Some say Edmond is a hotbed of urban legends
Tales of paranormal activity haunt on

BY JOHN A. WILLIAMS Comments 0
Published: October 31, 2009

EDMOND — Ghosts stories are a staple of any child’s sleepover or campout, and Edmond has its legends of haunted houses and ghost sightings.

For years, there have been stories of specters roaming the halls of Central Middle School.

Originally built as Edmond High School in 1956, the school was built on Section 36, land that was set aside as Edmond’s School Land.

Edmond historian and author Stan Hoig said some of Edmond’s earliest pioneers who died in the late 1800s were buried, a few in unmarked graves, in Section 36.

Elizabeth Massengale, with Paranormal Phenomenon Investigation, headquartered in Moore, said there have been claims of a lady in old clothing haunting the halls of the school late at night. "Music will turn on for no reason,” she said.

Some stories include sightings of a male spirit walking the halls.

More recently, there have been tales of paranormal activity on the second floor of Edmond Regional Medical Center.

"A nurse is seen, and people have talked to her, and then she’s gone,” Massengale said.

But then there are those who claim to have had personal close encounters of the scary kind.

Edmond resident and mystery writer Eric Wilder said he recently saw two ghosts near the creek cutting through the Tall Oaks II addition while on an evening walk.

"I did see something I can’t explain even though I do write ghost stories,” he said. "I walk the circuit practically every day and look around me when it gets dark.”

He described the images as being very dim, almost white as they came closer. "All of sudden they were walking towards me and then they were gone,” Wilder said.

"I think a lot of people see and hear things that they just don’t think about,” he said. "I believe there are a lot of things we don’t understand.”

Then some stories are pure legend dating back years. Martha Hall, the owner of Edmond’s Arcadian Inn, said despite some rumors, the bed and breakfast is not haunted.

"I tell people we don’t have ghosts. We have angels,” she said.

The inn was built in 1908 as the home of Dr. A.M. Ruhl.

"He didn’t see patients here. But there was talk I think back in the ’40s and ’50s that he kept cadavers in the basement,” she said.

But after his wife Edith died in 1977, the only things neighbors found in some rooms were hospital equipment, not bodies, Hall said.

"We think he intended to make a hospital out of it,” she said.

I did see something I can’t explain. I walk the circuit practically every day and look around me when it gets dark.”

Eric Wilder
Mystery writer