Haunted Michigan
Its amazing how grimly we hold on to our misery. The energy we burn, fueling
our anger. Its amazing how one moment we are snarling like a beast then a few
moments later forgetting what or why. Not hours of this or days, but decades:
lifetimes completely used up given over to the pettiest rancor and hatred.
Finaly there is nothing here for death to take away.
-Charles Bukowski
hotels & inns restaurants roads & bridges taverns theaters tourist spots
Traverse
City - Bowers Harbor Inn :
Former owners are said to make impromptu
post-mortem appearances in the elevator and the portly wife is seen reflected in
one specific mirror. 
Augusta
- Brook Lodge Hotel : former summer home of the Upjohn (Upjohn
Pharmaceuticals) family. The old man reportedly died in the cabin that you can
rent that is located amidst a Japanese style garden ('The Doctor's Cottage').
Sounds of footsteps, piano music and a feeling of general "uneasiness" have
caused visitors to complain and change rooms.
Bay
Port - Sweet Dreams Inn : this B&B touts resident ghosts that make many odd
noises. 9695 Cedar St., Tel:989-656-9952
Dearborn
- The Ritz-Carlton :
room 418 has a haunted bathroom, and is plagued by poltergeist type activity
like opening and slamming doors and knocking.
Tours:
Detroit Haunted Dinner Train (Halloween only)
Haunted Detroit Bike Tour (Halloween only)
Flint
- Naturally You Wig & Hair Salon : 
(3517 Fenton Road) Customers may
experience knocking noises, lights flickering and the smell of baking cookies
while perusing the various weaves and clip on's.
Roseville
-
The Walmart has a phantom squeeky shopping cart that is said to be driven by a
young lady who died there while trying to get great deals for a great price.
Morbid
Travel Tip: The Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek is said to have a
weeping Virgin Mary statue, that has had the teary-eyed reputation for decades.
Our Lady of the Visitation in Bay City is rumored to have a bloody handprint
appear in it's vestry and basement
Belding -
Library
:
A giggling noise, falling books, and feelings of apprehension greet visitors
to the children's section. 302 E Main St
Brimley -
Point Iroquois Lighthouse :
The site of a bloody battle between Iroquois and Ojibwa tribes, and later the
site of the killing of a little girl by a bear (later they killed the bear and
took parts of the kid out of its gut, so the story goes...) the lighthouse is
said to be plagued by phantoms and cold spots. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
daily. Hours may vary, so call (906) 437-5272 for a current schedule. The
65-foot tower is also open to the public during those times. Directions: In
Brimley where M-221 deadends at Lake Superior, turn left onto 6 Mile Rd. (called
Lakeshore Dr. near the lighthouse) and go about 7.5 miles.
Clarkston -
CVS Pharmacy :
a man in 19th century clothing is said to haunt the parking lot (Dixie and White
Lake Road)
Chesaning -
Market Street Square
:
The town was the site of a smallpox epidemic among natives. The shop workers
suffer through hair pulling, shoving and plastic Santa decorations that float
about on their own. 625 W Broad St. As of 7/08: It appears you can
buy the whole freaking joint for $240,000!
A toothy, red faced imp named the Nain Rouge has been a Detroit legend since it's founding. Said to appear during times of trouble or bloody battle, it takes glee in people's misery. One person posted a page in which he said he spotted the Nain Rouge recently in a pond. He likened it to a mini-Bigfoot. mmmm k.
Cockeysville -
Padonia Park Club : A waterpark that is supposedly built over a graveyard.
Reports are vague.
Croton - The
Croton Dam and Hydroelectric Plant :
Located on the Muskegon River, local
legend says a boy fell into the turbines when fishing in the 1970's (which
sounds like the most horrible thing I've heard of in awhile!); fishermen claim
to see him floating several feet above the dam, crying, early in the morning -
and they also add that usually when he is spotted it is a good day for catching
fish. You can take a boat tour to the dam and fish with
this dude.
