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| True Michigan Ghost Stories
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Murphy’s Lamplight Inn
Central Lake, Michigan
The Lamplight Inn was built in 1924 by three local stone masons and was originally named WEGOTA. The bar and dining area was at the north end of the hotel with a total of 22 rooms and four bathrooms upstairs and at the south end of the first floor. For years transportation was provided to and from the train depot for patrons, which made it a favourite stop for traveling salesmen. The hotel eventually closed and remained unused for several years. It was bought by Cliff and Etta Springstead who reopened the hotel and served home cooked meals. The hotel was sold again in 1946 to Charles and Ruth Cronover and Archie Dayton. The new owners offered a pick up service to take hotel patrons from the train station to the hotel and back. They rented one of the rooms in the southwest corner of the building to a local beautician named Louise Hebden. In the mid 1960s the hotel was sold once again to Gary Morse who changed the name to The Palace. Renovations changed the appearance of the building. The bar was moved to the south end of the hotel, the dining room was enlarged, living quarters were added to the second floor and a barroom was added to the basement. Entertainment was also added along with seafood and all you can eat buffets. Doug and Mary Lou Denny purchased The Palace in the mid 1970s and changed the name to Lamplight Inn. They continued the renovations by redecorating several upstairs rooms and adding an outside entrance to the lower level pub. Ted and Betty Strzempek bought the hotel in 1986. They continued updating and redecorating the building and after the first year they discontinued the bed and breakfast and the pub to focus on the dining aspect of the business. In 1996 Mary Ellen Murphy moved her entire family from Dearborn and bought the Lamplight Inn. The Inn was once again renamed to Murphy’s Lamplight Inn.
Since the early 1950s, the owners of the Inn along with employees and guests have reported paranormal activity. There have been eerily similar reports of a man and a woman dressed in early thirties clothing wandering the building. Recently it has been reported that the pair had been seen dancing in the bar area as the apparition of a little girl watched. They have also been seen looking out of upstairs windows. There is another story that tells of the daughter of a former hotel manager, who was preparing to elope with her fiancée, tripped on her gown and fell to her death. She has been seen numerous times walking the upstairs hallway. Often, she can be seen walking into one of the rooms but when the room is checked no one is there. Another entity that is believed to be haunting the Lamplight Inn is Mrs. Gill. She, along with her husband was the first manager of the Inn. She returned to the Inn to live out her remaining years and in the 1950s she died in one of the upstairs rooms. She is often seen staring out of one of the upstairs windows.
Detroit Masonic Temple
Detroit, Michigan
The Detroit Masonic Temple was designed in the neo-gothic architectural style, using a great deal of limestone for its materials by George Mason, one of Detroit's premier architects of the time. The cornerstone was placed on September 19, 1922 using the same trowel that George Washington had used to set the cornerstone of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. The building contains 14 floors and has 1037 rooms inside. The building also serves as headquarters to fifty Detroit-area Masonic organizations. Such a large building was necessary as the old building became too small to house all the Masonic bodies. Story has it that George Mason supported the funding of the project with his own money eventually went bankrupt and was left by his wife. It is told that he was so depressed that he leapt to his death from the roof of the building. To this day people have reported seeing the ghost of George Mason in and around the building. He is mostly seen at the bottom of the stairs the lead up to the roof. There have also been reports of cold spots, shadows and doors slamming on there own.
Orchestra Hall
Detroit, Michigan
Orchestra Hall was built in 1919, in four months and 23 days, because Ossip Gabrilowitsch demanded that the Detroit Symphony Orchestra build a suitable auditorium before he assumed his position as music director. The 2014 seat hall was designed by architect C. Howard Crane. It was home to the orchestra until 1939, when due to the financial difficulties of the Great Depression, they had to enter a more economical arrangement at the Masonic Temple Theater. Orchestra Hall was renamed Paradise Theater in 1941, and became a major jazz venue, hosting such renowned jazz musicians as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. With the creation of an adjoining auditorium for jazz and chamber music in 2003, Orchestra Hall became part of the Max M. Fisher Music Center which included and a new store for Detroit Symphony Orchestra merchandise. In 1951, the Paradise closed; the building was abandoned for several years and was scheduled for demolition. Detroit Symphony Orchestra bassoonist Paul Ganson started a fundraiser movement to restore Orchestra Hall and add it to the National Register of Historic Places. Renovations started in 1970 and The Detroit Symphony Orchestra moved back into Orchestra Hall in 1989. Orchestra Hall is also where the mayor of Detroit delivers the annual State of the City address. Throughout the years many people have reported seeing the apparition of Ossip Gabrilowitsch, the former music director walk through the room that used to be his office and also in rehearsal rooms.
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