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History
The main building of this museum was originally built in 1932 as the Alva General Hospital.
The hospital operated until 1972.
In 1976 it was converted over to a historical museum. Both the Surgery Room and the Nursery Room in the hospital are both restored to how they were when it was an operational hospital.
Paranormal Activity
As with most hospitals said to be haunted there are stories of botched surgeries, accidental deaths and fatal mistakes in this one.
The second and third floors of the former hospital are bricked off and inaccessible. Despite that, shadows and apparitions are seen moving through the rooms and unexplained lights are often reported on these empty floors.
Disembodied voices have been heard. Cold spots are frequently experienced by museum staff and patrons. There is also a piano in the reception area which occasionally will play by itself.
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By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Vlaca2000&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="User:Vlaca2000 (page does not exist)">Kristina Maldonado</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
History
Built between March and December 1907 by John Melville Bayless for his wife and family. He also built the Sequoyah Hotel, Windsor Opera House and the Claremore Athletic Association building.
Only the Belvidere Mansion remains standing today.
Tragically, Mr Bayless died from an appendix attack 6 months before the house was completed.
His wife, Mary Melissa, and their 7 kids did move into the house in December and lived in it until 1919. The interior of the house is much more designed to Mrs Bayless’ taste rather than her former husband.
The children did quite well as they grew to adults becoming a bank president, postmasters and the youngest even served on the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
In the late 1920’s the mansion was bought by the Bell family and divided up into 12 apartments.
By the 1980’s the house was all but falling apart causing it simply be abandoned in 1990’s.
Later in the 90’s the mansion was bought by the Roger’s County Historical Society.
They have now restored the house to it’s Victorian grandeur and can be booked for self-guided tours.
Paranormal Activity
Most people agree it is the Bayless family that haunts the house - for the most part – but; based on my experiences with other heritage properties; that were sub-divided I don’t think the multiple tenants over the decades should not be ruled out.
The majority of recorded and witnessed paranormal activity is on the second floor.
The 2 most common apparitions – both of whom have communicated with the living – are a very stressed out John Bayless and a female who says she ended her own life in the house in the 1940’s.
The apparitions of children are also seen playing in the house. They may be the Bayless children or from past tenants or perhaps a combination of both.
Other Reported Activity: shadow figures; unexplained noises; disembodied voices; touches, tugs and pulls by unseen entities; light anomalies; hot and cold spots; toilets flushing on their own; electrical disturbances and feelings of not being alone and being watched.
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THE HISTORY
The Dewey Hotel Museum was built in 1899 by Colonel Jake Bartles, around the same time Dewey itself was founded. Bartles founded the city of Dewey and even had another town named in his honor. The small city soon began to thrive thanks to an abundance of oil, a typical story seen in many Oklahoma towns.
The Dewey Hotel has been transformed into a museum, showcasing period-appropriate furnishings and items from days past. The beautiful white building is three stories high, and it watches proudly over the city. The parlor of this magnificent Victorian beauty once served as a school and a Sunday school, thanks to Colonel Bartles’s wife, Nannie. Nannie and Jake used the home as their residence from 1907 to 1935, when Jake died.
In its days of operation, the hotel is rumored to have housed gangsters, outlaws, cowboys, and oil barons, among others. Whispers of prostitution, violence, and gambling at the Dewey Hotel continue to this day. There is an apparent hideout for the gamblers upstairs. While one of these rumors can be verified, it makes for an interesting tale in an otherwise sleepy town.
As updated fire codes became standard, the fire marshall condemned the hotel. The hotel sat abandoned for many years after. In 1967 the building was bought by a banker, then donated to the Washington County Historical Society. The current owners also own the Rose Marie Paranormal Research Society and allow investigations to be booked in advance.
THE PARANORMAL
Even though there are no verifiable sources of the illegal goings on of the hotel, the walls certainly seem to speak. Reports of whispers, moving objects, anomalies in photos, and the feeling of eyes watching your every move are common at the museum. The Spirit Box and EMF meters are said to get intelligent responses. According to several reviews, each higher story feels darker.
The third floor is said to be the most active and where there is a reported dark energy. Some have said they encountered the spirits of Jake and Nannie Bartles. Others still believe there is a spirit of an outlaw who met a violent death in the building. The portrait of Nannie seems to follow you as she lovingly watches over her home.
This is one location worth visiting in Oklahoma.
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All Photos Courtersy of Paranormal Wasteland
THE HISTORY
It has been said that there is beauty in the breakdown.
