Wilson's History

Wilson Hall is where many people live during their first year of college. After being built on West Green in 1964, it was redeemed a resident hall for students. This luxury building includes air-conditioned rooms and even a formal lounge area! It was originally named West Green building number 5. How original. It was soon to be named Wilson Hall after H

iram Roy Wilson. He was educated at Ohio University and became part of the faculty in 1896 as a chemistry instructor. Wilson was also the National President of the Alumni Association from 1927 to 1929. He was a skilled musician, playing instruments such as the violin, cello, and pi

ano. He retired after 49 years teaching at Ohio University in 1945 and willed his library collection of 1,000 books after he died.

Although the lavishness dorm has many a

menities, its also to be considered…haunted. Not only that, but the most haunted building on campus. It was even featured in Scariest Places on Earth on Fox in 2001. Some people might say that the stories were compiled through the hand-me-downs of tall tales, while others believe in the paranormal activities.

When talking about Athens and all the scary stories, the tale of the pentagram is bound to come up. The story behind the pentagram is you can connect five of the Athens cemeteries’ and it will create a pentagram in which is shown in a picture above. And what is in the middle of the star shape? You guessed it; Wilson Hall! Sort of creepy I know. That is not the only popular topic when it comes to Wilson Hall and its spooktastic tales. The next one is the story of room 428. The resident living in this room haunted by a ghost of a woman who got locked in one of the towers of the Ridges which was then a mental hospital. It was said the woman undressed and folded her clothing into a neat pile and eventually laid down to die. When staff finally found the missing woman months later, she had decayed into the floor, leaving a stain outlining her body. Years and years later, the resident of room 428 was roaming around the Ridges with her friends while they came upon the stain. She touched it. When she got back into her dorm room, she experienced devilish noises. She dabbled in sorcery practices to the point of going insane and ended up committing suicide. When administrators assigned rooms for upcoming residents of 428, the new residents did not stay for long. They declared that blood would seep through the walls and a woman would haunt them. Every time the blood was tried to be covered, it managed to seep through the new coat of paint. Since then it has been made into a boiler room. But it is said a devil’s face can be seen on the door. Whether this is all true or not, it’s up to you. So if assigned to Wilson Hall you can either believe the history left by Hiram Roy Wilson, or believe in the handed down stories about specific paranormal activities.

-TwoGirlsOneGuy