Haunted Nebraska: The Haunted Locations of Columbus and Lincoln

Reportedly haunted locations in the District of Columbia

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Not all Capitol hauntings are related to people who worked there.

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The " Demon Cat " is alleged to prowl the halls of Congress, and make appearances just before a national tragedy or change in Presidential administration. A few eyewitnesses have claimed that whenever an individual lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda, a World War I doughboy momentarily appears, salutes, then disappears. According to several stories, the soldier appears, moves around the Lincoln catafalque, and then passes out the door into the hallway before disappearing. Capitol Hill is one of the largest and most densely populated neighborhoods in Washington, D.

Capitol marks its western boundary, while the Anacostia River is its eastern limit. Although Capitol Hill has been home to many of the city's powerful, its hauntings appear to be few. One ghost, however, is said to haunt First Street NE. Capitol Hill's other hauntings are associated with the two military installations in that part of the city.

At the official residence of the Commandant of the Marine Corps Barracks and Parade Ground on 8th Street SE, there are stories which talk about rustling papers, the sound of a man pacing, and the appearance of the ghostly image of Samuel Nicholas , the first Commandant of the Marine Corps. Marine who lived in the s in a two-story house between G and I Streets SE who now haunts it, harassing the occupants and acting much like a poltergeist.

The White House is the oldest building on President's Park. An integral part of the planned city that is Washington, D. The White House's most famous alleged apparition is that of Abraham Lincoln. Eleanor Roosevelt never admitted to having seen Lincoln's ghost, but did say that she felt his presence repeatedly throughout the White House.

Roosevelt also said that the family dog, Fala , would sometimes bark for no reason at what she felt was Lincoln's ghost. The former president's footsteps are also said to be heard in the hall outside the Lincoln Bedroom. Truman , said she heard a specter rapping at the door of the Lincoln Bedroom when she stayed there, and believed it was Lincoln.

The first person reported to have actually seen Lincoln's spirit was First Lady Grace Coolidge , who said she saw the ghost of Lincoln standing at a window in the Yellow Oval Room staring out at the Potomac. A number of staff members of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration claimed to have seen Lincoln's spirit, [4] and on one occasion Roosevelt's personal valet ran screaming from the White House claiming he had seen Lincoln's ghost. The last sighting of Lincoln's ghost was in the early s, when Tony Savoy, White House operations foreman, came into the White House and saw Lincoln sitting in a chair at the top of some stairs.

Abraham Lincoln is not the only Lincoln ghost witnesses claim to have seen in the White House. Johnson 's college-age daughter, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb , saw the ghost and claims to have talked to him. Other presidents, as well as First Ladies, are also said to haunt the White House. Witnesses in the past two centuries have reported that Thomas Jefferson can be heard playing his violin in the Yellow Oval Room. The White House is also said to be visited by three specters who did not live there.

The first is that of David Burns, who owned the ground on which the White House stands before selling it to the federal government in May , and whose spirit has been seen in Oval Office. Another shade alleged to visit the White House is the ghost of Anna Surratt, daughter of convicted Lincoln assassination co-conspirator Mary Surratt , who forced her way into the White House the night before her mother's execution and unsuccessfully begged for her mother's life.

President's Park , better known as Lafayette Square , may have its own spectral resident. His grandfather, Colonel John Tayloe d. Colonel Tayloe and his daughter quarreled on the second floor landing over the girl's relationship with a British officer stationed in the city.

When the daughter turned in anger to go down the stairs, she fell down the stairs or over the railing; stories differ and died. Her specter is allegedly seen crumpled at the bottom of the steps or on the stairs near the second floor landing, and sometimes exhibits itself as the light of a candle moving up the staircase.

Another of Colonel Tayloe's daughters eloped with a young man, incurring her father's wrath. When she returned home to reconcile with her father, they argued on the third-floor landing.

This daughter, too, fell to her death down the stairs or over the railing , and her shade is alleged to haunt the third floor landing and stairs between the second and third floors. The Octagon is also believed by some to be haunted by the spirits of African American slaves who once lived there. Other spirits are also said to remain at The Octagon as well.

