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Haunted Grand Rapids

dbrok

By dbrok
in Grand Rapids

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fabulous79 Crossroads

fabulous79

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I lived in a house that I really belive was haunted. It was on Paris Street here in GR, I won't say the address as nobody lives there currently. It was a Adult Foster Care home I worked there and lived on the 3rd floor. Every time I was there alone I would hear a squeeking noise, kinda like a unoiled wheel turning. One day I was in the basement (alone) doing laundry and I heard the squeeking noise. I started looking around following the noise and came to a wall where there appeared to be the mechanics to a old dumb waiter. Even though it wasn't hooked up anymore and appearently hadn't been used in years the wheels on it were turning and nothing I could see was moving them. That really freaked me out! On other occasions the chandaleers in the house would slowly turn, not as if the wind was blowing them but as if they were being slowly spun by hand. On occasions dishes would explode on tables or in the cabinet. There were cold spots in the house, but the thing that really scared me was on the 3rd floor (were I lived) I would see shadows moving. I would be in my livingroom or bedroom with the lights out so it was dark but you could still see somewhat and I could always see shadows moving. The shadows were not of any real shape they were just shadows. At first I thought it was caused by cars driving past at night but I noticed that there were no cars driving past or tree limbs casting shadows. I thought mabe it was the street light shining through the windows casting shadows off the furnature but the furnature wasn't moving so why were the shadows.

I asked my boss who owned the property if he ever saw anything and he said that on occasion when he would mop the dinning room floor he would see footprints like somebody just walked across the wet floor however nobody was there. He also told me of the squeeking noise when he was there alone and the dishes exploding. I asked him if anyone ever died in the house and he said yes 4 people to his knowledge. 3 were patients that died of natural causes over the course of 20 years when he owned the property. But (this really creeped me out!) the 4th was an employee of his that lived in my apartment. This employee died of a drug overdose and was found in bed. This employee had aparently suffered before death. After learning this I was really scared to be in the house alone. I found a different job and moved the following month. I have always been intrigued by ghost stories and hauntings but living in a (haunted house) gets to you after awile. There are several more haunted houses in GR. One I know of is on Lafayette north of Fulton. Its a white greek revival mansion. If you drive past slowly at night you can see a womans figure in turn of the century clothing looking out of the 2nd story window above the front door.

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Weallneedhistory Whistle-Stop

Weallneedhistory

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I see its that time of the year, with fall here, to talk about our favorite ghost stories. I love reading all the stories on here, many I recognize, some I don't. I can tell you that apparently the Bailey House in Lowell/Ada has been torn down, according to my students. There was always alot of speculation about that house, and young tresspassers virtually everynight looking for ghosts.

Keep these fun stories coming. Almost all are based on Local History - which is great!

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e49418 Unincorporated Area

e49418

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... I also recently found out about "Hell's Bridge" in Algoma Township along the Rogue River, which I actually went and visited with some co-workers. My hair is standing up just thinking about it.

http://theshadowlands.net/places/michigan.htm

GRDad - where off of Friske is the turn off? It looks like Friske runs between 12 Mile and 13 Mile, but is only along the river just north of 12 Mile.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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GRDad - where off of Friske is the turn off? It looks like Friske runs between 12 Mile and 13 Mile, but is only along the river just north of 12 Mile.

Sorry I missed this. It's just around the corner as you turn from 12 Mile onto Friske, maybe less than 100 yards North on Friske. There's a pull-off dirt parking area on the right with a trail-head (you can't see the river from the parking area). Take the trail (it's public land) and follow it back and it meets up with the river after about 50 yards or so. Follow the trail along the river until you reach a little tributary that dumps into the Rogue to your left (North). The small metal bridge over that tributary, built so that you can continue hiking along the river, is the one. :o

It's so quiet and desolate in that area that it is a bit creepy. I can't even imagine what it would be like at midnight and with no moon in the sky, because the trees and brush are so thick back there and you're so far away from any city lights. It'd be "black as tar".

Here it is on Yahoo maps. The walk from the parking area back to the bridge is further than I thought.

1438511970_e083649c40_o.jpg

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eagle Whistle-Stop

eagle

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Sorry I missed this. It's just around the corner as you turn from 12 Mile onto Friske, maybe less than 100 yards North on Friske. There's a pull-off dirt parking area on the right with a trail-head (you can't see the river from the parking area). Take the trail (it's public land) and follow it back and it meets up with the river after about 50 yards or so. Follow the trail along the river until you reach a little tributary that dumps into the Rogue to your left (North). The small metal bridge over that tributary, built so that you can continue hiking along the river, is the one. :o

It's so quiet and desolate in that area that it is a bit creepy. I can't even imagine what it would be like at midnight and with no moon in the sky, because the trees and brush are so thick back there and you're so far away from any city lights. It'd be "black as tar".

