Ghost Hunters: Park University

Have you ever had a paranormal experience that could not be explained by logic? With the upcoming Halloween season, stories of ghosts and paranormal sightings are in full swing, especially at Park University. Founded in 1875, Park University has developed a reputation for being an infamous haunted college in Missouri with tales that will scare you into being a believer.

Park is home not just to students and faculty but to numerous ghost stories that have made the campus into a haunted attraction. One popular ghost story is the tale of a male student who attended Park many years ago. No one knows whether he was your classic psychopath or just snapped one night when he set fire to Alumni Hall in the dead of night. With arson now added to his transcript, he went to Copley-Thaw Hall, which was a men’s dormitory at the time and hung himself for his crime. Of course, no true science can be established for the existence of ghosts but there are strange occurrences that even science cannot rationalize. Professor Lora Cohn details her experience with the arsonist. Back when she taught graduate school for communication, she would teach class until late in the night, around 10 pm when no one else was in Coley-Thaw. “I would smell smoke throughout the halls of the building,” said Cohn. Thinking it was just students, she searched the building but found no one. It wasn’t until a professional on the paranormal visited Park to give a lecture that the pieces fit together. “He said that smell is the first way that ghosts communicate,” said Cohn. The ghost of the arsonist had come back to communicate with Cohn and many other students that had experienced this paranormal occurrence.

Another popular ghost story that made Park famous is the tale of two female students who attended Park during World War II. Missouri Haunted Houses website investigated the story and writes that these students hanged themselves in Herr House during WWII. Now, their footsteps in empty rooms can be heard echoing down the halls of Herr House, still wandering the Campus in the afterlife. Similar to this, behind Mackay Hall in 1896 stood the Charles Smith Scott Memorial Observatory for over 100 years. Rumor has it that the iconic stone building with a steel catwalk was the spot where a female student hanged herself after being heartbroken by her boyfriend. There have been reports of wailing and moaning echoing through the area.

While there may be no evidence of these tales being true, there is one legend at Park that stems from true events. The Platte County Citizen in 2016 details that in August of 1950, a plane crashed during a thunderstorm when trying to land at the downtown airport. The passengers and plane had not been found until later that year in October. Some Park students were wandering in the east woods of campus and found the remains of the plane and the passengers, including the arm of the pilot of the plane. The arm was moved to the basement of the Science Hall and a legend formed: in the east woods the pilot wanders, still looking for his missing arm that was taken from him.

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, Halloween brings out a whole new side of Park that can create fun ways to scare your friends into believing the tales Park holds.