Dolley Madison's spirit has been seen near the fireplace in the main ballroom as well as heading through a closed door to the garden, and her ghost's presence is accompanied by the smell of lilacs, her favorite flower. Clay claimed that in the s spirits would often turn on the lights and open The Octagon's doors late at night. Various witnesses have also reported hearing assorted moans, screams, and footsteps. The spirits of slaves are also said to haunt a portion of Independence Avenue SW , the site of two of the city's largest and most notorious slave markets.

A modest, well-maintained, two-story yellow house concealed a very large basement in which slaves were chained to walls in windowless rooms, while a 30 square feet 2. At least three other sites in downtown D. The National Theatre Pennsylvania Avenue NW opened at its current location on December 7, , although the old building was torn down and replaced with the current structure in Bond was on the stage late at night reviewing preparations for the next day's performance when he felt a spectral presence that terrified him. He then saw a ghostly figure dressed in the traditional garb of the Shakespearean character Hamlet.

Recognizing the spirit, he shouted McCullough's name and the ghost vanished. Built in in order to process pensions for Civil War veterans, widows, and orphans such pensions consumed a quarter of the federal budget at the time , the "Pension Building" as it was originally known contains 15 Corinthian columns made of brick and plaster and painted to imitate black onyx. She was the wife of Henry Brooks Adams , the celebrated 19th-century American journalist , historian , academic and novelist who was the grandson of John Quincy Adams. Housekeepers and other staff have reported being hugged by an invisible presence as well as hearing a woman sobbing.

Walsh had emigrated penniless from Ireland to the United States in , then over the next quarter century built up a small fortune as a carpenter , miner , and hotel manager.

Real Haunted Places Across Nebraska

Rather, her spirit has been seen several times gliding down the mansion's grand central staircase. Woodrow Wilson was elected President of the United States in , was re-elected in promising to keep the nation out of war, led the nation through World War I , and left office in Wilson purchased a large home at S Street NW, to which a number of modifications were made including the addition of an elevator.

In the decades since her death, staff and visitors at the Woodrow Wilson House claim to have seen the President's ghost sitting in his rocking chair, heard the shuffle of a man walking with a cane, and heard a man sob. Nearly of Braddock's 1, men were killed or wounded, and Braddock himself killed. Since before the American Civil War , [3] witnesses say that on the anniversary of Braddock's departure they can hear shouted military orders, horses' hooves on cobblestones, the sound of men marching, and the sound of metal clanking against metal.

Clemens believed that perpetually rebuilding the house would extend his life. A woman in a brown dress standing near the fireplace, a heavy-set woman standing on the staircase and also in the kitchen, a man with long blond hair and wearing a blue jacket, a man wearing short pants and long stockings, [17] a woman in a rocking chair on the third floor, a small boy who runs down the third floor hallway, a man dressed in Colonial -era clothing standing in the master bedroom, a man dressed in Colonial-era clothing seen on the second floor, a young girl with curly hair running up and down the staircase, an African American boy, and a German-looking craftsman.

Bridges in Georgetown may also be the sites of ghostly activity. Two specters are said to haunt the site of the M Street Bridge. The hotel's owners accepted Henry L. Doherty as a minority financial partner. But guests and hotel staff began to tell stories of faint voices, cold breezes, doors slamming shut and opening of their own accord, and televisions and lights turning on and off on their own. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

United Kingdom United States World. Death and culture Parapsychology Scientific literacy. Interior of the National Building Museum, showing the building's Corinthian columns. The Best Ghost Stories. Boni and Liveright, Inc. Washington's Most Famous Ghost Stories. The Washington Book Trading Co. American Government and Politics Today: Major L'Enfant and the Federal City. George Washington University, The Memoirs of the Congressional Doorkeeper. United States House of Representatives. Accessed ; Kessler, Ronald. Simon and Schuster, Congress From the Inside: Then you will go a little ways out and see a diesel tank to run the irrigation systems.

