The Gray Lady » Real Haunted Houses

Real Haunted House

The Gray Lady

When this building was an abandoned train station, many drifters and hobos used it for shelter. During that time, a woman was murdered on the premises, and she haunts the building today. Her presence is most often felt in the children’s library, and the scent of her perfume is present on Halloween.

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Hilaria says:

October 11, 2005, 12:28 pm

is this the whole store if not can you e-mail it to me

thanks
Hilaria Alonzo

Hilaria says:

October 11, 2005, 12:29 pm

I do think that this is true

Nick says:

October 20, 2005, 6:55 am

Hilaria, this is a true story. I live in Evansville probably less than 4 miles from where this murder happened at. I dont know the full story but the name of the place that is haunted is called Willard Library. They have a “Ghost Cam” on the internet and history about it I believe. Just do a search for Willard Library in Evansville, IN and you should get the full story.

Kayla says:

November 22, 2005, 9:27 am

This is partially true. The building was never an abandoned train station, it has always been Willard Library. The founder donated the land and his money for it to be built; his name was Willard Carpenter. Some believe that the ghost is his daughter Louise Carpenter. Louise was angry that nothing was given to her and all his money was put into the library. When Willard died, the Library was not left to Louise and this left her with bitter feelings. Some believe if Willard Library is turned over to the Carpenter family then the hauntings will finally end. Many don’t believe this because the Gray Lady is a very shy and gentle ghost. If it was Louise, she would be not so nice. Another theory is that it is someone haunting the field that the Library was built on, not the actual library.

If you look up the Gray Lady from Evansville you will not find anything about an abandoned train station, only Willard Library.

J. Strueh says:

February 19, 2006, 10:41 am

The last comment is the only true one. I live in Evansville also, and it has always been a library.The Story about Louise is also true. But I agree with the Hauntin of the Field theorists. If Louise was there,I beleive there would be more bad incidents.
It is important to do your research before posting something as fact.

Kirbie says:

April 10, 2006, 3:11 pm

I really don’t know what I think.

Christina Caskey says:

April 22, 2006, 11:49 pm

I have been to Willard Library several times and no matter where I venture in the library I always have this feeling of being watched. I also went on one of the Ghost Tours around Halloween last year with my nephew Alec. While we were there I felt a hand placed gently on my shoulder and when we were walking around we saw a book tilt down from where it was on the shelf. We simply told our tour guide what had happened and he said he wasn’t surprised because people had been reporting different activities The Gray Lady had been doing on each of the tours. So speaking from experience I know the lirary is haunted. There is no doubt in my mind.

Spencer says:

May 9, 2006, 8:00 am

the above comments are right i live in boonville IN and have been to the library many times if you want a more factual source read HAUNTED INDIANA u can find it at Barnes & Noble in evansville

me says:

July 18, 2006, 2:29 pm

do u guys not watch “Ghost hunters”? They proved that the library was not haunted that the “apporation” is actually just lights from cars going down the hill by the big window. And the lights are making shadowy figures….now thats not to scary is it….But Im not saying anyone is right or wrong because people have the right to believe what they want.

person says:

August 8, 2006, 12:14 pm

If you people went there on a halloween tour then the owners are going to set things up to just scare the hell out of you. I wish you guys would put real haunted places on here with all the facts instead of the made up ones.

William T. Miller says:

August 11, 2006, 7:18 pm

My group will host an overnight investigation at Willard Library this year on October 21 I have done five overnight investigations at the Library and I have had a few experiences there, but I have to say that TAPS did not prove nothing they said they could not say it was haunted or not. and as for the lights it was one of the members that had a flashlight that he would trun off and on. And for people who have not been on a tour there should not comment on how it is done they do not set things up to scare the hell out of you and they do not give tours on halloween. And this is a real haunted place in Indiana.
William T. Miller
President/Founder Southern Indiana Paranormal Investigators

kiersten says:

