Haunted Places Archives - Lost In Michigan

The Haunted Allegan Jail

Posted on May 9, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places .

This old brick building in downtown Allegan was used as the Sheriff’s residence and jail from 1906 until the new jail was constructed in 1968. The front is the sheriff’s home where he lived with his family and the rear is the jail cells with solitary confinement in the basement. The old jail has been converted into a museum for visitors to experience what it was like for the sheriff and people arrested in the early 1900s.

People have claimed to see and hear strange things in the old jail. Most notably the basement where the most hardened of criminals were kept. A strange presence is felt and a streak of light has been seen floating in the air around the solitary confinement cell. In the sheriff’s residence an apparition of a woman has been seen. Some believe it is the ghost of one of the former sheriff’s wife. Maybe she is still cooking and cleaning for the inmates in the afterlife like she did when she lived in the residence.

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The Purple Gang’s Ghost

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Murders .

The Doherty Hotel in downtown Clare opened in 1924. The historic hotel has entered guests for almost a century, but one infamous day in 1938 has tied the hotel to the notorious Purple Gang. The gang was based out of Detroit but always looking for ways to expand their income. With the booming automobile business and the need for oil, some members of the Purples came to the Mt. Pleasant and Clare region to capitalize on the black gold that lay trapped deep in the ground.

Oil investor Carl “Jack” Livingston had a disagreement with his business partner and attorney Isaiah Leebove who was a Purple Gang associate. Convinced Leebove was going to have the Purple Gang kill him, Livingston shot and killed Leebove in the taproom at the Doherty Hotel. Some claim his spirit has never left and haunts the room today. I am not sure if the haunting is true, but I do know the Purple Gang had many connections to Michigan and the stores still linger today.

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Michigan’s Haunted Train Trestle

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places .

People have claimed many places in Michigan are haunted from cemeteries and houses to theaters, but one of the stranger places is the train bridge that crosses a dirt road in southern Michigan. South of Adrian in a rural farming area where the tracks cross over Bailey Highway is an old bridge covered in graffiti. They say at night you can hear the sound of a woman screaming. As the story goes, in the late 1800s a nearby barn caught fire in the middle of the night. The farmer ran into the barn to save his horses. His wife who was carrying their infant child ran to the railroad tracks to flag down a passing train. She tripped and fell and both were killed by the passing locomotive. Her husband was killed in the fire while trying to rescue the horses. They say you can still hear the woman screaming. Others have said they have seen the spirit of the farmer on the tracks, presumably looking for his wife.

I am not sure if there is any truth to the story but it is one of those urban legends that has grown with the advent of the internet.

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The Auditorium’s Ghost

Posted on October 24, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places .

A piano mysteriously plays on its own. Footsteps are heard on an empty stage. Actors claim someone is tugging on their costumes. These are just some of the strange occurrences that have been attributed to a mischevious ghost at Kalamazoo’s Civic Auditorium.

The theater was built in 1929 and has continued operating since then. Volunteers have been performing plays for the community through the depression and during World War II. It is one of the premier civic theaters in the country.

Nobody knows exactly who the ghost is that haunts the theater, but unexplained incidents have been blamed on the lonely spirit. In the ’70s the ghost was given the name of Thelma Mertz by members of a summer youth program. The story goes that she donated items to the theater to be used in a stage production. After she died her spirit was transferred to the items and she now resides in the theater.

I am not sure if the theater is truly haunted but with any production, bad luck and mistakes can happen during a performance. Having a friendly ghost to blame it on is not a bad thing.

Interestingly, Thelma has her own Facebook profile.

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A Historic Haunting in Flint

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Houses .

Not far from downtown Flint is the Stockton Mansion. It was built by Colonel Thomas Stockton. Both he and his wife died in the house. After their deaths the house was used as a hospital and later a nursing home. The house is now used as a museum and undergoing renovation. Workers have said to hear strange unexplained noises. During a tour, someone said they saw a little boy but there was no child on the tour or in the house at that time. He has told others his name is Jonathan and he is looking for his toy train. I am not sure about the haunting but I am sure about it’s historical significance to Flint and it is good that it is being restored.

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The Haunted Marquette Lighthouse

Posted on October 13, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Lighthouses, upper peninsula .

The big red Lighthouse that proudly stands at the entrance to the harbor was built in 1865. It is now maintained by the Marquette Maritime Museum which also gives tours of the historic lighthouse. On different occasions, tour guides and visitors have seen a ghost of a little girl wearing a 1910s style dress. Sometimes she is seen staring out of the window over Lake Superior or on the catwalk around the Lantern. She seems to like showing her spirit to women and other children.

