Creepy Cowboy Chronicles: Paranormal activity reported on UW campus
Over the years, several paranormal sightings have been reported on the University of Wyoming (UW) campus.
An October 2022 UW Branding Iron article reports paranormal activity at Knight Hall, including hearing unidentifiable sounds, smelling food when it was not present and seeing shadowy figures and moving objects.
On Oct. 31, 2012, a professional ghost hunting team came to investigate the activity in the hall, ordered by UW and the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center.
According to the investigation’s official report, “It’s the professional opinion of Haunted Xplorations, Knight Hall at UW does have paranormal activity and is haunted by one or more non-hostile, yet intelligent spirits.”
Knight Hall history
Knight Hall is a beautifully constructed three-story rectangular red stone building with long, rectangular windows trimmed in orange.
Construction of the hall began in 1940 and was completed in 1941 by the Works Progress Administration.
Knight Hall served as a women’s dormitory and was named in honor of Emma Knight, who became the advisor of women in 1911 and later became UW’s first full-time dean of women in 1918, according to the Alliance for Historic Wyoming website.
Famed Architect Wilber Hitchcock designed the hall with a Collegiate Gothic style in mind in 1924 but passed away in 1930 and was unable to supervise the construction process.
“Over the course of the structure’s 31-year history as a dormitory, it originally housed over 1,200 women in 70 rooms, and by 1946 it expanded to a total of 120 rooms,” reads the website. “During World War II, Knight Hall played an integral role by housing additional residents from Hoyt Hall while the U.S. Army increased the number of soldiers in the Laramie area for training purposes.”
Knight Hall ended its journey as a dormitory in 1972.
Today, it is home to Wyoming Public Radio and houses the UW administration and student services offices.
The legend of Knight Hall continues
During the original construction of Knight Hall, workers discovered multiple unmarked graves, and construction was delayed as the unknown bodies were unearthed and transported to what is now the Greenhill Cemetery in Laramie.
Another UW Branding Iron article published in November 2019 notes the book titled “A History of the University of Wyoming (1887-1964)” by Wilson Ober Clough explains the bodies were most likely part of an early-day cemetery from the 1870-80s.
This appeared to hold true, as in the summer of 2004, work crews discovered another body while laying a pipeline, nearly 60 years after the first bodies were found.
The paranormal activity at Knight Hall may be caused by its unusual history, being it is allegedly built on the site of a twice exhumed cemetery.
In her book “Sinners and Saints: Tales of Old Laramie City,” the late Gladys Beery explored the history of Laramie’s original cemetery.
According to Beery, the city’s cemetery was placed east of the main strip, in a direction the city was not expected to develop.
However, the Union Pacific Railway Company decided to sell the cemetery land in order to make room for more residential lots and petitioned the city to relocate the cemetery, Beery writes.
In May 1873, inmates under the direction of Sheriff Tom Dayton began moving the cemetery to a location roughly where Knight Hall is today.
Knight Hall activity
There have been regular reports of unusual sightings throughout the years, but most activity is said to occur in the evening.
On the first floor in the west wing, it’s common to see a young girl sitting on the floor before she fades away, while the second floor is infamous for its strange noises and voices being heard.
There have also been reports of faces being seen in the second-story windows, but the spookiest place in the building is said to be in the basement, as some have heard beating drums and experienced the feeling of being watched.
Melissa Anderson is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