Just saw this bridge sunday. Rented Kayaks from AAA rentals and they drop you off right near that bridge. Wish I would've known this story...could've freaked my wife out!

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Explorer Unincorporated Area

Explorer

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Anybody know anything about the bridge in Lowell where a bus full of school kids went over? I have heard that if you put your car in neutral in the middle of the bridge, you can get pushed to the other side--with some reports of children's hands on the back bumper afterwards.

I've never heard that story told with it set in Lowell. I'm always skeptical of any local tale with mass tragedy - too easy to research any factual truth. I hear a variation every year, usually some random southern town on some random bridge. The kids' handprints thing is great.

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Nweaver Crossroads

Nweaver

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Back in college I worked for a local photo lab. Shortly after I started the manager quit after having a heated exchange with the owners. A couple weeks later she killed herself. It was quite sad, but then the strangest things started happening.

Machinery in the lab would malfunction - no tech could explain why. Once, one of the owners was putting his personal vacation film through the color developer, and it got jammed and ruined. It was the only time I saw that happen. The dark room was a whole other story: sudden drops in temperature, the looming feeling that someone was standing over you. Nothing ever happened to the staff, it always felt more like the owners of the lab were being tormented - extra labor costs, personal film being destroyed, etc, Regardless, we all quit soon after...it was all just too strange.

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Rhino6885 Hamlet

Rhino6885

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We ventured out last night to try witness some hauntings for ourselves. Our first stop was the Rockford Dam Overlook. It was about 9:30 pm. It was well lit, and there were people out. It didn't feel much like a place that would be haunted. We walked across the Dam and stood and observed for awhile, but saw nothing. On our way out, we asked some teenagers if they had ever heard of a ghost at the dam, and they said yes, but they didn't believe it. They have spent a lot of time at the dam, and haven't witnessed anything strange. Fortunately, they were able to refer us to an abandoned house just outside of downtown that was supposedly the location of some brutal stuff decades ago.

Surprisingly, we were able to find the place with the odd directions we were given. We ventured to the abandoned garage and snooped around. Nothing but an old storage shed. On our way back to the car, we found the corresponding house. We had walked right by it on the way to the barn, but none of us saw it. The front door hadn't been used in so long that there were trees growing right in front of it. I grabbed the rusty doorknob and gave it a pull...IT WAS OPEN! We stepped inside and took a look around. There was graffiti on the walls that appeared like the Blair Witch "dolls." We were sure that it was done by some high school kids who used the house as a party destination. We sat vigilant for a few minutes, but nothing happened. On to the next...

While we were in Rockford, we figured we'd check out the railroad tracks where two girls died a long time ago. The only railroad tracks we could find was the paved trail. Does anybody know if this trail is where the train tracks used to be? If so, were we in the right spot? (just south of 10 mile, under the bridge and into the stretch of forest). We walked down the trail a ways...at about 10:30 pm. Again, we sat and observed for awhile, but nothing happened. So, we went on to the final stop--Hell's Bridge.

Thanks to GRDad, we found the trail easily. When we got there, it was lightly sprinkling. We were alone out there (surprisingly). The trail was a bit overgrown--probably used exclusively by hunters and fisherman. We ventured in, and made it back to the Rogue. From there, we were a bit confused. We hung a left, but couldn't find a bridge. Then, we backtracked and found a trail that appeared to lead back to the Rogue. However, it led us right to the mouth of the tributary...and a narrow steel mesh bridge--with no rails. We stopped. It was the infamous Hell's Bridge. The tale says that the magic happens at midnight, but it was raining, and it was only 11:20 or so. We sat and observed for a few minutes, but like the others, nothing happened. We returned to our vehicle and headed back home.

My thoughts: It was a good time...got the blood flowing. However, nobody saw any evidence that ghosts exist. To be fair, we didn't give any of the locations more than 15-20 minutes to show us something. Also, I'm not completely sure that we were in the right location at the train tracks. I would like to return to Hell's Bridge at midnight sometime. It was a very creepy place. I kept getting the feeling that somebody was out there in the woods while we were walking, and we were the unsuspecting guys from the scary movies...I suppose we all think things like that a little bit.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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So, we went on to the final stop--Hell's Bridge.

