Iowa has a colonial past that dates back all the way to the original colonies. There is one famous ghostly legend that is related to Iowa’s colonial history. The story has been told for many years, and consists of a ghostly man looking for someone or something on the road of Interstate 80 in Mitchellville, which is just a few miles northeast of Des Moines. No one knows for sure what this Colonial ghost is looking for.
Sightings of this ghost happen quite often and are usually in the section of the highway between Mitchellville and Des Moines. The ghost of a man dressed in Colonial apparel is seen walking along the road searching for something. However, this ghost is only seen for a short amount of time before vanishing.
One woman told the story of how she was driving back from a basketball game at around 10:30 at night and saw a man dressed in Colonial garb. She flashed her lights at him to get a better look and when she did this he disappeared.
(Source: Belanger, Jeff. Encyclopedia of Haunted Places. 2005.)
Chris Haunted Places
Newton Community Theatre is located in Newton, Iowa. It got its start in October of 1963, with the productions held in the Maytag Ballroom. In 1965, the theater group purchased the former Four Square Church building which served as its home until a fire started during a production in 1971. A new theatre was built on the west side of the town’s YMCA building in 1976 when the community raised enough money for it. The theatre is currently state-of-the-art with a 250 seat auditorium. A ghost is said to of been haunting the theatre since its opening.
No one knows whose spirit it is, but it is referred to as TG which stands for Theatre Ghost. TG haunts the technical area of the theatre rather than the actual actors. People have reported seeing a male apparition backstage and in the light booth. The most common action TG does is playing with the auditorium lights.
Many people have seen these lights flicker and behave unnatural for years. Sometimes, the lights won’t turn off during a production. Electricians have been called to investigate the situation but nothing has ever been found to produce these actions. On one late night, the director and cast members of a production stayed after a rehearsal to discuss a few things. As they were talking, a stage light moved verociously across its track. This was not technically possible since the computers that control these actions were shut down hours prior. Other reports from people in the theatre include strange smells, feelings of being touched, and objects moving by themselves.
(Source: Belanger, Jeff. Encyclopedia of Haunted Places. 2005.)
Chris Haunted Places
