Bridgewater College

Virginia · United States · School

A Virginia college auditorium where a seat on the balcony goes cold when the show was good.

Bridgewater College was founded in 1880 in the Shenandoah Valley, the oldest coeducational college in Virginia, and it is a small and handsome campus. The land it stands on was hunting ground long before the college, and that is where the first layer of stories comes from.

The one everybody knows belongs to Cole Hall, the auditorium. The figure is called Mr Cole, and the source most people repeat has him down as the college's namesake, which is not right: the college takes its name from the town, and the hall takes its name from Charles Cole. What matters about him for our purposes is not who he was but when he comes.

He does not haunt the building generally. He turns up for performances, and specifically for good ones. Members of the drama club, musicians and people sitting in the audience have described him in the balcony, seated, watching, and the accounts cluster around the strongest nights rather than being spread evenly through the season. On one occasion the overhead lights began flickering rapidly as a play ended, and a cold spot was found at one particular balcony seat. The company took it as a review. It is a rare thing to find a ghost story where the resident is understood to be pleased.

FAQ

Where is Bridgewater College located?

Bridgewater College is in Virginia, United States.