Crystal Falls -
Mansfield Mine Historic District : Located on Stream Road NE of Crystal
Falls. 27 miners died by crush injuries and drowning in the Iron mine when it
collapsed in the late 19th century. Today there are reports of noises like
screaming and pick axes hitting rock. Apparitions of miners and of dim lights
beneath the water that covers the old mine are also reported.
Dearborn -
Dunworth Pool :
at night apparitions of children running through the building
are seen, sometimes heard calling out "Jack". The pool staff has even set up a
MySpace page as the ghost of Jack Dunworth, the pool's
namesake. 801 N Denwood, in Levagood Park
Dearborn - Henry
Ford Museum and Greenfield Village :
The Webster home and Firestone Farm are
both considered haunted, and the Ford home is haunted by a former butler.
Windows and doors are said to open and close themselves. The museum houses the JFK death car. There is a report of an elaborate recreation of the assassination
that takes place on the anniversary of Kennedy's death (Nov. 22nd). During this
spectral anomaly it is said Kennedy stands by the car, as if waving to a crowd,
and sits a rose on the hood. Two spectral gunmen appear in different parts of the
area. What are the night watchmen smoking at this place, and may I have a toke
please?
Morbid
Travel Tip: Visit the John F. Kennedy Death Car at the Henry Ford
Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
Detroit
- Museums : 
The
Institute of the Arts (5200 Woodward Ave) has a sculpture in the African section
of a man impaled with nails, that supposedly comes to life and does a "tribal
dance" at night, and night guards report crashing noises with no apparent
source; the Historical Museum (5401 Woodward Ave) is said to have a stain on the
floor of the lower level that smells of sulfur and vanishes the re-appears, and
a spook light.
Dowagiac -
Olympia Books :at
one time the building housed a funeral parlor. Poltergeist activity like books
that fling from shelves and stack themselves in front of a door, a chair that
moves itself, footsteps, flickering lights and voices 208 S. FRONT ST
Ovid - Marons
IGA Foodliner A
woman's apparition whistles and knocks things from shelves. Cold spots,
flickering lights. 501 S Main St
Big Rapids -
Big Rapids Cinema
: cold spots, and the sounds of a crying woman. 213 S Michigan Ave
Birmingham -
Birmingham 8 Theatre
: Built in the 1920's, and remodeled in the 90's to be a yuppie multiplex,
employees have said that lights turn on and off in the old main theater and cold
gusts of air blow things around. 211 S. Old Woodward Avenue
Calumet -
Calumet Theatre
: 
The ghost of a young girl named Elandra Rowe, and an actress named Helena
Modjeska haunt. Screams are heard and orbs spotted.
Dearborn -
Player's Guild Of Dearborn (Theater): 
Actors hear heavy breathing from stage
right. Also, footsteps, objects that move themselves. Photos of apparitions have
been captured.
Dearborn -
Showcase Cinema : Figures
are seen, and the upstairs is said to be haunted by two men who died in a fire.
24105 Michigan Avenue
Detroit -
Majestic Theatre : Noteworthy as the
theater where Houdini last performed,
patrons say that when in the bowling alley below the Magic Stick concert venue, you
can hear shouting and footsteps from the vacant room. The basement has
apparitions that emerge from a bricked over hallway and noises from an old mezzanine that's
not in use. This theater used to be air conditioned by giant blocks of ice that
had giant fans blowing on them in the basement, which has nothing to do with
ghosts but I thought was way awesome anyhow. I almost said 'way cool'. Hardy har
har.
Detroit - Detroit
Symphony Orchestra : Mark
Twain's son-in-law was the second music director to work here, and is said to
haunt the offices and rehearsal areas, walking around the building.
Dowagiac -
Beckwith Theatre : 
formerly
a church, the building sports an apparition of a little girl, phantom piano
music, scrawls written on actors' scripts, and disappearing items that will
mysteriously show up later
Big
Rapids - Ponderosa Steakhouse : Sounds of heels clicking in a back hallway
are accompanied by sightings of a woman in black high heels. Objects fall,
voices heard. 14321 Northland Dr
Bloomfield
Hills - Fox and Hounds Restaurant
: Touting "Michigan's Best Prime Rib", it is haunted not by pissed off cows but
by an entity that knocks pots from shelves in the kitchen
Borculo -
Schoolhouse Restaurant?
