BY TONI SHAPIRO

Harrison Avenue May, 1893

Throughout Oklahoma history, legendary ghost stories and other supernatural entities are
common knowledge, and the town of Guthrie has long been considered the most haunted
city in Oklahoma with several ghostly locations to explore.
Every time we visit Guthrie the atmospheric energy shifts, and sensations of being
transported back to the former glory days of the late 1800’s is nearly palpable, because
essentially not much has changed with the original structures. Oklahoma has an
abundance of 19th century brick-faced buildings, indeed, but there’s something about
Guthrie that intrigues me most.

The essence of residing spirits of yesteryear is always sensed while strolling the downtown
streets of Guthrie. Although the town’s reputation is quite tame since the days of nefarious
outlaws, hustlers, gamblers and thieves, it is easy to imagine that the former boomtown
was once the equivalent of, “Tombstone,” or “Dodge City” on the midwestern plains of
America.
Guthrie’s rich history began virtually overnight on April 22, 1889. The city was named after
Judge John Guthrie. Oklahoma’s territorial capital and first state capital was initially located in the city of Guthrie. By 1910 the capital was moved to Oklahoma City, where it remains
today.

My own ancestors were among the pioneers who settled in Oklahoma in 1907, the same
year that Oklahoma became the 46th state in the union. And just like many other pioneer
families they packed up all of their belongings on covered wagons to make the long,
arduous journey west from Arkansas. I learned Oklahoma history first-hand by my
grandmother, Ruby. She would recount to me stories of gangsters, outlaws and various
scoundrels with her near eyewitness accuracy. Her abundant stories came alive once my
husband and I arrived in Oklahoma in 2023.
Oklahoma has charm, rich historical value, friendly people and an abundance of ghost
stories… Such stories were gathered from the annals of American history, eyewitness testimony,
paranormal investigators and a scattering of folklore.

Beginning with, the former Masonic orphanage…

The aforementioned neglected building has been given a breath of new life from its
preceding reputation. The current owners renamed the establishment, “Dominion House.”
Today it is a lovely bed and breakfast, with venue options for weddings, anniversaries and
other social gatherings.

Aside from the appearance of a daunting asylum, the structure is quite beautiful, and the
manicured landscapes are surely impressive.
However, for more than a century this red-brick monolithic structure has sheltered dark
secrets of excessive abuse, murder, and suicide.

The Masonic Children’s Home was built in 1923 to exclusively contribute to the relief of all worthy distressed Master Masons, their wives, widows, children and elderly members. In
1957 the orphanage would allow for children without any Masonic background to be
admitted to the home. During its operation, it housed more than 125 orphaned children,
and approximately 20 elderly residents, but the number of residents often fluctuated. By
1978 the last recorded number was only three children who still resided at the orphanage,
so inevitably the home was closed and abandoned. It remained vacant until 2000 when the
uninhabited building was purchased and renovated.

Prior to Renovations

Stories developed about the staff that were in charge of the day-to-day duties and the
various practices in the home. Rumors say that the home employed extremely cruel staff
members, and it is said that the headmistress was so abusive towards misbehaved
children that they were met with severe corporal punishment. Children were so afraid of
the headmistress that they silently walked the halls and avoided eye contact with her.
It is also reported that a 6-year-old boy was beaten so severely that he died, and the
headmistress buried him somewhere under the basement floor.

Others claim that she actually murdered as many as four children, all of whom were buried
in the basement. Later it was reported that the headmistress began digging up the
basement when the home experienced plumbing issues, because she knew that the
bodies would have been discovered once the repair work began. A curious custodian
followed her to the basement where he witnessed her frantically exhuming the boys
remains. Sources claim that the children’s graves are now located in the backyard.
Another source claims that it was actually a priest who murdered the children on the
property in order to keep their souls at the orphanage for eternity.

It isn’t clear which of these stories are accurate, but my archival searches all agree that the
brutal death of these children had such a devastating impact on the headmistress’s aide,
who could no longer conceal the truth about the heinous acts at the orphanage, that she
committed suicide by hanging herself in the belltower.

Spectators have claimed that if you are up in the tower area at midnight, you might witness
a shadowy figure drop and sway from a rope.
A dark shadow figure was also reported to hover around urban explorers and trespassers
when they dared to unlawfully enter the former abandoned building.
Today, black wrought-iron fencing surrounds the entire 28 acres. The entrance gate was
inaccessible, but I snapped a photo of the cement arbor, adorned with a chandelier.
Inscribed above the entrance are these words, “Holiness to The Lord.”

We found that the hotel entrance is located behind the main building. We had hoped to
locate a staff member who might delight us with a short tour, but the hotel lobby desk was
vacant. So we took it upon ourselves to quietly explore the interior on our own. We turned
right at the end of the hallway and were met with a beautifully arranged dining area.

However, the moment I stepped towards the grand staircase, I instantly froze. I felt an
overwhelming sense of regret that we even chose to enter the building. I attempted to
ignore my urgent longing to leave, because I still wanted to take a photograph of the grand
staircase.

Many visitors have witnessed a child apparition who manifests himself in the main building,
and for several couples who have had their weddings at the venue, they considered it a
good omen when the child spirit appeared during their ceremony.
For clarification purposes, I did not actually witness a visual manifestation, but the photo
below details exactly what I felt was watching me as I stepped towards the grand staircase.
The experience was such an oppressive sense of despair, loneliness and anger. It felt as
though I were blatantly intruding on something, or someone, and I wasn’t welcome.

