Lubbock Historical Haunts*
Texas Tech University
If you’ve ever walked the halls of the Chemistry building, you’ve heard the legends of all the ghosts that frequent the classrooms (and even the basement). Take part in the Carol of Lights festivities and you may feel the eerie presence of a Biology student who ended his life by jumping off the roof before semester’s end. Chances are, if you ask any professor about good ghost stories they know, you’re going to get an earful. And maybe even more than you bargained for.
The ghost sightings don’t stop at academic buildings – keep your eyes peeled inside the dorms, too! There’s also talk of a child who roams the stacks in the Texas Tech library.
Pioneer Hotel
The Pioneer Hotel was built in 1925, and it was Lubbock’s first premiere hotel. Eventually it morphed into a retirement home and before McDougal Companies purchased the building back around 2007, some disturbing events took place in the hotel. Let’s just say if you’re interested in the revamped Pioneer – Pioneer Condos – we would avoid purchasing on the 4th floor…
National Ranching Heritage Center
Peeking through the doors and windows at the NRHC, you can practically see the lives of the ranchers and their families play out right in front of your eyes… sitting on their front porch in a rocking chair, cooking dinner, reading to the children before bedtime… it is so interesting. You know the really pretty, cool looking Victorian-style house? Apparently you can see a female in one of the windows on the second story. Legend has it that she’s the wife of the rancher who built the house. Police find nothing when responding to calls of her sighting.
Hell’s Gates/Lubbock Cemetery
Located in East Lubbock near MLK and behind the Lubbock Cemetery is an old trestle from the Santa Fe railroad. The story goes that in the early 1900s train robbers would kill the passengers and toss their bodies over the trestle. In the 1970s, Hell’s Gates is said to have been host to satanic rituals and worship. Also, rumor has it that there have been homicides and suicides at the trestle. If that doesn’t scare you then you should probably take note that the Lubbock Cemetery is just feet away from the trestle. The cemetery was established in 1892 and is home to over 60,000 deceased residents. People have spotted a glowing man and orbs at the cemetery and surrounding areas. It is hard to find and there is only one way to get there, but once you see it you do get an uneasy feeling. We didn’t see any ghosts or orbs, but definitely got an uncomfortable, uneasy feeling when we saw the trestle.
Lubbock High
Parts of the school said to be haunted are the bell tower, theatre costume storage room, and the tunnels underneath the school.
Cliffhouse Cafe
Maloney’s book recounts the tale of a woman named Sharon. One day in the ‘50s when Sharon was a young girl her family went to eat at the Cliffhouse. Exiting the car they made a grisly discovery in the dirt next to the parking lot: a severed hand the fingernails painted with nail polish. The police were called out to the scene. In the days that followed Sharon’s dad kept track of the investigation. He said a puddle of blood had been found on the golf course and drag marks were discovered on the hillside behind the lodge. Years later Sharon’s mother told her of a ghostly encounter she’d experienced in the Cliffhouse restrooms. She’d been in a stall when she heard sobbing and stepped out to see what was wrong. A pale misty figure was curled in the fetal position. Sharon’s mother blinked several times then the apparition vanished. It’s unknown whether the police ever discovered the identity of the killer or victim.
Want more info to haunted Lubbock landmarks?
https://www.travelhost.com/west-texas/lubbocks-most-haunted
http://www.texasescapes.com/MikeCoxTexasTales/Lubbock-Ghost-Stories.htm
The book Haunted Lubbock by Darrell Maloney is available on Amazon.
*Of course, these are all urban legends. Take it as truth or take it as lighthearted tall tales. I am not telling you to believe in the paranormal stuff, nor am I saying that it’s a bunch of bologna! I’ll leave it to you to interpret as you wish… 🙂
Updated October 2021. Originally published October 9, 2012.
I am glad you mentioned the victorian style house, also known by some as a sears house, and the woman seen in the window. I have personally experienced three women at the house and seen one on the balcony. One of them touched the back of my neck, really bumbed me out. There is another house nearby at the Ranching Heritage Center which contains a very angry man. I felt him push against me one day because he did not want me going into his house. As for the Lubbock Cemetery, that place is very dangerous. There is real evil there and I can not go there hardly without feeling uneasy.
I remember going to the Lubbock Cemetery with my school group when we were studying birthrate and deathrate in human geography. It was early morning like maybe 9:30 am. I remember walking in and feeling nervous but i couldnt figure out why. Then when we started walking around and i started feeling really sick. this sick feeling continued until we headed back to the bus. once on the bus i was perfectly fine. till this day i refuse to ever step foot in the Lubbock Cemetery again.
I completely understand that feeling. It is just unsettling!
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there is more spooks in that Victorian , I have a pic with 2 in the front door, one in the upper window ,and one in the parlor.
That is scary!
The shopping center on Broadway and University is also a place known for some pretty strange phenomena.
With regards to the Lubbock Cemetry I must agree. Lubbock Cemetry has had a lot of very evil and tragic things take place in it. I have know of others who became sick when they went into the cemetry. I, myself, have been touched on the face by what felt like a thousand finger tips. Personally I feel it is very likely that there is a demonic garrison based there, but it is just my opinion.