:
The old school was at some point converted to a restaurant, though I couldn't
locate the name or if it's still in business. I did find a photo
of the building
here. Local legend said an abusive teacher
accidentally killed a student with a vicious disciplinary beating. Anyway, while
it was a restaurant a child was said to appear in a corner of the dining room. Flatware was
said to fly around as well.
Central Lake -
Murphy's Lamplight Inn
(located on M-88) Since the 1950's owners have said it is haunted by a man,
woman and little girl in depression era clothing. Described as "fun loving", the
apparitions have been seen dancing and looking from upstairs windows.
Charlevoix -
The Weathervane Restaurant
: hunted by a young man who fell into the grist mill when it was a working mill.
Detroit - The
Whitney
:
a male apparition has been seen in this Gothic stone former mansion of a well to
do Detoitian (Detroitite?), and cold spots, doors and objects moving themselves
have been reported
\
Detroit - Fear
Street : (crossing of Tireman and Evergreen Street, Detroit) there is a
stoplight located close to the 3rd block of Tireman that is notorious for bad
traffic accidents. Residents have found dismembered limbs and even a headless
baby in their yards after particularly gruesome events. Locals call it "Fear
Street" and say it's haunted.
Addison- N. Adams
Rd:
Haunted by a little girl who was killed by a speeding car while waiting
for a school bus, and has been seen walking along by the cemetery there
Adrian - ghostly
train trestle:
(German Rd toward Sand Creek, to northbound gravel road) The
old train trestle bridge on this road is haunted by a young mother and child who
were killed by a train while they were flagging down help for the father, who
was trying to put out the family's nearby barn as it burned. The man supposedly
died in the barn fire as well. Apparitions of the three are said to appear, and
the man is said to be benevolent and communicative. Hmm.
Algoma Township
- Hell's Bridge: Legend of the Baby Skinner :(Friske Road is described as
a winding dirt road that travels along the Rogue River near Algoma; a small
metal 'foot bridge' is on the road and is the site of the accounts) Local
legends say that a man called Elias Friske lived hear when the community was
just developing in the early 19th century. Old and frail, he was a part time
minister and preached the popular hellfire and brimstone Christianity of the
day. At some point, so it goes, the local children started going missing into
the woods. When a group went to look for them, the "harmless" old man was left
to tend for the remaining children and horrific stories of him binding them with
rope and making the live ones watch him mutilate the dead and dying are a
gruesome part of the legend. He was said to have initially led the children to a
pile of leaves, which he swept away to reveal the skinned and moldering corpses
of the missing. Afterward he was captured and blamed the atrocities on a demon
that possessed him. Some stories say he was hung on the spot, from the bridge -
but by most accounts the bridge could've never been tall enough to accomplish
this. It is questionable whether any of this story is based in fact, but locals
say that blood curdling screams and eerie laughter come from the old bridge and
surrounding woods. Crying children sounds, splashing noises in still water and
vague apparitions also reported.
Algonac - Morrow Rd
: A woman is said to search for her lost
child
Allegan - Elks Lodge
:(701 Marshall St) footsteps, a child crying "mama" and
door slamming noises
Allegan - The Yellow Motel site
(the old hotel was burned down by local fired
department after years of being abandoned; all that remains now is a tennis
court. Best as I can find [thanks to
this dude] it is
located at the geographical coordinates of 42 deg, 30 min 24 sec North -86 deg,
02 min, 05 sec West)
This was yet another Al Capone hideout, according to legend, and was also said
to be a brothel. A coven of witches used the place to meet after the business
closed it's doors.
