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Cowles Hall

History and Layout

Cowles Hall, built in 1855, was the first building on campus. More importantly it has been the site of the most paranormal activity on the college's grounds.

It has been documented that Cowles is split into two parts, both architecturally and paranormally. It is said that the original section of the building is the “evil” side. The “good” side is the addition on the backside of the building.

The Disturbing Past of Cowles Hall

The site that Cowles Hall was built upon was used for executions at one time. It was common practice for people living in the colonial era up to the mid-eighteen hundreds to pick a high point in the town, such as a hill, to erect a gallows for public executions. That seems like a plausible explanation for the abundance of paranormal energy that exists in Cowles

Cowles Hall Has It's Many Eyes on You

I know from personal experience that this is true. When walking past Cowles there is a feeling of being watched that can wash over you.

One night while the college was on one of it's many breaks, a friend and I were walking around campus. I was sharing with her the many stories I have heard throughout the years involving the alleged ghosts that haunt the buildings. When we reached Cowles Hall, like children, we dared each other to walk up on to the steps and peer through the glass of the front doors. We did so, of course. We pressed our faces against the glass because the glare from the streetlights made it difficult to see in. I wish I could report to you that a ghost jumped out at us, but sadly we did not have such an experience. However, suddenly I felt as though something was looking back at me. It was an uneasy feeling to say the least. I then looked over at my companion to see if she was experiencing the same feeling. When I looked she was gone. No she didn't disappear! She was running down the stairs. I chased after her yelling, "what? what happened?". Once we got a good distance from the building she told me that she too had felt that something was watching her, and unlike me she wasn't going to stick around to see what it was.

Resident Ghosts of Cowles

There are countless ghosts in Cowles Hall. I’ve yet to assign an actual number. But if ghosts were vampires Cowles Hall would be the Hellmouth.

Ghost #1

I have heard about a young girl that committed suicide in the Hall. Apparently she jumped from the third floor and died when hitting the first floor. She leaped through an opening in the stairwell on the inside of the building. Her motivation is vague. Some believe that she was stressed over finals. Other stories say that she killed herself over her boyfriend. I tend to believe the second one because that is the one I have heard from employees of the college.

A student source has told me that the girl's boyfriend, had just returned from war (vague on which war) and was going to dump her. Heartbroken and unable to accept this fate she killed herself. That same day he had planned to ask her to marry him.

Ghost #2

There is the ghost of the attic. I'm still not clear on this one. Not much is known about this ghost. Except that the attic has been sealed up for years and there have been reports of whispering and also lights floating down the hallway.

Ghost # 3

There have been reports of a girl in a white dress/nightgown being spotted.

Ghost # 4

There is a ghost that hung herself upstairs. I know that is vague. But when I find out more I will let you guys know.

The Unexpected Ghosts (A Must Read!!! You will be shocked)

In the late 1990’s the drama department housed their costume department in Cowles Hall. The actors and actresses involved in the theatre productions would get changed and do their makeup in Cowles Hall. Here is an excerpt from an email that I received from an alumni:

