Here is an article that pertains to the two most famous hauntings:
A quiet little college community -- a rural farming area -- a thriving small city-- Adrian, Michigan has it all. There are many reasons people choose to live, visit or work in Lenawee County. Some love it here so much, that they choose to never leave -- long after they have passed away.
Below are two of the most haunted places in Adrian, Michigan, and some of the real-life experiences visitors have had when visiting these areas.
Ghost Trestle-
One of the creepiest, haunted locations in Adrian is an old, rural train trestle just on the outskirts of the city. Ghost Trestle is located in rural, southeast Lenawee County on Bailey Rd -- just a few miles off highway M-52 near Gier Rd or you can reach the location by traveling west on Carleton Rd until you reach Bailey. The area is generally low-traveled except for people that live nearby. Many teenagers love to go there to get spooked, including 16 year old Courtney and her friends. Courtney heard about the legend of Ghost Trestle and about the family that died near there many years ago. Legend has it, that a barn and house on the nearby property caught fire back in the late 1800's. A man went into the barn to try to put out the fire. Meanwhile his wife who was carrying their infant child in her arms went to the nearby train tracks to flag down a train for help. The mother slipped and fell into the path of the oncoming train -- killing both her and her infant child. The man later perished in the fire. To this day, it is said that you are able to go to the trestle and be able to hear the women and child screaming late at night. It is said that this is a paranormal hot spot underneath the trestle in which you can communicate with the dead. It is also well known to be a portal to the "other side".
I have personally traveled under the trestle before and there is no denying that it is very eerie and creepy. There is a ton of graffiti under the trestle and when a train goes barreling over head it puts my mood in an uneasy state. Courtney recounts the night she and some her friends drove under ghost trestle. "We stopped under the trestle to look around from inside our car, to my amazement, my vehicle -- for no reason, stalled and would not restart for almost 5 minutes. I have never had that problem before. Let's just say it scared us all out of our wits." explained Courtney. Coincidence? Maybe. Or the area ghosts were not happy with the teenage visitors.
I have tried to take pictures of Ghost Trestle and each time my camera would not function properly, even though I had new batteries in the camera.
There is also small entry ways on either side of the Trestle. They could be homes to wild animals or unwanted visitors, so caution should be taken if you dare to check out the tunnels or cubbies underneath the trestle. This is a great place to visit if you are a believer in ghosts and paranormal activity. It is mainly public property so you do not need to ask permission to view the area. Ghost Trestle is a "must-visit" if you are researching Lenawee County's most haunted places.
Another haunted location in Adrian, Michigan is Siena Heights University, Home of the Adrian Dominican Sisters.
Siena Heights, a catholic domination, was founded by the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 1919. Shortly thereafter, construction began on the grounds.
Not only is Siena Heights University one of the most sought after private universities in Michigan, it is also rumored to have a large amount of paranormal activity in and around the vicinity.
History dates back to when the dorms were first built in the early 1900's. There was a terrible accident on the grounds where a large beam fell and two young volunteers perished. This area is said to have a large amount of paranormal activity.
In the oldest section of the dormitory is room 211. This room has had several reports of strange phenomena that has taken place. The main door to the room has been reported to open and shut on its own even when locked. Part of the room is shared with an old laundry chute that has been dry walled over and covered up. The most disturbing piece of information about this haunted location is that there is a mysterious location where two points of light will appear on the wall shaped similar to eyes. Many theories were tested to see if it was a reflection off of a nearby street light and with everything else covered and shades drawn, the lights will still appear. If an object is placed in between the lights -- they grow brighter. Many employees and residents attempted to paint over this surface of the wall, but the lights still appeared. If a picture was hung over the light, the picture would fall.
While it may be difficult to get into the dormitory to further investigate, just visiting the property grounds lends an eerie feeling.
I have visited both the Adrian Dominican Motherhouse and Siena Heights University. The property is old and the grounds feel sacred. While very peaceful throughout, I did often sense the grounds are protected -- almost haunted. It feels at times like you are being watched by someone or something. I think the property has a history of undocumented events that have taken place on it, but the commune and sister house remains very private to this day. The property also houses a large cemetery which is an eternal home to the Adrian Dominican sisters who have died there since the 1900's.
