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Educated Vermont Ghosts

Bennington College – Formerly a three story granite mansion, Jennings Hall is now a facility for music students. It was the inspiration for the Shirley Jackson novel, The Haunting of Hill House. Later on the book inspired at least a couple motion pictures. Students and those who work in the building have reported hearing footsteps and voices late at night. Other paranormal activity is also reported such as instruments that start (and stop) playing by themselves and ghostly voices where no one is present. There have been deaths at Bennington College over the years and some of the activity is attributed to those who have stayed behind, lingering in the world between life and death.

Southern Vermont College is located on Mount Anthony, also in Bennington, VT. There you will find amazing photos of supernatural images and statues. The college was a former seminary which was closed and turned into a co-ed campus. Reports from students and night security officers include a number of eerie events that defy a rational explanation. For example, apparitions have been seen in the house including Everett, the original owner of the house, his wife, and a person in a black hooded robe. Odd occurrences are almost the norm such as smoke filled hallways, lights turning on in rooms that are locked, doors/windows unlocked after being locked during a previous security round, and footsteps all around the college when no one else is in the building.
There is also a ghostly history behind one of the computer labs, which used to be the old carriage house. The doors of the building sometimes lock by themselves and computers have been known to act oddly, sometimes shutting off on their own. Wandering about the main building, witnesses have claimed to see the ghost of a man, who is dressed in period attire. The two most active haunting activities in this mansion are on the 3rd floor, where the Abbey room is burning with energy. Now a classroom, it was the sleeping quarters for the house staff, where a maid allegedly hanged herself.

University of Vermont - Burlington, VT. Burlington is Vermont’s largest city and UVM is the state’s largest university. Perhaps that helps to explain why it is also one of the most active hotspots of supernatural activity. It seems that the number of ghosts within the halls of the University of Vermont may sometimes rival the head count of the living student body, easily earning it the title of “Most Haunted College in Vermont”.
The following are a sample of some of the spine tingling events that have taken place within the walls of the university.
The agriculture department (Bittersweet House) has a female ghost in period dress, circa late 19th century, who unexpectedly makes her appearance known. The Center for Cultural Pluralism (Allen House) reportedly has a ghost taking up residence on the top floor. Although he (or she) hasn’t been seen visually, a cold presence can be felt in the vicinity.
The Center for Counseling and Testing is rumored to be haunted. The former director encountered the ghost of Captain Jacobs, a retired seaman who died there in the early part of the 20th century. Poltergeist activity, which is often described as “noisy ghost” activity has been reported there as recently as 1992. It would seem that Captain Jacobs is a restless spirit indeed!
The Grasse Mount House comes with a vibrant though eerie history of ghostly voices and doors that slam and lock themselves, without human effort. Converse Hall is reportedly haunted by a former student who committed suicide there. Though never seen, the student remains as active in death as he may have been while he was one of the living. He turns radios on and off and interacts with electrical equipment. The student electrocuted himself in 1998.

Dorm Spooks
Coolidge Hall, a dormitory, has a few resident ghosts, including a male presence that likes to awaken the residents by staring at them, a playful spirit who enjoys pulling blankets off beds and a whistling specter that can’t carry a tune. The Millis Hall dormitory might have experienced a female ghost on the 2nd floor during the 97-98 year. Redstone Hall dormitory residents include a ghost that appears in the back staircase and has been seen to run through walls. He's not fond of female students for some reason (possibly pertaining to the circumstances of his death) and has chased people out of the area on occasion. At Simpson Hall, a spirit of a man who stalked a female student, followed her to her dorm one year and apparently never left. He now resides in Simpson to this day. Late at night students wake up with a sensation of being watched. Usually the room becomes icy cold when it happens. Some students wake up freezing cold at night with the feeling that there is someone else in their bed.

Castleton State College, Castleton, VT - Two hundred yards away from Castleton State College is an abandoned building. The interior is filled with untouched museum pieces that appear to have been left behind. Although there is no way to enter the building, the objects inside seemed to move and get tossed about on their own.
Within the walls of a dorm, an apparition of a student wearing an orange t-shirt and jeans awakens people up in middle of night. Apparently he hung himself and is still "hanging around".
Ellis Hall has been part of Castleton State College for years. On the second floor of this building a female student killed herself. Students hear her flushing toilets, running showers and the sink in the bathroom. Almost every building at Castleton State is reputed to be haunted.

St. Michael's College, Colchester, VT - There are a couple of places on campus that seem to have ghostly visitors. Herrouet Theater, a now run down building used for storage is supposedly haunted by a nun who died in the 1950’s. Her spirit some say has never left the building.
The men’s first year dormitory is said to contain an evil presence. In the 60s or 70s, young men were rumored to be holding some sort of occult meetings. One of the men insisted that he needed to close the "portal" before they left, but security arrived and tossed them off campus, before they could complete the ritual. The door to the attic is padlocked shut. However, lights go on in the attic and footsteps are heard in the middle of the night by the residents on the top floor. The image of the pentagram still exists on the floor despite attempts to replace the wood.

