Indiana

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Haunted Places

IN  Academy of Model Aeronautics, Muncie, IN  More Info
IN Another highest in town waterfall, Exeter, IL (some serious backroads are required) IL
IN Indiana's highest waterfall in downtown Willamsport, IN
IN John Dillinger Museum -- Nashville, IN More Info
IN Giant Chair, US 31 north of Kokomo, IN
IN Giant Chicken, Owens county Indiana fairgrounds, Spencer, IN
IN Historic New Harmony, IN More Info
IN Home of world's largest egg, ( 11' and 3000 pounds) Metone. IN
IN Joe Polooka Statue, Oolitic, IN
IN Mythical Town of Mount Olympus,IN".
IN Original Fort Wayne Greyhound Bus Station,
IN Santa Claus, IN
IN Stink Ditch, IN
IN The Ben Hur Museum in Crawfordsville, IN
IN World's largest Steer,( 4720 pounds ) Kokomo, IN
IN World's Largest Sycamore Stump, Kokomo, IN

 

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Mystery Spots

These places have strange powers.   Approach with great caution!

Gravity Hill, Mooresville, IN

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The Underground Railroad

The Bethel AME Zion Church, Indianapolis, IN   More Info

The Levi Coffin House, Fountain City, IN  More Info

The Eleutherian College Classroom & Chapel Building, Lancaster, IN   More Info

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Haunted Places

Evansville - Willard Library - a lady in gray has been sighted by many in this building.

Plymouth - Hayloft Restaurant - haunted by the ghost of an old farmer that was killed on the land where this building is now.

Indianapolis - Hannah House - strange noises, smells and apparitions are observed here.

Indianapolis - Tuckaway House - George and Nellie Meier haunt this house that was their home.

Francesville - Moody Lane - A man named Moody roams the countryside and if you go to Moody Lane and wait where the trees branches are suppost to hang over the road you will see a strange light come toward you.   Also there is a graveyard near Moody Lane where a man and a woman were killed on opposite sides of the road.  And at midnight you supposedly can see the woman crossing the road to see her man.

Terre Haute -  Indiana State University - In Burford Hall there has been reports of strange happenings like sounds, whispers, things moving and things of that sort.

Terre Haute -  Indiana State University - The haunting is in Cromwell Hall on the 12th floor.  In the past the hall was a male dorm and one day a student throw himself from his window in room 1221.   Now you can hear footsteps and and strange noises in the hallways.

Avon - The Haunted Bridge - a railway bridge over White Lick Creek. The ghost of a construction worker from when the bridge was built, and the sounds of a baby crying, supposedly from an incident during which a baby was inadvertently dropped into the creek from the bridge.

South Bend - The University of Notre Dame  - has a long and grand tradition of academic excellence. Founded over one-hundred years ago, it has graduated it's fair share of learned folk, and even a few celebrities. Some have since moved to the afterlife, and some of those restless spirits have stayed on.  Before the university came to be as we know it today, the Patawatami Indians lived their lives along the shores of what is now known as the St. Joseph River. They buried their dead in the area and some of their dead still seem to be around.   Washington Hall now houses the university dramatic theater, but it once served as a dormitory for the one and only George Gipp. Gipp was known as a wonderful football player, and something of a gambler. His ghost is said to haunt the stage and greenrooms.   Columbus Hall dates to the beginning of the university's infancy. Ghostly Native Americans, and their spectral horses, have been seen riding up and down it's stone front steps.

South Bend - Primrose rd. -   is haunted by 3 or 4 things, one is a phantom farmhouse that appears on a certain night of the year and time if you are near it you can see a lady with a lantern that stands and watches you. If you get too close to the house a phantom man will chase you and then get into his truck and come after you.  There is also a graveyard that is haunted by this same woman who this time appears as a red specter. She is harmless though.   Also there is a wooded area that you are able to see eyes staring out at you for a few minutes if you stop the car on the path through the woods the eyes will hesitate the come up to the car and scratch at the windows.  Primrose rd is off of old cleveland road.

New Albany - Culbertson Mansion - This tourist attraction contans the ghost of a woman on the 3rd floor. She is heard walking about and some have seen her. She is believed to be the first wife of the former owner and may have remained behind due to the mistreatment of her surviving children by the husband's new wife. Note: this mansion is open to the public and guided tours are avaiable.

Crown Point - Crown Point High School - The high school auditorium's catwalks are supposedly haunted by a spirit.   Students have reported hearing strange noises and seeing images of people   walking along them.

Heltonville - McCarthur House - 4 murders took place in the mid 1970's.  White figure that can be seen as sort of running  away from the house when you approach.