Adrian, Michigan is a great location to spend the day and evening while visiting some of the most haunted locations in the state. If you are ever in Adrian, be sure to check out Ghost Trestle and Siena Heights University -- you never know who will be there, waiting to greet you.
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Interesting post. I especially liked the story about the train trestle. I think rural folklore is fascinating. Imagine spending a dark night near that place!
ReplyDeleteActually, as a teen, we visited the site (pretty much a rite of passage for all teenagers of the county). We didn't witness anything paranormal, but were freaked out when the train came through! It was probably around one a.m. and we were all well lubricated.
DeleteI'm a resident of adrian, and indeed its very creepy. Me and four of my best friends spent about 4 hours there. There's a rumor, that if you sprinkle flour on the back windshield, Handprints would appear, as if the ghosts were trying to push you out of the way. We didn't get a chance to try it, though.
DeleteI also visited Trestle back in about January around midnight one night that I was visiting with some friends. When we arrived, Myself and one of my other friends were too afraid to leave the car, and so we sat inside and simply took a few photos of the graffiti under the bridge. After a few minutes, we decided that we should return home, and we backed out from under the bridge, and stopped just before the tracks to check for the train. We saw that there was no train in sight and that it was safe to go, but just as we began moving again, the radio abruptly came on, and it was only extremely loud static. It scared us half to death, and we decided it was best to not visit there at night again. Though, it was an interesting experience. The feeling, even without getting out of the car, was very eerie and then only made it scarier when the radio came on with no explanation.
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ReplyDeleteI have encountered both the tressle and the dominican sisters sites. My encounter with the tressel is the same as everyones, drive out get chills, freak out, hear the ghost of mom and baby. The dominican sisters is my chilling moment.
ReplyDeleteFor 2 nights i was employed with one of adrians local security companies to do securty things at the sisters and chapple. What got me chills was the tunnle under ground going from the chapple to the dorms for the sisters. An eerie feeling that you can not shake till u go outside, eyes watching feeling, a sense of you are not suppost to be there just keep moving feeling. That is my experiance at sienna hights dominican sisters. My name is paul mercer i can be reached on fb bandit121680
I visited trestle way back many years ago with a few friends, we road our bikes out there, we also lived out in the country not to far from it. We arrived just before dusk and looked all around at aall the graffiti and down the tracks. Walked a little down each way. It wasn't till I walked down the west side of the tracks when I started feeling uneasy, my heart started pounding so I went back toward the bridge. Once we were all back together we stood there as the sun was starting to set and out of nowhere we heard a women scream like she was being killed. So needless to say we hopped back on our bikes and took off lol good times :)
ReplyDeleteLol love the last part " good times " lol. I live near Onstead and plan on going out there {if my gps has directions lol} I grew up in a haunted house so things like this interst me greatly!
DeleteI visited ghost trestle with some friends A few different times but only once did I experienced something weird. It was around midnight when we all decided to go sit at the top well after a while of nothing happening one of my friends heard something then another seen something by this moment half of us were already running down the rock we're are car was park right underneath the tracks; there was 4 people in all two boy's and three girls so by the time we all got into car all shaken up the person driving couldn't start the car, he tried and it sounded like it was dead" you can imagine the girls screaming about this time" then after about fourth or fifth try the car started and boom it was like being a part of the dukes of hazard flying down that dirt road. This was many years ago I still live in the Adrian area to this day but I never returned to that place again.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a haunted farmhouse on Bailey Hwy. south of the Trestle. We rode our bikes down there all the time. The place is most definitely spooky and I have also heard a woman's scream while there. I have a much better photo of it from the seventies and my mother painted a picture of it. It had way more graffiti on it back then and had the car deck on the top. All of our names were not on it but in the painting they are. (artistic license applied) It hangs in my living room to this day. She also attended Sienna Heights college and always said that place had some "weird vibes" going on. I don't remember the details though, as I was very young when she got her degree there.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the Adrian area and attended Sand Creek High School. We used to go to Ghost Trestle all the time to park. The story we were always told about the trestle was that a man lived out in the country but worked in Adrian and would walk back and forth to work. He always walked the side of the tracks as it was a more direct (shorter) distance and would cross the trestle close to the same time as the train would come through. One evening he was extremely tired and forgot to check before crossing the trestle. Needless to say the train got him and to this day at that time of night you can see him crossing the trestle with his lantern.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember the time
DeleteOne place you should've included in this article is the Croswell opera house. Definitely a historical, haunted place, that is a good recommendation for outsiders to visit.
