By Tom Henderson | for The Oregonian/OregonLive
Jessica Todd retired as the dean of women at Oregon Normal School in 1931 and moved to Philadelphia, but the odd thing about Monmouth is that people who leave the community often return.
In one form or another.
Todd, folks say, returned after her 1944 death. Legend holds she haunts Todd Hall, the building named in her honor at what is now Western Oregon University.
Marilyn Morton is glad to have her back.
Morton created the annual Ghost Walk in the neighboring community of Independence in 2002 as an opportunity to tell people local ghost stories and guide them through historic downtown buildings. The concept spread to Monmouth with History & Mystery, an event now in its third year.
The Ghost Walk is held the first Saturday evening in October, with History & Mystery held the night before.
Todd isn’t alone in the other-worldly realm. Independence draws people like Flora Mix, who is just one of the ghosts who haunts the Masonic Lodge on Main Street. Morton said starting October by getting together with the ghosts of Monmouth-Independence is like a family reunion — for both the living and the dead.
“When you go to a family reunion, you hear stories unique to your family,” said Morton. “They are the stories that brand you as a member of that group. They’re stories you can tell your children. To me, stories unite communities. That’s why I want to tell these stories.”
History & Mystery starts at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 at Monmouth Main Street Park. The Independence Ghost Walk starts at 7 p.m. Oct. 7 at Riverview Park on Main Street.
Supplied with maps, visitors can fan out to 21 locations in Independence and 13 in Monmouth, where an appropriately dressed “ghost host” shares strange tales and local history.
Amy Lemco of the Monmouth Historic Commission said researching Monmouth’s past was tricky.
“I thought since this is October, the stories should have a darker element,” Lemco said. “Because it was a dry college town, Monmouth doesn’t seem to have as many scandals and tragedies as some of the other towns around.”
The research eventually became easier. “Once you find one thing, there are other key words in the article that lead you down this rabbit hole,” she said. “The research has a life of its own.”
A book of local stories will be available during the event, Lemco said. Meanwhile, she added … spoilers. “I don’t want to give away any of the juicy stuff.”
Rick Gydesen, the owners of Rick’s Place at 123 Main St., will likely tell the story of the ghostly man in the old-fashioned derby hat who likes to appear — then disappear — at the coffeehouse.
His wife, Mary, has seen the apparition as well, Gydesen said, but it hasn’t fazed her. “She accepts the fact that they’re there,” he said.
Thoughts of a Ghost Walk began haunting Morton when she worked for the Independence Downtown Association. Merchants told her the strangest stories.
“Half of the buildings had some kind of unexplainable happening,” she said.
When she visited San Francisco and saw signs for a Barbary Coast Ghost Walk, she decided to take the idea to Independence. She hoped for 40 people at the first event. More than 300 showed up. In 2021, the event drew more than 2,000.
Ghost Walk organizers commissioned a comic book about Independence’s ghosts from Warrior Innkeeper Comics in 2013. Morton has also written two books about local ghosts: “Haunted Independence” published by Arcadia in 2013 and “Spirits of Independence,” a follow-up Morton published herself last year.
“I think I have a storytelling gene,” Morton said. “I can’t control it.”
Whether people believe the stories or not is as immaterial as ghosts themselves, she added.
“The whole point of the Ghost Walk is to bring some love to our downtowns,” Morton said. “People need to remember what fun it is just to be downtown and get to know folks — dead or alive.”
IF YOU GO: History & Mystery in Monmouth starts at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, at Monmouth Main Street Park. The Independence Ghost Walk starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, at Riverview Park on Main Street. Both events provide visitors with maps so they can visit downtown locations to hear stories and see historic buildings. More information on History & Mystery is available under the calendar at www.ci.monmouth.or.us. More information on the Ghost Walk is available at orheritage.org/ghostwalk.
This article first appeared on The Oregonian and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.