If this is true, Lindley Hospital in Duncan, Oklahoma is certainly beautiful. The building stands idly by, watching cars drive by, children riding their bikes, folks walking their dogs. It hears the whispers of passersby who tell anyone who will listen that they are sure, even positive, that they saw a face in that window- yes, that one right there.
So is it true? Is Lindley Hospital really haunted? According to those who have stepped foot inside, it is.
Not much is known about the history. It seems the original building was built at some point in 1937, serving the community of Duncan until it was burnt down in a fire in 1957. A new building was erected in its place and served as a hospital until the 1980s. It seems there is not much to find and everything gleaned from research is incredibly vague.
The building was sold in 1999 and was essentially used as a storage unit and left to rot until 2020, when the current owner purchased it.
One can still see a gigantic pile of paint buckets outside from the previous owner.
THE PARANORMAL
Leilani Kohles, the current owner of Lindley Hospital has witnessed activity herself whilst cleaning out the building.
People who were assisting the cleanup efforts all had walkie-talkies and claimed that a little child’s voice came through multiple different channels, to multiple different people. Objects tend to move on their own, and tea cups have even been smashed by unseen forces. Disembodied growls are heard in the Clinic area, where a spirit who dislikes men is said to reside.
Hope from the team Haunted Oklahoma experienced the sensation and sounds of someone running up to her. Due to the activity we (Paranormal Wasteland) experienced, I believe Lindley Hospital is extremely haunted.
Leilani says the activity has calmed down since she cleaned out much of the hospital, but that doesn’t mean it stopped.
While investigating the “Little Boy’s Room”, my co-investigator Adam set down a REM-Pod for the boy to play with. Immediately upon setting it down on the floor, the REM-Pod started flashing and beeping, and the lights went all the way around. Simultaneously the Maglite started flashing and answering questions intelligently.
Having both phenomena happen at the same time validated that the activity we were witnessing was indeed unexplainable. Earlier in the night the entire group heard a door slam and could find no cause-we searched the whole building.
Overall, Lindley Hospital is not disappointing by any stretch of the imagination. You will be left with more questions than answers... and isn’t that part of the fun?
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History
Built in 1923 by the Freemasons to take care of the children in the area who had no one else to care for them.
It housed more than 100 children and despite its name took in both boys and girls. There was a huge gym and dining hall on site and even an indoor swimming pool. Sounds like paradise on Earth for an orphaned child, doesn’t it?
And there are plenty of stories published in a book by the Freemasons that declare it as just that. Not that happy places can’t become haunted. Horror stories aren’t needed to create ghosts, are they?
Well in a word no. We don’t really know what ghosts are other than some form of energy that we don’t truly understand yet. That being said who wants hear a ghost story where everyone was treated well and – well – accidents happen right?
All that’s really needed is an unexpected death or someone with unfinished business dying before they could finish it. Or perhaps a place they loved so much they returned after their death.
That this location is haunted – populated by ghosts – most people agree on. Its when we ask why that the issues start to get sticky.
There are horror stories appearing in the past of this building but most people would agree they fall into the realm of Urban Legends. Once again, we hit those 2 words and, once again, we need to acknowledge there’s some truth somewhere in all Urban Legends.
Either way the orphanage closed in 1977 or 78; not due to anything nefarious but because State adoption laws changed. The building remained closed and abandoned until 2000 – plenty of time for those horror stories to grow - when it was restored and turned into an events venue and hotel.
Paranormal Activity
And what are these Urban Legends? You say.
An evil priest or headmistress who beat the children – some to a degree that they died. What to do with the body of a murdered child – putting aside the whole distasteful side of it as any psychopath would – well you bury said body in the basement. Now we have the makings of a real ghost story to chill your spine.
Oh yes, and this priest or headmistress didn’t spare their staff either. One nurse was so horrified by her treatment and the treatment of the children she hung herself in the belltower.
The actual recorded paranormal activity includes:
At midnight, and perhaps any time after dark, the shadow of a woman hanging from a noose in the belltower will pass over you.
The apparition of a woman who walks the main hallway eternally.
The ghost of a little girl who begs you to protect her from an unseen evil.
The apparition of a small boy running around seemingly oblivious to the living.
The phantom sounds of children screaming and crying – oh and laughing but that one usually gets skipped over.
One comment about a bathroom being quite chilly but the staff have confirmed there is air conditioning pumped directly into the bathrooms.
Other Activity: disembodied voices; light anomalies; electrical disturbances and feelings of not being alone.
