THE GUTHRIE BOY'S HOME

Guthrie, Oklahoma

This story was sent to me by an Oklahoma ghost hunter named Larry Staton, who sent it along because he didn't want the readers of the web page to think that the Stone Lion Inn was the only haunted spot in Guthrie.

( The history that has been connected to his account is only that of local lore and legend. I am unaware of any documentation of murders or crime connected to the house... Troy Taylor )


The Old Guthrie Boy's Home


Larry writes: Being an avid ghost hunter, I feel compelled to write and inform you that there is another haunted structure besides the Stone Lion Inn in Guthrie, Oklahoma. This story is concerned with the abandoned boys home, which is said to possess many entities. Of these entities there is said to be a worker who committed suicide by hanging himself in the bell tower, an old nurse maid who was known to abuse the boys, and the boys who were murdered by the nurse maid when she was caught. No reason is known, to my knowledge, why the worker committed suicide, but the legend says that on certain nights you can hear footsteps leading up to the bell tower, footsteps in the bell tower itself, bells chiming or, if it is quiet enough, gasping can be heard.

According to legend and accounts of Guthrie citizens, the nurse maid was a brazen, evil, and hideous women who died in her early 50's. Once the stories of abuse by the nurse maid reached the powers that be, they immediately questioned her and realized that she was guilty of all accusations. In a fit of rage, she sought revenge on the individuals who had exposed her heinous deeds, which so happened to be the boys she was abusing. If memory serves me correctly, the total number of boys the nurse maid murdered was 6. Legend goes that between the hours of 2am and 6am cries and screams from the boys can be heard in any section of the home and that the ghost of the nurse maid is said to lurk in the main entry hallway, which is extremely long and creepy, the pool and recreation area, and the dormitories where the young boys retired each evening.

The only history I can give you on the abandoned boys home is that it was erected when Guthrie was the territorial capital of Oklahoma, which would place the buildings beginnings between 1889 and 1910. In 1910, after much political upheaval, the capital was moved to Oklahoma City. I also know that after the boys home was shut down, the Freemasons bought the building and used it for whatever reasons. I believe the boys home shut down in the 30's during the depression and the Freemasons bought it sometime during WW2 (I am not sure when all this took place, this is just an estimate). If memory serves me correctly, the Freemasons used the building until the late 60's, but left for unknown reasons, at least unknown to me. They could have been chased away by spirits? Who knows? The building has been vacant ever since the Freemasons abandoned it.

This place is located on College Ave. in Guthrie, OK. It's foundations are within the city limits of Guthrie, which I felt would take away from the allure of the old home. I was mistaken. Despite the fact this haunted structure is in town, when you drive upon it, a feeling of total dismay and eerieness will come over you, at least it did me. The size alone of the home is enough to pack a fear-filled punch, not to mention the bell tower which seems to reach the stars. I have toured the home many times day and night in search for spirits. I have gone alone and with fellow ghost hunters. Although I have never seen or recorded any spirits, I have, on the other hand, recorded some audio which clearly resembles the sounds of young children crying and screaming. These sounds were recorded at night between the hours of 4am and 5am on the 3rd floor in the recreation room just below the bell tower. The sounds lasted, with pauses, about 30 minutes. Currently, I am hoping to retrieve some good video from the home, but nothing has occurred yet, or I can hopefully come "face to face" with the old nurse maid (as scary as that would be!!!).

Update: Website visitor Stephen McAninch writes that the old home is most definitely off-limits to visitors and had a run-in with some very courteous local police officers to prove it! The officers did advise him that the building had been recently purchased and was going to be converted into a bed and breakfast!
Note: Since that time, we have learned that the building has plans to be a private residence rather than an inn!

by Troy Taylor