Tunnelton - The Tunnelton Train Tunnel -  A ghost of a man has been reported their many times.  He was decapitated during construction and still searches for his head. Also, you can hear the screams of a ghost family that was killed when their horse and buggy crashed into the river down the hill.

Jasper- Shiloh Church-
Many people died due to a fire and now the church is haunted by them.

Fort Wayne- The University of Saint Francis library
A student hung himself here long ago and has been spotted by students. Many have reported unexplainable "cold spots" in the library and other strange happenings.

Oaklandcity-Cockram Hall
An old class room of Oakland City College, where a woman hung herself in the upstairs of the tower. If you look in the windows at night u will see doors open and shut, and see a bright orange glow come from some of the windows.

Highland-Highland High School
Has been haunted for several years.  The gym is where the sightings usually take place.  People have reported that they have seen a little boy roaming around the gym and sometimes doing laps around the basketball court.  They have also heard basketball being bounced.  They say that the sounds and the little boy running laps are a kid known by the name of Bob Haymaker.  Bob died one day in gym class when they were playing basketball.  The teacher said that he was fine and next time the teacher looked at him, he was lying there dead.  Ever since then, little Bobby Haymaker has haunted the gym of Highland High school.

Union Mills
Old U.S. 30 - on the way into Hana.  On the railroad tracks on 600 w. Around 2:30-3:30 a.m.  There has been a blue-tinted shadowy figure, that looks as if is carrying a lantern, walking on the railroad tracks into Hana.....In 1987, a man was coming home from work at est. 3:00 a.m. and was hit by a train........

Old Oaklandon-Fire Station-
At unpredicted times of the day and night, strange and mysterious things occur at this station. Shadows have been seen and bay doors have been known to open on their own.

Fishers
There is a dip in Allisonville Road at 126TH street.  It is called Heady Hollow.   How the story goes, there was a schoolhouse the burned down with all of the children inside.  Late at night when it is foggy you can see the children standing in the road.  When you see them it is too late to stop.  You drive right through them.  When you get out of your car no one is there.

Monroe State Forest- Stepp Cemetery in the Morgan-
Various apparitions, including a woman in white, who sometimes peers at people from the edge of the cemetery in the woods, and a pack of black dogs.

Shoals-
One time on brooks bridge there was a girl about 17 who threw herself off the bridge. A couple day's later they found her dead body. Often on the 5th of every month you can here her screams as she throws herself off the bridge. Then a splash then silence. Many say that if u go down to the bridge after you hear the screams and u catch her before she jumps than she will chase you and yell at you for distracting her.

Lowell-Gypsy Graveyard-
At the back of this cemetery, one can find fresh dirt from gypsy graves from the 1800's.   Also,  glowing figures seem to move towards you as you approach it.   Visitors beware, people have been known to get raped and killed when visiting this site.

Southport-Train Tracks-
You can here a woman screaming for her baby that killed by a train. Everytime a train goes by you can see her by the side of the tracks.

Petersville-
Famous place for teenagers to go.  People go to the house which is locked up, pull over to the side of the road, and turn off their car and lights. Howling, ghosts in the window and an unexplained light that moves.

Marion (Grant county)-The Hostess House-
An old woman lived in this 4-story mansion here in Marion and someone broke in her house once and killed her.  On foggy nights you can see her shadow on her balcony. She is in a long white flowing gown.  They never got the bloody footprints up completely either.  It’s open to the public too.

Brazil-Spook Light Hill-
A ghost of a father looking for the head of his daughter.  A car flashes it's headlights three times and a light can be seen coming down the road and "scanning" the area.

Fort Wayne-The old Lutheran Hospital on Fairfield-
The 4th floor of the hospital is haunted by a male ghost that pasted away about 55 years ago.  You will see him walk down the hall looking for someone going from room to room.  Dr's and nurses as well as others have seen this. Before they closed the old Lutheran Hospital they closed down the south unit on the 4th floor.

Montezuma-
The Sim Smith Bridge is haunted by the ghost of an Indian girl run down by a horse and carriage. On nights, you can see the girl and hear the phantom carriage.

Bloomington- Indiana University-
Reed Hall is said to be haunted by a girl with long, black hair wearing a bloody nightgown. Legend has it that her medical student boyfriend killed her and hid her body in one of the abandoned tunnels in the basement. When the police questioned him he quickly confessed and they found her body. Half of Reed Hall is made up of dorms. She is said to haunt her room or the room where she was murdered. She has also been seen wandering the halls in other various places.
 

