Most Haunted Places in America: Stetson University
Henry DeLand was a successful New York businessman and after visiting his brother-in-law who lived in Persimmon Hollow, Mr. DeLand purchased $1,000 plot of land and founded DeLand, Florida in 1876. Seven years later, he founded the DeLand Academy. After a terrible freeze in 1885 that destroyed crops and nearly the whole town, John B. Stetson, a hat maker, took over the endowment and the name was changed to the John B. Stetson University. The name was again changed in the 1990’s to be just Stetson University.
One of the structures that stand out at the University is the 116 foot brick bell tower built in 1934. The tower was a gift from then professor of mathematics and engineering and later President of the University, Dr. Lincoln Hulley and his family. The bell tower was designed and the construction was overseen by Dr. Hulley himself yet the very year the bell tower was complete, Dr. Hulley died. Dr. Hulley intended for the bell tower to serve several purposes and for that he definitely succeeded.
At the top of the bell tower is the carillon appropriately named the Eloise Chimes after Dr. Hulley’s wife. At the bottom there is a huge room that is used on special occasions by the University but is also used to hold the body of Dr. Hulley and his wife Eloise who died around 25 years after her husband. Now named the Hulley Tower in honor of the professor it not only contains the eleven bell chime set but also his crypt.
The love the Hulley’s had for Stetson University must have been strong. There have been numerous reports from students and even some professors that have seen two apparitions walking the tower and around the grounds arm in arm or some reports have said even seeing the ghosts walking their dog. It seems the apparition of Dr. Hulley and his wife has been seen all over Stetson University and the surrounding neighborhood by not only students but the residents around the University itself.
Could there be other ghosts roaming the University as well? Reports of footsteps and other strange phenomena have been reported by students who use to live in DeLand Hall (currently Administration offices).
Elizabeth Hall, designed to look like Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, has what is described as a possible female student whom you can hear running up the stairs and walking the halls and Cummings Gym, across the street has also had numerous reports of paranormal activity.
The Assembly Hall was built in 1930 due to a persistent professor’s constant battle for it. In 1938, what is considered the first building possibly in the whole South built solely for theater was renamed Stover Hall in honor of that professor, Dr. Irving Stover. Dr. Stover served as a theater professor at the University starting in 1908 until 1964. Dr Stover died of a stroke in 1965 and it is claimed that he still likes to come to the theater to this day.
As of this article there are ghost walks that can be taken through the grounds of Stetson University. Permission must be granted to investigate the buildings themselves. We were directed to this story by one of our great Twitter followers and welcome anyone who has a story about the college to comment below. We would love to know more.
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I was at Stover Theatre in November 2009 and took photos of the sets for the Importance of Being Earnest and captured this orb. Yes they Say Dr. Stover and his wife still attend the productions there! Lisa
They say that the caferteria is haunted too. I go there at least once or twice every year since I was like 12, I haven’t seen or felt anything but the place can def give you the spooks. I always have a buddy with me
I’m a theatre student at Stetson, and I can tell you that most of us in the department believe our Stover Theatre to be haunted. One of the strangest incidents we’ve experienced was two years ago, while working on the set for Commedia. We had the stage lighting on, and everyone in the building at the time was down on the stage. For those unfamiliar with stage lighting, the lights are on a dimmer system controlled by a lighting board. The board is upstairs in the light booth on the balcony. Aside from throwing the main breaker to the dimmer system (which would power the system down completely), there is no other way to control the lights aside from the one board.
The stage lights dimmed themselves, down to about 50%. One of the other students ran up to the balcony to see if someone was in the booth. As soon as he stepped into the threshold of the lighting booth, the lights came back up to 100%. Nobody was in the booth. He came down, and it happened again. This time several of us ran up, and the same thing. The lights came back up and there was nobody in the booth.
There has been no explanation as to what caused this. It’s been determined that the system does not have any shorts in it, and it’s only happened this one time. We passed it off as Dr. Stover playing tricks on us.
There are other minor instances, particularly if you are working in the theatre late at night. Strange noises, cold spots, and a general feeling of a presence. A couple of my friends claim to have felt an additional, malevolent presence in the theatre, but I have nothing to corroborate that. I’ve only ever felt the friendly watchful presence that we believe to be Dr. Stover.