“The most interesting [story] that I heard was that Cowles Hall was built on the hill where most of the executions of criminals took place. Apparently, there were many stories circulating about Cowles Hall during the late eighties, early nineties (I’m not sure what stories were circulating). There were so many that someone, whether it was an alumni or faculty, hired a psychic to come into Cowles Hall and go around. Throughout all the upper floors, the psychic sensed many female spirits, which was not unusual considering that Cowles was once the only building of an all girls' school. She claimed that the vast majority of female spirits were harmless. However, upon entering the basement, she immediately sensed the presence of an angry male spirit. She asked him what he was doing there and he told her that he had been executed on the hill where Cowles Hall now stood. When she asked him what his crime had been, he answered that it had been a crime of a sexual nature (rape). Her final question to the ghost was what he was still doing hanging around Cowles Hall. His reply, ‘I like to watch the pretty girls undress’. Kind of creepy when you consider that all the actresses would change there before a show. One time that I was in Cowles Hall with [a friend] looking around the costume room, we began to hear banging on the walls and the building seemed to shake. [My friend] sternly demand that the spirit leave us alone and it did after that. [I knew another girl who] worked in the costume department (I think she may have been the costume headmistress, but I can't really remember). One night, while in Cowles Hall alone, in the costume room, she had the feeling that she was being watched. She looked up and in the doorway she saw a man in overalls looking at her. She found it odd that she hadn't heard him approach, considering the floor boards are incredibly old and creaky. She greeted him with a Hello, to which he just nodded once. She next asked him if he needed anything and he only nodded. Feeling a little creeped out, as the man was kind of creepy looking, she looked away and continued with her sewing. She looked back up after a few seconds and found that he had disappeared. This she found frightening since she hadn't heard him leave so she rushed out and found a couple of campus security guards and asked them to search Cowles Hall with her for the strange man. Of course, he was nowhere to be found. Now, when I attended Elmira, they were still giving tours of Cowles Hall and I was friends with most of the people giving the tours so I got to go on quite a few of them. The last one of the day was being led by my friend who was a senior the year I was a freshman. During the last tour, there was a door on the third floor that kept slamming shut every time we opened it. On the way out of Cowles Hall, her and I were at the rear of the group going down a flight of steps from the second floor to the first when she suddenly stopped and turned to me. ‘Why did you just pull my hair?’ she asked. I of course, hadn't pulled on her hair at all. Now, the most common rumors of ghostly activity in Cowles Hall involve tugging on hair, someone brushing up against you when no one is there or hearing someone whispering incoherently in your ear”.

Happy Halloween

In 2003 for Halloween the college wanted to hold a haunted house in Cowles Hall (every couple of years the students want to do this). However in order to do so they needed people to work at the haunted house. Needless to say a line of volunteers didn't immediately form. A riot didn't ensue with the faculty and staff screaming "pick me! pick me!". No one wanted to work at the thing. Well I don't know for a fact that NO ONE wanted to. There are always those obnoxious people that say "I'm not afraid. There is no such thing as ghosts". Those people piss me off. They should all be locked in a haunted building alone for a night with no lights and then in the morning we'll see what they say.

Hopefully the college will never allow it because it is a horribly dangerous idea. For the people and more importantly for the ghosts.

Construction in Cowles

Okay so the college wants to fix up Cowles. And they should. After all it's an important piece of history to our college. Well actually to the entire nation. If you haven't read on the site yet EC was the first accredited women's college in the nation, founded in 1855. (Sorry I know how obnoxious it gets hearing that all of them time.)

A college employee told me the following:

"They are remodeling Cowles Hall, to reopen for classrooms. Not too long ago a construction worker (from an outside source, not a college employee) went to go to the second floor and took the creaky old elevator. Well the elevator stopped halfway in between second and first floors. He said that he heard voices of little children and some other disturbing sounds and could not get the elevator working. He finally got it to go back down to the first floor, and left, telling his boss that he quit and no matter how much money, he wasn't going back in there".

That's some fucked up shit! Isn't it? Again I ask you why are there children ghosts in campus buildings. There must be a reason. If any of you know please email me. I've come up with a theory of my own simply based on my common sense.

These children died/or lived in buildings that surrounded the college and then as the college has grown and demolished the neighborhood these spirits have been misplaced. Ghosts don't have to haunt the place they died at. After all if they did imagine how many ghosts would be in hospitals.

The Infirmary

At one time the top floor of Cowles Hall was used as an infirmary and here comes the best part....People Died There!!! Now before you start getting all pissed off at me for celebrating the fact that people died I will explain myself. My excitement is for the evidence itself. This greatly strengthens my case of the haunting of Cowles.

Tradition at Its Best

At Elmira College they love tradition. Hell they shove it down your throat every chance they get. Right kiddies? Well there is one tradition that I've always been fond of myself. It's a rite of passage really. It's breaking into Cowles Hall. Now I'm not condoning it. Nor encouraging it. But if you do it take pictures and email them to me.

The following came from a very brave freshman---

"I'm a part of the dazzling class of '07 at Elmira College. I love your website and I'm glad to know that many of those stories that are on there are true, definitely have backup, and spread across our entire campus. We went into Cowles on May Days, after the dance. We checked every single door in the back first, finding them all to be locked. Finally we decided "what the hell" and tried the front door facing the street. It was unlocked. We had all heard the stories and [cautiously] walked in, afraid of what we would fine. For some reason, there were lights on, but only on the first floor.

