Haunted Hoosier Trails. Wanda Lou Willis
General Manager, Editor-in-Chief, Warsaw Time Union
The Ghosts of “I” Street:
Jim Rodgers, Curator, La Porte County Historical Museum
Paukooshuck’s Ghost:
Shirley Willard
Joan Dugger, Historian, Culver Antiquarium & Historical Society
Linda Rippey, Executive Director, Marshall County Historical Society
Child’s Play:
Dr. John Johnson, owner of the Inn at Aberdeen
Irline Holley, Portage Public Library
Osceola Poltergeist:
Sean Walton, Reference Librarian, St. Joseph County Public Library
Oscar, The Beast of Busco:
Susan Richey, Whitley County Historical Society
Things go Bump in a Grand Manor—Hazelcot Castle:
Susan Richey
The White Hall Tavern:
Don Dunaway, Franklin County Historian
The Plantation Club’s Hoodlums and Haunts:
Michael and Doni Nickerson, owners of Casio’s Restaurant
Sam Maag . . . is it You?:
Toni R. Hepfer, present homeowner
“Good Night, Mr. ‘G’”:
Beth E. Oljace, Anderson Public Library
Miss Robert’s Mansion:
Mr. Charles Sanqunetti, present homeowner
The Acton Mystery:
Sylvia C. Henricks, Vice President, Franklin Township, Marion County Historical Society
The Slippery Noodle:
Hal Yeagy, Jr., Owner
The Peek-A-Boo Ghost:
Bill and Berky Davis, present homeowners
Locust Hill:
Dave and Dixie Arnold, present homeowners
The Ultimate Long Distance Call:
Mary Margaret Lacoli, Vigo County Public Library
The Azalia Bridge:
Jennifer Gearries, Director, Bartholomew County Historical Society
The Laughery Creek Road Massacre:
Chris McHenry, Lawrenceburg Public Library District
Blue Balls of Light:
Ben Schneider, reporter
Dave B. Floyd, County Historian
The Legend of Poor Pollie: Linton’s Beloved Eccentric:
Mary Witte, researcher
Hush Little Baby, Don’t You Cry,
The Medora Haunted House,
The Witch of White Chapel:
Charlotte Sellers, Jackson County Public Library
Dark Hollow,
Purple Head Bridge,
The Spirit of Otter Pond,
The Coal Miner’s Ghosts:
Richard Day, Research Assistant, Vincennes University Library
The Light at the End of the Tunnel:
Zach Merchant, Reference Assistant, Bedford Public Library
Sue Medland, Librarian, Mitchell Public Library
Paoli’s Bluebeard:
Ann Colbert, Journalism Coordinator, Indiana University-Purdue
University at Fort Wayne
The Ghost Rider of River Road,
Vengeance is Mine, Saith the Lord:
Debbie Siebert
What’s Going on at the Tell City Library?:
Debbie Siebert, Librarian, Tell City Public Library
Paul Sanders, Assistant Director, Tell City Public Library
Kay Siebert, Bookmobile Director, Tell City Public Library
Brandi Sanders, Bookmobile Assistant, Tell City Public Library
Flat Creek Terror,
The Gullick House Ghost:
Sandy McBeth, Historian
Poor Mary,
Day is Done, Gone the Sun:
Jeannie Noe Carlisle, Historian
A Gentle Presence:
Lisa Fisher, present homeowner
Ellyn R. Kern, informant
The Ditney Man:
Rod Spaw, informant
The Pekin Ghost:
Pam French, owner
Some of these spooky sites belong to private owners. You may drive by, but please don’t ask the present homeowners to tour you.
Northern Indiana
ALLEN COUNTY
Created in 1823 the county was named for Colonel John Allen, a Kentucky lawyer and Indian fighter who aided in the liberation of Fort Wayne in 1812 when Tecumseh, the Shawnee Chief, laid siege to the fort. This was the last serious threat from the Indians. The county comprises a good deal of northeastern Indiana.
Fort Wayne was platted and designated the county seat in 1824 and named for General Anthony Wayne, who built the first American fort after defeating Little Turtle in 1794 on the site of the important portage of the Maumee and St. Mary’s rivers. Other variant names for Fort Wayne have been Kekionga (blackberry patch), Fort Miami, French Town, Kisakon, Miami Town, Omee Town, Post Miami, and Twightwee Village. In the nineteenth century the town attracted industrialists, bankers and civic leaders who made the city a model of progressive thought and action. Its 1902 beaux arts courthouse is considered to be one of the finest examples of that style of architecture in the world and has recently been restored.
Fort Wayne is the hometown of actresses Carole Lombard and Shelley Long. Other famous individuals who have lived there are Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas, designer Bill Blass, and television inventor Philo T. Farnsworth. Today it is the second largest city in the state, a center of industry and commerce, and Allen County is home of national corporate headquarters and automobile-related attractions.
It was 1965 when Laura and Ralph McCaffrey moved into their new home at 922 Columbia Avenue. The neighbors welcomed them, not with apple pies, but with whispered warnings! “The house is haunted.”
They smiled indulgently. Ghosts? During nearly forty years of living in the Long house, the McCaffreys have changed their minds. They’re convinced