Denison, Texas has enough ghosts to host a ghost tour every year. But there are more haunted places around Lake Texoma. This article highlights a few of the ghost stories that have lingered in Texomaland for years. If you like exploring haunted places, you’ll know where to look for them when you visit Texomaland and its surrounding attractions.

Ghosts in Denison, Texas

Ghosts are said to be quite active in the historic Denison Main Street Mall. An antique store that used to be a furniture store in the 1940s on West Main Street in Denison hosts a ghost they call Miss Shirley. Neil and Mary
Shirley were prominent Denison citizens and owned the original furniture store. Mary Shirley was said to have a great affection for the store even after the Shirley’s sold it, which lasted after her death. 

Joe Connelly, co-owner of the mall, reported that Miss Shirley makes appearances in 2016. When she makes her presence known, Joe felt a rush of cold air and his neck hair raised up, and he saw her floating. Miss Shirley prefers the third floor of the mall, where many of her possessions are still stored.

In the 1920s, a part of the mall had a mortuary, with a temporary place for the deceased. People who work there say apparitions appear and float around. Miss Shirley is thought to be very friendly and does not do anything that freaks people out. Besides being known for being haunted, the Denison Main Street Mall is full of history.

The Denison Hotel burned for 4 days and nights in 1920. The firefighters laid 3,000 feet of hose and used six streams of water on it. Several guests and employees lost their lives. Residents and visitors to the building claim to have seen a few spirits they believe are the people who died in the fire. People report feeling extremely uncomfortable there and that it is really creepy at night.

Ghosts at Fort Washita

The Fort Washita Historic Site between the Cumberland Pool and the Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge on OK 199 was built in 1842, and the Chickasaw Nation hosts the Fort Washita Ghost Tours. Originally built as a military outpost to protect the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations from the Plains nations, the Confederate Army abandoned it after the Civil War.

In 2016, the Chickasaw Nation assumed the management of the property with the Oklahoma Historical Society. The tour is a walking candlelit tour while the tour guides tell the stories of the ghosts who live there. Charles Colbert, a Chickasaw Indian, bought the fort from the U.S. Government after the Civil War.

Mr. Colbert rebuilt a lot of the barracks, and soon realized he, his family, and his 32 dogs had company. His dogs disappeared every night, and he would go find them every morning. The Colbert’s moved shortly after strange unexplained experiences kept happening. The next family who lived there also moved for the same reason, then and no one else wanted to live there.

There are several ghosts residing at the fort. One is known as Aunt Jane. Her story was lost to history, but she was beheaded sometime between 1842 and 1861. Visitors have experienced feeling like they are being strangled, personal items disappear and seen apparitions when they stayed overnight.

There’s a Confederate cemetery on the grounds. People have also witnessed what they think were civil war soldiers. One woman said she experienced an Indian war after one of the fort’s annual Fur Trade Rendezvous. But, Aunt Jane is the most well-known and most-seen ghost at Fort Washita.

There are three stories about Aunt Jane. In one account, she was a Union operative who came to spy on the Confederate soldiers there during the Civil War, and they beheaded her when they found out her true mission. In another, she was the wife of an officer who always carried $20 with her, and some robbers attacked and beheaded her.

Aunt Jane’s third story is that she was the wife of an officer, and she was having an affair with another soldier stationed at the fort. Her husband returned home one night from patrol and found her with the soldier. He went insane, beheaded both of the lovers, and threw their heads into the river. They say Aunt Jane is searching for her head during the full moon.

Haunted Veterans Lake Near Sulphur Oklahoma

Just a few miles north of Lake Texoma, southwest of Sulphur, Oklahoma, lies the haunted Veteran’s Lake. Local will not swim in it for fear of a drowning accident. The story goes that a lady who drowned trying to save her daughter possesses Veterans Lake. Her child also drowned.

When dusk comes on, locals report you can see the lady and the girl in the lake, and if you go swimming after dark, they will pull you under and drown you. Other people say they have seen the lady gliding across the lake and asking for help to save her child. Another girl drowned in a boating accident years later, and now people believe Veterans Lake is cursed.

Ghosts At The Corner Drug Store in Madill Oklahoma

The businesses on the square in Madill, Oklahoma, have long reported strange sightings and unexplained noises. In 1932, the Corner Drug on the square was the setting for one of the last deadly shootouts in Oklahoma between Wily Lynn, a crooked businessman, and lawman Crocket Long, who had a few run-ins with each other in the past.

Both men and a bystander died. The bullet holes from their gunfight in the walls are still there. The Corner Drug still has most of the fixtures that were in place in 1932. It was also a saloon, pharmacy, barber shop, and soda shop. Workers have witnessed medicine knocked off the shelves, a door that creaks open, the alarm randomly goes off at night, and they get strange feelings when working in the back of the store.

Sharpes, a western clothing store, also sits on the square in Madill has ghosts. Its building used to be a hospital with a doctor’s office, and a hotel and saloon. Employees there have reported boots and shoes flying off the shelf, things falling over, and unexplained noises on the second story that is used for storage.

Some have seen hazy figures, had feelings of being watched by someone, and being touched by someone, but no one is there when they turn around to see who it is. One man in a dressing room was trying on pants, and kept feeling his pants being pulled down. He thought at first they were caught on something, but that wasn’t the case.

People also see a little girl in a blue dress with polka dots playing and talking in one of the aisles at Sharpes. People have two stories about who she is. Some think she is from the wagon train era. Others think she died in a car accident in front of the store. That little girl was brought into the store and died.

There is also a tall, thin man wearing khaki pants and blue shirt that appears in the corner of people’s eyes in the store. He is thought to have owned the store when it first opened. The employees at the Madill Record office on the square hear strange noises and see hazy apparitions.

Ghosts at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant Oklahoma

At Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s Morrison Building, students and staff see the apparition of a little boy walking around the basement. He is thought to have drowned in a pool that used to be in the same building.

In the Montgomery Auditorium in the Morrison Building, there are two ghosts. A young woman died there in the 1920s or 1930s. She is thought to have died in a pool in the auditorium basement. Another story is that a young woman killed herself over her boyfriend there. People think she never left after her death.

In the 1950s, the auditorium underwent a major renovation, and a man fell to his death off of a scaffolding. People who are alone in the auditorium get an eerie feeling that they are not alone. Doors open and close by themselves in the balcony, and the balcony and scene lights flick on and off by themselves. Another ghost resides in the Shear Hall dormitory on the third floor, which stays locked.

There is a legend that a student shot several people and then killed himself on the third floor of the dormitory. The students living there report hearing things sliding across the floor and footsteps. Years ago, Composition and Graphics Specialist/Sports Media Production Specialist, Jason Hicks, once reported his experiences with the ghost.

Archives were kept on the third floor, and Jason needed to find some old files for the President’s Office. He was up there alone and he found a faucet running. He turned the water off, told the ghost that he hoped he didn’t offend anyone, and then he left immediately.

Ghost Hunting in Texomaland

There is no shortage of places to go ghost hunting in the towns surrounding Lake Texoma. Some of the places mentioned above have hired paranormal investigators to try to get some evidence of the ghosts with good results. If ghost hunting is your thing, plan a trip to one of Texomaland’s ghostly destinations and learn more about our interesting history.