Ghostbloggers: Visiting Atchison’s Sallie House
The Sallie House. Mention this to almost anyone around Atchison, Kansas, and you’re likely to get looked in the eyes and asked if you saw anything. Considered one of the most haunted houses in the United States, the house has been featured on ghost hunting shows. Video purports to show toys moving by themselves. Men – not liked by the spirit of Sallie – have allegedly been known to have scratches randomly appear on their backs without warning. Voices have been heard. A radio in the house turns on and off by itself.
Poppycock? Is the house possessed? Maybe it’s a portal to the spiritual world? Paranormal experts believe the house to be haunted. The spirit of Sallie, a young girl, allegedly died in the kitchen. One story basically says a doctor ran his medical practice on the main level of the house, while the family residence was located on the upper floor. One night, Sallie’s mom brought her in for emergency treatment.
Sallie
The doctor believed he needed to operate immediately. However, before the drugs could take effect, he started the operation. Sallie was awake as the doctor cut into her body. The young girl died a traumatic death, likely from a burst appendix. It’s believed that may be the reason why Sallie haunts the house, and the doctor may be a reason she can be violent toward men.
I’ve seen the Sallie House before, from the outside, on a previous Haunted Atchison trolley tour (during daylight). As part of a hosted trip of Haunted Atchison with other writers, I toured the house with a guide. The five of us – Travel with Sara, the HodgePodge Hippie team and our host/guide – entered the house at 508 N. 2nd Street. It was dark, as we were taking a late night tour of the Missouri River town. Standing outside, we took photos of the house.
As I looked at my photos later, I noticed a sixth shadow to the far left of the photo. Remember, there were five of us. I figured it was the shadow of our host, but I could see her shadow against the house. This sixth shadow looked like a hand holding on to the corner of the house. A shadow of a tree limb, maybe?
As we entered the house, we were each required to sign a waiver. A waiver? For a house tour? Either this was a gimmick or we were about to get into some serious stuff. Oh, the stereo had been playing as we stood outside. Shortly after entering, it stopped. As we stood in the dining room, we looked around, as I believed we each subconsciously wanted (and didn’t want) to see something. Then, we moved on to the kitchen.
Sallie House history
It was in this room, our host told us, that Sallie fell victim during her operation. The room features a hospital slab and some props for dramatic emphasis. Then, I felt something touch my right ear. It felt like hair falling over my ear. Since I wear my hair short, it wasn’t mine. It also felt like it could have been someone – or something – touching their finger to my ear, too. As my wife can confess, I am very sensitive about people touching my ears. It happened a few times. I mentioned it to the others.
Moving to the basement, Thena from Hodgepodge Hippie may have had the right idea, stopping about halfway down the stairs, with one foot on a step up in case we needed to run. As we “investigated” the basement for spirits, we dubbed ourselves “Ghostbloggers” (patent pending). Matt, Thena’s husband, checked out a hole in one of the walls.
Soon after, Sara heard a noise. I recall hearing something, but it didn’t register. She thought it sounded like a nail being tapped on a metal chair. We all looked at the chair, assuming, I guess, it would move about or maybe hover a few inches above the ground. Nope. However, our guide had an EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) app on her phone. This app has been used by professional ghost hunters. It registers energy in the room and spirits will use that energy to form words.
Message from a spirit?
As we looked at the chair, “Closer” came across the phone. She stepped next to the chair. “Ill” came across. After that, the energy disappeared. As we looked at pictures on our phones, one of our team members noticed the outline of a face on the basement wall. That picture wasn’t on my phone. Very odd. However, we decided it was time to move on upstairs.
As we toured the top floor of the mid-1800s house, Thena’s phone randomly took photos. One was of a bed. Later, that photo was a blur, despite each of us seeing the bed pic.
After we left the house, we discussed what we saw and felt, as we tried to wrap our minds around our first known spiritual experience. Did we see a ghost? Did we actually have a paranormal experience? Can each item be logically explained? Perhaps. Perhaps not. That’s the difficulty of these types of experiences. Some people believe they’re open to the experiences, while others will flat out deny ghosts and paranormal life exist.
Spirits possible?
I left the Sallie House unsure of my beliefs. I wanted to believe what I thought we encountered, but I also hoped it wasn’t possible. I’m not sure why. I recall “dreams” so vivid that I can tell you that my Grandma Trudell sat at the end of my end one night in North Dakota and talked with me about life. Later, when my brother passed away, he visited me on his way to start his journey. He stood, looking like I remember from my childhood, with his wide-brimmed hat, trimmed with Native American art.
I recall my mom telling us about a house she and my dad lived in that was haunted. She said dishes flew out of the cupboard one night. They lived near a train track, so I thought maybe it was vibrations from a train, pushing them out on to the floor. But, she claimed they flew out of the cupboards. I don’t think my parents lived in that house more than a couple of months.
The after-life is truly unknown. We all have our beliefs, and I won’t mock someone for theirs. Did we have spiritual encounters at the Sallie House? I do know one thing: If I wasn’t a believer in the spiritual world before my visit to Atchison, I left closer to being one…and that had nothing to do with the Sallie House. A couple more experiences rocked my core (and I will share those in a later post).
Believe in spirits or not, but you can visit the Sallie House for a self-guided tour ($10 per person) on weekends through the end of October. Group tours can also be arranged. If you’re interested in trying an overnight stay, that can be booked, too (please note: People book a hotel room, too, just in case they don’t make it through the night).
