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Villisca Axe Murder House
Villisca, Iowa
15.8 miles from Adams County, IAIn 1912 an entire family was murdered here by axe, and it is said that the house is still haunted by their spirits. The house has been investigated and featured on the TV show Ghost Adventures.
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Tedrow Cemetery
Kellerton, Iowa
38.8 miles from Adams County, IARumor has it that it is not actually the small cemetery, but the surrounding woods, that are haunted. Phenomena experienced here include glowing lights coming from the woods, shadowed apparitions, and the sounds of footsteps, moaning, and other strange noises.
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Malvern Manor
Malvern, Iowa
46.2 miles from Adams County, IABuilt in the late 1800's as a hotel initially to service the railroad. Was eventually turned into a nursing home and then a group home for the mentally handicapped. It serviced everyone from those with Down's Syndrome to the more exotic of diseases like multiple personalities and schizophrenia. The building ...
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Union Cemetery - The Devil's Chair
Guthrie Center, Iowa
46.3 miles from Adams County, IAIt is said that those who sit in the cement chair will receive a spell of bad luck. The Devil's Chair has no markings, and sits between the Peterson and Miller graves. According to reports, the chair has been believed to be cursed for at least 35 years.
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Terre Haute Cemetery
Decatur City, Iowa
49 miles from Adams County, IAThe spirit of a little boy can be seen playing on the swingset behind a cabin adjacent to the cemetery. He may motion for you to follow him into the cemetery, where he is buried. Once at his grave, he disappears.
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Elk Grove Cemetery - Union Township Cemetery
Coon Rapids, Iowa
49 miles from Adams County, IAAccording to local legend there is a small headstone with an eerie ability: If you position yourself the right way in front of it, after a few minutes it will begin to glow.
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New Virginia Cemetery - Beymer Cemetery
New Virginia, Iowa
51.2 miles from Adams County, IAThis is the gravesite of New Virginia's first settler. As legend has it, the gravestone has been replaced at some time over the years. Locals say an eerie glow will come from the stone at midnight, a protestation from the ghost, angry about the change.
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Old Highway 83
Shelby, Iowa
51.9 miles from Adams County, IADifferent witnesses have reported seeing two young girls playing in the middle of the highway late at night. They wear flowing white dresses and are bathed in a glowing light.
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The Van Meter Creature
Van Meter, Iowa
51.9 miles from Adams County, IAFirst seen in 1903, the Van Meter Creature is a monster with batlike wings and a horn on its head that glows with blinding light. It may also manifest as a hovering spot of light. Shortly after it began to terrorize the townsfolk, strange sounds started coming from a coal ...
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Van Fossen Cemetery
Adel, Iowa
52.5 miles from Adams County, IASince the 1850's, the Van Fossen cemetery has had many names, from Rodenbaugh Cemetery, the Old Adel Cemetery, to the "official" name recorded by the state, the Gibson Cemetery. Along old highway 6, the cemetery is sometimes just called the Bilderback Cemetery, after the massive headstones that mark the ...
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Davis City Cemetery
Davis City, Iowa
53.3 miles from Adams County, IAIt is said that visitors to the cemetery may exoerience a sudden feeling of pressure as they enter. Shooting lights also have been reported streaming across the grounds very late at night.
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St. Mary's Cemetery
Hamburg, Iowa
57.8 miles from Adams County, IAA mysterious spirit, that of a woman, has been seen kneeling at the feet of three of the cemetery's Virgin Mary statues. Also reported have been wailing sounds coming from the statues.
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High Creek Cemetery
Watson, Missouri
58 miles from Adams County, IAUpon finding this website, I was shocked to find this location was not listed, as it is "well known" by locals to be noted as haunted. The experience I had there happened about 10 years ago. A friend and I were hanging out one night and decided to ...
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Jordan House
West Des Moines, Iowa
62.1 miles from Adams County, IAThis museum is allegedly haunted by the ghost of the young daughter of the original owner. She died when she was three years old after falling from the stair railing she was sliding down and breaking her neck. People claim they still see and hear her playing throughout the ...
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The Earling Exorcism
Earling, Iowa
63.6 miles from Adams County, IAEarling is famous for a 1928 exorcism that lasted more than 3 weeks. A local Franciscan convent was the setting for the ceremony; the target was the demons inhabiting Emma Schmidt. As Roman Catholic Capuchin Theophilus Riesinger worked, Emma is said to have flown across the room and clung to ...
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Des Moines International Airport
Des Moines, Iowa
64.6 miles from Adams County, IAThere are two ghost stories around this airport. Some offices are haunted by a flight attendant, usually in the fall season. The offices used to be the site of a restaurant called the Cloud Room, and the flight attendant wanders there as if looking for her flight. Also, laughing and ...
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Smelly Ghost of University Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa
65.1 miles from Adams County, IALocals say a cloudlike presence occurs here, and it smells of kerosene. Sometimes within the cloud is the form of a man or several tiny flickering lights. Reports tell of a man who died nearby in 1881 as a result of his kerosene-soaked clothes catching fire.
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Air Lanes Bowling Center
Des Moines, Iowa
65.3 miles from Adams County, IAAccording to local legend, behind the bowling alley is an upstairs area that was used for illegal gambling in the 1920s. Reports say if you gain access to a room down the hallway, you may hear people talking, dice rolling, and you may even hear a ghostly disembodied voice calling ...
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Drake Municipal Observatory
Des Moines, Iowa
65.5 miles from Adams County, IADr. Robert Morehouse was the first chairman of the Astronomy and Physics department, and he discovered a comet in the 1920s. He also haunts the observatory, according to local legend, perhaps because the remains of Dr. Morehouse and his wife are buried in the entryway wall. Students working in the ...
