ralston opera house & theater
1 1/02/2024
General Information
Equipment used: DVR, 3 IR video cameras, 1 full-spectrum video camera, personal audio recorders, digital camera, geophone, Mel Meter, surface temperature thermometer, 2 KII EMF meters, Rem Pod, Spirit Box, and other person emf and recording equipment.
Investigators: Christy and API Members: Brooke, Tammy and Jill
Historical/Factual/Relevant Info:
It's been almost 60 years since the last performance on the stage of the Ralston Opera House, but that doesn’t mean there’s no life still within its walls. The town of Ralston was established in 1894 and quickly gained a reputation as a “whiskey town.” There is the Osage County & Nation that was just across the river, and that county is a dry county, so no alcohol was allowed there. They even had a trading post built right across the river there. The trading post supposedly would sell alcohol to the Native Osage Indians. There were 13 saloons in Ralston, so many of the Native Osage
Indians would cross the river and come into Ralston to drink alcohol.
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​In Ralston’s heyday, the town had businesses lining Main Street, which extended all the way to the river. The population during this time was approximately 1,200-1,400 people, but it served around 15,000 due to the presence of numerous farms. The next nearest town was Pawnee. Ralston has doctors, dentists, lawyers, schools, grocery stores, and many more amenities.
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There were a lot of murders that occurred in the town, and many blamed all the alcohol that the town was pushing. Half of the city wanted to get rich, and the other half wanted to be good citizens. The use of alcohol even led to prostitution and gambling.
The Harry brothers sold everything except for food. Items such as clothing, shoes, buggies, wagons, hardware, and school supplies were all sold in the downstairs area of this building. It was like a Walmart of its day. Later, it changed and strictly became a hardware store.
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Regarding the building next door to the opera house, it used to be a furniture store and a coffin store. As embalming became more prevalent, the building eventually became a funeral home. Deceased bodies were brought in there and prepared for burial. The
owner of the property used to have a horse-drawn carriage or a horse-drawn hearse.
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The Osage had oil on their land, and they made money off of it. In fact, they had so much money that they really didn’t know how to handle it. It was a common practice for them to come into town, get drunk, pass out, and someone would steal their money. At other times, individuals would swindle them out of their money, or they would appoint a Caucasian man as the executor of their estate to help manage their finances. Still, the executors stole 90% of their money. The Osage would also spend lavishly. The Osage Native Americans would purchase a new Model T vehicle for about $250 at that time. Many of them would drive their cars across the river, only to get stuck. The river’s level in the
morning was very low, and it could be driven across. The afternoon brought large rushes of water that covered the entire riverbed, making the water deeper. When the Osage Natives would get their car stuck in the river's waters, they would abandon it and later go out and buy another one. During this time, $250 was a year’s wage for most individuals, but this amount was no issue for the Osage Native Americans. The cars were not left in the riverbed for long, though, as individuals would go pull the vehicles out, clean them up, and sell them. This became a successful business. There is a picture of the cars stuck in the river.
At one time, a barber shop was located right next to the café, which is just a few doors down and across from the opera house. There was a Native American man who went in for a haircut. There was a man who was waiting for him on the street, so as soon as he stepped out onto the street out of the barber shop, this man pulled out a gun and shot him. He didn’t die right away, so he was taken to the mortuary to wait for the doctor to get there to treat him. Unfortunately, before the doctor arrived, he died from his injury. Note: This story matches up with what Christy picked up on with the Native American man who was shot and killed by the opera house.
The murder of the Osage Native Americans was common in Ralston. In fact, a movie titled “Killers of the Flower Moon,” released in 2023, tells the story of this event. Producers in Hollywood even traveled to Ralston, Oklahoma, to shoot many parts of this movie.
History of the Ralston Opera House & Theater
Located just 16 miles north of Pawnee, Oklahoma, at 529 Main Street in Ralston, stands the Ralston Opera House. It is a fifty-by-eighty-foot (50x80) building constructed of local native sandstone in 1900 and built by the Harry Brothers. On the lower/first level of this 4-story building, there was a hardware store. The second and third stories consisted of the opera house. The front wall is rusticated, while the rear and exposed side walls are finished flat and rough. The lower storefront is a Metzger Brothers cast-iron storefront frame with wooden storefront windows, two doors, an entresol, and a center opening. The two outside doors each feature a four-pane, fan window above.
