Most People Have No Idea This Quaint Iowa Town Has A Ghostly Secret
By Meg Archer|Published March 03, 2017
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Meg Archer
Author
Meg Archer is an Editor & Newsletter Editor who has called Oregon home for nearly 30 years. She spent her childhood exploring the mountains, forests, and high desert of Central Oregon before relocating to Portland after a brief stint out-of-state for college. She holds an B.A. in English from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and a B.S. in Psychology from Portland State University. Meg has worked in writing, editing, and media-related fields for over 10 years and joined the team at OnlyInYourState in 2015. When she’s not writing or exploring the West Coast, Meg enjoys playing tabletop games, working on visual media projects, and can always be found in the front row at Portland Timbers matches.
Strawberry Point may look like a cute country town that is home to the world’s largest strawberry, but not everything here is as quaint and charming as it appears. Despite having a population of just over 1,200, this little city has a surprising amount of ghostly residents haunting the area.
The most famous haunted hotspot is the Franklin Hotel, which was built in 1854 and said to have a few ghostly guests.
One spirit, a woman nicknamed "Lily," will occasionally appear dressed in a fine gown, moving between the lobby and dining room or wandering the hallways, only to disappear suddenly when you take a closer look. Some guests claim to hear her singing or moaning throughout the night.
Guests at the Franklin Hotel have also reported objects mysteriously moving and paranormal investigators that have come to explore the haunted hotel have captured a handful of voices saying things like "come out" and "get out."
A second resident ghost is thought to be the spirit of a man named Leo who lived in the Franklin Hotel for 42 years and owned a business called "Leo’s Laundramat" next door. Leo was blind, so he had a special bell system rigged in his room to ring down to the lobby if he needed anything. Although the bells have since been replaced by modern telephones, some claim to hear Leo’s bell chiming.
Though the Franklin Hotel may be the best known haunted spot in Strawberry Point, Mossy Glen Hollow is only minutes outside of the downtown area and is definitely more active when it comes to paranormal activity. There are several legends associated with this otherwise beautiful natural area that may send shivers up your spine.
Of the (many) spirits said to haunt Mossy Glen Hollow, the most famous is the ghost of Pearl Shrine. Pearl’s (much older) husband, Dan Shrine, owned a large farm… which Pearl wanted for herself, so she conspired with a farmhand to murder her husband in 1936.
Pearl and her cohort tried to make their murderous deed appear to be a suicide by moving Dan’s body to a closet and leaving a shotgun in his arms; however, their efforts were not enough to fool the police and they were arrested. Pearl was charged with first-degree murder and sent to prison. Residents report seeing her spiritual form still wandering through Mossy Glen, which is near to the farm she once lived on.
Another eternal visitor to Mossy Glen Hollow is a spirit called Lucinda. Stories say she once lived in a remote cottage in Stoney Hollow, but after being scorned by a lover who ran away with another woman, Lucinda flung herself from a cliff in Mossy Glen, leaving behind a single red rose on the ridge as she leapt to her death.
The more imaginative ghost stories suggest that if you visit Mossy Glen at night and whisper her name, Lucinda’s ghostly form will appear; however it may not be wise to do so, because if she drops a red rose at your feet, you will be joining her in the afterlife the following day. Those who don’t dare try to summon her with a whisper do, however, report seeing odd mists and orbs floating near the place where she committed suicide.
Pearl and Lucinda aren’t the only two spirits who are said to haunt Mossy Glen, but they are the only two to be known by name. Other spectral apparitions are said to be one of a traveling peddler who was ambushed, robbed, and murdered. The criminals hid his body in a small cave, but his ghost wanders the pathways with his decapitated head under his arm.
Other ghosts seen in Mossy Glen include that of a man who committed suicide by walking into a sinkhole (or muddy bog, depending on who you ask). Another is the spirit of a woman who died under questionable circumstances, thought to have been murdered by her husband, who may have also joined her in death after he drove his buggy into Mossy Glen Hollow and never returned.
There are a handful of other eerie spots around town, including a Victorian home in the downtown area said to have been the site where a witch hanged herself in the tower to avoid capture. Though the story suggests this happened over 100 years ago, strange noises are still heard throughout the house – particularly around 2 a.m. – and an unusual presence of bats that seem to hang around the old chimney. Odd shadows catch the eyes of visitors, chilly spots appear in several rooms, and some people claim that pets brought into the house act very oddly, seeming to stare at an unseen presence in certain rooms.
Whether or not you believe in ghosts, the spooky stories are still fun to hear. These are particularly interesting, as they appear in such a small town that is known for something as cheerful as a 15-foot-tall statue of a strawberry. We guess it just goes to show that even the tiniest towns and happiest places can still hide a haunted history!
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