Follow the road to the left. At this point it gets very narrow. Keep following the road. You will come across another diesel tank that says "Stay Out".

Nebraska's Real Haunted Places

There will be many stacks of old pipes here. There will be no real good place to turn around so you might have to do some 3-point turns. Honk your horn when you think you can't go any farther on the road. The horn should sound very distant, not like it was coming from your engine, almost as if it was coming from all around you. Strange sounds--Is said to be "haunted" by the late Keith Penfield, who died there unexpectedly one morning. The basement also gives off unusual sounds, and you feel like someone's watching you while you sleep, also if you walk around the house when it's dark, you'll see mysterious shadows around the house.

Columbus - Wal-Mart - the girls bathroom by the layaway room has been haunted for about 3 years Crete - Doane College - The old library seems to be haunted by a woman in a white dress. On a full moon, she will appear in front of one of the windows. She has been reported to roam about the basement also. Crofton - Argo Hotel - It is said that in this location of Crofton Nebraska a yong girl had died in the basement and people can still see her ghost, and being it used to be a mental institution, there are tales of hearing moaning from the rooms, and when a crofton residence was tearing down a wall in the "lounge" he found a babys skeleton, and people say that they can hear the mother whaling for her baby.

Some people say that they sometimes see the pictures move. Curtis - Curtis College - Dorm Rooms - it is said that the Curtis College dorm rooms are haunted by a guy that hung himself because he was made fun of. Darr - Darr Bridge - If you pass over this bridge at midnight on a foggy winter's night and look in your rearview mirror you will see a pioneer woman who was killed on this bridge.

Some say that she is in a covered wagon and some say that she is walking and looking for her son that died. Not all that go will see her, so be patient. Dorchester - Gilbert's Graveyard - Haunted graveyard by the Gilbert family who were pioneers in the 's.

Strange noises and the movement of the tombstone are just the tip of this sight. Dorchester - High School boiler room - A kid once locked himself down in the boiler room and died. Janitors her someone yelling during the night and they go down there and don't see any one. Fairbury - Trail Blazers Restaurant - Its just about a daily event for something to happen. Its nothing new, the menu's tell a story of there own. But nobody is for sure of the ghost identity.

Some say its Wild Bill? Feel free to visit during restaurant hours. Late at night, you can see figures passing threw the park; one ghost sticks out among the rest. She is a lady who was on the Mormon Trail, her daughter died when they were staying at the camp and the girls mother was to devastated to go on and late at night in the winter, you can see the lady walking around the park crying.

A lot of the houses around the park have also been said to be haunted. There is another ghost of a man that is always seen lying down on a park bench. Fremont - Midland Lutheran College - Theater above the student union is haunted by what was a caretaker from way back. Strange noises and eerie feelings abound. Fremont - Waste Water Treatment Plant - from time to time there has been weird stuff going on late at night, while taking some readings I saw someone walk by the door I thought it was the other operator, later I found out he hadn't been over there.

Garland - Old Garland Movie Theater - Some have reported seeing people in the windows, and if one enters the house, boards fall and almost hit any intruders. If you knock on the door you hear a return knock. Lights have been turned on and off, as well as sightings of him walking the halls late at night. She is a good ghost who protects the students staying there. You hear knocking on doors lights turn on and off and radios turned on in the middle of the night. Homer - Lottie's Grave - pronounced "Lottie" - on the gravel road you see lights, also see lights coming from inside the grave yard.

If you put a can of pop on the grave, try to pick it up and you will not be able to. When you finally can, the can will be empty. Other things are said to happen. Another story known by the locals was that she fell in love with another man and her jealous husband or lover killed them and threw their bodies from a bluff into the river. If you called on her she was supposed to appear in the trees in white.

Supposedly you could hear her crying at night. Another story is that she lost her mind when her husband died, and kids teased her and called her a witch. Supposedly there was a trapper married to a Sioux woman, and they had a cabin along the Missouri river around an area called Blackbird Bend.

