Longstreet Theatre (Ghost Tour)

👻 The Morgue

Columbia is steeped in Civil War History. The order to succeed from the Union was signed at First Baptist Church in downtown Columbia, about 6 blocks from where we are standing. General Sherman was determined to make his presence known in Columbia due to this action which started the war. While a very religious man, he was intent on burning First Baptist Church and therefore sent one of his officers to verify the site of the church. Upon arriving at First Baptist, his officer was said to have approached a custodian to confirm his location. This crafty custodian referred the officer across the street to Washington St. Methodist Church, which felt the wrath of Sherman’s torch, and First Baptist Church was saved. It is important to note that there are 4 historic churches in downtown Columbia, all with their attached graveyards where a number of notable, and possibly unsettled, spirits rests.

The building directly in front of us is Longstreet Theater, which today houses one of the finest state-of-the-art arena theaters in the country. Longstreet has served many purposes, a chapel, an auditorium and the site of commencement exercises, a science building and a gymnasium with a swimming pool. Longstreet also served as an arsenal and a military hospital during the Civil War, and of course with a hospital comes the need for a morgue, a place to house dead bodies.

Currently, Longstreet houses our Theatre Department, however, the signs of suffering left on this place can be found in the aura left by deceased Civil War soldiers. Ghosts have been reported to be roaming about the basement area of Longstreet at night in full uniform and in the same form they died-sometimes missing a limb or even headless, not unlike Headless Nick from the popular series Harry Potter. Can you image seeing such a presence before you had to go on stage?

The infamous Green Room-the room in which the morgue was housed-is said to have been the source of many strange noises at night. One night a student said she went down there to buy a soda, only to feel a horrifying and dark aura around her. Turing to leave hurriedly, she felt a rush a freezing cold air hit her back. Weird, considering the room has no windows, three walls, and the only exit being the door which she was facing. So convinced are some theatre students by this haunting that they’ve abided a buddy system when navigating around the building at night.