The center opening in the lower storefront provides access to the upper floor. The lower storefront is protected by a canopy that attaches to the entresol below. Historically and currently, two areas have been and are being used for a hardware store and a general merchandise store. The building has recently undergone a sensitive rehabilitation, and the interior of the two sides, which still retains most of the historic fixtures and furnishings of the two businesses, has been restored to their original appearance. The theatre staging and audience areas occupy the upper floor. Although the roof had deteriorated to an extreme point, the interior of this floor, including the stage area, was remarkably well-preserved. At the head of the stairs is the ticket booth, flanked on each side by doors leading to the audience area. The audience area occupies the space from the interior of the front elevation up to the foot of the stage and is flat throughout.
The floor is a one-by-four (1x4) tongue-and-groove, the ceiling is beaded car siding, and the walls are plaster over stone. The stage area is fronted by a narrow, curved proscenium, which features a metal-lined footlight trough containing early porcelain bulb holders. The stage extends to the back and side walls of the building, creating the upstage, backstage, and wings areas. The backstage area is serviced by steps leading to double doors that exit the theatre area. Above the stage, the historic fly system remains in place, including many of
its pulleys and stays. Access to the upper staging area is provided by stairs on each side. Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), the historic Ralston Opera House building is deteriorating. It is at risk of demolition due to a lack of funds to help restore it.
The Ralston Opera House has hosted some very famous actors, according to the caretaker, including Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Will Rogers, Houdini, and Lily Langtry, among other well-known individuals.
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After sitting unused for almost 60 years, it was purchased by Bill Hiser in the mid-1980’s, with plans to restore the theatre. However, he died before it was completed. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, #87001257.
Shows began to be conducted at the theater in 1902, when the railroad and traveling shows started passing through town. In the early 1920’s silent films were shown there in the theater. By the time the 1930’s had arrived, the era of silent movies had finally come to an end. The theater, however, remained a genuine cultural center for the community and was used for various meetings, dances, school graduations, and other events.
Alleged Historical Ghosts Who Haunt the Opera House
The Lady and the Actor
The most prevalent ghost story is the love triangle suicide that occurred here. In 1916, a young married couple, who had been married for less than a month, lived in Ralston. At the time, the railroad brought in traveling road show performers. There was a famous singer and actor who had come to Ralston to perform. The married couple decided to attend the show one night. According to the local newspaper, the show was loved and well-received by the town’s residents. The wife of the couple thoroughly enjoyed the show and wanted to return the following evening to see it again. The husband didn’t care to see it again, so he told his wife to go ahead and go to the show without him.
The wife goes to the show the following evening. Instead of leaving to go home after the show ended, she went backstage and struck up a conversation with the actor. This started a trend because for the remainder of the week, she began giving false excuses to her husband, such as "I’m going to visit my mother" or "I’m going to visit my sister," but instead, she headed to the show each night. Each night, she would spend more and more time with the actor backstage.
Some local townsfolk and friends of the husband took notice and went to tell the husband about what his wife was doing, letting him know that his wife was spending a lot of time with this actor each night after the play. At the time, performers were considered lazy, unproductive, and lacking responsibility. In fact, some of the townsfolk had even seen a young lady and the actor on top of the roof of the Ralston Opera House building at the end of the week.
Behind the stage, there is an attic with a ladder that leads to the roof. The husband was in shock and didn’t believe what he had been told. He decided to follow his wife the next evening. He purchased a ticket and sat in the back of the theater. His wife was sitting up in the front row. A few seconds after the curtain had dropped at the end of the show, the man watched his wife jump up from her seat and quickly walk backstage. He goes backstage and sees the stagehands cleaning up the stage. He asks them where his wife was, and they point to the ladder. He ascends the ladder, into the attic, and out through the door that led to the outside.
According to the current caretaker, two different versions of this story have been told. One version is that the husband caught the actor and his wife in a passionate embrace. The other version is that the husband just saw his wife and the actor standing on the roof, talking. The husband and actor started physically fighting. According to the local newspaper back then, in her shame, she leaped from the corner of the building, falling to her death. In 1916, a woman would have been ostracized from her family, friends, and the community for spending time with another man when she was married. Some townsfolk theorized that she didn’t really commit suicide but instead tried to break up the fight and was accidentally knocked off the corner ledge of the building.
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One of Helen’s nieces told the current caretaker that when she was a little girl, around 9 years old, her aunt Helen told
her never to step on two of the cracked and sunken in sandstone tiles because those were the “unlucky stones,” meaning that bad luck would occur if you stepped on those stones since those were the stones that this young woman had fallen on and died.
