of a child crawling into bed with them!

Benedictine College, haunted by the monks who founded the school.

Ferrell Hall

The original building used as a monastery by the monks at Benedictine was Ferrell Hall.  It is thought that one of the founders or both could be haunting this building.  Over the years it was converted to a dormitory and many students report hearing and seeing some very strange things.  A very loud pounding noise can be heard by many, seemingly coming out of the walls.  However, no one has ever been able to determine the source.  Many students have heard disembodied footsteps in the hallway.  And several students have head footsteps walking down their hallway and stopping outside their door.  They open the door only to find and empty hallway!

Benedictine Hall

Perhaps the nastiest haunting of all buildings on campus took place in this building.  A group of students were said to be attempting to make contact with the netherworld by use of an Ouija Board when one of the participants is thought to have become possessed by a demon.  It got to be so bad that the priests on campus were forced to perform an exorcism on the young man. 

Benedictine Hall, when it was standing, was one of the most haunted buildings on the campus of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas

The ghost of a former monk is said to walk the halls of the fourth floor at nights.  Many have reported seeing a cloaked figure that seemed unlike any other, he was semi-transparent! It is thought that the monk was the college's former barber who died in a fire in the 1930's.  His old barber chair remained in the building.  It would be difficult to make a ghost hunt of your own however, because Benedictine Hall is no longer. The historic edifice, becoming to run down to maintain, had it's contents auctioned off and was demolished in 2004.

Most of the spirits of Benedictine College are friendly and keep to themselves.  Thousands and thousands have passed through this college and no harm has come to anyone. In fact, the school is considered to be one of the best in the United States.  So as the Phantom Monks of Benedictine go, they bid you... welcome!

 View the Index of Haunted Places

References:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-10-21/news/0310210256_1_benedictine-university-barber-chair-bid-farewell
http://www.hauntedplaces.org/item/benedictine-university/
http://www.riseupparanormal.com/paranormal-world/locations/Benedictine_College.htm