5 ghost stories from Kalamazoo's past

By Madison Bennett | MLive

*Converted from slideshow into text. 

Fact or fiction? These Kalamazoo places claim to be haunted

As Halloween is quickly approaching, the spirit world is no longer at bay. From the Civic Theatre to Henderson Castle, some of Kalamazoo's historic buildings are now home to a few lingering ghosts.

The following stories are not all confirmed to be true. 

Henderson Castle

It’s no secret that the historic Henderson Castle is haunted and although Master Chef and owner, Francois Moyet, hasn’t had many ghostly encounters, that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a believer. “There are many things that are happening all the time that I cannot explain,” said Moyet.

Moyet acquired the castle in 2011 and has slept there every night for the past five years. He says the ghosts are of friendly nature and there have been no cases of malicious incidents.  

The castle is over 100 years old

Henderson Castle was established in 1895 by Frank and Mary Henderson. Mr. Henderson was the owner and president of the Henderson-Ames Company, which made uniform regalia for secret societies, fraternal organizations and the military. The Henderson’s were part of the fraternal organization of Freemasonry and there are elements of that included within the castle. The castle has also been featured in three movies, all of the horror genre. 

The Hendersons and a little boy in red overalls

Moyet said that the Hendersons are not the only ghostly inhabitants. Experiences from employees and guests alike have ranged from the ghost of a dog to a little boy in red overalls.

According to employee Casey Sebring, two of his fellow employees had experiences with a young boy in red overalls. The boy is allegedly seen in a mirror playing peek-a-boo from underneath a bed in the Victorian room.

Sebring said the most reportedly haunted rooms in the castle are Mary Henderson’s room- the Dutch room and the Miracle room.

For those looking to experience an encounter with one of their many ghosts, Henderson Castle hosts a haunted Henderson history tour on the night of Halloween. From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. participants are able to explore all four floors of the castle and possibly experience the ghostly tales for themselves. 

Read more on the spirits of Henderson Castle: The ghosts of Henderson Castle: Historic home is 'active,' paranormal enthusiasts say

Heritage Guitar

The nearly 100-year-old building still stands at 225 Parsons St in Kalamazoo. Jack French, a repairman at the company for 55 years, said they’re unsure of who or what their ghostly presence is but it seems to inhabit the third floor. 

The birth of Gibson Guitar

The building Heritage Guitar resides in dates back to the 1800’s, when Orville Gibson came to town and began designing his own mandolins. Those mandolins eventually grew to guitars and other string instruments by the 1900’s, becoming the Gibson Guitar Corporation. The company continued to grow in 1917 for nearly a century at the Parsons St location, until it closed its doors in 1984. Shortly after, previous Gibson employees acquired space at the former factory in 1985 and Heritage Guitar came to be. 

Orville Gibson or Lloyd Loar?

French said that the big rumor around the factory is that the ghost on the third floor is Orville Gibson, the founder of Gibson Guitar. While Gibson spent some time in Kalamazoo, he died several hundred miles away in Ogdensburg, New York.

French believes their friendly ghost is Lloyd Loar, who worked for Gibson as a designer in the 1900’s and supposedly had an office on the third floor of the now Heritage Guitar building. While most workers have had some kind of experience with their friendly ghost, whether it be voices or footsteps, French came face to face with the spirit when he was on the third floor doing inventory.

“I heard something and I just turned and there was an old man standing there looking at me,” said French. 

The Civic Theatre

The Civic Theatre, located in downtown Kalamazoo, has been the city’s community theatre since 1929. The theatre’s 88th season is currently underway with Pirates of Penzance: In Concert. For more ticket information and upcoming shows, visit the theatre’s website. 

The theater is in its 88th season

The Civic Theatre’s Park St. location was built during the height of the Great Depression in 1931. The Kalamazoo Civic Players, a group putting on productions before the main building was built, combined with the theater upon opening and are now go under the name of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre. No deaths have occurred at the South Street location but according to urban legend and the theater's marketing director, Janet Gover, the Civic has a resident ghost.