"We found a grand staircase that wound its way upstairs and being slightly daring, wanted to check it out. Before we could go very far, a bat flew out at our heads, chasing us out of the building. We were walking back to our dorm and decided we wanted to go back, this time with cameras. After grabbing them, and working up more nerve, we went back in. This time, taking pictures like it was our jobs and looking in every corner. We found a large room with columns and a small stage in it. As Molly was walking towards the stage area, I heard footsteps, more than just hers. I thought it was just my imagination getting carried away, but a glance at Melissa told me that I wasn't the only one that heard it. We both called out to Molly, she stopped, but the footsteps continued. A little freaked, we continued taking pictures. We found the top of the stairs that led to the basement, but we all felt so creeped out by just looking down them, that we decided to just leave."

The Legend of Hogan’s Alley

"Just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy the website and that I have actually seen one of the ghosts in Cowles Hall. I graduated from Elmira a couple years ago...a friend of mine used to work as a student worker for B&G. He had a key to Cowles because B&G stores a lot of seasonal things in Cowles...i.e. lawn mowers, etc and he didn’t want the key anymore, so he gave it to me. Anyway...I have been in Cowles Hall several times, and have seen the ghost on fourth floor, as well as heard things up there that I cannot logically account for. On fourth floor there are two main hallways that go off of the circular central area in opposite directions. Hogan's Alley, and Paradise Alley I believe are their names. [I’m] not sure how they got them, you may want to check that out sometime. In any case...the story went that if you went to fourth floor, and walked to the entrance to Hogan’s Alley (I think, but it may be switched) and look back toward paradise alley, you would see the ghost. So I figured what the hell, and gave it a try. Well it actually worked. It's obviously a female form and it's not like in movies where you see lots of detail and stuff. The thing [was] very general. I mean like...it all sort of blended in with the rest of the figure but it's a misty looking type of thing. [It was] kind of like fog, but lighter color. Whitish. If it had been darker in the central area, maybe it would have been easier to see but both of the hallways are pitch dark and the central area is lit. It crosses the hallway from the right side to the left. Pretty slowly. As you look down the hallway, it crosses it about thirty, maybe forty feet down. I wasn’t nervous like I thought I would have been. It was exciting, but very calm feeling at the same time. I felt a sense of peace."

"Not to sound stupid but I have had quite a few experiences in Cowles Hall. Some of the times I’ve been in there nothing has happened. But others. The same night I saw the ghost on fourth floor, I also heard a voice on fourth floor as well. It's funny, I was one of those people that didn’t believe…before I saw her."

The Picture

"During my freshman year, some of my friends went in and decided it would be fun to take one of the photos that they found. One of the guys put the picture in his room. The next evening, they tried to wake him but he wouldn’t wake up. Only after they removed the picture from his room did he wake up."

Possession

From the Ghostmaster: In 2001 a threesome of EC girls entered into Cowles Hall. While there one of the girls became possessed by an evil spirit. They were on the fourth floor when it happened. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she was drooling and mumbling. Her companions could not understand what she was saying. She was staring off into the darkness and would not respond to them. They carried her out and across campus to her dorm. They put her into bed and at some point during the night she got up and wrote pages of scribbling. She drew the floor plan of the building and went back to sleep. When she awoke the next morning she remembered nothing. Her friends told her what had happened and they found the papers. I knew one of the girls that was with her. She told me about it.

The year before another student was possessed and has requested that the story not be posted on the site.

If you have a possession story email or IM me

Footsteps in the Night

"Cowles..there is one creepy ass building. We have yet to go in it, although it's our mission. A 'rite of passage' as we like to think of it. My friends and I were walking around the perimeter of Cowles late one night, probably around 12 or 1, and we were just laughing and chatting, and we felt really uneasy. All of a sudden, these loud footsteps, like someone was running or walking fast on [the] pavement were behind us, so we turned around, kinda weirded out. And there was no one even anywhere near the puddle, or Cowles/Carnegie lawns. So, we kept walking and brushed it off, and started staring in the windows. Well, I stopped first, and just froze. I didn't say a word. All of a sudden my other friend stops and just stares at the building, and my third friend screams and takes off running. We all had seen something, but didn't say what. We all just stopped. So finally when we ran off, I asked what they had seen, and it was the same thing I had -- a white figure in one of the windows. Just staring at [us]...very very creepy. [The window is on] the side closer to the road, if you're facing the road, it would be the left side (closest to alumni) and it was the 3rd floor, I believe. Very creepy. You definitely get a sensation of being watched. It's so freakin weird."