ReplyDeleteOne place you should've included in this article is the Croswell opera house. It's definitely a good historical, haunted, place to recommend to outsiders.
ReplyDeleteMy dad was the maintenance/ground keeper at Sienna Heights College in the buildings and out to the cemetery to early '50s. He used take my brother and I through the catacombs that ran between the buildings
ReplyDeleteI use to work at the mother house not to long ago and it most definitely is haunted. I've experienced things from watching a glass move across the counter to actually seeing a ghost come out of one of the rooms.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing. Would've liked to experience that!
DeleteI have been to the trestle many times and heard and seen many things, I have taken pics with unexplained mist in them also have foot steps recorded and the most eerie thing I have is a woman's voice saying "help me" on my digital recorder when there was only 4 males including myself sitting atop of the trestle. Never got to hear the screams but have heard many voices and only got the one recorded, have to say its the most active I have been to so far
ReplyDeleteSo i am wondering what else has happened out there. When i was younger there were a few of us that went out there. While out there i had seen three guys standing ontop of the bridge in jeans and white t-shirts. The funniest thing was that part didnt scare me but know else that i was with me had awen then.
ReplyDeleteJust went to the trustle last night heard something coming threw the woods so everyone got in my car and we took off down the road and turned around and went back under the trestle. Brother then got out of car and I kept car running all of a sudden we see bright headlights coming really fast over the hill so I tell him get in the car. I proceed to go a lot faster to try to get out of the way but as I make it to top of hill headlights vanish. Everyone starts losing their minds and screaming and yelling so I instinctively start to go fast and almost lost control and got a ditch. Thank God my car started back up or we'd been stuck out there all night. Really eerie and wonderful experience.
ReplyDeleteI have never had an experience at ghost trestle. However, I worked at the adrian Dominican sisters and it is extremely haunted. I worked on garden level at the Dominican life center and we often saw a nun walking the halls. Heard walkers scraping across the floor that weren't there. The hair on the back of your neck and on your arms will stand on end. The eyes that are mentioned in this article from the dorms have been seen at the Dominican life center. It surreal and if there are any haunted areas in Adrian that place is surely it.
ReplyDeleteI Graduated from Siena and I remember going down to the old bookstore and I often felt like someone was there even though I was often by myself.
ReplyDeleteBeen to the trestle many times as a teenager, but not to witness ghosts. Had other things to do with girls there!
ReplyDeleteWent to the trestle with my boyfriend in the late 70's but not for ghosts! Great spot to park a van!
ReplyDeleteMy father told me when I was born my mother & father lived on Manitou Beach on Devil lake. Every morning both front door and back door would be wide open. He nailed both doors shut with 16p nails. He sat up all night with a 38 loaded waiting to see what was opening the door.the next morning the nails we're pulled and the doors open. 54 years old now that story still haunts me
ReplyDeleteI've heard many a ghost story from Manitou Beach.
DeleteToday at 6-7 PM me and my family were walking down the tracks of ghost trestle but then my dad told me about some kind of bridge. Me and my family saw these two PURE black figures, we looked in the fence and saw two baby deer and got distracted but I kept staring at the pure black stuff and then I see IT get up and run down the path on the side. Then when we get down on the road I look at the bridge and freak out realizing that it was ghost trestle and that the black figures were the infant and mother, also my dad said he drove by the place a year ago and saw a house, barn and horses at the place but when we walked past the area there was nothing there. Then we go past another bridge that goes over a river then we hear tapping on the railing we walked to the other side and heard tapping again my dad looked and there was nothing there what so ever.
ReplyDeleteI live super close to ghost trestle and my dads favorite thing to do when we are heading home from going out to dinner is to scare off anyone lottering under the trestle
ReplyDeleteMy brother used to be a security at Siena Heights Mother House years ago. I remember him telling of when he was checking things out doors would open and shut by themselves. The elevator door would open. He has seen a lady walking down the hall then found out the next day that a Nun had passed that night. There was more things too.
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