For reference the former children’s dormitory is now hotel rooms and the massive dining hall is now the grand ballroom.
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THE HISTORY
In a tiny town in central Oklahoma lies a beautiful Victorian mansion. She stands out amidst the sleepy town, and her all-white exterior and double wraparound porches boast of elegance. Built in 1907, The Stone Lion Inn in Guthrie hides something much darker underneath her stately exterior.
The inn was originally built as a residence for Frederick Ernest Houghton and his family, consisting of his wife and their twelve children. Unfortunately, one of their many children perished, with rumors swirling that the daughter was poisoned by the maid.This can’t be verified and the name of the girl seems to change depending on who you talk to. The Houghtons, however, faced financial difficulties and moved, leaving the house to be leased to a mortuary business. There is not much to be found about the business itself. In 1986, Becky Luker purchased the home, and said it felt like the home was calling to her. She soon opened up a bed and breakfast. When she moved in, there was an embalming table original to the mortuary business that still sits in the front hall to this day.
ELMER MCCURDY
There is another, more strange element to the story of the Stone Lion Inn. It involves an American outlaw, his death, and his burial almost 80 years later. Elmer McCurdy was a bank and train robber who was shot by police at a mere 31 years old. McCurdy’s story doesn’t end in his death, though. McCurdy’s body was placed on display in a funeral home in Pawhuska. His body was embalmed with a particularly strong solution which was used for bodies that may be sitting awhile as they were unclaimed. Two men finally stepped up to claim the deceased criminal and said they were his brothers. James and Charles Patterson were indeed not McCurdy’s brothers, but were actually owners of a traveling carnival and side shows. They used McCurdy’s now mummified body in the carnival. After years of being used as a prop for shows, Elmer McCurdy sat in a warehouse. He was once again found and used as a prop in a television show. A prop man moved the corpse, and to his shock and horror, a finger with a human bone fell off. McCurdy died in 1911, and was officially buried in 1977. He was buried in the Boot Hill section of a Guthrie cemetery. Concrete was actually poured over the casket so McCurdy would always be at rest, never to be moved again.
So how does this tie in with the Stone Lion Inn? Becky Luker, the current owner of the inn, hosts dinner murder mysteries in the home. People from all around the country flock to this event. Becky’s favorite murder mystery to play out is the death and discovery of Elmer McCurdy. Some folks have claimed that Becky herself performs satanic rituals to contact McCurdy and to keep his spirit trapped in the Inn. Ms. Luker, however, finds these claims ridiculous and unfounded.
THE PARANORMAL
Reports of the paranormal include music playing with no source, general feelings of unease, footsteps with no living being around, slamming doors, cold touches from unseen hands, and more. The owner’s son has even had multiple experiences, including a door slamming and moving in front of his very eyes. EVPs have also been captured, the most interesting one caught by OKPRI seeming to say, “Sarah… Good sister…” Some say Elmer McCurdy’s spirit also frequents the inn, also though he has no official ties to it.There are some YouTube channels who have visited, and even Ghost Adventures ran an episode about the inn. Whatever the history, someone or something is not willing to check out.
Are you brave enough to stay a night at the Stone Lion Inn?
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By flickr user strph - <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/strph/112316958/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/strph/112316958/</a>, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link
History
Built in 1924 by Tate Brady this building has been a garage, a pay per dance hall, a dancing academy and finally a legend of Tulsa.
Between 1935 to 1942 this was the home of Bob Willis and The Texas Playboys who popularized a new form of music called Western Swing. In fact, the ballroom is known as the Carnegie Hall of Western Swing.
There’s even a Walk of Fame on the Sidewalk outside of the club and posters of some of the most famous acts in the music industry – with a focus on Country and Western of course - who have played here adorn the walls.
Cain’s was recently ranked as the #22 most popular club worldwide based on ticket sales.
So, forget NYC, LA, Paris and London come to Tulsa.
Paranormal Activity
The ghost of Bob Willis himself is still seen wandering the building that made him famous.
A transparent lady in a red ball room gown is often seen on the dance floor after hours. Rumor has it she even dances with the paying customers but is rarely noticed in the bustle.
A man in 1900’s era cowboy attire has appeared at the bar and asked for 10 cent popcorn. The last time that was offered was about 1900.
In old washrooms behind the stage, one investigator heard a woman crying and moaning in pain. When she asked if they were ok and took a look around, she realized she was all alone.
Other Reported Activity: apparitions; disembodied voices and whispers; cold spots; light anomalies and feelings of not being alone.