Universities all across the country have been in existence for centuries. A fair amount of them still treasure their historic buildings and a few of them have some unexpected guests lurking the halls.
1. Gettysburg College
It’s no secret that this college shares its name with the infamous battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. The campus itself was constructed during the 1830’s, over three decades before the war but the paranormal activity it hosts be credited solely to that bloody time in history. The central administrative building, Pennsylvania Hall was converted into a makeshift hospital for wounded union and confederate soldiers. A crippling 700 casualties were recorded in that hall. Over the next few decades many employees and students alike noted seeing apparitions of soldiers from both sides suited in full uniform wandering the halls and fields near the building. The most alarming was during the 1960’s when two employees took the elevator down to the ground floor only to have it not stop and continue all the way down to the basement. Once the doors opened they reported seeing a scene of doctors tending to soldiers who were near death, soaked in blood, and begging for mercy.
2. Pennsylvania State University
A historical university situated in the middle of nowhere is bound to have some stories attached to it. Penn State was founded in 1855 and its flagship campus is home to a plethora of buildings which many date almost a 100 years. There’s one building in particular that has a tragic past attached to it. The old botany building which dates back to the 1900’s is rumored to harbor the ghost of Frances Atherton, the widow of former president George W. Atherton who died in 1906. His burial site sits next to Schwab auditorium, directly across from the botany cottage. Rumor has it that his widower’s ghost watches over his grave from the window of the cottage and has been seen standing there throughout the years, never moving a muscle.
3. West Chester University
The Hollinger Field House has been a staple in West Chester’s sports history. It has gone through a few significant face lifts over the last 100 years but remnants of its early origins can still be seen through its antique architecture and photographs hanging on the walls of athletes past. Did you know it’s also the location of a potential ghost? Back in the early 1920’s on homecoming weekend a student by the name of “Drutz” hung himself in the fourth floor stairwell. No one knows why he decided to go through with his actions in this particular section of the university but ever since legend has it that his spirit roams the gym every homecoming weekend. There have even been stories of strange swinging noises coming from around the field house late at night. Investigate if you dare this homecoming weekend.
4. Chestnut Hill College
This Roman Catholic college located in Philadelphia has been in operation since 1924. Through its short history many of the onsite buildings have been rumored to be the homes of several ghostly figures. The most notorious of them all is the legend of “The Red Eye Room” located on the second floor of Fournier Hall. It obtained its name from the stories of people supposedly seeing a pair of red eyes floating around the room at night. It’s also been heard that doors slam shut by themselves, shades randomly fly up, radio’s turn on, and the apparition of a little boy dressed in 1920’s clothing skips through the halls as if he’s playing games.
