Farrar Schoolhouse

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This building, formerly a middle school, has been a private residence since 2008. Please respect the owners’ privacy. Witnesses have seen the ghost of a small boy in the stairwell; one has also appeared in a photo sitting on the edge of the auditorium stage. Voices of children talking and laughing have been picked up on recorders. One witness reported an unseen steadying hand when she was about to fall on the stairs.

If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know!



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    Geographic Information

    Address:
    11125 NE 134th Ave
    Maxwell, IA 50161
    United States

    Get Directions »
    GPS:
    41.805023, -93.36881699999998
    County:
    Polk County, Iowa
    Nearest Towns:
    Mingo, IA (5.1 mi.)
    Valeria, IA (5.7 mi.)
    Maxwell, IA (6.2 mi.)
    Collins, IA (7.5 mi.)
    Elkhart, IA (8.0 mi.)
    Bondurant, IA (8.7 mi.)
    Mitchellville, IA (9.4 mi.)
    Cambridge, IA (10.5 mi.)
    Colfax, IA (10.9 mi.)
    Baxter, IA (11.3 mi.)

    Contact Information

    Web:
    http://www.hauntingatfarrar.com/

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    Comments (8)

    1. I went to school here in the 80’s, I lived less than 2 miles away and played with the janitors’ kids on the weekends.
      I’ve witnessed no paranormal activities while attending school here.

      • I regularly drove a truck by the school house while making deliveries to Ames from the Altoona area. I was new to the area and I was always reminded by locals to watch for ghosts when going through Farrar. Especially on Saturdays. All though I was always on guard, I observed no paranormal activity. I was in the area from the fall of 1973 to the fall of 1976.

    2. I went to school there in the 1960’s. I clearly remember the fourth grade classroom on the second floor, watching the more-talented-than-me girls turning cartwheels on the lawn, and playing baseball on the ball diamond. It was my first experience playing baseball. I think my teacher’s name was Mrs. Brown and she was a bit severe. I think she lived in Ames. I also seem to remember a bathroom on the top floor (????) that I was always afraid to go to. But I don’t remember WHY I was afraid to go up there. Strange.

    3. I’ve been up to the school to take pictures of it to show my friend. In one of them u can clearly see a face in the bottom left corner.

    4. We had video of a white figure running past our dvr camera ripping it off the spot we had it fastened to and throwing it to the middle of the library. The owners dog boo does not go into the males bathroom its just an eerie felling in that bathroom, we have caught evps, heard lockers open and close, shadow figure of a man. And even parital possession.

    5. I was with a group investigating there one night a few years ago. I went off on my own for a while. I looked into one of the class rooms on the second floor and definitely heard breathing. I went in, but no one was there. Later, the psychic that headed the investigation confirmed that they call that room ‘the breathing room.’ A little later, another investigator and I were on the 3rd floor, alone, no electricity on that floor then, and heard the rustling of pants, as you hear when you walk and your pant legs rub together, and heard the jingling of keys. The psychic told us later that the old janitor haunts the place, as he did some bad things to some of the kids while he worked there and his spirit seems to be trapped there.

