Haunted Spots in Neosho, Missouri

The small Ozark town of Neosho, Missouri is ringed by the ancient Ozark hills. There is a rich history that dates from the first pioneers to the present time and with history comes the potential for hauntings. This guide to paranormal places in and around Neosho will guide the would-be ghost hunter or the curious to sites where they just may have a personal experience.

On the southern edge of Neosho, the former Camp Crowder, an Army post now decommissioned, dates back to just before World War II. In the early 1940's, the government decided to make a new post and came into what was then a quiet farming area. Families were moved out of what would soon become the Army base and in a short time, Camp Crowder was built. Camp Crowder is well known as the "real" Campy Swampy, the place that cartoonist Mort Walker based his well-known comic strip Beetle Bailey on. Other famous folk stationed at Camp Crowder include Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner, and Tillman Franks. Today, the former Camp Crowder area is home to the local industrial park, the local Y, and a junior college, Crowder College. The former Army post is also home to something else - ghostly presences from another era.

On the campus of Crowder College - as noted in an article in FATE Magazine a few years ago - students and faculty often experience the sound of footsteps when there is no one walking down the narrow corridors. In the vast acres that were once a training ground for Army troops, the sounds of voices can often be heard when there is nothing more present than squirrels and rabbits. Near the site of a former motor pool, some folks report sensing the presence of a soldier who worked on Army vehicles there. Others report the smell of cooking food near one of the old mess halls. Although today the junior college features new dormitories for students, the original dorms had once served as Army family housing. Students sometimes reported the same type of events, unexplained footsteps and phantom smells.

Along a lonely stretch of road that once led to one of the camp's gates, some report seeing an old farmer in blue denim overalls walking over the land that was once his farm. Those sightings are not all that far from one of the small family cemeteries that remained on post even after the Army moved in.

Another military related ghostly sighting in the area is connected to a former Army helicopter now on display in the city's Morse Park. Although the helicopter was disabled so that it could not be flown, park goers have reported seeing a man at the controls, a neat feat since the helicopter is displayed about fifty feet in the air and is unreachable from the ground. Some even claim that he is a local boy, a Vietnam era soldier who perished in his copter in 'Nam.

A few blocks away, the local historical museum once housed the sheriff's home and jail. Now the structure is the centerpiece of a historical park that features the main museum as well as a log cabin and former schoolhouse. Museum visitors have reported someone grasping at bag straps and hands upstairs and others have reported a luminous figure running across the parking lots.

Old homes ring the original area of the town that was platted back in 1839 and many of these homes have reported various manifestations. One older brick Victorian home has been photographed and when the pictures are developed, figures appear to be standing in the upstairs windows.

North of Neosho but within the same county, the Spooklight has attracted the curious for generations. Dating back to the earliest settlers when it was reported to be located in what was a spot in the deep woods, this ball of light has appeared on a still lonely, remote road. Studied by the Army Corps of Engineers, featured on national television programs, and written about in countless books and articles, the Spooklight defies explanation. Appearing in a "V" between the trees that line the road, the ball of light appears to pulsate. At times, it seems to move closer to the watchers and then retreat. Some even report it dancing on the hoods of cars. Stories claim it is the ghost of two Native American lovers who were forbidden to wed so jumped to their death from a nearby cliff. Others say it is the ghost of a miner (this is a former mining area) searching for his family who were massacred by Indians.

These are just a few of the ghosts that haunt the small Missouri town of Neosho!