FIVE FAVES ENCORE
Five Faves
Devotees select favorite haunted places in Southwest Michigan BY NICOLE AND ROBERT DUSHANE
Michigan’s past is saturated with innovation, victories, mayhem and tragic events — the perfect mixture for creating haunted locations. Here are five of our favorites in Southwest Michigan:
Civic Auditorium, Kalamazoo
Hopkins House, Kalamazoo Built in 1896 by famed Michigan architect David S. Hopkins, the Hopkins House, at 704 S. Park St., was a wedding gift to his son, Honorable George P. Hopkins and his bride Ella. The Hopkins families were high-ranking members of the Freemasons, the Knights Templar and the Eastern Star. This large Queen Anne-Victorian is still home to at least three spirits: George Hopkins; his mother, Mary Hopkins; and Asa, the family’s butler. George Hopkins seems content to stay in his master bedroom, where he died in 1933, while Mary has made her presence known in the former servants’ room, where she died in 1905. The neighborhood gets to enjoy the ghost of Asa, an African-American man, who is often seen in his white shirt staring out of the attic windows. The sounds of footsteps throughout the second floor and servants’ stairway are a daily occurrence, as is someone unseen attempting to open doors, sometimes mischievously while you’re in the bathroom. For a donation to the house’s restoration fund, you can spend the night in this haunted abode.
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Thelma Mertz is the female actress-turned-ghost who haunts the Civic Auditorium. Legend tells of a young actress who jumped to her death at Chenery Auditorium after being passed over for a role. Her spirit followed the Civic Players back to the Civic Auditorium after her death. Thelma is known as a very mischievous spirit who loves to steal props, sometimes as the productions are taking place. Whenever something strange occurs, or another prop disappears, the staff typically says, “Thelma did it.” Several Haunted History of Kalamazoo Tour patrons have testified to their own paranormal experiences at the Civic, a fact that has helped the ghostly legend to be talked about well beyond the city limits of Kalamazoo.
Old Allegan Jail, Allegan This museum in downtown
Allegan was an active jail and sheriff’s residence from 1906 to 1963. Several cell areas have been left intact since the 1960s, giving visitors a glimpse of 20th-century Allegan justice. The rest of the building belongs to the Allegan County Historical Society. There have been many reports of paranormal activity throughout the building, including strange noises, running footsteps, and touches by an unseen entity, as well as the apparition of a woman believed to be the sheriff’s wife still cooking for the inmates. The feeling of being watched is even more intense in the solitary confinement area, nicknamed the “hot box.” The museum is free of charge and has allowed paranormal groups inside to investigate.