Carmel Screaming Bridge-
It is said to be haunted by several spirits, if you go out on the bridge at midnight you can hear a woman screaming.  It is no longer accessible. They blocked off the road because of too much traffic and violence at the bridge.

Fort Wayne-
On Bruick Rd if you go over a bridge & park your car, you can see a white light that sometimes gets bigger, moves, & changes colors.    The farther you follow it, the farther it seems to move backwards, away until all at once it vanishes.
 

Hammond-
On the road as you enter into Gary, In (on Halloween) you can see the ghost of a girl who died after running into the Calumet River with her wedding gown on, the weight held her down and drowned her. Her ghost can now be seen. Also the ghost of a girl who got in an accident can be seen there.

Fort Wayne-Columbia City-
The Haunted Jail, the ghost of a murderer is said to haunt the site of the retired jail. It is now used as a haunted house throughout the Halloween season, and members who work there in the off-season report a lot of paranormal activity. Noises such as footsteps and scraping along walls are also reported the only thing that runs is the electricity, there is nothing as far as a heating system to be mistaken for the noises. There is a door that always must remain open if it is shut when you walk away and come back it is always open. There are many things indicating activity.

Danville-Danville Bridge-
There are two stories that come from the haunted bridge. The first story says that an Irishmen was helping construct the bridge, he fell into the wet cement. His body was never recovered. The second story says that a woman jumped to her death from a train passing over the top of the bridge. Many people have reported hearing cries and moans.

Martinsville-Morgan Monroe Forest-Stepp Cemetery-
A lady appears sitting upon a tree stump at the east end of the cemetery. Sometimes you can hear her humming. When she was alive she had a baby who died. After her death she still sits and hums to her baby. This story can be found in the local libraries. Many people can be seen at night in the cemetery waiting for her appearance.

Shadowwood-
Is the national headquarters of Sigma Pi Fraternity.  It is haunted by the ghosts of the children of the original owner, cold spots and other various qualities made this house #7 on Unsolved Mysteries top 10 haunted places.

LaCrosse-Phegley Highway-
Some say they seen a light moving slowly on the railroad tracks with two men behind it they've never harmed anyone they just pass by at a certain time at night.

Hanover-Hanover College -
Parker Auditorium has been haunted by the ghost of Dr. A.G. Parker, past president of the college.  Numerous events have happened over the past 25 years, including sightings, voices, sounds, and missing items.

Anderson-Main Street Graveyard-
The graveyard sits alone in some woods and it is said the graveyard is very haunted. A man hung his wife in a tree back in the graveyard many years ago. He shot her in the head with an arrow and it's said her spirit haunts the graveyard.

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More Info

It is a familiar tale. Small town boy from Indiana goes to the big city of Chicago in search of a career, becomes famous, meets the wrong kind of woman, and comes to a bad end. In John Dillinger's case, the end was especially nasty. He was gunned down by FBI agents outside Chicago's Biograph Theatre on July 22, 1934 (see Chicago, Illinois).

But Dillinger is a bad guy whose legend grows with the years. He fascinates screenwriters, historians, journalists, all of whom can still find profit in retelling the facts of his life. He was the original Public Enemy Number One, so designated by J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During 1933--34, he was the object of the most intensive manhunt in the annals of American crime. He had been captured once and incarcerated in the ``escape proof'' Lake County jail, in Crown Point, Indiana. But Dillinger managed to fashion a toy gun out of wood and used it to bluff his way past guards. Then he waved it in front of a passing driver, took the car, and was gone. The daring escape made him a national celebrity, even winning a degree of sympathy for a man who was thought to have killed sixteen people during a string of bank robberies. More than any other criminal (with the possible exception of Jesse James) Dillinger has become part of national folklore. Even the way he died seemed part of legend: At the age of thirty-three he was betrayed to the FBI by a mysterious ``lady in red.''

There are stories of secret treasure caches left by Dillinger, another indication of his legendary status. The most well-known of these has it that $25,000 he'd taken from an Indianapolis bank is stashed in a western suburb of that city.

When Dillinger was returned to Indiana for burial, other treasure hunters got in on the act. The trousers he was wearing at the time of his death, along with a death mask, several letters, and other personal belongings were put up for sale. Many of them ended up in this small museum in the middle of scenic Brown County. It may be a bit incongruous for a memorial to a gangster to be situated in what is generally regarded as an artists' town. But there it is, and the town is proud of it.