The ghost of Thelma Mertz

The Civic’s ghost is believed to be Thelma Mertz, who was supposedly part of a program at Chenery Auditorium. Gover said rumor is Mertz fell to her death off Chenery’s prop deck and her spirit came with them once the Civic’s main stage location was built.

Although Gover has only been in her current position for over a year, she has been involved with the theatre for over 30 years, working as a volunteer and even appearing in productions.

Gover has had multiple run-ins with the spirit of Mertz. In the 1980s, Gover was alone, working sound production for a show when she saw an image of a person on a monitor fed from a camera fixed on the stage. She had no prior knowledge of Mertz’ spirit living in the Civic and upon telling fellow volunteers and employees, their response was “Oh, that’s Thelma.”

Mike Artis, production stage manager, has had his own experiences as well, hearing the sounds of things crashing only to find them in their place and even seeing a white mist inside the theatre.

Gover said they don’t plan on having any paranormal teams investigate because of their love for Thelma and her friendly nature. “She’s our ghost and we love her,” said Gover. 

Read more on the Civic's haunted past: The ghost of the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre: Who's afraid of Thelma Mertz?

Heritage Hall

Before Heritage Hall underwent its name-change after its recent renovation, it was known as East Hall. The building dates back to the start of Western Michigan University, when it was known as Western State Normal School.

Read more on Heritage Hall's renovations: 

Before the building's renovations

Built in 1903, East Hall was WMU’s first building and was then part of the university’s main campus. The building recently underwent renovations and is now home to the alumni center. During WMU’s early years, the building hosted a K-12 program when the college only provided certifications and degrees for teachers. Now known as Heritage Hall, it held different offices, including the university archives until 2013. 

Following the death of Dwight B. Waldo, former WMU president, his ashes were interred in what was known as East Hall. Since the renovations, his ashes remain untouched in their final resting spot within Heritage Hall

A death on campus

While many who used to work out of the building blame the unexplainable on Waldo, Carlson said a former WMU teacher could actually be the culprit. Professor Leslie Wood, who Wood Hall on WMU’s main campus is named after, suddenly died on campus in 1933. Wood had come to the school to accompany a group of students on a field trip when he died of a stroke, while getting ready to board a bus.

Although Carlson hasn’t had many experiences throughout her time spent in East Hall, she spoke of many others who have, including one employee who experienced a light mysteriously going on and off by itself. More proof the building is haunted came to light after the Southern Michigan Paranormals, a local paranormal group, did an investigation of the building nearly eight years ago. They group conducted an EVP (electronic voice phenomena) session and caught the voice of a male on tape. 

The Hopkins house

The Hopkins house came into possession of Robert DuShane and his wife when the previous owner had asked a paranormal group they were part of to investigate claims of it being haunted before she sold it. A year after the investigation, the DuShane's came to buy it and now live in the residence.

The house was built in the 1800's

The DuShane's came to find the house was built in 1896 by David Hopkins. He also designed the Hackley and Hume Houses in Muskegon, Mich., both of which are on the National Registry of Historic Places.

The house was a gift for his son, George Hopkins, who lived in the house until his death in 1933. Hopkins died in the master bedroom from natural causes. His wife remained there until 1945.

The man in the window

The previous owner came to DuShane’s paranormal group after finding a large amount of police reports of tenants believing someone had broken in, and in each of the reports, no intruders were found on the property.

DuShane, who now lives in the house with his wife, has experienced his fair share of encounters with their ghostly guests. One particular moment involved a broken plate when they initially moved-in. Not long after moving in, DuShane broke a plate while doing the dishes and heard a man’s voice say “I’ll get the broom, sir.” Multiple passerby’s and even neighbors have made comments to DuShane about an African American man staring out of their attic window.

After doing some research, the DuShane's believe that voice and the figure in the window belongs to an old butler for the Hopkins, who goes by the name Asa. The DuShane’s also believe Hopkins spirit walks the halls as well, as his daughter had an encounter with an old man in the hallway. 

For those interested in meeting the ghosts of the Hopkins house, the DuShane’s hold paranormal investigative events at the house open to the public. For more information, visit hauntedhopkinshouse.com.

This post originally appeared as a slideshow Oct. 28, 2016 on MLive.com.