The husband came home from a hunting trip earlier than expected and surprised her and her lover. He killed the man and cut her head off before throwing her body down the mountain and on certain nights you can see a woman in white looking for her wailing head. The ghost, named Stella after one of the AOPi founding sisters is said to haunt the west end of the third floor rooms, particularly room The ghost appears at night, sitting in students' chairs, as well as on their beds. Sometimes, students wake up unable to open their eyes or roll over in bed because the ghost is said to be sleeping next to them.

Chairs are often found drug across the tile floors in front of the mirrors. Lights are found turned on in vacant rooms that have remained locked, and the ghost also is said to turn on water in the bathrooms, where students find it running. It is full of strange equipment, and has very odd-colored stains on the walls. Sudden temperature drop, hairs all over standing on end and a generally very, very bad feeling were experienced.

The first, more active ghost, is named Walt. He is benevolent, if you treat him right. The theatre has a 'ghost light' that remains on all the time, except during performances. If the light ever goes out at night, the next practice or performance will have something bad happen.

Good examples of this would be costumes going missing just before the show, or an actress breaking her ankle backstage. The other, more well-known haunt is affectionately referred to as 'The Who. There is no way up to the rafters, nor is there any ladder in the school tall enough to reach there, not even the ones used for hanging the lights. Other disturbances related to The Who are the odd, rather loud moaning sounds that people dismiss as the wind, before they go outside and find it to be a calm night. Kearney - University of Nebraska - One of the dorms on the main campus is haunted by the ghost of a college girl who hung herself in the room.

Students, faculty and staff have reported banging doors, rattling windows and footsteps. Krakow near Genoa - Krakow Church - There was an old convent there that was torn down years ago. If you go out there on a full moon and drive past the church going south some say you can still see the convent there. Also seen a figure hanging and swaying. Lake Waconda - Hannahs Grave - The ghost of a young woman who searches for her child haunts the grounds.

When it sngws, snow never touches the spot where she is buried. Some say they have seen a ghostly light that resembles a lantern floating around at night.. Lexington - Middle School - A girl fell taking off a flag and died in the old teacher's lounge. Lights flicker on and off and hear chairs slid across the floor when nobody is even in the room.

You look down the hall were She's been there no one there. Lincoln - Antelope Park - Near the memorial, behind the care takers house, there is a field where numerous sightings of figures have been seen, walking across into the trees. Lincoln - Circuit City - It is said to have been built over an Indian burial ground.

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At night sometimes when workers go to straighten things and make the store look nice and ready for the next day, they go back and see that there are things knocked on to the floor. Voices have also been heard. Lincoln - Hobbittsville House - ghost of a girl who died there haunts the property.

History there that a man hung himself there. Lincoln - Lake Street Lake - What used to be the sight of a small dairy farm, was turned into a skating rink where many of Lincoln's youth came. After numerous accidental deaths, the most famous being of a little boy killed by a group of bully's, the Lake was drained and is now a deep grassy area. But the original tree still stands from the original dairy farm, and on winter nights, reporting of ghost sightings near the creek that once led into the lake have exploded since.

Lincoln - Nebraska Weslyan College - The ghost of a music professor has been seen and heard frequently in the old music building on the Nebraska Weslyan College campus. The professor was an organ instructor, the organ can be heard late at night , and sometimes can be seen sitting at or near the organ. The ghost has also been seen and heard at the apartment where the professor lived. Lincoln - Speed Indoor Racing - 3 months after it opened the owner was walking down the hall and saw a person run across the room way ahead of him.

He went after it and it was gone. Also, bells were once heard ringing and a broom caught on fire in the storeroom when no one was there. Lincoln - The Capitol Building - is haunted by the maintenance man that changed the light bulb on top fell and died now haunts the fourteenth floor. The storage levels the stairs that lead up to them are haunted by a worker that worked there way back in the day she was afraid of heights but to do her job for the money cause she was poor.