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When Dillinger was returned to Indiana for burial, other treasure hunters got in on the act. The trousers he was wearing at the time of his death, along with a death mask, several letters, and other personal belongings were put up for sale. Many of them ended up in this small museum in the middle of scenic Brown County. It may be a bit incongruous for a memorial to a gangster to be situated in what is generally regarded as an artists' town. But there it is, and the town is proud of it.

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The early nineteenth century was a time when many Europeans saw America as a great testing ground for new social theories. In the wilderness, far from the corrupting influences of tradition, surely a new kind of man, cooperative and sharing, could emerge. The tiny Wabash River village of New Harmony was to be the focus of two such experiments

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The first AME church in Indianapolis, the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church has played an important role in the city's black community for over 160 years. Originally founded in 1836 by William Paul Quinn and Augustus Turner, the church, then known as "Indianapolis Station," started with a small congregation that met in Quinn's log cabin. In 1841 a small house of worship was constructed, and by 1848 the church had 100 members and became active in the antislavery movement, often harboring fugitive slaves en route to Canada. Their promotion of the abolitionist movement and their activities in the Underground Railroad were not well received by some members of the local community. Supporters of slavery are believed to be the cause of the fire that destroyed the church in 1862. Undaunted by this tragedy, the congregation raised money to rebuild the church in 1867-- the same church that stands today. Known as the "mother church" of the African Methodist faith in Indiana, Bethel also played an important role in the community after the Civil War. Bethel opened schools for African Americans throughout the city, and a kindergarten was at one time operated in the church building. Numerous organizations were established at Bethel, including the Indianapolis chapter of the NAACP and the Indiana State Federation of Colored Woman's Clubs. Bethel AME has been a vanguard in the advancement of the AME movement and occupies a unique place in the history of the Underground Railroad.

Bethel AME Church is located in Indianapolis, Indiana at 414 West Vermont Street. It is open to the public.

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Built in 1827 and now a National Historic Landmark, this house was owned by Levi Coffin (1789-1877), a Quaker abolitionist. Because of his outstanding role in the operation of the Underground Railroad, Coffin has been termed its "president." It is believed that Coffin and his wife Catherine helped more than 2,000 fugitive slaves escape to freedom, using this house as a principal depot. Coffin was born in North Carolina and in 1826 moved to Fountain City, at that time called Newport, where he operated a general merchandise store. In 1847 the Coffins moved to Cincinatti and opened a store that dealt in goods made by free labor and continued with their antislavery activities. Immediately after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, Coffin worked to aid freedmen. In 1864 he went to England and was instrumental in the formation of an Englishman's Freedmen's Aid Society which contributed money, clothing, and other articles to newly freed African Americans. In 1867 Coffin attended the International Anti-Slavery Conference in Paris. Following this event he lived in retirement until his death in 1877. Coffin's accounts on his activities as the "president" of the Underground Railroad were published in an 1880 posthumous book entitled Reminiscences of Levi Coffin .

The Levi Coffin House is located in Fountain City, Indiana at 115 Main Street. It is open to the public from June 1-August 31, Tuesday-Saturday, 1:00-4:00 pm. From September 1-October 31 it is open on Saturdays only, 1:00-4:00 pm. For more information on the Levi Coffin House and the Underground Railroad in Fountain City visit the Richmonnd Wayne County Convention and Tourism Bureau.

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A National Historic Landmark, Eleutherian College was constructed between 1854 and 1856, and was the first college in Indiana to admit students without regard to race or gender. Some of the college's trustees were among the most active participants in the Underground Railroad in and around Lancaster. From the Greek Eleutheros' meaning "freedom and equality," the school embodied its founders antislavery sentiments, and the school's location, atop the highest hill in the area, was a physical and symbolic statement of the community's beliefs. Continuing to operate as a private, coeducational secondary school until the mid-1880s, the college was purchased by Lancaster Township in 1888 and used as a public school until 1938. Today, Eleutherian College Classroom and Chapel Building stands vacant.

Lancaster was a known stop for fugitive slaves traveling from Madison, Indiana to Indianapolis. Three of Eleutherian's trustees, Samuel Tibbetts, Lyman Hoyt, and James Nelson, were frequently mentioned in connection with the Underground Railroad and its efforts in the vicinity of Lancaster and Madison. James Nelson was arrested by a local sherrif under the Indiana Fugitive Slave Act of 1851 for "encouraging Negroes to come into the state." Judge Stephen C. Stevens, sympathetic to the antislavery cause, had the case thrown out of court.

Eleutherian College Classroom and Chapel Building is located on State Route 250, just east of Lancaster. Though currently not open to the public, the building is owned by Historic Eleutherian, Inc. who is seeking funds for a long-range plan for the site.

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