(Photo Courtesy: Giovale Library, Westminster College, Salt Lake City)
*This story is the third of a three-part Spooky Stories series about the ghost legend stories at Westminster College. You can read the first story here.
Ferry Hall, built in 1908 and one of the very first buildings on campus, was named in honor of William and Jeannette Ferry. It was designated as the women’s dormitory and was known to have some paranormal activity of its own.
But on campus, not a trace of Ferry Hall can be found anywhere.
From Ferry Hall to Gore School of Business
A stone monument stands in front of Converse Hall that marks Ferry Plaza.
It reads: “Dedicated June 1990. In grateful memory of Col. William M. and Jeannette Ferry who donated the acreage for the campus of Westminster College and one of the original buildings. Ferry Hall 1908-1987 stood on the present site of the Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business building.”
Students who attended the college before 1989 reported seeing a statue inside that would move from window to window.
After 80 years of wear and tear, the building was in need of renovation. But the school razed Ferry, it was completely destroyed.
No trace of Ferry remains on campus, but the question persists. Where was it, and is the statue still around haunting whatever would come to replace Ferry?
Ferry was located in front of the Gore School of Business which was built in 1988. One year after it was torn down, Gore was extended forward. The front glass walls of the business school are placed right over where Ferry once stood.
Nowadays, a young man can be seen in front of Gore pacing along the windows at night, according to the legend.
“Every time I see that glass I feel uneasy,” said Campus Patrol Officer Ray Barber.
As the legend goes, this young man was a student caught one night in the women’s dormitories. Nothing further is known about him nor what had happened to him afterward.
But Gore’s hauntings don’t end with this trespasser.
The elevator often travels from the first floor to the second floor with no one inside to push the buttons.
When the building was being dedicated on October 19, 1988, Dr. Charles H. Dick — the president of the school at the time — was in the middle of a speech when the elevator doors opened behind him.
To wrap up this spooky adventure, here are a few more creepy places on campus and the story behind them.
Foster Hall
Foster Hall — opened in 1926 — was the men’s dormitory building. Foster is known for things that bump in the attic at night. Today, Foster is the arts and sciences building and houses faculty offices.
Professors have reported to students their things were being moved around up in the attic offices, according to the legend.
Was it just late nights of grading papers that caused these professors to see things – or were spectral beings causing mischief?
Maybe it was nothing, but two professors from two different periods of time had the exact same accounts of it happening to them.
Some students even reported seeing things move right in front of them, according to the Legends Tour Script.
The hauntings continue.
Payne Gymnasium
According to Barber, ghosts in Payne Gymnasium like to mess with his flashlights.
One night when Barber was showing a prospective patrol officer around in Payne there was a skateboard wheel on the main court floor.
“Every time we looked at it, it kept moving places,” Barber said. “Nothing was touching it.”
All of a sudden his flashlight went out even though it was fully charged, Barber said.
A few weeks after that incident, Barber said he was turning off lights in the women’s locker room — directly below the court. Standing in the exact same spot, his flashlight went off again.
Barber said he also knows something is haunting Malouf Hall, the education building.
“You feel like something is following you,” Barber said. “[At] three in the morning, I just want to keep turning around. Like something is about to grab my shoulder.”
Westminster hauntings and ghost stories may continue to grow as the years pass. But those are spooky stories to be told in the Legends Tour — hopefully years from now.
Happy Halloween and watch out for spirits on campus.
*The majority of information comes from the Legends Tour script and research.
