Everyone loves a good ghost story, especially with Halloween almost here. Whether someone believes in spirits or not, there are always good spine-tingling and hair-raising stories in every town. From strange sightings to unexplained noises, and over the years, the businesses of the Madill Square have reported a few of their own.
Corner Drug is a pharmacy that sits on the corner of one of the entrances of the square. It is the known location for Oklahoma’s last wild west shootouts. On Sunday, July 17, 1932, about 3 p.m., a gentleman by the name of Wiley Lynn strode into the store spotting a man he had previous encounters with by the name of Crocket Long. After several exchanges of words and misunderstanding due to Crocket not being able to hear, shots were fired between the two until both ran out. Both men and one innocent bystander died that day from gun shots.
Corner Drug still has been many things over time such as a saloon, pharmacy, barber shop, and soda shop. Most of the original building structure is still in place along with furniture pieces such as the fountain station, the bar and stools, booth seats and a table – it even has the original swinging door to the saloon and dance floor where the band played, and girls danced. There are even gunshot holes from the shootout in the store.
It isn’t unusual for medicine to be knocked off the shelf, a door to creak open, the alarm to be randomly set off throughout the night, or to get an eerie feeling when in the back of the store.
Another store on the square with some mysterious and ghostly history is Sharpes, the western clothing store’ that sits on an inside corner of the square. Sharpe’s currently sits in a building that was once a hospital and doctors office, along with at one time a hotel and saloon.
Many workers from there have told stories of boots and shoes flying off the shelf, things falling over, and unexplained noises in the upstairs part that is used for storage. A couple have even reported sightings of hazy figures, feelings of being watched by someone, and even being touched by someone but when they turn to look there is no one in sight.
It was even mentioned how an older gentleman came in to purchase a pair of overalls and was changing in one of the dressing rooms when his pants kept being pulled down. He looked a couple times thinking he was catching them on something but couldn’t find anything. He came out of the dressing room telling the employees that they had a little ghost that was playing tricks on him in the dressing room.
Even little kids, specifically a little girl has been spotted playing tag down the aisle and talking as if someone is there with them. She is known to be wearing a blue dress with polka dots by a couple of people that spotted her. Some feel she is from the wagon days and some feel she could be the girl that died in the 80’s from a car accident in front of the store who was brought in from the crash and didn’t make it. Many employees, along with a customer or two, have seen this little girl ghost. The man that has been seen
The man that has been seen a couple of times by previous employees state that he is tall and slender with dark hair. It was said that he wore khaki pants and a blue plaid shirt. He just stands around and appears out of the corner of their eyes. Some even say they feel like it was the man that possibly owned and ran the store from when it first opened.
Previous employees had even hired a paranormal crew to come and set up cameras to try and capture any ghostly activity. It was stated that they caught an image of a little girl and man along with sightings of orbs out and around the square.
The Madill Record even has history of employees hearing strange noises and hazy figures. It is unsure by the current employees of the building’s past but there is old printing machinery from years past, ancient computers, stacks of old papers, and leftover office supplies from previous employees and owners. The building is intertwined with little rooms full of old items from the paper’s history that makes it a little creepy and eerie at times.
Madill has come a long way since the early 1900’s. Sand streets, cotton wagons, metal awnings on slender poles are no longer the normal. Buildings and locations of businesses have definitely changed over the years. Almost all of the “old timers” in the county know the interesting history of the Madill Square.
Whether one believes in ghosts or not, there is one thing most people can all agree on, that not everything is always completely explainable and listening to a good ghost story or terrifying encounters are always intriguing, especially around Halloween.