Landers Theater, aka Springfield Little Theater, was built in 1909 and was renovated in 1970. It is said to be haunted by several ghosts. One is a janitor who perished in a 1920 fire. His apparition is seen in the balcony watching rehearsals. Another is an African-American man who was stabbed to death in the second balcony in the 1920s. He shows up as a green hazy orb about 5 feet tall. There is also a ghost baby who falls from the balcony, a recurring scene of a past accident. The baby’s cries are sometimes heard as well. On the street outside, people have seen a tall blond man’s apparition in Elizabethan clothes looking out of a fourth-floor room from the curtains. Other entities have been seen here too, some following living folks through the building or tapping them on the shoulder.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 311 E. Walnut
Springfield, MO
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 37.2073316, -93.2909411
- County:
- Greene County, Missouri
- Nearest Towns:
- Springfield, MO (0.7 mi.)
Battlefield, MO (7.7 mi.)
Brookline, MO (7.7 mi.)
Fremont Hills, MO (10.1 mi.)
Willard, MO (10.1 mi.)
Strafford, MO (10.4 mi.)
Nixa, MO (11.3 mi.)
Republic, MO (12.0 mi.)
Lon, MO (12.9 mi.)
Ozark, MO (13.7 mi.)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oGmOgp7dQc
I wanted to share my own experience with the other side, although there were no physical manifestations.
When I was fresh out of college in 1972 I took a job working as the resident costume designer at the Landers Theatre in Springfield, MO. There were stories of a deadly fire in 1920, after which the original box office and hallway had been permanently closed.
I often worked alone in the basement getting costumes ready for upcoming performances. I have never been especially suggestible or prone to imagining things, but these are a couple of my experiences:
1) One afternoon I was working alone and suddenly heard all sorts of commotion above me in the theatre: voices, hammering, general activity. I was surprised because I didn’t think anything was happening that day. I went up to the theatre and no one was there. Nobody.
2) I leaned over to take a drink from the water fountain at the back of the house and a man started talking right next to me. I looked up… nobody there.
3) Another time, again when I was alone in the basement, I heard a woman’s high heels clicking along the floor, accompanied by what sounded like children’s feet running along near her. The sounds were directly above me … where the old box office had been and which was completely boarded up.
Hmmm. None of these events match what my limited research says are the common ghost stories associated with this theatre. I would love to know if anyone else ever had similar experiences!
In 2011, I and two other men along with several 12 year old boys were given permission to do a paranormal investigation in the theater. We were locked in and were there from 11 pm until around 4 am. None of us took it very seriously to be honest. The kids kept bugging me to review the evidence. I begrudgingly started listening to the audio one night. I was shocked when I heard voices that we didn’t hear while we were there. In the end, we caught dozens of EVPs and actually caught a pic of the green orb mentioned above. I wasn’t a believer before that night but I am now.
In photo below you can see the green orb in the balcony.