ALVA
CHEROKEE STRIP MUSEUM
901 14th Street
Status: Former Hospital; Museum
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.
CLAREMORE
BELVIDERE MANSION
121 North Chickasaw Avenue
Status: Former Residence; Heritage Property
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 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.
GUTHRIE
GUTHRIE MASONIC BOYS HOME
(Dominion House)
602 East College Avenue
Status: Former Orphanage; Formerly Abandoned; Urban Legend; Event and Wedding Venue; Restaurant; Hotel
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.
OKLAHOMA CITY
ST VINCENT'S HOME
(St Vincent’s Asylum)
3500 NE 23rd Street
Status: Former Asylum, Former Rehab Clinic; Abandoned; Private Property
History
The history on this site is notorious hard to come by with a lot of articles just plagiarizing each other.
These are the stories we’ve found.
This location was built either in 1945 or 1953 by the Brothers of Mercy – a nursing order of the Catholic Church. The facility took only men although it is unclear why these men were housed here. The common reason is that they were developmentally disabled and/or suffering from a mental illness.
In 1963 a nurse on site suffocated 2 patients but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Apparently, he had undiagnosed schizophrenia. A case of the inmates running the asylum
At some point in the late 1980’s the Reverend Richard Frank took over the property and converted into an alcoholic rehabilitation center. The Reverend was found dead in his own apartment shortly thereafter for unreasonable reasons. His murder remains unsolved to this day.
The good Reverend, though, was far from a pious figure. He had been arrested for solicitation for asking a male undercover police officer for sex. He also got caught for running some kind of scam involving Bingo. It was found it the Reverend had a number of enemies and this wasn’t the first time someone tried to kill him.
A patient living in this facility was also shot to death. It is unclear whether he was still a patient or had moved on.
The facility was abandoned sometime in the early 1990’s and has remained so.
Paranormal Activity
Many people believe the facility was/is under the control of a dark entity or demon depending on your beliefs. This creature is said to have driven the patients and staff mad making sure no good ever came of the work that was done here.
Other Activity: disembodied voices, touches by unseen presences, doors open and closing on their own and other poltergeist activity, unexplained noises, feelings of being watched and of not being wanted.
OKLAHOMA CITY
SKIRVIN HOTEL
(Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City)
1 Park Avenue
Status: Operational Historic Hotel
By rutlo - <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rutlo/3859817221/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/rutlo/3859817221/</a>, CC BY 2.0, Link
History
This is the oldest hotel in the city.
This Art Deco hotel originally opened in 1911 with two 10 story towers containing a total of 225 rooms. In 1925 a third tower with 12 stories was added and then in 1929-30 all three wings were brought up to 14 floors giving the building a total of 525 rooms.
The hotel was named after its founder William “Bill” Skirvin.
In 1988 the hotel was closed and completely abandoned for a number of years. In 1999 the mayor of Oklahoma City set up committee to discover if the hotel was capable of being saved. In 2000 it was recommended to re-open the hotel and the 42-million-dollar renovation began in 2004.
The hotel was re-opened in 2007 – with 225 rooms - as a Hilton Hotel managed by Marcus Hotels and Resorts.
Paranormal Activity
While the hotel is not open about the ghostly phenomena, they don’t completely deny it either. When pressed they have confirmed they’ve heard reports of strange occurrences.
The most famous ghost in this hotel is “Effie”.
The stories say Effie was a maid that the original owner of the hotel – Bill Skirvin – had an affair with. Effie became pregnant and Skirvin locked her in a room on the 10th floor to avoid a scandal.
Understandably, she became quite depressed which deepened after the baby was born. Soon after the birth Effie climbed into the 10 floor window with her baby and jumped to both their deaths.
Effie is portrayed as a loose woman with questionable morals, although being as she was remembered by a rich white man who got her pregnant this is dubious to say the least. In the early 20th century, a young woman with a healthy libido would have been seen as someone little better than a prostitute.
Skirvin had a reputation as a notorious drinker, gambler and womanizer which is much more believable.
Effie’s ghost has a reputation for propositioning men who are alone in their rooms. Reports indicate a disembodied female is heard making questionable suggestions. Her apparition is sometimes seen by men in showers – she often is seen naked.
There is even a report by one man that he was sexually assaulted by a female unseen presence.
This haunting became nationally famous when the NBA team the New York Knicks blamed their loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on having a bad night’s rest in this hotel due to ghostly activity. The Chicago Bulls also said they unable to rest properly in this hotel due to strange noises and hearing doors slam throughout the night.
People have also reported lights flickering in their rooms and writing on fogged up bathroom mirrors – most commonly Help Me.
There are also reports of a woman in a red dress wandering the halls of the hotel.
In the Venetian Room – a ballroom on the top floor – objects have been moved while the room was empty.
TULSA
CAIN'S BALLROOM
423 North Main Street
Status: Former Garage; Former Dance Academy; Ballroom
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 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.