The campus of Middle Tennessee State University has many myths and legends. Freshmen can be heard campus-wide gossiping about these myths they learned from upperclassmen. Some take these legends and curses very seriously. There are others that like to tempt fate and ignore the curses.
The Curse of Davis' Market
Davis' Market is a small convenience store at the corner of East Main Street and Middle Tennessee Boulevard. They sell your average convenience store things such as beer, cigarettes, and occasionally moon shine. The variety of beer and the option of buying local beers in large quantities make this location attractive to students. However, what makes this place unique is its curse. The curse says that if you set foot inside Davis' Market that you will be doomed to die in Murfreesboro. Supposedly in the 60s Buddhist monks made a journey to the market and declared it the center of the universe. Now whether the curse and legend are true or not is up to those who enter the store. I suppose you will know when you can't escape Murfreesboro.
The Curse of The Library Agriculture Seal
The James E. Walker library is a location well known to all students. The Starbucks makes it a great meeting place and the late hours make it an ideal place to study. You can get lost in the stacks and get away from everything to study in one of the many study rooms which you will be doing a lot of if you walk over the seal. Outside of the library is the agriculture seal and legend has it that if you walk across the seal then you are damned to graduate late. The only way to break the curse is to walk backwards across the seal completely naked. Some students believe that walking backward across it will be enough and can actually be seen doing so. So unless you want to strip and walk back across the seal then I would suggest avoiding the seal at all costs.
The Curse of Kirksey Old Main
The Kirksey Old Main building, or KOM for short, is one of the oldest buildings on the MTSU campus. Typically this building serves as the location for math classes, geology lectures and geology labs. The building has not three, but four floors. The fourth floor can be reached by a hidden staircase and houses only about two classrooms in a narrow hallway. The building is always way too hot and the front stairs are home to their own legend. The legend has it that if you lock lips with your sweetheart on the steps of the KOM then you are doomed to marry the person you kiss. So smooch responsibly guys!
The Legend of The Bell Witch and Monohan Hall
Monohan Hall is the dormitory situated right next to the honors dormitory and two buildings down from the James Union Building (which happens to have a small cafeteria in it that always has apple cobbler. AWAYS). This building has a very interesting back story and if you look closely you'll notice something weird. This building actually has more windows than doors. This is not a construction error but a product of tragedy. Several years ago there was a student that lived in Monohan that was working on a project. The project was one where she had to research her heritage and she was very into it. The roommate of this girl left for the break and the girl stayed behind to work and research. Soon enough the girl found out that her ancestry linked her to the Bell family and thus the Bell Witch. Things started happening during this break to the girl. One night she came home and the papers from her research were scattered everywhere. Another night she came home and found rose petals all over the room.
Eventually her roommate returned home and couldn't get into the room. She had unlocked the door and was pushing to get in but something was blocking the door. The roommate got a maintenance man to come and remove the door from the hinges so she could find what was blocking the door. What they found blocking the door was not what they had thought. She found her roommate hanging from the ceiling. The suicide note she clutched were the papers detailing her relationship to the Bell Witch. It is said that the Bell Witch was responsible for the girls death and had influenced her suicide.
There are tons more spooky stories surrounding this campus and even the entire town. I hope that I have wet your appetite for the strange and unusual surrounding our fair school and town. Now that you know these myths you can stroll through campus responsibly and research these myths on your own. I will say this though, be careful the questions you seek answers for. The information you might find may not be what you wanted and might land you right in the middle or a hidden curse or have you haunted.