Of course the stories of dead gangsters come into play at the location, but in
this story there was supposed to be quicksand in the woods surrounding that
bodies were tossed into. The accounts are wild and various, with reports of
poltergeist activity, such as objects that floated around the rooms, and wild noises
of phantom raucous parties keeping patrons up all night. A woman's figure was
said to peer from the empty building's windows, and phantom white dogs would
come at your car if you pulled into the circle drive. It was painted blue once,
and legend says it was yellow as if by magic the very next day. A shaken neighbor
claimed that apparitions walked up to his home one day.
MAP
Belle Isle :
a bridge here is said to have a phantom old woman in white who waves for you to
follow her into the woods
Belleville -
Denton Road, and area around cemetery : a hotspot for spook lights
Brownstone -
Dawnshire Park : a phantom man with an axe is seen
Cass City -
Crawford Rd Bridge : the ghost of a young woman who flipped her buggy and
drowned is said to stick it's hand up out of the water and plead for help
Cheboygan - a
tomb for a family named Hikyes is haunted by the farmer who killed his family
then himself. The former train station has a legend of a bad train wreck, and
people claim to hear a voice say "Why am I here?" at 1 AM near a tree stump
there.
Clinton - Chateau
Clinton Trailer Park: I don't usually like to include apartment buildings
and the like, but between the name of the place and description of the haunting
it was too fucking good to leave
out...
('Chateau' hardy har) So Shadowlands says: "In the Spring, Summer, and sometimes
early Fall, some of the streets will have fog only at the end of them, and there
will be Shadows of teenager looking people walking down the middle of the
street. Also, sometimes if you cross the middle of the streets you feel a
temperature drop repeatedly." In other words, teenagers walking aimlessly
through a trailer park in the fog. 38080 Le Chateau Blvd. Also, at the
Rudgate Manufactured Homes Park and Pool (Gahhhh!!!!! They're killin' me
here!) in Sterling Heights, there are ghosts of victims of the nearby
train tracks, as well as ghost dogs and cats that were smeared on the train
tracks at some point. Locals say the trailer park was stuck atop an old
cemetery. 5150 Rudgate Circle
Jackson -
Reynolds Cemetery/ St John's Cemetery : every November 21st locals camp out
in the cemetery hoping to see ghosts reunite after death. Most of a farm family
by the name of Crouch was murdered on that night in 1883. The remaining daughter
and a farm hand died mysteriously in the weeks following. No one was ever
charged. Locals say that a foggy apparition leaves Reynolds Cemetery and floats
the 5 miles to St John's, where it ends at the grave of (the father) Jacob
Crouch
Dansville -
Williamston Rd/Seven Gables Rd :
haunted by a witch who cursed the place,
supposed to have driven people insane who tried to live here and cause accidents
on the road.
Dearborn -
Tournament Players Golf Club : Spirits of dead WASP golfers are said to
haunt this private course, probably pissed because they realized they couldn't
take all that cash with them. 1 Nicklaus Dr.
Dryden
- intersection of Casey and Rochester : in the wake of a fatal car accident
in the 1970s's, people hear screaming and screeching brakes here
(Disclaimer: it is upon the reader of this site to use good judgment in frequenting the places listed herein; it is not the responsibility of the proprietor of ghosttraveller.com if a reader commits an illegal act, such as trespassing, based upon what he or she reads here. It is the reader's responsibility to research the given areas discussed in this forum prior to visiting, and to ensure that it is not illegal to visit said place prior to visiting, or to obtain permission from the owner prior to visiting)
Bibliography
The Shadowlands : an invaluable resource on the net for ghost hunters !!
http://gekizetsu.net/sn/crossing.html
http://www.hauntspot.com/haunt/usa/michigan/hells-bridge---the-ghost-of-elias-friske.shtml
http://www.strangeusa.com/ViewLocation.aspx?locationid=5109&t=7/10/2008%207:13:39%20PM
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/320371/allegans_haunted_yellow_motel.html
http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/michigan/the-nain-rouge-a-detroit-ghost-story/
http://www.michigansotherside.com/Articles/ReynoldsCemetery.htm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/258694/what_ever_became_of_the_kennedy_death.html?cat=27