The Victorian house at the Ranch Heritage center I will agree is also haunted. I was told by a reliable source that there are three women who haunt the place. I have personally seen one of them on the top balcony, for lack of a better name for it. There are many buildings which are haunted at the Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock.
I have a new ghost story I was told by one of the security guards at the Ranching Heritage Center.
There was a man who worked as a guard at the RHC for some time. One day he passed away. As would be expected at the museum there are cameras everywhere, including the basement hallway to the security office. Well, one day after his death, a guard was watching the cameras when they saw him, looking normal, walking down the hallway to the security office. They camptured it on camera, but he had died a short time earlier. There is also the “man in black” in the museum itself, which may be connected to the RHC.
The story about the Pioneer Hotel sounds like total bs to me. I have lived in Lubbock most of my life and have never heard of these incidents. Has anyone verified this story or do you just post anything written?
Hi, Frek! Thanks for your comment.
You may want to get in touch with the West Texas Paranormal Society, as I am sure they have gone to these places to investigate. Also, I hope you didn’t miss the disclaimer on the post – saying to take the stories with a grain of sand. Please let us know of any spooky sights you may run into!
Alexa
Idk about tt, or rhc hauntings but I don’t dismiss the evidence either…. But I do know that I have lived in Lubbock ALL my life and I can say that the pioneer hotel is definitely haunted or something once while drivin by downtown years ago I saw a lady in a window don’t really remember wat floor and after that every time I pass the building I feel uneasy as if someone is watchin me really creepy… And the Lubbock cemetery definitely has some evil once when visiting my grandfather who’s buried there we saw wat me and my aunt both believe to me a demon…. Idk how to explain things that happen sometimes but I know that there are lost souls good and bad roaming our earth… U don’t have to agree or believe me but I just wanted to share my experiences
You all forgot Lubbock High is also haunted. The bell tower, the east end of the 3rd floor, and the auditorium (where buddy hollys ghost remains)
What’s the scoop about OL Slaton JR high? I student taught there several years ago
I’ve been to all of these, spent 3 years at OLS and LHS and spent some time at the cemetery never experienced anything.
I have relatives that are buried there at the Lubbock cemetery and i have never experienced anything.I was born and raised in Lubbock, and i attended OLS and LHS, again i never saw or heard anything..im not saying that the claims people have had there are not true, im just saying that i have never experienced anything.I do believe in the paranormal and so it is interesting to hear that other people have.
I have often wondered about the Park Tower Apartments on Ave Q. Any thoughts or stories?
I would say yes park towers has some energy there. A mixture. Park towers has a lot of mystery and untold stories there. Ask around you’ll see.
As a resident of Park Tower I had something hold me down by tightening the covers over me as I had just settled in bed. We lived in a 2 bedroom, 2nd floor facing downtown. I prayed and it went away. That’s the only time anything happened.
I’ve heard many stories about the Struggs School building in Lubbock as well. It has also been investigated by a Texas Tech paranormal team in the past. I hear there are several ghosts who roam the halls in the present.
You might ask someone to proofread your story on the Pioneer Hotel.
Kipy,
The link out to the Pioneer Hotel was not written by us, so you may want to contact that website if you have a question on the content.
http://historicallubbock.tripod.com/id5.html
-The LITL Team
DC. . .you asked about Park Tower. I lived there for a year. I moved out in October of last year. My daughter and I both had a few experiences there and do believe it is haunted. When we first moved in, it was almost impossible to get my grand daughter to sleep in their room. She would just cry and scream all night. Once we moved her bed into the living room, she began sleeping all night. But aside from that, me and daughter both saw dark figures and would hear doors opening and closing throughout the apartment. A friend of mine came to visit once and was getting into the elevator. The maintenance man, already inside asked my friend what floor. When he said the ninth floor, the man said, “Oh, the haunted floor!”
I have been to LHS, the NRHC and the Lubbock cemetery, but never experienced anything at either places, and the spirits that are roaming this earth are demons, they are not people’s spirits remaining on earth, once they die, they are dead, demons have been known to imitate people for years, and that is why there are spirits roaming this earth today.
There is also a place called halls of horror physic ward off 84th. That place is pretty creepy. It shut down a few years back. Lubbock high yes, the old jail yes, Andrews burgers yes, hells gates deff yes, Applegate trailer park yes, and a whole lot more that people don’t know about. And I love to explore things like that.
I can tell you that there is something in Hells Gates. I’ve been there many times, and it’s a happy cheery place by day, even the trestle. Once the sun goes down, it’s a different story. Something lurks out there whether it be ghost or demon. Some friends say there’s something out there and if you stand in the middle of the trestle at night it will whisper in your ear “Jump”.
The bridges of LUBBOCK building is said to be extremely haunted. I done some work there and heard doors slamming and footsteps in the hall,I was the only one there. All the employees have had experiences. The back story is during the aftermath of the 1970 tornado it was used as a morgue. And it used to be a school,its on redbud street.
I have many relatives buried in the Lubbock Cemetery and have been going there for over 30 years to put flowers on their graves. I have never seen anything paranormal or creepy. Of course I go during the daytime and make sure to be out the cemetery gate and on the road back to Midland well before dark.
Not that I am worried about the supernatural it’s more that I worry about the living people with bad intentions and a cemetery anywhere after dark is not a safe place to be.