Here Are Some Of The Most Haunted And Spine-Tingling Schools In America
Schools are supposed to be sanctuaries: safe places where children can escape from the stresses of home life to learn, socialize, explore new interests, and find out who they really are as individuals.
But virtually no school in America is so idealistic and innocent. Some of the more common fears that children must overcome during their school-age years include everything from cliques and bullying to public speaking and running the mile during P.E.
At some institutions, though, there are even more malevolent threats. That’s right; I am talking about spirits and supernatural phenomena. So, read on to learn more about some of the most notoriously haunted schools in the United States.
Poasttown Elementary School – Middletown, Ohio
Back in 1963, a young man named Daryl Wissman attended Poasttown Elementary and forged many great memories within its halls.
So, by the time Daryl was a well-off adult, he actually decided to purchase the school in 2004 for $189,000. This buyout came just four years after the school was shut down and abandoned.
Daryl’s ultimate dream was to renovate the school and turn it into a unique home property. Soon after buying the building, though, he and his wife, Brenda, realized that there were bizarre occurrences happening within its walls.
Even though the couple lived there alone, they would often hear unknown voices echoing through the corridors.
Then, after asking one of Daryl’s friends– who was a reportedly very tough man– to conduct some repairs upstairs, their suspicions about the property’s hauntings were confirmed. Even Daryl’s friend reportedly came running downstairs screaming and claiming to have seen a ghost.
PhotoSpirit – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
So, the couple ended up contracting countless paranormal investigators to analyze the building, which boasted a whopping 54 rooms. And every single investigator claimed that the building was definitely haunted.
Eventually, news of the property’s paranormal happenings also spread to the public, and Daryl and Brenda realized they could profit from the phenomena. The couple first began charging guests for visits, tours, and even overnight stays.
Then, these guests would often record their experiences in the haunted building and post the footage on the internet.
Within the videos, people could be heard running by and screaming, and doors were also seen opening and closing all by themselves.
So, the uploads only helped gain the elementary school a more widespread reputation as being horrifyingly haunted.
Still, you might be wondering why this exact school is believed to be haunted. Well, according to the paranormal investigators, these supernatural inhabitants are likely related to two separate train crashes that occurred just one mile away from the school.
Both train tragedies happened on July 4– however, one was in 1895, and one was in 1910. It is also unknown how many people perished in the 1895 crash, but the 1910 accident injured over 30 people and took the lives of 24. It is also believed that the school’s property served as an emergency medical station at the time of the crash.
El Paso High School – El Paso, Texas
El Paso High School is now known as one of the most haunted educational institutions in America. And this reputation was actually gained from one single ghost.
A female spirit can reportedly be seen flickering school lights and roaming the halls. Sometimes, the gymnasium will also echo with sounds of massive pep rallies– even though there are no events going on inside at all.
There have also been various images of this so-called ghost girl taken by students throughout the past decades. The most famous one, however, was a picture taken for the school’s 1985 yearbook.
In the photo, the school’s students can be seen vividly and clearly. In addition to the kids, though, there also appeared to be a white and faded apparition.
No one knew who the girl was, and students at the time were certain she was not in anyone’s classes.
Nowadays, that same image remains up on the school’s bulletin board– causing rumors and questions to continue to swirl throughout the community. Popular legend also claims that the apparition was a teenage girl who had taken her own life and thrown herself off the school’s balcony back in 1921.
Parker Road Elementary School – Florissant, Missouri
This elementary school was actually built on top of grounds that were formerly used as a cemetery. And typically, when new buildings are constructed on burial grounds, all bodies and tombstones are transported to another resting site.
However, in the case of Parker Road Elementary, legend has it that a few bodies were left behind and now lie below the school.
Spirits and apparitions have reportedly been seen roaming the halls and frightening children. Some kids have even claimed to see a young girl crying in the bathroom and reported the sighting to teachers. After administrators checked the bathrooms, though, the crying girl was never found.
Practically daily, children would also report being spooked by a woman who walked throughout the school wearing a green dress. Kids claimed that she had no eyes and a pale face, and if she caught anyone staring at her, she would charge.
Teachers, too, reported witnessing unexplainable occurrences. Most commonly, they would hear high-pitched screams in the evening when no other children were at the school.
Farrar Elementary School – Polk County, Iowa
This elementary school was built back in 1921. But, after running for eight years, the institution closed in 2001 due to a dwindling child population. In turn, the remaining students were relocated to Anderson Elementary, and the building sat abandoned for five years.
Then, in 2006, the school– which was located across the street from a 150-year-old cemetery– was purchased by a couple named Jim and Nancy Oliver.
Much like Daryl and Brenda Wissman, who purchased Poasttown Elementary in Ohio, Jim and Nancy also bought Farrar Elementary in hopes of turning the school into their new home.
Very quickly, though, that dream became a nightmare after the couple realized there were other paranormal spirits with them inside the building. Jim and Nancy would reportedly hear voices and see apparitions roaming down staircases and through the halls.
And understandably, living amongst supposed ghosts just became too much for the couple. So, they decided to sell the property and made sure that the new owners were aware of its paranormal past.
The new owners seemingly were not spooked, though, and went through with the purchase anyway– eventually turning the elementary school into a recording studio. Even with a new function, however, the property still boasted ghosts.
The studio ended up being rented out to a band known as Ghost Hive, as well as another man named Landa– who monitored the band next door.
And even though Landa was a large skeptic himself, spending just a short amount of time within the former elementary school was enough to sway his beliefs. Apparently, he experienced equipment malfunctions that had never happened before– such as his computer screen going completely fuzzy and the volume on his headset being maxed out without him turning it up. Plus, even after trying to save his ears and lower the volume, Landa was not able to turn the sound down.
Then, out of nowhere, everything went back to normal. Landa’s computer screen unfroze, the music turned off in his headset, and he was never able to pinpoint exactly why any of those bizarre equipment failures happened.
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