Strange Happenings in Idaho

Spirits Getting a Higher Education

Idaho State University is located in Pocatello, situated along the old Oregon Trail, on the Snake River Plain. During the gold rush of the 1860s, stage and freight lines led through Pocotello’s Portneuf Valley. In 1876 the railroad which originated in Utah went through Pocatello and connected Portland, Omaha. and Salt Lake City, Utah. The Idaho State University used to be known as The Academy of Idaho offering college prep courses and industrial courses.

Frazier Hall is home to ISU’s fine theater program. The building has 4 floors, a basement, an 800-seat Proscenium theater, a 140-seat Little Theater, a costume shop, a design studio, and classrooms. An entity known as Alex likes to haunt the building. He loves to play tricks on the living. Other unseen entities enjoy piano practice. Apparitions have been known to sit among the audience during theater performances and footsteps have been heard on the 4th floor.

Graveley Hall was named after Lottie M. Graveley, who was the first woman to be appointed to the state board of education. This women’s residence hall was built in 1939 and later renovated to become classrooms and offices. Several people have committed suicide in this building.

Coming into the building a strong presence can be felt. Windows which have just been locked are found open minutes later with no one around. And a friendly entity opens doors for the living.

Ghosts of Idaho paranormal investigators have done an investigation and have listed both buildings as being haunted.

Apparitions in High School

Pocatello High School is located on the southwest side of Pocatello. The original high school was probably built in the early 1900s but burned to the ground in 1914. The oldest buildings of the present Pocatello High School were built in 1916 a major addition as well as the gym were built in 1939. However, the school still maintains its 1916 charm.

During the time period ranging from the 1930s-50s, two girls made a suicide pact. One girl killed herself by hanging herself from her locker the other girl couldn’t go through with the pact. Afterward, the dead girl’s favorite perfume could be smelled around where her locker was and the school finally removed the locker. The custodial staff has seen a young girl’s entity wandering around the school at night. For years, however, the living, were still able to smell the girl’s perfume.

Science classes used a real skeleton which was later replaced by a plastic one. However, the entity was disappointed that his bones were no longer in use. Science teachers would find bones from this skeleton in their science cabinets and other odd places in their rooms. Apparitions can be seen inside the library by looking through the windows from the street side and the windows in the back of the buildings. Late at night, one can hear an alarm go off for a short period in the area where the old gym was located. During evening hours piano playing can be heard from the auditorium when no one is around. It is apparent that some entities never want to leave high school.

Haunted Cemetery and Town

Idaho City has its Pioneer/Boot Hill Cemetery. It is located just northeast of town. This was once a booming gold rush city and is now a small town with 300 residents. Idaho City became the destination to be when gold was discovered in the Boise basin in 1862. At its peak, there were businesses here such as clothing, groceries, barbershops, pool halls, and a bowling alley. Entertainment was offered by operas and theaters. Of course, there were also frequent gunfights in which many people died. After the gold was mined out most of the prospectors left town. Today Idaho City is a well-preserved gold rush town with plank-covered boardwalks, 19th-century buildings, and the Pioneer/Boot Cemetery.

While exploring the cemetery some boys saw a foggy, misty apparition of an old prospector, with a short beard, western clothes, and a vest. In the Chinese section of the cemetery, a young Chinese girl is seen standing by a grave.

The old grocery store has an apparition that likes to walk through the store, look over the merchandise, then walk toward the back of the store and disappear through the back wall.

The town’s oldest saloon Diamond Lil’s was built in 1862. It still has some of its original clientele. The entities enjoy reliving the good times they once had here after a hard day in the mines.