Alongside the nostalgic appeal of Route 66 lurk ghostly roadside hitchhikers, the Goatman of Rolla, amusement park spirits, Civil War dead and the shadows thrown by the mighty Thunderbird. Spanning three hundred dangerously curving miles, the stretch of the Mother Road in Missouri earned the title of "Bloody 66, "? and some of its stopping places are marked by equally grim history. The Lemp Mansion saw family members commit suicide one by one. Springfield's Pythian Castle was an orphanage before becoming a military hospital and housing World War II prisoners of war. Follow Janice Tremeear as she takes a detour down Zombie Road, peers into the matter of the Joplin Spook Light and even stays overnight in Missouri's most haunted locations to discover what makes the Show Me State such a lively place for the dead. Born in St. Louis, Janice has lived most of her life in Missouri. She is a second-generation dowser. In tune with the paranormal from an early age, she now directs her interest and research into investigating the unknown with her team Route 66 Paranormal Alliance. She has three grown children and four grandchildren. She currently lives in Springfield, Missouri. Missouri's Haunted Route 66 Ghosts along the Mother Road By Janice Tremeear The History Press Copyright © 2010 Janice Tremeear All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-60949-041-6 Contents Acknowledgements, Introduction, 1. St. Louis, Missouri, SS Admiral, Union Station, The Caves of St. Louis, Chase Park Plaza Hotel, Soulard Market, Laclede's Landing, Lemp Mansion, Hitchhike Annie, The Feasting Fox, Forest Park, Old Courthouse, Zombie Road, Shaw's Garden, Webster Groves, Jefferson Barracks, 2. Eureka and Pacific, Missouri, Six Flags Over Mid America, Pacific, The Diamonds–Tri County Truck Stop, 3. Defiance and Union, Missouri, Daniel Boone Village, Union, 4. Morse Mill, Missouri, 5. Stanton, Missouri, Meramec Caverns, 6. Sullivan, Missouri, Harney Mansion, 7. Rolla, Missouri, Goatman's Grave, Devil's Elbow, Fort Leonard Wood, 8. Springfield, Missouri, Gillioz Theater, Landers Theater, Walnut Street Inn, Pythian Castle, Maple Park Cemetery, MSU, Springfield National Cemetery, Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, 9. Buffalo, Missouri, Rack It Pool Hall, 10. Carthage, Missouri, Grand Avenue Bed and Breakfast, Kendrick House, 11. Joplin, Missouri, Freeman Hospital, Peace Church Cemetery, Prosperity School Bed and Breakfast, Joplin Spook Light, Bibliography, About the Author, CHAPTER 1 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI Popular theory in paranormal television shows states spirits are drawn to or able to manifest themselves if certain conditions are met. Lightning storms give off energy, allowing the ghost to draw energy to manifest. Batteries are drained from equipment for the same reason. Electricity in the human body is a source as well. Water, limestone and quartz or buildings of brick and stone can all harbor ghosts because of stored energy. Violent crimes can spark a haunting, causing the person to remain earthbound. Areas where several people died can hold spirits, such as battlefields and hospitals. St. Louis bears all the appearances of a prime breeding ground for earthbound spirits. The ground is limestone and shale. Most paranormal researchers agree that water and limestone play a big role in the physical manifestations of spirits. St. Louis crouches atop a vast maze of limestone caves; perhaps more caves exist beneath this city than any other, and St. Louis County is perched over a recorded 127 caves. The Mississippi runs the length of the city bordered by the Missouri and Big Rivers. The Hopewell Indians settled the land as early as 400 BC and built earthen mounds for their homes. These mounds still remain in Cahokia, Illinois. They are huge — the Midwest's own version of Mayan grounds or pyramids. Gazing up in awe at the mounds, I've marveled at their construction. The Mound City, as St. Louis is called, saw a fire that burned four hundred buildings and fifteen city blocks in 1849; in the same year, the cholera epidemic killed nearly 10 percent of the population. On May 27, 1896, the third-deadliest tornado in American history touched down six miles east of Eads Bridge, moving from the northwest edge of Tower Grove Park into East St. Louis and leaving hundreds dead and at least one thousand injured; it also caused about $ 10 million in damage. On September 29, 1927, the twenty-fourth-deadliest and second- costliest tornado struck, with 79 dead and 550 injured. On February 10, 1959, 21 died and 345 were injured from the sixty-sixth-deadliest tornado. I visited the 1959 tornado devastation when my parents took us into what remained of the portion of St. Louis affected by the storm. I remember sheared-off sides of buildings, furnishings hanging from apartments, clothing draped on torn walls and people digging through the rubble. I could see inside the rooms and wonder at the p