Goddard College, Plainfield, VT – A musical ghost is reputed to occupy the Manor House. A prospective student walked into the Manor House, only to find a man playing the piano. The student asked the man for directions but his question was ignored while the man continued to play. She walked out in frustration. She was heading into the upper garden when she turned around and noticed the piano player was laughing at her. He then vanished into thin air. Similar stories have been reported by others who visit Manor House.

Johnson Elementary School, Johnson, VT - Sightings of ghostly figures have been witnessed in the school. Some have reported that apparitions can be seen peering through the windows. The old tower is said to be the most haunted area of the building. A ringing bell in the tower has been heard by many people. Janitors have heard footsteps traveling through the halls, faint laughs of children, doors shutting, and the temperature dropping rapidly.

Marlboro College - A ghost named Emily lingers on in the distinctive Marlboro College. A century ago, Emily Mather and her mysterious lover came to an end not unlike the story of Romeo and Juliet. Sometime in the late nineteenth century, back when the college was a working farm, Emily fell in love with a traveling salesman who called upon families within nearby Vermont villages. Her parents were very strict and forbade the relationship, ordering the young man away from their daughter. Devastated by the turn of events, the despondent salesman threw himself into a stream and drowned. Upon hearing the news, Emily climbed to the attic of her family’s home and hanged herself. The home where Emily is said to have died is now known as Mather House, the college’s main administration building. The stream where the heart broken salesman drowned still flows through the college campus.
Suicide at the time was considered shameful and embarrassing for a family to endure. Emily was buried in an unmarked grave below her parent’s barn, which was later remodeled into Dalrymple Hall, a building containing classrooms. Her body rested peacefully in the grave until the 1950’s when excavation to build the Howland House disinterred her anonymous burial site.
It is the Howland House where unexplained occurrences have led some to believe that Emily’s disturbed grave caused her spirit to walk among the living. Students have reported seeing a female figure wandering the campus at night, and many have felt uneasy when alone in Howland or Dalrymple during the evening hours. Cold spots and banging noises (with no apparent cause) are often encountered around the campus.

Vermont College, Montpelier, VT - College Hall Chapel was built in the 1830's. In the late 1800's, a girl died in one of the towers. An autopsy of the girl who was murdered, revealed that the left side of her body went numb due to being shot behind her left ear. Years later, a security guard was taking a group of students up to the tower when one of the girls complained that the left side of her body suddenly went numb. Other unexplained events include a pipe organ that sometimes plays on its own and breezes within the building, seemingly out of nowhere, as you walk along.

Norwich University, Northfield, VT – At Alumni Hall, one of the dorms, a cadet hung himself a few years back. A couple years later, his brother went to Norwich, got the same room, and hung himself too. Now the room is boarded off.
Chaplin Hall is haunted by an unknown spirit visible at night by the front door. When the building was used as a library, books regularly floated off shelves and strange voices were heard when no one was there.
Hawkins Hall & Ransom Hall - Cadets have reported that during the night they wake out a sound sleep unable to move, scream and find it very difficult to breathe.
Sabine Field - The gate to the football field is often guarded by an unseen cadet. People have heard her haunting footsteps.

St. Johnsbury Academy. Brantview House, which was once a private residence is reputedly haunted by a dog loving ghost. One evening the house mother was reading in the parlor, when her beloved Afghan, resting at her feet, suddenly began snarling. She noticed as the dog's fur was gently ruffled by an unseen, ghostly hand. The animal immediately relaxed and watched as the spectral visitor politely left the room.

Vermont Police Academy, Pittsford, VT - Years ago, the Vermont Police Academy was a state hospital for Tuberculosis patients. The academy, to this day, is haunted by a nurse who worked at the hospital and while there, contracted the disease herself. All of the old call buttons are still in the recruits' rooms, and it is said that if pushed, the friendly ghost of the nurse, Mary, will pay a visit during the night.

Old Barlow Street School, St. Albans, VT - This old schoolhouse was built before the turn of the century. It was also used as the St. Albans Haunted House Halloween Event from 1979 to 1989. During the 1920's, a janitor died from a heart attack in a girl's restroom, located in the cellar. Cold spots and odd sensations have occurred here, as well as an apparition appearing in a window in the south wing upstairs. The particular window refuses to remain closed after attempts to nail it shut. Sounds of footsteps have also been heard in that location as well as lights going off and on. People have reported hearing eerie voices.

Winooski High School, Winooski, VT - In the 1960's, five Winooski High School students were killed in a crash coming back from Canada after a suspected night of drinking. The local funeral home didn't have enough room in its parlors to hold all five bodies, so the others were laid out in the school gym. A mass wake was held later held there. Janitors have reported strange sightings since then up to present day when cleaning late at night, especially after sporting events. Ghostly happenings include lights flicking on and off, lockers mysteriously opening and slamming shut all down the hall, echoing voices in the gym, etc. But perhaps most frightening, the sound of wheels rolling along the gym floor, echoing the coffins being rolled into the gym for the wake.