Relive the hauntings, history and murders of downtown Warsaw through “The Spirits of Warsaw Ghost Tours.” Owned by Dark Star Haunted Entertainment LLC, the approximately one-mile walking tour is in its first season, which started in May and runs through October. Greg Steffe, who also is involved with Soultaker’s Acres at the county fairgrounds, provides the 90-minute leisurely lecture-like walk. He said he’s always been interested in paranormal things and has been involved in activities like researching hauntings for about 36 years. He took a class at IPFW in paranormal investigation. The Ghost Tours all take place downtown and are by appointment only by calling 574-453-7982. The tours can be done any night of the week. Cost is $10 per person, and Steffe tries to limit tours to 10 people so that everyone can hear and receive personal attention. Exceptions can be discussed. To put the tours together, Steffe spent last winter researching. He reviewed many articles online and from the Times-Union. The tour starts at the Old Warsaw Depot. Steffe not only gives the history of the railroad in Warsaw, but also tells his first two ghost stories. The first one is about William Hall, a meat cutter by trade, who was killed Dec. 30, 1882. His ghost reportedly still walks the tracks west of Zimmer Crossing, carrying an ax. On New Year’s Eve 1868, Irish immigrant Michael Fitzgerald was struck and killed by a train. People reported his spector along his tracks for many years. Steffe goes into much detail about each story, but one has to take the tour to find out all the details. From there, Steffe takes the tour past what is now Owen’s Company P.C. where a funeral home used to be, to a house on East Winona Avenue. On Oct. 12, 1939, Mrs. Potter received a visit from a traveling salesman at her home on Winona. It must not have gone well because the salesman returned later and brutally murdered her. Her body was found in a large pool of blood in the kitchen with a necktie around her neck. Her death became known as the “Necktie Killing.” The next house Steffe takes the tour to is on High Street where people have told stories of disembodied voices, cold spots and occasional touches of an unseen hand. One woman reported being pushed by an unseen hand. Famous gangster John Dillenger plays an integral part in the tour. The story starts in the alley between Buffalo and Indiana streets, and continues until the tour gets to the Kosciusko County Historical Museum. Stops also include Breading’s Cigar Store and the mysterious disappearance of Frank Tucker, and Warsaw Community Public Library where the staff have named a ghost “George.” The county museum was constructed in 1870, and it served as the county jail from then to the 1980s. A number of suicides took place in the county jail, and in 1921 the jail housed eight accused murderers associated with two cases. Steffe explains how famous attorney Clarence Darrow became involved in one of those cases in Kosciusko County. At the intersection of Buffalo and East Fort Wayne Street used to be a large manhole where two city workers died. While their bodies eventually were removed, their ghosts may still rest there. On the tour, Steffe provides much more detail, giving people an insight into the past of downtown Warsaw. Schedule a tour by calling 574-453-7982, or email darkstarhauntedentertainment@gmail.com
