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

The Devil's Prominade - Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma Border

Dating back to the time when Native Americans made their way westward through the Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma border area in the 1830s, there have been reports of a strange light that has been seen along a stretch of road.  This is a very unique occurrence in that it has been investigated by many, but still remains a mystery to this day.

The Devil's Promenade or Hornet Spook Lights

It has been described by many as an orange glowing light or burning fireball the weaves wildly hovering just above four mile stretch of road which is today known as Spook Light Road or called by many, The Devil's Prominade. The light has also been spotted just off the road and in varying colors from orange, red, green, to blue.  Sometimes the lights also appear as a small group of glowing spheres.

The strange lights have been investigated by many professionals from scientists to the United States Army.  None have been able to classify the origin of the light and it's source remains unknown.

The light has been seen for over one hundred and fifty years and from three diffent states.  The Devil's Prominade is known by many different names:

The Devil's Prominade
Ozark Spook Light - named for the nearby Ozark Mountains
Joplin Spook Lights - Joplin, Missouri is about twelve miles north
Hornet Spook Lights - Hornet, Missouri is just a few miles away
The Hornet Lights - for the same reason above
The Tri-State Lights - as the lights appear just four miles south of the tri-state border although the physicall location that the light appears in is in the state of Oklahoma.

If you choose to explore and search for The Devil's Promenade, me mindful of private property and it totally surrounds the road.

View the Index of Haunted Places

 

Phantoms of the Pony Express at Hollenberg Station - Hanover, Kansas

In the old mid-west around 1860, St. Joseph, Missouri was the end of the line as far as modern travel and communications go.  There was no way to get mail further west except by stagecoach or ship which would take many months.  Until that is, the invention of the Pony Express.  The express riders would brave the weather, Indian attacks, and animal attacks to get the mail through to the west. Many never survived the trip.  Some claim that these riders can still be seen and heard today along what was once The Oregon Trail near the only remaining Pony Express station that is still intact, The Hollenberg Station in Hanover, Kansas. 

The express riders would carry the mail twice as fast as a stagecoach would, relaying the mail from station to station every ten miles or so where they would change horses, calling as they approached the stations so the horses could be made ready for the exchange.  Every thirty miles they would change riders, if they made it that is.  The Pony Express riders picked up the mail in St. Joseph, Missouri and relayed it across the country to Sacramento, California.  Hollenberg Station, or Cottonwood Station as known by some, was the largest Pony Express station as it also served as a stop over and resupply depot for travelers on the Oregon Trail.

The Hollenberg Pony Express Station - Hanover, Kansas

The Hollenberg Pony Express Station also served as a stop over for pioneers on The Oregon Trail

After about a year and a half, the telegraph lines were extended throughout the west and eventually to California.  The Pony Express was then made obsolete and the riders would ride no more.

The largest relay station of the Pony Express still stands today at Hanover Kansas.  Some visitors have reported cold spots within the station itself. Others claim that The Hollenberg station is said to still serve the ghosts of the Pony Express riders.  Their phantom steeds can still be heard galloping along. Many have heard the ghostly screams of the express riders as they approach the station. 

Molly's Hollow in Jackson Park - Atchison, Kansas

As the story goes,  long ago there was a young African American girl named Molly who lived in Atchinson, Kansas.  Molly mostly led a normal life, however some of the racist locals found out that she was dating a white boy from the area.  At this point in our history, this was unacceptable to a lot of folks.  

Entrance to Jackson Park in Atchison, Kansas

Unfortunately for Molly, a band of local racists took things a bit too far one dark evening in trying to get their message across that they did not want her dating white men.  The next day, Molly was found hanging by her neck from a tree in a wooded hollow.  She was lynched. Today the woods are known as Jackson park and the hollow where the girl was found is known as Molly's Hollow.

This is not Molly, but the lynching of women as not uncommon for a period after the Civil War

Visitors to the park today claim that the spirit of Molly still lingers in the hollow.  It is said that on certain nights around midnight, you can hear the screams of a girl coming from what they believe is Molly's Hollow.  They believe that this is the disembodied sounds of Molly as she pleaded for her life long ago in that stretch of woods.

There are others who claimed to have actually seen what they believe is a full bodied apparition of a girl hanging from a tree in the area where Molly died.  Others claim to have felt and eerie prescense and unseen hands touching, pulling, or grabbing them as they made their way through the hollow.

A view of Jackson Park, Atchison, Kansas

Some versions of the story state that Molly was not an African American and was hanged by her boyfriend after he became angry with her for not going all the way with him. No matter what version you choose to believe really happened, many who have visited the park claim that the haunting is real!

A view of the Missouri River from Jackson Park, Kansas

Jackson Park is the largest in the city of Atchinson, Kansas  and is situated just off the banks of the Missouri River. It contains hiking and biking trails, some of which take you through Molly's Hollow.  If you visit at the right time, you just may catch the sound of Molly's chilling screams or even see her!