A haunted history: Ghost stories and grisly tales from Greater Lafayette

BY KAT BRAZ

A Haunted History

The communities within Greater Lafayette boast an impressive collection of historic districts with tree-lined streets featuring diverse architecture. But behind those stately facades lie myriad ghostly legends and chilling accounts, each one a testament to the lingering spirits and unresolved mysteries that have left an indelible mark upon the cities and towns where strange things are said to occur.

James Moon’s Guillotine

One of the ghastliest tales in Lafayette lore is the unusual, tragic death of James Moon in 1876. After acquiring supplies at the hardware store, the farmer, blacksmith, self-proclaimed inventor and Civil War veteran committed suicide in Room 41 on the third floor of the Lahr House, which overlooked the marketplace on Fifth Street. A maid discovered Moon’s corpse the day after he checked in to the hotel. His body was strapped to the wooden floor, his head cleanly severed by the blood-splattered broadax bolted to a six-footlong wooden arm that served as a crude guillotine activated by a candle burning through a cord. Today, the former Lahr House still stands and has been converted into an apartment building and retail spaces. Some say Moon’s ghost still haunts the third floor hallways.

Greenbush Cemetery

Considered one of Lafayette’s most haunted locations, Greenbush Cemetery holds many of the city’s most notable figures, including founder William Digby. The city’s original cemetery was a burial ground located on the site of St. Boniface Church on Ninth Street. Many of the people buried there were moved and interred at Greenbush when it was established in the 1840s. There also are graves for around 30 Confederate prisoners of war and Union soldiers who died in a train collision near Lafayette on Halloween in 1864. The carnage was so gruesome half the men could not be identified. Neighborhood residents report eerie sightings such as ghostly apparitions walking through the cemetery at night.

Purdue Airport’s Hangar One

Amelia Earhart, the most famous aviatrix in history, prepared for her final flight in Hangar One at the Purdue University Airport where some believe her spirit still lingers. Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, vanished near Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. Earhart purchased her “flying laboratory,” a Lockheed 10-E Electra, with funds from the Purdue Research Foundation and prepped for her flight in Hangar One. Airport crew members report sightings of a slender woman with short hair who is wearing pants, an aviation jacket and a scarf around her neck standing in the shadows of Hangar One. A member of the National Guard was so startled by the apparition that he fired shots at her as he watched her melt into the air. It’s not just the airport that Earhart reportedly haunts; she’s also been spotted in Duhme Hall where she lived during her brief tenure on Purdue’s faculty. Over the years, student residents have heard the clacking of an old-fashioned typewriter late into the night, allegedly the time when Earhart was most fond of doing her writing.

Top Notch Bar

Located on Third Street in Brookston, Top Notch Bar is known for serving up great food and spirits. Originally the A.B. Garrot Drygoods and Notions store in 1902, it later became the Myers Hotel in 1914. A young girl and guest of the hotel died there of Spanish flu in 1918. But the ghostly footsteps that can sometimes be heard on the stairs are usually attributed to another death. Lawrence “Bunk” Switzer was fatally stabbed by his former lover, Kathryn Newkirk, on June 5, 1965, in the apartment over the bar where the couple lived. Staff at the Top Notch suspect Bunk’s ghost is responsible when TVs go on the fritz, ice scoops go missing, items unexpectedly fall off the bar and the jukebox starts playing ’50s and ’60s tracks. In a gesture of goodwill, Top Notch employees often call out “hello” to Bunk whenever they go upstairs.

Adams Mill

Built in 1846, Adams Mill, on Wildcat Creek near Cutler, operated as a grist mill until 1951 when it was converted into a local attraction demonstrating the grinding of grain and exhibiting artifacts of the early rural Midwest. The site is now owned and operated by the nonprofit Adams Mill Inc. Several spooky occurrences have been reported at the mill, including footsteps on the stairs when nobody’s there and a woman in a blue dress standing in front of the third-floor window who vanishes from sight. Visitors have reportedly experienced paranormal activity at the nearby Adams Mill Covered Bridge, too. Some claim they are physically held back and unable to cross it. ★

Haunted Lafayette

For more about the dark and secret side to Lafayette’s history, pick up a copy of Haunted Lafayette by Dorothy Salvo Davis and W.C. Madden. With stories focusing on Greater Lafayette and White, Carroll and Warren counties, Haunted Lafayette is a chilling read that no ghost enthusiast should miss.