Enhanced Photo

Once I snapped a photo of the grand staircase, we eagerly made our way to the exit as
quickly as possible.

Grand Staircase
(Final Interior Photograph)

The other buildings on the property were best photographed from the rear of the main
house. One of these buildings was a former print shop during the orphanage operations.
The children were forced to work exhausting hours to teach them a beneficial trade.
Unfortunately, I could not locate which of the two additional buildings housed the
printshop from my archive searches.

This was where we ended our self-tour.

As attractive as the Dominion House is, the alleged atrocities that were committed during
the orphanage operations definitely had a foreshadowing sense of sadness for me.
Undoubtedly children, and perhaps adults might have died of natural causes during their
residency at the former orphanage as well, but the overwhelming allegations of torture,
murder, and suicide are a vivid reminder that the past will not be forgotten.
My next story comes from the legendary Blue Bell Saloon…

The Blue Bell Saloon

The Blue Bell Saloon existed since Guthrie’s tent days, and in 1901 the brick structure was
added on the corner of Harrison Avenue and 2nd Street. The legendary saloon poured more
than whisky during its heydays. At the turn-of-the century the saloon made a profitable business for the second floor, and the 17 rooms were used as a bordello run by Madame
Miss Lizzie.

Front View

The Blue Bell Saloon boasted Tom Mix as one of the bartenders before he departed for
stardom in silent films.

Imagine… Tom Mix, eagerly pouring whiskey!

It is said that Tom Mix got a kick out of serving liquor to his trigger-happy patrons, such as
members of the notorious Dalton-Doolin Gang, aka “The Wild Bunch,” “High Fives,” and the
“Cooks,” along with several other outlaw gangs who would fire off rounds of ammo when entering the establishment to announce their arrival, and bullets would once again sound-
of when the ruffians ascended the stairs to meet with Miss Lizzie and her ladies. Outlaws were not the only customers that frequented the bordello, many were politicians, county
officials, lawmen and affluent visitors. If walls could talk, eh?

The historical facts of this legendary saloon ran much deeper than the upstanding citizens
of Guthrie knew, because this establishment, like so many other businesses, were built on
top of the various tunnels that run through Guthrie. In some parts the tunnels are large
enough to drive a stagecoach with a team of horses leading.

The former capital building has a direct tunnel from W. Harrison Avenue straight to the Blue
Bell Saloon. The many tunnels served a clandestine use and made it convenient for their
unlawful dealings. In the early days the saloon installed an iron sky-walk directly from the
bordello to the “Elks Hotel” across the alleyway. Individuals didn’t even need to enter the
lower portion of the saloon to meet with the ladies.
Statehood was eager to end the shenanigans in 1907 when prohibition in Oklahoma was
enforced. The saloon was obligated to shutter its doors. But the saloon owner still had an
“ACE” up his sleeve. He changed the name from Blue Bell Saloon to, “The Jewel,” and by
calling it a “Store,” he was able to continue his operations as usual.
The haunting truth about the Blue Bell Saloon…

Many of Miss Lizzie’s ladies were just girls who were sold into prostitution by family
members who decided that it was a better prospect than a foreclosure on their farms.

Only Existing Photograph of Miss Lizzie and her Ladies

Archival searches agree that a few of the girls were as young as 13 years of age, but it is
possible that some were even younger. Claudia and Estelle were among the unfortunate
that were forced to work at the bordello against their wishes. Claudia was the younger of
the two girls, she was only 13 years old. Sadly, Claudia’s story has a gruesome ending. It is
said she begged and pleaded to leave on more than one occasion, and this angered a male
employee or a “John” so much that he beat her to death, he then buried her body in the
saloon coal shoot next to the access tunnel.

Estelle was just 15 years old when she was sold to Miss Lizzie, unfortunately there are no
records of how she met with her death.
It has been reported by paranormal investigators that they’ve captured EVP evidence of
pleading and crying from one of the former bordello rooms, and on occasion they’ve
captured singing, as well. One paranormal investigator claims to have photographed an
image of a tall figure wearing a hat in one of the rooms upstairs, and it is their opinion that he might have been a frequent customer of Miss Lizzie’s, or an overprotective employee,
because their EVP evidence has an angry male voice who spews obscenities by their
presence. This angry entity was also prominent in the basement near the coal shoot, and
access tunnel.

There are several stories about child entities who make their presence known at the
bordello. It isn’t a wonder that children would have been born to some of the “Ladies.”
Paranormal researchers and visitors alike have claimed that they’ve heard disembodied
sounds of laughter and playing on the stairs that lead to the bordello.
Several decades later another disastrous story was reported about a young child who was
playing fetch with his dog in one of the former bordello rooms. As the boy threw the ball, his
dog chased it out of an open window, and instinctively the boy followed his dog. Tragically,
he landed on a streetcar heading through town, and he was instantly killed.

Saloon Entrance

Over the years, the Blue Bell Saloon has changed ownership several times, and the
establishment has closed its doors once again. Most recently it was a pizza restaurant.
For more than a century this building has survived many suspicious rumors, historical
facts, ghosts of the past, and difficult challenges, but it still remains standing as a
testament to Guthrie’s long and fascinating history.