Old Central is no stranger to ghost stories and other campus lore. The night watchman's room is said to be haunted by the specter of a guard who hung himself from the rafters. There's no record of the suicide, but it remains a popular story.
A team of ghost investigators from Oklahoma City explored the building in 2005 and found an unexplained cold spot in one classroom and reported hearing faint whispering in the hallways.
Kchris Griffin, a Daily O'Collegian reporter who arranged last week's investigation, accompanied the team on their tour of Old Central. Griffin said he noticed strange things during the tour.
Temperatures in the building fluctuated without explanation, he said, and his video camera shut off without warning with half its battery life remaining.
“I was pretty spooked,” he said.
Colleges often carry rich treasuries of campus traditions and legend, including ghost stories. OSU is no different, said Bonnie Cain-Wood, a spokeswoman for the university's Edmon Low Library.
The library is home to so many stories that staffers began cataloging the tales over the past few years, she said. In one story, library visitors report seeing a red-haired woman who disappears moments later.
The stories tend to vary from one year to the next, she said. One year, they may take place in the basement, and the next year, students tell of the same story taking place on the second floor.
She's never heard of anyone who's actually seen a ghost, she said — everyone seems to hear the story secondhand.
“Everyone knows someone who has a ghost story about the library,” she said.
Next Story