This painting was painted on the inside of the theater to represent the lady who allegedly stepped off the side of the building and committed suicide.
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After the young woman’s death, the show troupe quickly packed up and left town. The husband became very depressed and started drinking heavily. He also stopped grooming himself properly and neglected his responsibilities. After about a year, the husband learned that the same show troupe would be returning to town to perform again. The husband told his friends that he was done grieving and was ready to get on with his life. The husband cleaned up, got himself a new suit, and started acting like his self. To prove
his friends that he was okay, he told them that he was even going to go to the show. The man sat in the front row, right in front of the stage. His three friends were sitting in the row behind him. They are keeping an eye on him, but the man seemed to be acting normal. Like previous shows, the actor performed a song at the end of the show. The actor is standing about two feet from the edge of the stage. Suddenly, the man jumped up and started climbing on the stage. His friends tried to grab him, but they weren’t quick enough since they were a row behind him. At this point, there are 2 versions of
At this point, there are two versions of the story again. One version is that the husband pulled a knife on the actor and started stabbing him, slashing his face, throat, and chest. The other version is that he pulled out a small bottle of some acid and threw it in the actor’s face. Even with either version, the actor is in bad shape, and he collapses onto the stage. The husband’s friends are in the process of restraining him now. The man takes out a little water bottle and drinks it. There was some poison in the bottle. Within a minute, the man collapses and dies on the stage. The husband figured he had gotten his revenge on the actor. The husband was buried in the same cemetery as his wife.
Since the actor was the main headliner for the show, the remainder of the show’s schedule was. The actor’s troupe left him on the stage and quickly got out of town. Despite believing the actor would die from his injuries, some of the townsfolk rushed the actor over to the doctor, who treated him. The actor supposedly recovered from his injuries. The Harry brothers took pity on him and allowed him to be a stagehand for the theater. They also allowed him to live in the attic. He supposedly was so severely disfigured that he rarely went out into town. Those few times that he did go out, he would wear a big floppy hat to hide his face. The actor worked and lived in the theater until the early 1940’s when he just disappeared. No one really knew what happened to him.
People have reported seeing a woman and a man there in the theater. The man is said to be looking out the window. A man and a woman have both been seen on the roof, usually around dusk.
Edward
Edward Bullock designed the bank in town and the Ralston Opera House. He was also the president of the bank and owned several other businesses. He passed away in his mid-forties of a heart attack. Later, one of the Harry brothers married Edward’s widow. Currently, a picture of Edward remains in the bank, and some visitors to the opera house have claimed to have seen Edward.
Helen
One of the Harry brothers & Mrs. Bullock got married and had two children (daughters, one biological and one adopted, Helen). By the 1950’s, both daughters were grown and had finally taken ownership of
their 85-year-old family business. Helen’s sister sold her half of the family business and building to Helen and then moved out of town. There is a picture taken in 1948 of Helen and one of Harry’s brothers that still hangs in the old opera house today. Helen never married.
One of the Harry brothers & Mrs. Bullock got married and had two children (daughters, one biological and one adopted, Helen). By the 1950’s, both daughters were grown and had finally taken ownership of their 85-year-old family business. Helen’s sister sold her
half of the family business and building to Helen and then moved out of town. There is a picture taken in 1948 of Helen and one of Harry’s brothers that still hangs in the old opera house today. Helen never married.
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Helen continued to run the hardware store up until she died in 1985, when her health declined. Helen was a very tall woman, standing at 6’1”. She suffered from diabetes, and, due to complications, she had to have part of one of her legs amputated. She had a wooden leg put in place of her lost limb to help her walk. She used minimal lights in the building to help keep the electricity bill down. It was said that when she walked, she would have to kick out her bad leg and then drag it forward, creating a “drag and thump sound.” Helen was known for being a very sweet lady. Eventually, she died of old age/natural causes. Supposedly, Helen is one of the ghosts said to haunt the opera house.
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Isabella
After Helen’s death, a new owner emerged. Her name was Isabella G. The caretaker described Isabella as looking like a crazy lady, with wild eyes, long, straggly grey hair, and being very volatile in life. He stated he felt she would have continued to be volatile in death, too. No one has reported seeing Isabella directly; however, the caretaker said she could be one of the spirits in the building, as she was very protective of it and her business when she was alive.
The Caretaker’s Paranormal Experiences at the Ralston Opera House.