The Lost Children of Cowles

The following is from an EC employee:

"Cowles Hall is the most inhabited building for ghosts. I’m not saying the others aren’t believe me I know first hand, they are, but Cowles is the worst. Another college employee told me that one Sunday morning at around 3am he was in the subbasement of Cowles Hall, where the dirt floor is, and he turned off the light and heard "hehehe this is fun lets go to the third floor hehehehe". It wasn’t a group of students because after he heard it he checked the building. He said it definitely sounded like a child's voice he said he checked the rest of the building and there was no one in it."

Don't Look Behind You

"I was in the back half of Cowles where Fassett is connected and I felt someone hold my sides as I was walking in that area I don’t know what it was but it was something."

The Doors on the Third Floor

"My friend and I were opening doors on the third floor. We opened all the doors on one side and as we were opening the other side the ones on the first side all slammed shut."

Downward Spiral

"My friend went to the top floor of the octagon, where the light is always on, in Cowles and saw a perfect spiral of sand. He said it was small in the middle and gradually got bigger. It was just sitting there. His friend walked through it and about 15 minutes later they walked back in the room and his footprints were recovered. It was the perfect spiral again."

Ghostwriter

The following comes from an EC security guard,

"We’re responsible for any possible entrances and occasionally searching the inside of Cowles for unusual activity. We typically look for pushed out windows where people break in. We were searching the basement level nearest to the street if you're looking at the building from Tompkins. We entered a room on the left side of the hall where we had heard a strange noise, which we originally thought was the heater. We listened again closely to a sound that closely resembled an old hammer style typewriter. Upon entering the room with the source located on the left side of the hallway, the noise stopped and completely shifted to the room behind us, this time with increased intensity and frequency. I looked at my partner and we immediately decided to bail."

50's Death Shaft

"In the early 1950s when it was very much still a female school, and Cowles Hall was still very much in use.

She informed me that a girl died while she was there when she accidentally walked into an empty elevator

shaft.  Having seen the dilapidated old elevators the building had, this doesn't surprise me - even in the

'50s they were probably junk.  Anyway, I thought I'd add that to the information you've got.  Maybe one of

the ghosts relates to that incident".

Proof of Ghosts in Cowles

An orb is to the left of the girl.

Orbs surround three freshmen.

Ghost Lights in Cowles

Ghost Lights outside of Cowles

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Carnegie Hall

History and Current Use

Carnegie Hall was built in 1911. In 1963 the college renovated the building. Apparently it was the first academic building added to the campus. It was a gift from Andrew Carnegie and currently is being used by the Nursing Department and for lab classes.

Story #1

I don't have much to report about Carnegie, but I can tell you that the pipes make noise like in Gillett. I have been told the following, " [I felt] that I was being watched and someone was there with me, even though I knew I was alone."

Story #2

The following comes from an alumni of the class of ’98.

"My story is a lot like the others I have heard about Elmira College. I was sitting in Carnegie Hall, one of the oldest buildings at Elmira College (where most Nursing classes are held). I was alone in the lecture hall waiting for other students to arrive for an evening class. I heard what sounded like some desks being moved around and someone walking in the classroom across the hall. I thought it might be one of the professors, so I went into the classroom to see if I could help. I still heard the sounds of footsteps in the room when I walked up to the door. When I started to open the door, the footsteps stopped. I went into the room and no one was there. I walked around the 3rd floor of Carnegie Hall to make sure I wasn't just hearing something. There was no one else on the 3rd floor. I don't think there was anyone else in the building at the time I heard the sounds."

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Gillett Hall

History and Current Use

Gillett Hall is minimally used. The building was built in 1892. There are some offices for professors of the Humanities department and on the top floor there are some art studios for upperclassmen. It is located on the eastside of campus and is the neighboring building of Cowles Hall's "good" side.

Weird Sounds

Gillett is known for it's noisy heating pipes. The pipes randomly make banging sounds as though they are going to burst. Students working late at night in the art studios have reported weird sounds even though they knew that they were the only ones in the building.