    6. I’ve been to this school multiple times with an investigative group and there is no doubt about it, this place is haunted. Let’s start at the bottom floor. Although I have not seen or heard anything in the gym, through a doorway leads you to the boiler room. In this room I have had the most activity any time I’m there. At the far end of the boiler room there’s a hallway that leads to a door to go outside. It is in this hallway where I was touched, presumably by the old janitor. Story goes that the janitor is one of the staff members that would innoproperiately touch the students. In this same hallway, I was alone but there was a group of people in the main boiler room. I saw a rock fly from behind me in the hallway and someone in the group was hit by this rock. (No, I did not throw a rock at an innocent bystander) I have also heard loud moans from the main boiler room. Moving up a floor is where the auditorium is. It is believed that most of the children are in this room. I have placed a deflated ball and marked its spot on the floor and left it alone for about an hour, when I came back to the auditorium the ball had moved from the marked location about 1 foot away. Also it was in this room that I sat on the steps to the stage and let a wind up singing doll play out and moved it around and knocked it over to make sure that it wouldn’t just start playing music. I sat the doll, without winding it up again, on the stage next to me and after a little while something knocked it over towards me and it started playing music for about 2 minutes. Mind you, it wasn’t wound up. Many people have heard children’s laughter in the auditorium and little kids have been known to have complete conversations with what appears to be no one. If you go up one more floor you’ll see the steps to the principals office. It is on those steps that many people have seen a tall, dark figure standing. Watching. This same figure has been seen walking down the hallway with the sound of footsteps. The principal was also involved with innapropriately touching the students. If you go into his office you’ll see a door to your left that leads to a little storage space, a little hall with shelves. In this room I have been touched and have heard the storage room door shut by itself. If you sit in his chair, he’ll get a little worked up. I’ve heard angry moans and almost yells when people are seated in his chair. If anyone gets the chance to spend a night in this school, do it but make sure to bring a camera or recording device because your friends won’t want to believe what you’ve heard or seen(;

    7. It is rumored that two boys died on the location. One outside in the creek and the other one inside in the bathroom on the first floor. There is a man in the boiler room area who it has been witnessed to throw things at visitors. I have seen a lady in the gym being dragged back to the boiler room area. Not sure why or who she is but it was not friendly and it happened after she was starting to open up to our team about the history of the location.

      The bathroom in this area has been know for peppers when visitors are using the restroom. Voices, feelings, other things of that nature. Upstairs a boy is said to have died in the far left-hand side of the boys bathroom. It felt as if it were an accident of sorts. Discipline from an adult that got out of hand. You feel very sad and heavy when you walk into that area of the bathroom. My team lead and I heard an AVP of a man letting out what sounded like a deep scream at the far end of the hallway.

      On the floor with the auditorium I saw a very large group of children. We had been playing live music in the auditorium when I noticed movements in the hallway just outside the room. When we invited them in it was as if a swarm of children, accompanied by some teachers, walked in. What I saw was students coming in in a line with some teachers standing on either side of the line waiting for the students to finish coming in. The kids sat down on the floor in front of the stage and beside us while our team lead continued with the music. In this room we also felt a negative presence after this session. The students were scared and the teachers felt more obedient and quiet. I remember some of the students that hadn’t scattered hiding behind some of our investigators.

      At the far end of this hall is the Principles office. I have not liked this section of the location since day one. It feels like someone is watching you and has a not so nice energy about it. The last time I was there I placed myself at the bottom of the stair to understand these feelings a bit more. Kind of like pushing yourself out of a comfort zone. Needless to say when children were brought up and the lack of power that the bully type spirit had I heard the swivel chair being shoved from behind me. At this point no one else was near that room and there was no way that we could have debunked the chair moving in a scientific way. It startled me to the point where I jumped up and turned around sharply feeling that a chair was being shoved down the stairs.

      In one of the class rooms in this hallway a few of us witnessed the blind being moved and it looked like a fist was protruding from it. Being a spiritual and scientific team we tried to debunk this as well. Checking to see if any windows had been opened or if there was any other source of airflow. There was nothing scientifically that could explain it. That was probably one of the most ‘oh my goodness’ moments that multiple people saw plain as day.

      Overall this location will always hold a special place in my heart. I would recommend everyone visit it at least once if they are able to. The energy is very similar to Villisca in the sense that so many outsiders have brought in there own attachments and energy that it isn’t the way it was in the very beginning. It changes as the years go by. If you do go make sure you know how to ground and shield yourself properly and just be mindful of what you bring in and take out.

      There is a lot of K2 activity, EVP’s (Electronic Voice Phenomenon: picked up by equipment), visuals, and AVP’s (Auditable Voice Phenomenon: heard out loud).

      -Jackie Hudnell, Senior Field Investigator (Paranormal Endeavors)

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    Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.