The current caretaker of the building shared some previous paranormal experiences. One day, he, a friend, and the friend’s 13-year-old daughter were in the building, trying to clean it up. They were working on the 1st floor and were cleaning up trash when they all heard a “drag, thump, drag, thump” coming from the corner area of the 2nd floor above them. This sound lasted for about one minute. At first, they thought it was an animal that had gotten in through one of the broken windows. There was no electricity in the building at the time, but some natural light came in from the windows. He asked the girl to go upstairs and investigate the matter. She was hesitant but went upstairs anyway. After she had reached the top of the stairs, she heard the “drag, thump” sound again, screamed, and ran back down the stairs. The sound stopped for a bit, though, so all three of them tried to brush off the incident and went back to work.
After a few minutes, the sound started up again, this time from the opposite corner of the first sound, still coming from the upstairs floor above them. They also heard the noise as it crossed the floor. The daughter refused to go back up to see what it was, so her dad went with her, even though he wasn’t too thrilled about it. They walked up the stairs together, and when they reached the top, they heard the “drag, thump” sound again. The father screamed, and they both ran back downstairs. The sound stopped, but 10 minutes later, it started again, now sounding as if it were coming from the stage area above them. The father and daughter refused to go back up, so the caretaker suggested they all go up together this time to see what was causing the sound. They all ascended the stairs and walked around, trying to find the source of the sound, but found nothing.
All three went back downstairs, and just as soon as they had walked through the front door, the sound started back up again. They went back upstairs with flashlights and began looking under the seats, in the dressing rooms, and in every corner, but again, found nothing. They thought it had to be an animal. They decided to sit there for a few minutes to see if they could hear the sound and find the source, but the sound never returned. They all determined that it was an animal dragging something around upstairs.
All three go back downstairs and start working again, and after about 5 minutes, the sound starts up again. The caretaker remarked, “Well, if it is Helen, she is welcome to walk around up there all she wants to, but we’re just going to keep working.” He said it continued for the next 15 minutes, then stopped, and he never heard it again.
Other Paranormal Claims for the Ralston Opera House and Theater
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According to the current caretaker, objects move throughout the building. They disappear from one place where no one can find them. Then, after a few days later, these objects would be returned to the same place they belonged. Objects also fall off of shelves, walls, tables, and other areas that are higher up in height. This has occurred on every floor of the building.
An incident with missing hammers has happened several times. The caretaker was preparing for Halloween. He had several people who helped him. One day, one of his helpers questioned him about where the hammers kept disappearing to. The caretaker didn’t know, but they went on a search for them and found 5 of their missing hammers in the former side dressing room. The caretaker reported losing a total of about 15 hammers.
A female worker in the downstairs antique shop reports hearing footsteps, doors opening and closing, voices, and banging. She didn’t report any of this for the first 3 days that she worked there. There was a green bottle that was sitting on a shelf towards the front of the store. She reported picking up the bottle off the floor and putting it back on the shelf. The caretaker picked it up and put it on a lower shelf. Thirty minutes later, he heard his employee scream. He came down there and saw the bottle was in the middle of the floor again. He picked it up and put it back on the shelf, and after that, it never moved again.
Another worker who used smokeless tobacco lost his can of Skoal one day while doing some renovation work in the building. The next day, from a lower shelf, his can of Skoal rolled right off the shelf and onto the floor in front of them. The man swore he didn’t put his can there.
Investigation Report
Our team joined API on this investigation. We arrived at this location around 5:30 p.m. Planning for an overnight stay, our team unloaded our gear and overnight bags. Once we were done, the caretaker gave us a tour of the entire building. We finished the tour around 7:12 p.m. As Christy was taking some of her equipment out of her bags, she saw the zipper on one of her bags turn from left to right, all by itself. Christy didn’t touch the bag or bump it either to make the zipper move.
Sit Down in the Auditorium
Since our team did not have access to the lower floor where the antique store was located, we spent a considerable amount of time investigating the auditorium. This area was essentially a one-room space. Unfortunately, the night we investigated this location, a severe thunderstorm swept through the Ralston area. We had a lot of our audio contaminated due to the sound of the storm and raindrops falling inside the theater, which was caused by many leaks in the roof.
Before our arrival, the caretaker had hosted a Halloween event in the theater, so numerous Halloween decorations were scattered around the stage area. Some of these decorations were motion-activated. Our team went through and turned off all the decorations that had light and sound, so our recorded evidence wouldn’t be contaminated.