Lincoln - University of Nebraska - The Temple Building - A worker fell from the rafters during construction early in the 's and was killed as he hit the stage floor. People have heard a noise followed by a crashing sound from the stage. As they come to investigate, there is no one there or anything out of place. A misty figure of a worker in old style clothes has also been seen. The ghost's name is Clara and they recently put an office in for her Clara's Office With a piano and many different instruments. If you're alone in the building you can hear her playing the organ.

Lincoln - Washington Street - Apparently there was a little boy back in the day who was on one of the four corners on Washington Street. There was a car full of gang members in the car and shot the little boy on one of the corners. They say that if you come across one of the corners you hear the little boy scream and a brush of wind hit across your body. The park used to be a zoo and the stone-earthen cages still remain which adds to the creepy feelings aroused there.

Louisville - Ball Cemetery - Apparitions seen, headstones frequently tip over and then rise back up Malcolm - Fern Westfall Library - After dark, apparitions can be seen of Fern Westfall, the founder of the school, knocking books off of the shelves. Reports also state that a portrait of her in the elementary cafeteria contains roaming eyes that follow curious, staring students.

Maxwell - Plumer Street House - Residents have heard baby cries, have seen an empty rocking chair begin rocking by itself; one resident says he's seen a young woman dressed in white in the chair, a thudding noise on the stairs at night, and have seen the naked light bulb swinging back and forth by itself in the upstairs front bedroom. Upon further examination of the source of these sounds, several hidden walkways between each of the upstairs rooms were found. Lights flickered on and off.

Some of the stories is a young boy had fallen down the stairs and broke his neck on his way to use the outhouse in the middle of the night Nebraska City - 7 Sisters Road - Legend is a man hung each one of his sisters on each of the 7 hills. Only about 3 or 4 good hills remain, but there are a lot of strange happenings at night. Cars will stall, headlights will shut off, and screaming can be heard. Also many OLD ghost buildings still exist. The Camp Creek Cemetery is also well know for being haunted. Located in same area, about 3 miles South of Nebraska City.

But there have been no reports of recent paranormal activity. Even so, the rumors of the alleged haunting have become so well-known amongst Lincoln natives that the Lincoln Historical Ghost Quest has added it to their citywide ghost tour. The Temple Building was first constructed as a theatre and student activity center in In the last few decades, there have been numerous reports of odd happenings, such as the sound of chairs being thrown, phantom applause, shadows darting around, props getting cleaned up in the attic and voices heard when no logical orator is present.

In a speech at the Nebraska History Museum in , paranormal enthusiast Dale Bacon told a story of how a construction worker died during the construction of the theater, and since then it has been a hotspot for ghostly calamities ever since. He was known to be eccentric at times, especially when teaching. Many in the department either believe in these presences or have experienced some run-in with the ghosts who inhabit the building. Neihardt Hall , N 16th St. This site may hit home for UNL students, as this building is still, at least for this year , a student residence center.

The building was used as an infirmary during the polio outbreak in the later part of the s. Many students and alumni have reported electrical and technological problems, odd noises and fleeting images of people dressed in old-fashioned clothing. Perhaps Neihardt is haunted. Perhaps it is haunted with ghosts long dead and bitter about a painful death from disease.

Perhaps the dormitory is instead haunted with the collected memories and experiences passed down by generations of college students who have walked those same hallowed halls. This city park offers a quaint little space for families and individuals to relax and enjoy nature within the confines of urban Lincoln. Reportedly, within these acres also exist multiple accounts and sightings of paranormal entities. Visitors have said they feel their hair stand on end, and they feel as if they are being watched.

With the expansive space consisting of trees and foliage serves to create a tranquil environment, this small park seems anything but scary. Some may see the Nebraska State Capitol building as the unofficial center of urban Lincoln. The building stands tall and constant at the edge of Centennial Mall.

On the inside, along with large marble columns and gothic chandeliers, there are multiple rumors of a ghostly Nebraska inmate who fell to his death when stringing lights at the top of the dome.

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