Let’s take a virtual tour of “reportedly” haunted locations in Callaway and Boone Counties; we have many of them between the two counties. And this being a library blog, I want to also encourage you to learn more about these locations. Come in and explore our collections when you finish scaring yourself silly!
First on our tour is the Conley House, built in 1868-69 as a private residence. It’s now owned by the University and is used by the Campus Writing Program, Provost and Office of Research. According to Conley descendants and the MU Archives, the Conley House is haunted by the ghost of Aunt Sally Conley. Known to have been a disagreeable woman, Aunt Sally requested to be buried in the north wall of the Conley house when she died. As rumor has it, her final resting place is in the fireplace of the house although there is a grave for “Sally” F. Conley in the Columbia Cemetery as noted in “Haunted Columbia, Missouri” by Mary Barile. She is known to haunt the residence at night if the attic door is left ajar. This building is included in “A Bird’s-Eye View of Columbia, MO – Circa 1869” by David A. James. A pictorial overview of campus is shared with us by Rob Hill in “Mizzou Today,” if you want to take a more modern walk around campus.
The Missouri Theatre, University of Missouri, is said to be haunted either by a former owner or by an opera singer named Carlotta who died after falling offstage. It is also central Missouri’s only remaining pre-Depression era movie palace and vaudeville stage. Built in 1928, the theater’s interior is an ornate baroque and rococo style of the Louis XIV and XV periods. Marie C. Sloan wrote a book detailing this building, “Missouri Theatre.” Well-researched and written with many supporting images, Sloan’s book covers the building history as well as the orchestra leaders, notable shows and building’s history. Fun fact: The Tiger Hotel was also going to contain a theatre while the Missouri Theatre was going to offer hotel services. A compromise was reached that specified each would delay their extensions for a time and then the Depression prevented either company from doing so.
According to The Legends of America website, a Grey Lady walks in Williams Hall, Christian Female College (Columbia College). During the Civil War, a young woman vowed to wear gray until her fiancé came home and she could properly wear her white wedding dress. He was killed in battle a short distance from the college. When she heard the news she committed suicide by jumping out of a third-story window. Joan Gilbert, in “Missouri Ghosts Second Edition” tells the same story. However in “Haunted Columbia, MO,” Mary Barile reports that the legend has her walking in Clair Hall which wasn’t built until 1900! Learn more about “Columbia College” from Paulina A. Batterson.
Let’s head south! Dulany Theater, William Woods University has three spirits! One of them has been named Vera by students, and Vera seems to be more active when the theatre is running a sad or risque play. She has also been seen as an orb or as someone staring back at you from a mirror. Learn more from “Missouri Ghosts” by Joan Gilbert. Another story from William Woods College is from the 1940s. A ‘grey lady’ who was felt by diners at Jones Hall every evening at 6:45 p.m., causing a coldness to spread across the room. It was so common and uncomfortable an occurrence that seniors made sure the younger students knew that the ghost was of a woman who died before they were born. All of our books discussing William Woods University are reference books so you will have to come into the Columbia Public Library to read them. One is “Thru the Woods” by Myldred Fox Fairchild.
Let’s visit north of Columbia to the former Haden’s House. Joel Harris Haden brought his first wife, Sarah Cave, to his farm north of Columbia a few years after 1828. Three wives died there as did several children, Haden’s mother and finally Joel himself, but it is believed that it is Sarah haunting the place. The families who lived there and later restaurant staff reported doors closing suddenly, dishes breaking, turntables spinning and equipment failing. This story is in Missouri Ghosts and also mentioned in “Iconic Restaurants of Columbia Missouri” by Kerri Linder. Thumbing through this book was a joy, finding mentions of both past and current eateries and stories regarding each one. Generations are spanned, such as the story about a young woman being lowered to sign a dumb waiter shaft and finding her mother’s signature. Stories about wedding parties, football parties and much more are on every page! The building is still standing although it’s no longer open as a restaurant by any name.
I know I’m sending you back and forth between the two counties. Let’s head south past Fulton to Hams Prairie. Hams Prairie Cemetery and Dark Hollow Road have multiple sightings to get spooked about! The tombstones in the Hams Prairie Cemetery are said to glow at night and there are reports of strange noises and apparitions. The cemetery is on a portion of County Road 409 known as Dark Hollow Road. If you stop on the bridge your car may not restart, and if it’s foggy out your windows may develop strange hand prints. And don’t turn off your lights! If you do and quickly turn them back on, you may see a set of headlights coming straight at you, ghostly remnants of a head-on collision. Another ghostly sighting on this road is close to Centralia, that of a large black cat that escaped from a circus train crash in 1892 and continues to stalk amongst the trees and screech at people. This story also came from “Haunted Columbia, MO.” We do have several physical copies of this book and it is also available on Hoopla and Overdrive. We don’t seem to have any book dedicated to Hams Prairie but we do have several for Callaway County. “It Happened in Callaway” was written for the Bicentennial Celebration by Carolyn Paul Branch with help from the Callaway Writer’s Group, the Callaway Historical Society and the Daniel Boone Regional Library. If you want to learn more about the development of Hams Prairie, come in and enjoy an afternoon of research!
Visiting the haunted places in the area could be a fun adventure for you and your friends or family. Either of our ghostly compilations will give you many other places to go. If you do, please respect the privacy of homeowners and the posted hours/rules of publicly owned spaces. And have fun!