As our team conducted the sit-down, we all noticed a low shadow moving in the doorway, just to the right of the stage, around 10:18 p.m. This shadow moved from right to left and then back to the right again. We attempted to recreate the shadow, but unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. Luckily, Christy captured this shadow on video.
During this same sit-down, we began asking a variety of questions. At one point during the sit-down, we all heard what sounded like a “pebble being tossed” across the room.
It was during this sit-down that we had several activations on different light-up balls placed around the room. The light-up balls will only activate when touched. Christy captured a picture of one of the light-up balls activating as seen in the photo to the right. We also had some activations on the EMF trip wire. It activates when there are fluctuations of EMF around it.
The times for these activations are:
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10:34 p.m. – Light-up ball activation
10:36 p.m. – Light-up ball and trip wire activation
11:53 p.m. - Light-up ball activation at the back of the theater
12:16 a.m. – REM Pod activation in the back of the theater
12:37 a.m. - REM Pod activation in the back of the theater
2:29 a.m. - REM pod activation right before lying down.
2:31 a.m. – “Ooop” – Male voice heard audibly by Christy, Tammy, and Brooke​
The video will show the collection of recorded evidence during our investigation here at this location.
Our team decided to lie down and get some rest. Shortly after we all were lying on our beds, around 3:33 a.m., Tammy felt her leg being grabbed. Right after this, Christy’s audio recorder picked up a “female whispery voice.” This whisper is very hard to hear and cannot be made out due to contamination from the thunderstorm and rain dripping in from the roof. A couple of minutes later, this same “female whispery voice 2” can be slightly heard again.
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Finally, around 4:00 a.m., our team took a little nap for about 3 hours. Shortly after falling asleep, Christy’s audio recorder picked up some light “whispering and movement.” This recording, of course, has some contamination due to the thunderstorm and rain leaking in from the roof. All the audio that was reviewed was compared to baseline audio that also included the same sounds and contamination from the thunderstorm.
While resting for about 16 minutes, about 4:16 a.m., we were all awakened by a “loud crash on the stage.” Christy’s audio recorder captured this sound. Afterwards, several team members got up to investigate to see if we could find the source of the loud crash, but we didn’t see anything outwardly apparent that we could say for sure had caused the sound. Shortly after this, we heard another “loud falling object,” but we didn’t know where it was coming from. Just like from the previous sound, a few team members got up to see if we could find the source of the sound, but no source was identified.
Christy kept her audio recorder going while all members of our team continued to rest. During this time, a “tap, movement, and loud knocks” were recorded, along with “several knocking sounds.” Two additional REM Pod activations were also recorded. “REM Pod while sleeping 1,” “REM Pod while sleeping 2.”
Upon reviewing all our recorded evidence, we believe the Ralston Opera House is currently home to at least two permanent ghosts: one man and one woman (possibly the actor and his wife). We also felt like there were a couple of spirits who would pop in and out (Edward the banker and the Native American man who was shot) to check on things that might be happening there.
Psychic Investigator’s Comments
Edward
After doing my walk-through of the old theater, I first felt the presence of a man. He appeared to be a businessman in a well-tailored suit that seemed to be from the early 20th century. I saw money and heard him tell me that he worked at the bank. He told
me he was curious about things that went on at the theater. Later, after talking to the caretaker, I learned that this man’s name was Edward.
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Native American Man
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I saw this Native American man. He told me that he was shot and killed. He showed me a time from long ago when he was standing outside a building, and he was suddenly shot and killed. He told me that he didn’t die there immediately, but he laid there for a few minutes in pain while bleeding to death. No one stopped to help him either, and that was upsetting to him. He told me he was just stopping in to see what was going on in the building.
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Female in White Dress
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During my walk-through, I also saw a dark-haired female who didn’t give me her name, but she did mention that she was very interested in the performing arts. Her energy felt very sad, and she told me that she was looking for her husband because she needed him to understand that the circumstances surrounding the end of her physical life weren’t what he thought. She expressed the need for her husband’s understanding, forgiveness, and acceptance.
evidence collected
There were 6 EVPs that was recorded during this investigation, 10 sound clips, and several video clips combined into 1 full evidence video. There were 0 positive photos
EVPS
"Oooop"
Female whispery voice 1
Female whispery voice 2
Whispering and movement
"Hey"
Male whispering
sounds
Pebble being tossed
Loud crash on stage
Loud falling object
REM Pod Activation 1
REM Pod Activation 2
REM Pod Activation 3
REM Pod Activation 4
REM Pod Activation 5
Tap and Movement
"Tap, Movement and Knocks