Thanks to GRDad, we found the trail easily. When we got there, it was lightly sprinkling. We were alone out there (surprisingly). The trail was a bit overgrown--probably used exclusively by hunters and fisherman. We ventured in, and made it back to the Rogue. From there, we were a bit confused. We hung a left, but couldn't find a bridge. Then, we backtracked and found a trail that appeared to lead back to the Rogue. However, it led us right to the mouth of the tributary...and a narrow steel mesh bridge--with no rails. We stopped. It was the infamous Hell's Bridge. The tale says that the magic happens at midnight, but it was raining, and it was only 11:20 or so. We sat and observed for a few minutes, but like the others, nothing happened. We returned to our vehicle and headed back home.

My thoughts: It was a good time...got the blood flowing. However, nobody saw any evidence that ghosts exist. To be fair, we didn't give any of the locations more than 15-20 minutes to show us something. Also, I'm not completely sure that we were in the right location at the train tracks. I would like to return to Hell's Bridge at midnight sometime. It was a very creepy place. I kept getting the feeling that somebody was out there in the woods while we were walking, and we were the unsuspecting guys from the scary movies...I suppose we all think things like that a little bit.

Oh man, that is exactly how we felt when we went, AND it was in the middle of the day. The trees are so tall and so old, and the brush so thick that everything is so quiet yet so amplified. We swear we kept hearing sticks break or brush moving, but it was probably just a squirrel or something. We too missed the bridge when we got to the tributary, but kept looking around and finally found it upstream a little bit.

But we couldn't get out of there fast enough. By the time we got close to the car, I think we were all in an all-out Blair Witch Sprint! :o:lol::rofl:

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Rhino6885 Hamlet

Rhino6885

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Oh man, that is exactly how we felt when we went, AND it was in the middle of the day. The trees are so tall and so old, and the brush so thick that everything is so quiet yet so amplified. We swear we kept hearing sticks break or brush moving, but it was probably just a squirrel or something. We too missed the bridge when we got to the tributary, but kept looking around and finally found it upstream a little bit.

But we couldn't get out of there fast enough. By the time we got close to the car, I think we were all in an all-out Blair Witch Sprint! :o:lol::rofl:

Haha...I know the feeling. I couldn't get the X-Files theme song out of my head as we were walking back. When we got to the car, I mentioned this to my buddies, and two of them said the same thing. For being 5 grown men, you'd swear we were 10 year old girls as we made the trip out of the woods.

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baldy_priest Crossroads

baldy_priest

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My daughter attended Aquinas College for two years. The main administrative building on the campus Holmdeyne (sp?) has some incredible haunting stories surrounding it. Many of these stories have been confirmed by eye witnesses.

I'm currently a student at Aquinas. One of my close friends has reported some strange activities happening in Holmdene. Most of them happened on the third level, around where the English professors have their offices.

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GR Jackson Hamlet

GR Jackson

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I'm currently a student at Aquinas. One of my close friends has reported some strange activities happening in Holmdene. Most of them happened on the third level, around where the English professors have their offices.

Please check it out and report back. That would be awesome.

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seely Unincorporated Area

seely

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Cool to see all the haunting stories, etc. on here... I think Eastown/Heritage Hill/Downtown in general is a pretty "active" area... GR goes back quite a ways and with the outskirts of downtown being rental and tenament houses a lot of things happened there. Apparently GR nearly burned to the ground around the same time as the Chicago fire... I'm sure theres got to be lingering effects from that.

One good place to check out that no one knows about is the old Poor Farm that used to be off of Plaster Creek in the 32nd and Kalamazoo Ave. area... it was an asylum/poor farm around the turn of the century. The building is long gone, but the numbered graves are still there. A friend's dad grew up there and reported frequent chanting, voices, screams, sightings and mysterious people/things coming in and out of the woods behind his house where the cemetary is. Right now, its behind Luther home--they are expanding last I saw so I'm not sure if they built over the cemetary or not. Its super creepy... even during the day.

