Old Main, Franklin College

Indiana · United States · Execution site

A fire destroyed a residence hall and gutted the attic of Old Main. Classes have been cancelled since because of what students say the attic smells of.

Early one morning at the end of the 1970s, a fire at Franklin College in Indiana destroyed a residence hall and gutted the attic of Old Main, the grand building holding administration offices and classrooms.

The account handed down among students is that someone hiding in the attic to escape the fire died there.

An update from July 2005 places the fire in 1978 or 1979 and corrects parts of the version students tell, which is worth knowing before repeating any of it. The deaths and the circumstances have been reshaped considerably in the retelling.

What has stayed constant is where and when. Students in the attic in the morning report screaming, and a smell they describe as burning flesh.

The detail that lifts this above campus rumour is administrative. Classes have been cancelled more than once because of the smell, which means the college itself acted on it. A cancelled class leaves a record, and it is not the kind of decision an institution makes because undergraduates are telling stories.

FAQ

Where is Old Main, Franklin College located?

Old Main, Franklin College is in Indiana, United States.

Image: Nyttend / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons