Residents Say There Are Many Haunted Locations in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Kalamazoo is a city of just more than 70,000 residents situated in Southwest Michigan a few hours north of Chicago. The city is home to a number of institutions including Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College and the downtown branch of Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and the high number of area bars, theaters, museums and art venues speaks to the level of creative energy generated by the population attracted by such a concentration of establishments of higher learning.

Among the local "haunts" however, are a few with a reputation for actually being haunted. One of the higher-profile of these is Henderson Castle, a private residence built on the top of a hill overlooking the city in 1895. In 2005 the castle was purchased by area residents Peter and Laura Livingstone-McNelis and was turned into a bed and breakfast and meetings and banquets center.

Denise Gowen-Krueger, secretary and case manager for Southern Michigan Paranormals, a paranormal group that has investigated the property a number of times in the past two years, said the group has picked up a number of spirits at the location including those of Frank and Mary Henderson (the castle's original owners), an unidentified little girl and a Spanish-American War veteran named Clare Burleigh.

As recently as October, Gowen-Krueger said, she and another investigator were conducting a live video broadcast over the Internet from the basement of the castle and had heard a disembodied voice come through a nearby radio that was turned off.

"The male voice actually came over the radio, and it was turned off," she said. "The voice says, 'Kim said it's proof.' "

There was somebody named Kim in the show's online chat room at the time, Gowen-Krueger said, and she's one of their very good friends.

"They actually heard it on the show, too,'" she said. "The listeners on the show could hear it."

Despite spending much of his time on the property as operator of the bed and breakfast, Peter Livingstone-McNelis said he's never experienced anything out of the ordinary, though he said both former and current staff members have said they have felt a presence. And his son, now 11, reported seeing an apparition of a woman in period clothing in the Victorian Room of the castle a few years ago.

Still, Livingstone-McNelis doesn't seem to be too concerned about the phenomenon.

"If there's a presence it's a very good presence," Livingstone-McNelis said. "In five years I've never had anyone freak out."

As for other area haunted buildings of interest, Gowen-Krueger noted the State Theatre in downtown Kalamazoo and the Blackhawk Bar & Grill in Richland as two other "active" locations for spirits. Investigations at both locations have resulted in a number of "personal experiences" and EVPs, she said.

"Personal experiences are things that cannot be documented," she said, mentioning touching or seeing things that weren't caught on film as examples. "I saw an apparition."

The State Theatre in particular, Gowen-Krueger said, is particularly haunted, "very, very active."

"It's never let us down, ever," she said. "From the very first time we walked in we've pulled an extreme amount of information out of there, an extreme amount of evidence."