For my personal ghost story, it involves us trying to find the Ada Witch at the cemetary off Honeycreek (I believe). Anyways there were four of us, and when we got there we realized every drunk highschool kid was there too. We had a Sony Handicam with nightshot in hand and just walked around filming, and tried to find the older part of the cemetary in the woods at the back of the maintained part. With all the light and noise and kids running around, we gave up and called it a night. I got a call back from one of the guys that was with us a few days later... he said he had something to show me on the video. We watched it on his large screen TV, straight from the camera, and sure enough as two of the guys were standing facing each other, side profiles to the camera with the camera centered in front of them we could see a translucent light shoot across the woods at the back, like someone did a fast sweep with a big flashlight. When it got weird was when the object then shot between the two guys talking and straight at the camera. As it passed between them, it was apparent it was a translucent object that was emitting light. It moved VERY fast. Neither of them saw it as they were talking, nor did the camera op. I have access to a very high end video lab and some very experienced lighting/film people, who reviewed the video, enlarged it, etc and they all agree--it wasn't a light--it was something semi-solid and luminescent...

Curious if anyone knows any good stories from any of the cemetaries around here? Thinking about doing a halloween tour.

I should also add I recently found out the house I am currently renting was inhabited by nuns originally... its kind of a creepy house, an old side-by-side style duplex that has three windows in the attic from the outside, but after talking to the renters on the other side, we each only have one attic window leaving a mysterious third we can't find from the inside. Also, I've recently heard voices and had some really strange/unpleasant dreams with my housemates reporting some of the same.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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I just heard/read a story about a haunted wooded area near Lowell. It's the site of a Boyscout Camp right now, and actually appeared in the paper recently because the city of Lowell is trying to determine if they should sell it for development or not. I don't know all the details of the story, but apparently a lumberjack was slain by a banshee in the woods a long time ago (I know, banshees aren't real :P ) I've been in the wooded area recently and the place is really cool, but downright freaky. We actually heard a low "bump....... bump...... bump" noise from up over a ridge when we were there. Still don't know what that was. :scared: There are also some beautiful trails along a ridge above the Flat River that are almost like hiking along cliffs, with steep drops on both sides.

Sorry that all my haunting stories are outdoors, but I enjoy hiking. :)

This Yahoo map is centered right on it:

http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=h&trf=0&amp...51397&mag=3

It's all public land, so you can park at the turnaround. Go behind the boy scout building and head up the hill to the East. Take the trail that leads into the woods to the right, not the one that leads up the powerline easement area. About halfway up the hill, cut to the right into the woods deeper and do some off-trail exploring. Good luck....

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

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Those sound like true ghost "stories". I grew up in Rockford and always played on the railroad tracks (the paved trail was indeed the railroad). My house even backed up to the railroad tracks. I never heard any stories about the 2 girls or the ghost by the river.

We were always freaked out about a ghost on Jericho hill (supposedly from a car/pedestrian crash) but I think that was a tall tale.

Probably the freakiest thing I lived by back then was a guy who had two big cages in his front yard. I guess he used to keep Bears in them in the 50's/60's. The bears were long gone by the time I was around, but the cages were still there. Can you imagine the liability?!? :)

Joe

While we were in Rockford, we figured we'd check out the railroad tracks where two girls died a long time ago. The only railroad tracks we could find was the paved trail. Does anybody know if this trail is where the train tracks used to be? If so, were we in the right spot? (just south of 10 mile, under the bridge and into the stretch of forest). We walked down the trail a ways...at about 10:30 pm. Again, we sat and observed for awhile, but nothing happened. So, we went on to the final stop--Hell's Bridge.
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GR Jackson Hamlet

GR Jackson

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Another one from Fairmont Square, my sister in law swears that there is a little boy dressed in 1930's style clothing appears every once in a while. Once when she was in the kitchen there was a boy in there behind her who she assumed was my step son, so she was talking away to him until she looked out the window to see him playing outside. Then the boy in the kitchen with her was gone.

I have also heard that the house with the pillars on Lyon street next to the parking lot across the street from Fountain school is haunted. I don't know much more about it, but maybe someone else has.

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wpar_nicole Crossroads

wpar_nicole

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I am the author of an upcoming book that will feature haunted locations in and around the Grand Rapids area.

I am currently looking for locations to add to the book. If you have ever lived in a haunted house, I would love to hear from you. All identities are kept confidential and not disclosed in the book.

I am curerntly working on Hells Bridge and the Michigan Bell Building, but I would love to hear about any location.

You can either message me on here or email me privately at:

[email protected]

On the Paranormal Michigan Book Series website (URL is below), we are trying to create the largest database of Michigan hauntings, UFO sightings, Dogman, etc. Feel free to use the online form to submit a location or two! Paranormal teams are welcomed to submit their cases as well!

Thanks!

Nicole

Paranormal Michigan Book Series

http://www.paranormalmichigan.com

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