October 15, 2006, 5:04 pm

i live right down the block from willard library and it wasnt always a library, it used to be the willard’s house and then after the murder they turned it into a library in remembrance of the “grey lady” if you take a tour of it around halloween they will give you the real true story

vanessa says:

October 15, 2006, 7:42 pm

i have heard for many years that the library is haunted!!also taps were there and they said they could not say yes or no if is haunted!!!i think it is to many stories are the same!!!!!!!
vanessa boonville,indiana

Jessica says:

October 30, 2006, 1:37 am

When I was a kid, my mother took me along on one of genealogy hunts and deposited me in the children’s room in the basement. I was no more than 8 or 9 years old, (so it’s been 20 yrs) but I distinctly remember sitting in a corner, reading a book and minding my own business when it suddenly got extremely cold & someone lightly tapped me on my shoulder. The ONLY other person in the room was the librarian and she was 5 feet away from me. The tap came from behind, so no way was it her. I ran off screaming and crying to mom, and haven’t been back since. But on another note, I wanted to throw in my thoughts on the “car lights” theory. Complete bull ****. With the library being located in the spot that it is in, there’s no way headlights from either direction on the Lloyd Expressway could shine in. Now, if it were coming from Illinois or Indiana Streets, maybe.

Amanda says:

October 31, 2006, 2:33 pm

I lived in Evansville for 5 years and went on the ghost tours at Willard Library. I did not have any experiences myself, but during one of the tours, the elevator door opened by itself and no one could explain it.

I also used to work at the Carpenter home which is now the home for Public Radio(and t.v.) 88.3 WNIN. Mr. Carpenter was responsible for building the Willard Library. The Carpenter home has some activity as well. I used to close the house at night after my shift and I would walk past one of the front offices and smell lilacs. This would happen in the dead of winter. One day another member of the staff was talking about hauntings in the house and mentioned other staff members smelled lilacs before I had even mentioned my experiences. Scary!

Evansville has a rich history of ghosts. I hope more people will explore this area for further haunts.

Nina says:

November 10, 2006, 2:09 pm

I am coming to visit Evansville in the next week and I am going to visit the Library. I also watched the Taps do thier investigation at the Library. I agree that Taps did not say that the location was not haunted! Also they are at the location for one night for the show and it’s not like they did a long term look into the activity. I would like to see a week long investigation at a property like this.. I think that would be interesting! I am going to post if I have any personal experiences at the Willard Library after my visit. Thanks for all the information eveyone has posted. Nina

Nance says:

December 5, 2006, 3:27 pm

You people like “kiersten” and a few others are completely wrong.It was built as a library, and has always been a library,specifically built for research originally.Even on the TAPS episode, the curator was there and explained the story for them.There was NEVER a murder or anything like that.Just more stories that came from some over-zealous Grey Lady fans out there.I have lived in Evansville for a VERY long time and am currently, as I have been for years, studying its ACTUAL history.The donated library and jealous daughter story is the only one based on ANY type of facts.

Jared says:

January 13, 2007, 11:34 pm

I heard this one befor but i got a scrier tue one.

Jared says:

January 13, 2007, 11:35 pm

I heard this one befor. It is real scary, but I got a better one.

wyrd says:

January 31, 2007, 10:46 pm

I helped with the 21-22 Oct 2006 overnight investigation, and I documented anomalous, rapidly moving, brilliant objects with my video recorder under infrared illumination in complete darkness. I also recorded rapping noises, smelled a musty perfume for a few seconds, and possibly recorded a voice stating “‘Cause we seek you”. Visit YouTube and seach for Willard Library; my videos are posted under userID wyrdbewaechterin. I also sampled with some sensors and a datalogger, and recorded unusual spikes of visible light and movement. This was all in the Children’s Library. It is my conclusion that the library is indeed haunted. One caveat: YouTube’s video quality is somewhat low, so you need to look closely and even watch the videos several times to see the anomalous objects. Many are pretty obvious, but some are not due to the lower pixelation/quality degradation brought about by YouTube’s upload and display parameters.
~wyrd

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