While working late in one of the art studios one night, a female ’06 heard footsteps long past the time that anyone else would be in the building. To be exact here, she knew that she and her male companion were the only people in the building. The footsteps made the two uneasy so the male companion (like any good man) went out to the hallway to see if he could find the source. When he reached the hallway the noisy pipes that plague Gillett began to make their noise. The noise was described as “the sound of a million metal hammers striking every pipe in the building at once”. The sound grew so loud that the two were frightened to the point where they decided to leave. While gathering up their things and preparing to run out of the building the girl yelled to the ghosts "We're leaving now. We’re leaving now." Just then silence fell over the building. No footsteps! No pipes!

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Kolker Hall

History and Strange Happenings

Kolker was built in 1962. Not much to say about Kolker Hall. That isn't to say that nothing paranormal happens here. It's just that I haven't been told much. So if you have heard anything, email me.

Story #1

The following came from an EC employee:

"Kolker Hall, one of the creepy buildings I have had the luxury of being in all alone in the middle of the night, definitely, very creepy. I do not like to be in that building alone at night. One of the girls that I worked with on night shift will absolutely not go into Kolker alone. She is scared to death of it, she has told me that she has heard voices in there at night, and footsteps-she didn't stay long enough to investigate. All the animal heads are freaky enough! ".

Story #2

I'm afraid this isn't too exciting, but I'm including it anyway because it's one of the only stories I've heard thus far that took place during the day.

A female student was in the women's restroom alone one morning. (Before I go on I would like to point out that this particular restroom is about the size of a walk in closet and a heavy wooden door that leads out into a small hallway. From that hallway, there is another heavy wooden door that leads to the main hallway of the building.) The girl was inside the restroom stall and saw heard the wooden door open. She peered out over the stall door to see who was there because she heard no footsteps. She looked out just in time to see the door wide open with no one there. The door began to swing closed while the girl watched. Big deal you say? Well the thing is that the outer door, the one that leads to the main hallway, was closed all the way the whole time.

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Hamilton Hall

Current Use

Presently the home to the Mark Twain exhibit. The Great Hall is sometimes used for concerts or big meetings. The office of admissions and financial aid are located in the basement.

Resident Ghost

A male apparition has been spotted within the walls. There have been reports of objects being moved and a ghostly odor..

Story #1

From a dining hall employee:

"A co-worker and I were cleaning up after a party there, and it was about 12:30 in the morning, the only ones there security left after they let us in. He acted very strange and said he didn't like this building, that it freaked him out, well let me tell you what, I have never seen a man turn on lights faster, and he would not go into a room without turning on the lights first. Well it didn't bother me until we were about done, and I decided to go to the bathroom before we returned to the campus center, and going down the dark hall, I suddenly had an eerie feeling about me, and just had to turn the light on. I know that isn't real thrilling, but now that I know what to look for, it might be a little different. "

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Emerson Hall

History and Current Use

The building holds the fitness center, the gym, classrooms, the chapel, offices, and most importantly the Gibson theatre.

The Gibson Phantom

A college employee wrote the following…

“The ghost is female - we know this because the school was all female until 1969, and she has been heard giggling at night. She is never heard during the day and often she is not heard at all. Her presence is known because she sits in the third seat in the front row of the theater. When she is there the seat will be down and yes I have seen this for myself. I have often wandered into the theater myself, just because I love it there, and the seat has been down. She has been heard walking on the grid - the metal 'floor' suspended above the stage - lights and blackouts have appeared during a run through after the lighting has been programmed in to the computer perfectly - there is occasionally an odd feeling in the theater, you know the feeling that you are not alone, - once after a long night of rehearsal, the ghost had not had time alone in the theater, the technical staff turned off the lighting system, as they turned out the lights in the theater to leave the cyc - a screen at the back of the theater that can turn pretty colors to highlight actors, turned blood red. First off all the lighting system was off and secondly there are no lights that can turn the cyc blood red. All these occurrences happen late at night and usually after there has been a long rehearsal and the ghost has not had her time in the theater."