There was no reported death of a little girl at the lighthouse, however, there was a young daughter of a keeper who was badly injured when she fell on the rocks at the shoreline. Interestingly it happened shortly after the turn of the century. I don’t know if the lighthouse is haunted, but strangely a lot of lighthouse keepers have resigned there duties abruptly while serving at the big red lighthouse. Be sure to check it out next time you are in Marquette.

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The Park Haunted by the Woman In Blue

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Parks .

The identity of the woman in blue is a mystery. Some believe she is the spirit of a runaway slave the died while traveling the Underground Railroad to freedom. She has been seen in McCourtie Park near Somerset Center in southern Michigan. No one knows who she is or why she would be haunting the park since there are no records of a tragic event that happened in the location of the park. They say she is most often appears at dusk wearing a Victorian-era blue dress. people have witnessed her walking through the park and then suddenly vanishing. Others have heard footsteps and the sound of crunching leaves and twigs only to turn around and nothing is there.

The park was originally the estate of W. H. L. McCourtie. He had a large house and an underground lair where he entertained guests during prohibition. He made his fortune in cement and oil and he hired artisans to construct concrete bridges over the creek that ran through his property. After his death, the house was not maintained and was razed. The land was donated to the community and now used as a park. It is well worth a trip to the park to see marvelous bridges and if you hang out long enough, you might see the woman in blue.

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You can read more about McCourtie park in my post here https://lostinmichigan.net/concrete-bridges-mccourtie-park/

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Michigan’s Incarcerated Ghosts

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Uncategorized .

I take a lot of photos of old historic buildings from around the state. I especially like the ornate victorian ara building with elaborate stonework and hand-carved woodwork. The old Mecosta Jail was built in 1893 and is the oldest public structure in the city of Big Rapids.

It’s interesting the strange things I find out about some of the places I visit in the state. I took a pic of this old building because I thought it was interesting. I did not imagine I would find out how it as a dark entity inside that haunts the old jail. I was doing a little research on the building and I came across a video with the president of the Big Rapids Historic Preservation Society.

The old jail had a tunnel that extended to the courthouse to transport prisoners to arraignments and court hearings. It comes out into an old stone basement and I can only imagine what it must have been like for prisoners back in the day to be taken in handcuffs and chains down that old dark tunnel. Afterward, being taken back to a confined cell with large flat iron bars and thick solid steel doors. I am not sure if it is haunted, but it is a spooky place.

Here is the video I came across describing some of the strange things that happen in the old building. you can watch it on Youtube HERE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOH_SVMTgqc

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The Spirits of Quaker Cemetery

Posted on October 5, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery, Haunted Places .

concealed in the woods at the end of an unmarked two-track trail is the old Quaker Cemetery. It is in a desolate section a few miles south of Nashville. No, not that Nashville, known for country music, but Nashville Michigan.

Eli Lapham, a Quaker minister, settled the area in 1837. After a sawmill was constructed the area grew in population with people of the quaker faith. over time the trees were cut down. The swampy area was not good for farming so the Quakers had left leaving behind a small cemetery on a hill.

Sadly many of the headstones are broken. I am not sure if it is due to the ravages of time or vandals, probably a little bit of both. Some say the surrounding woods are haunted by the spirits whose graves have been forgotten. It has been said that you can see spirits among the trees watching visitors.

I did not see anyone or anything mysterious. It was sad to see the condition that some of the headstones are in. The old cemetery does seem to have been remembered by the local historical society. A new historical marker stands at the site and the grass was mowed. Maybe the spirits are a little more content and do not bother visitors as long as they behave themselves.

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The Haunted Hall in Ypsi

Posted on September 27, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Schools .

Mary Ann Starkweather donated money to build this beautiful stone building in 1897 on the campus of Eastern Michigan. She requested the building be used for religious purposes. Her building became the home of the Students’ Christian Association. In 1928 the Christian association ended and in 1976 the Office of Religious Affairs was discontinued. After that, the building was used for campus offices.

Students and faculty believed Starkweather was upset her building was no longer being used as she intended and she began haunting the building. They say strange things happen in the hallways and in the basement of the old building. Most notably a janitor claimed someone or something touched him while he was working all alone in the basement. If you as any EMU student which building is haunted. they will most definitely say Starkweather. For myself, I am not sure about the hauntings, but it is a beautiful old building and a kind gift from a generous woman.

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