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The Historic Klondike Hotel
Manilla, Iowa
65.7 miles from Adams County, IAThe Klondike Hotel was built on the street that in 1897 was named Railroad Street. It faced to the west toward the bustling Milwaukee tracks and depot. An access road was completed shortly after the hotel was built which directly connected the Hotel with the Depot. The ...
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Eliza C. Morgan Hall - Peru State College
Peru, Nebraska
66.3 miles from Adams County, IAThe Morgan Hall dormitory is said to be haunted by Eliza Morgan herself. Legend has it that she once lived in the house that makes up the center of the dormitory, and she died in the basement.
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Meriwether Lewis Dredge
Brownville, Nebraska
66.3 miles from Adams County, IADredge Captain Meriwether Lewis, built in 1931, is one of the few surviving examples of its type built to control flooding along U.S. rivers. It contains a museum that is believed to be haunted. Employees say the ghosts have long been a part of the museum's staff. Perhaps most notably, ...
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Merle Hay Mall
Des Moines, Iowa
66.4 miles from Adams County, IAThe mall and its tower are rumored to be built over a monastery that was closed in the 1950s. According to the stories, some nuns became pregnant and had miscarriages, and the babies were buried in unmarked graves at this site. Reports say ghosts of both nuns and infants have ...
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Captain Bailey Museum
Brownville, Nebraska
66.6 miles from Adams County, IACivil War Captain Bailey's seven-gabled house now holds the museum of Brownville artifacts, and is rumored to be haunted by the captain himself. Among the proof, witnesses say, are doors that won't stay closed and the sound of piano playing late at night. Local tales say the captain died as ...
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Terrace Hill
Des Moines, Iowa
66.6 miles from Adams County, IAAt this 1860s historic building, home of the governor of Iowa, the ghost of a little girl has been seen. She is transparent, and some say she likes to work the elevator, even though it is only supposed to operate by the use of codes.
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Spooky Table at the Weaver House
Des Moines, Iowa
68 miles from Adams County, IALocal legend has it that when the Weavers purchased a table in 1937, they bought a ghost along with it. The table is said to have made rapping noises and caused other disturbances until a minister's wife quieted it by reading from the Bible. A spiritualist consulted by the Weavers ...
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Old Red Horse Armory
Des Moines, Iowa
68.2 miles from Adams County, IAThis old cavalry armory is now the housing for city school buses. There have been reports that members of the National Guard, when they occupied the building, heard ghostly sounds from long ago: clopping of horses' hooves and jingling of harnesses. An apparition of an older man in cavalry garb ...
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Mt Hope Cemetery
Madrid, Iowa
73.6 miles from Adams County, IAThe ghost of a child named Sara resides at this cemetery. She and four other children from her family are buried near the back. Sara is said to follow around visitors and ask for someone named Ree. She is also known to touch people and tug at clothing if her ...
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Kate Shelly High Bridge
Boone, Iowa
80.6 miles from Adams County, IALocal legend tells the tale of 15-year-old Kate Shelley, who in 1881 crawled across a badly damaged bridge during a terrible storm to warn an oncoming train that the bridge was out. This bridge, built in 1901, is said to be her ghost's home. Phantom trains also have been seen ...
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Boone County Historical Society - Masonic Temple
Boone, Iowa
83 miles from Adams County, IADating back to 1907, the historic former masonic temple and museum may have a resident ghost. Known as 'Frank', the poltergeist frequently slams doors and turns on lights after the place has been closed up for the night. Disembodied footsteps have also been heard on the second floor, and ...
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The Boone News-Republican
Boone, Iowa
83.3 miles from Adams County, IAEmployees who work late have heard unexplained footsteps and, at times, have heard their names called. The phenomena seem to occur only when the place is nearly empty of people.
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Friley Hall - Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
87.5 miles from Adams County, IAOne dormitory room is nicknamed Satan’s Legion. Rumor has it that a student killed himself there, and everyone who is assigned to that room either dies or disappears. Reports say many students are afraid to go into the room, and some maintain that because of this, the university stopped assigning ...
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Iowa State University - Memorial Union
Ames, Iowa
87.7 miles from Adams County, IAThe hall is a tribute to graduate soldiers who died at war. According to reports, a strange low moan can be heard constantly here. Some say is it the voice of the only woman who ever graduated from the school who died in World War I.
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Iowa State University - C.Y. Stephens Auditorium
Ames, Iowa
87.8 miles from Adams County, IAA friendly ghost, C.Y. Stephens himself, in fact, is known to haunt this auditorium. He has been seen in the basement tunnels or sitting in the back right corner of the 3rd balcony. He also makes himself known by cold spots and the sound of footsteps. When performers see him, ...
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Fisher Theatre - Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
87.8 miles from Adams County, IANamed for contributor J.W. Fisher, the 1974 theater is rumored to be haunted by Frederica Shattuck, another university theater department contributor. So the story goes, the ghost took up residence in the Fisher Theatre after her Shattuck Theater was demolished.
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Farm House Museum
Ames, Iowa
87.9 miles from Adams County, IAThe spirits of two sisters are believed to reside at the museum; details of the hauntings are unknown.
We're sorry, but there are currently no haunted listings available within the boundaries of Adams County, Iowa. If you know of one that should be listed here, please let us know via our submission form. Alternatively, you may want to expand your search to the state of Iowa.
In the meantime, here's a list of all haunted places within 100 miles of Adams County, Iowa.