As we get closer to Halloween, it seems appropriate we shed some light on Ringling’s resident ghost known as Mary, who shares students’ sleeping quarters in Keating Hall.
For decades, students have reported numerous sightings of the ghost of a young woman, often described wearing clothing from the 1920′s. During this time, before Ringling College was founded, Keating Hall was a hotel that fell on hard times and became a brothel. The story goes that Mary was a young “lady of the night” who commit suicide on the second floor of the building. Since then, her ghost reportedly lingers on the second floor.
Stories range from seeing a woman gazing out of a window into the street late at night, to several spooky happenings involving the yanking of sheets in the middle of the night, television sets and radios turning on/off and students walking into their empty rooms to find their brushes slowly swirling in their water cups.
The sightings and reports have been so numerous and constant throughout the ages that the Ringling College was showcased as one of the most haunted campuses in a Travel Channel special Halloween program aptly titled “Haunted Campuses”.
Interested in reading more? Follow this link to read a chapter on Ringling’s ghost in the book Florida’s Ghostly Legends and Haunted Folklore: The Gulf Coast and Pensacola by Greg Jenkins, courtesy of Google Books.
Have you or any of your friends had an encounter with our ghost? Leave a comment and share your stories!
In the meantime, mind your manners and be sure to say hello to Mary when you find yourself in Keating Hall.