The Light of the Phantom

A college employee sent me this…

"Once along time ago someone made it theater policy to put a ghost light in the theater. Years ago it was believed that a light should be kept on when the theater is not in use...the light is supposed to attract good spirits and scare away bad ones, sort of like a dream catcher. They still use the ghost light today because the rule is still on the books. Our resident ghost is in the theater when the ghost light is on...so I supposed she is a good ghost."

The Phantom in Control

The following came from a student…

”I have always been skeptical when it comes to ghosts and it wasn't until this week that I believe there might be something else out there. I am in the theatre department; I do the whole acting-thing. Well, I was recently alone in the theatre, around 6PM, just shouting and rehearsing my lines. The stage lights and the ghost light were the only lights on when I entered the theatre. When I suddenly became tense. The control booth came on all by itself. Well, I know for a fact that it's not on a timer and NO ONE had come in though any of the doors. Well, I took off. I still have to rehearse inside, but I make sure that there is someone else there with me."

The Happy Phantom

Why does the Gibson Phantom giggle? It's creepy as hell. I've never heard it but here is a story from one of the many people who have.

"After a late night of rehearsal, a guy friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go for a walk at about 3 am around campus. Bored and still quite awake I decided to go for it. We walked around for a bit and then stopped right in front of Emerson Hall near the doors. We started to kiss, a first for us seeing we're only friends and he technically had a girlfriend. A couple seconds into it, we heard a little girl giggling and tore apart, frightened that we had been caught and freaked out cause it was 3 o'clock in the morning. There was no one around though...and the nearest dorm is Tompkins, quite a ways away and out of sight from where we were nestled. We were shaking and decided to call it a night".

Furious Light

“Being a theatre major I spend most of my time in Emerson Hall. One day, before rehearsal for the musical began, I was in the theatre looking for the stage manager. I opened the door and the whole room was dark except the ghost light on the stage and one of the house lights was blinking furiously. I called out the stage manager’s name and the light stopped blinking and just went out. I decided to look elsewhere. Later that same evening, the stage manager and I were looking for the director. She wanted to check the theatre. When she opened the door, that same light was blinking. She was annoyed because no one was supposed to be in the control box (the only place the lighting can be worked from) and trying to open the door. It was locked and the blinking light immediately went out again.”

Once More With Feeling -- A Ghostly Request

“While the rest of the cast were doing their warm-ups one night, I decided to try out the stage with the set up and practice a couple songs. As I walked onto the stage, I got a sinking feeling like someone was watching me, I don't always feel that way when I'm singing on the stage by myself. I looked into the house and saw a man in a white shirt looking at me from the very back. I just smiled, thinking it was Gordy or Irving, the men in control of the set, the only ones that would have been in there. He asked if I was going to perform anything for him, but I still had the odd feeling so quickly replied no and left through the stage doors in the back. That night at practice I saw both Gordy or Irving and both of them were wearing dark clothing.”

The Star Treatment

“I love reading about the ghosts in [the] Gibson Theater! It’s awesome to read about what the ghosts are doing in that part of campus. During auditions one weekend, people were preparing to act out a few scenes, some were nervous and the rest of us were finding a way to focus. All of a sudden all of the lights in the house (where the audience sits) were flickering on and off very quickly. Then everyone was quickly flattering the ghost and saying “hi” to her...we all think that it was a female ghost. After the auditions were over, some people believe that the ghost needed some attention and wasn’t getting any all weekend. Who knows, but it was so cool and weird at the same time!”

Drama Queen

"I went into [the] Gibson Theater about a month or so ago for auditions, and as I walked in the overhead lights were flickering. They did it for a good couple minutes and we were all getting rather irritated with it. Then a girl who is either an '05 or and '06 came in and said "Oh it's just the ghost." We all looked at her; some people made noises in the back of their throats like they thought she was crazy. She just said "what, you don't believe me? HEY WE KNOW YOU'RE HERE! STOP IT NOW". The lights immediately stopped flickering. I was kind of like hmm that was interesting, and walked up to the front of the theater to sit down. I sat down in the middle section, second or third row, and noticed that a seat up toward the front was down like someone was sitting in it. I recalled something on your site that as...about a ghost in Gibson sitting in one of the seats. I kept an eye on it and noticed that no one would sit in that seat. I got up and did my audition and sat back down near the seat. It immediately stopped.

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