Real Haunted House
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
By Robin Wright
Violence. Death. Destruction. When you walk onto the campus of the University of Alabama, you are walking into a place where gunfights, riots, and war have left a number of phantoms behind to haunt the hallways and grounds of the U of A.
The U of A opened its doors to the public in 1831, having about 100 students. Since its inception, the university had disciplinary problems, with gunfights on the grounds not being all that uncommon. After 29 years of trouble, the school was transformed into a military academy, and just in time to train soldiers for the Civil War. Some say that in April of 1865, a Union soldier came onto campus to sign a treaty. When he entered the cadet guardhouse, now known as Jason’s Shrine or as The Little Round House, he was beaten, tortured and murdered. Another version of the story is that when Union troops were marching to the university–specifically to burn it down–two confederate soldiers stayed behind to kill a few Yankees. When three Federal soldiers asked one of the young cadets where to find some whiskey, he told them to go into the small structure. Lying in wait was the second southern cadet who shot the three soldiers when they entered the building. If you put your ear up to the door, you can sometimes hear soldiers prowling for whiskey. On a foggy night, some say the spirits of soldiers can be seen marching through the quad to an unknown spectral destination.
Smith Hall has also had some spooky incidents reported from within. Some say that they have heard Dr. Smith’s carriage, which is exhibited on the main floor, careen through the building, the sound of wheels and horses coming out of nowhere. Footsteps also have been heard entering the upstairs classrooms and the sounds of a ghostly lecture coming from a classroom at night. One night, a few students tried to catch what they thought was an intruder in the building. They followed the voices to a classroom, and when they entered the room, the once lined-up rows of desks were scattered. They later discovered that a boiler explosion had killed a number of students who were in the room years before. In the basement, students have complained of feeling watched while working in the lab. An assistant was pushed into a closet one night and locked in. When he tried to open the closet door, it would not release him until morning. From then on, he ignored any out of the ordinary sounds, all interest in investigation had been sucked out of him.
The most common complaint students have is microwaves starting, stopping and making strange noises, even when the microwave is unplugged. Photos are developed showing light orbs floating through them, and footsteps are heard at night. Some say that a girl committed suicide by lighting herself on fire on the 13th floor of Tutwiler Hall. Shadowy forms of people have been spotted speeding through the halls.
Gorgas Library still entertains the ghost of its namesake, Amelia Gayle Gorgas and the Music Library is haunted by a man in black who wanders the stacks, sometimes touching people looking through materials. Hoole Special Collections Library has an elevator that will still occasionally drop off ghostly riders when the power has been turned off.
Even Tennessee Williams has a part of the hauntings at the University. Marian Gallaway, the theater director during the mid-twentieth century, has been sighted in white on the stage in her theater in Rowand-Johnson Hall. Marian’s husband had left her to pursue a romance with Tennessee Williams, and Williams supposedly used Marian as the inspiration for Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire.
The students of the University of Alabama have a lot more “school spirit” than they may have bargained for.
111 comments on this haunted house. Share your story »
111 Comments |
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Wesley says: |
September 14, 2006, 1:55 pm |
What building is this you are talking about? I’d like to know and do yall have any info on anywere else someone can visit. I’m half and half. i’m half open mined and still half sceptic but thats only cause my parents raised me that way.
angel says: |
September 16, 2006, 8:28 am |
alana the parana
jerry says: |
September 28, 2006, 8:14 am |
if you believe in ghost and you live in alabama,we’ll i’ve got your ghost fix. visit my website at http://www.northeastalabamaparanormalsociety.com or search the web for neaps ghost.
jerry says: |
September 28, 2006, 2:16 pm |
sorry that’s (well) on thata last post
jerry says: |
September 28, 2006, 2:16 pm |
lol, did it again sry
concerned20 year old says: |
October 8, 2006, 2:06 pm |
these are interesting stories and bad mouth ppl
sierra says: |
October 15, 2006, 7:00 pm |
thats cute.;P
Gwinda says: |
October 20, 2006, 10:45 pm |
The building this occurred in is called Jason’s Shrine. It is a small round building that is located near Gargus Library on the quad. It used to be the gatehouse when the University was an Academy during the Civil War. There are several other places of interest. Smith Hall is supposedly haunted by the professor it is named after. Dr. Smith’s carriage is exhibited on the main floor of the building and it has been reported you can hear the wheels and horses’ hooves pulling it. Also, you can hear footsteps entering the large classooms upstairs and lecturing coming from the room at night when the building is only opened to doctoral students. Several students reported they felt someone overlooking their work when they were in the basement lab. Another place on campus is a fraternity house haunted by a young girl named Bella Donna that was murdered by her father and buried in the wall. When the fraternity built a new house on fraternity row they took a brick from the old house and she has been seen by several frat boys in the new house. She woke several boys covering them up in the middle of the night and has been seen on the stairs numerous times. If anyone knows of any other stories, please post comments. Thanks and…Roll Tide!!!!
Tyler Richards says: |
October 24, 2006, 7:35 pm |
Ok ok let me be the first to despell this myth. The building that you are talking about is called “The Little Round House” and it sits next to Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library right off of the quad on the University of Alabama Campus. This House served as a sentry station for the cadets that used to be stationed at The Univerisity when it was still a military academy. So far as i know, and i’ve been in Tuscaloosa a while this area is not haunted, or at least i haven’t heard anything about it. I have been on campus late at night and have never experienced anything at the little White house, so i have to say that at least for myself, this place is not haunted, as far as the Frat house goes, i dunno, i try to stay as far away from Fraternities as i can get. 
adam says: |
October 30, 2006, 11:11 am |
It’s called both the Jason’s Shrine and the Little Roundhouse. It’s where a secret society now meets that only allows 20 people per year. You have to put your ear to the door at night to hear the noises according to the guy who lead my tour around campus. I’d reccommend doing it at 3:00 AM because that’s the “witching hour.”
melissa says: |
October 31, 2006, 4:39 pm |
im 13 and really really upset all yall are actin a fool ghosts do exist and stop talking about them like that ill be sure to get ya 1 day
bama4life says: |
November 14, 2006, 9:36 am |
Heck yeah, I didn’t know that place was haunted, that is my favorite university. Roll Tide Roll.
bama4life says: |
November 14, 2006, 9:42 am |
Oh yeah and for all of you that call us hicks you just need to shut your damn mouth. You are all just preppy wigger homos who will burn in hell. Have a nice day.
katie says: |
November 22, 2006, 12:50 pm |
well i never knew the school was so haunted, guess iam a loser like that .
roll tide roll…. john you are the best qb i know .
katie says: |
November 22, 2006, 12:53 pm |
wow i nevr knew our school was so haunted, guess i am a loser like that. roll tide roll…. john your the best qb i know .
Carolynn says: |
December 21, 2006, 10:11 pm |
My dog likes to eat my underwear…and I’m properly cleaned down there, too, so it’s not like I’m dirty and she likes the taste…she may be a lesbian…yes, my dog is a lesbian…and even worse, an incest lesbain because I am her mother…
Grace says: |
January 4, 2007, 5:11 pm |
Hey that was a okay story but could you actually make it into a get-chils kind of story
winston says: |
January 8, 2007, 12:46 pm |
how like an alabama fan to lie
Vanessa says: |
January 10, 2007, 3:53 pm |
To Winston…War Eagle!!!!!But they are right this is not a sports page…Even though Auburn kicks Alabamas butt every year…..Back to the comments–to you who think this is all bull,Why in the H*** are you looking at this anyway.If you don’t believe don’t bother to be on this web page..
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Mattthew says:
August 23, 2006, 5:15 am
I beleive you