Last Halloween, you may remember I penned a piece on a famous almost old grad who did not survive his Plebe year at West Point, Edgar Allen Poe. Though the hit Netflix show, Wednesday, claims he is a graduate of Nevermore Academy (fictional—I googled), he did in fact attend my rockbound highland home for a dreary six months.
This year, though, I’ve decided to focus on another spooky, Army haunt. Not a man, but a place. This is a location possibly more feared now than when it first opened in 1827. Nary a Soldier walks these hallowed grounds without an extra glance over his or her shoulder. Home to PMEs, Prison, and possibly unpalatable DFAC provisions, I present to you, Fort Leavenworth.
I am only joking, of course; I’ve heard wonderful things about the DFAC. Fort Leavenworth was the first settlement in Kansas territory and is the oldest active Army post west of the Mississippi. After about four days of research, I am also confident in saying it is by far the most haunted. So, buckle up and let’s explore some of these happy haunts together!
St. Ignatius Chapel
This chapel’s original location is actually the current location of a home at 632 Thomas Avenue. In 1875, the church burned down with a young priest still inside, unfortunately claiming his life. Ever the fiscally savvy institution, the Army decided to reuse the salvageable building material from the tragedy, to include several bricks which now makeup the current home’s fireplace. The scorched bricks line the chimney, some even have names etched into them, like Father Fred. Several families who have lived in 632 Thomas claim to have seen Father Fred walking through the house, adorned in his priestly robes.
After the first chapel burned down in 1875, a new one was built at the corner of McClellan and Pope. Unfortunately, on December 16, 2000 in the wee hours of the morning, this chapel too burst into flames. It makes you wonder, is this a matter of bad luck? An angry poltergeist? Or perhaps, a Soldier with a mild, arson hobby?
Original cornerstone of St. Ignatius used after the fire to rebuild the new church, which subsequently also burned.
Old Disciplinary Barracks
Established in 1874, the Disciplinary Barracks were made up of a series of towers, twelve to be exact. The barracks operated from 1875 until 2002, when new barracks were eventually erected. In the initial years, the Army only had the bandwidth to partially man each tower, meaning not all towers housed guards. Eight Tower was never manned and, as a result of this, on one dreary night, a prisoner climbed to the tower and took his own life. After the tragic suicide, the control tower reported receiving several calls from Tower Eight, even though the tower was never manned and didn’t even have a phone line. When the prison was functioning, roving patrols reported seeing a man in the abandoned tower, waving a rifle in their direction.
Building 65 is also located within the compound, as it was once the prison hospital. Until 2002, Soldiers reported hearing disembodied voices, footsteps, and screams coming from the elevator shafts.
Courtesy of AUP.
The Rookery
The Rookery is a duplex location at 12-14 Summer Place. The building was formerly housing for single men, hence rookery: a breeding colony of rooks, which are basically smaller ravens (they quote nevermore). Built in 1832, it is the oldest house on post and has remained continuously occupied. Among ghost enthusiasts, which now includes the two of us, it is widely recognized as one of the most haunted buildings in Kansas. The most commonly sighted ghost is a woman with long, dark hair who can be seen walking the halls. There is also an elderly woman and young girl, who can be seen throwing a temper tantrum. Residents report being woken up in the middle of the night to a child stomping her feet or an old woman muttering to herself in the corner of the room. Why live off post when you can give your full BAH to live in a real-life haunted house!
Courtesy of HipPostcard.
I have a limited word count on here due to reader attention span and the amount of free time I have to moonlight as a true crime investigator. But, if you’re interested in doing a little homework on other haunted spots in Fort Leavenworth, start by plugging The Officers’ Quarters, Sumner Place, and The National Cemetery into your preferred search engine.
I know some of you Hardos might not believe in ghosts, and that’s okay! I still think there is one thing we can all agree on, it doesn’t matter if it’s 1925 or 2025, Fort Leavenworth is a spooky place. If not for its long-gone residents, certainly for its current ones on the northeast side of post.
With that, I wish all our readers a happy, healthy, and haunted Halloween.
CPT Sarah Chamberlin does in fact have a real job outside of The Harding Project Substack EIC. She is the Headquarters Company Commander, US Army. After command, she will teach English at West Point.