Kansas has a long list of ghost towns that were once either booming cattle towns, stops on the Oregon Trail or just got surrounded by bigger towns.
That could be one reason why Kansas is also a hotbed for ghost sightings across the state.
BetKansas.com took a break from Kansas sports betting and used GhostsofAmerica.com to add up the number of ghost sightings across the Sunflower State. After determining the number of sightings per city, we developed the Top 10 cities for ghost sightings. On the website, you can find the description of each sighting for certain towns.
Kansas Cities You’d Most Likely See A Ghost
Rank | City | No. of Sightings |
1 | Wichita, KS | 36 |
2 | Salina, KS | 34 |
3 | Garden City, KS | 26 |
T4 | Manhattan, KS | 23 |
T4 | Hutchinson, KS | 23 |
T4 | Fort Riley, KS | 23 |
7 | El Dorado, KS | 21 |
8 | Dodge City, KS | 20 |
9 | Augusta, KS | 19 |
10 | Leavenworth, KS | 18 |
Wichita Leads the Pack
The Ghosts of America website has six Kansas cities that have at least 23 ghost sightings, with Wichita coming in at No. 1 with 36. Salina ranks second with 34, followed by Garden City at 26 and three tied at 23 — Manhattan, Hutchinson and Fort Riley.
Halloween is fast approaching, so the state’s tourism offices aren’t shy about promoting their city’s ghostly connections to help bring in some extra visitors for the Oct. 31 holiday.
VisitWichita.com has blogged about the town’s many haunted areas, including the Delano District, the Old Cowtown Museum, the Orpheum Theatre, the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum and the Kansas Aviation Museum. Reports of mysteriously slamming doors, shadows looking out of windows and moving objects are sure to send chills down the spine of even those who don’t believe in ghost stories.
TravelKS.com, which promotes the state's casinos and their Kansas sports betting apps, also promotes the state’s ghostly connections with a story titled “13 Spooky Locations to Make Your Blood Run Cold.” The list starts at Fort Leavenworth, which is No. 10 on the list above, calling it one of the most haunted military spots in the country.
That list includes stops in Hutchinson, Wichita and several other places not in the top 10 listed on the GhostsofAmerica site. So, if seeking out a ghostly good time is your idea of fun as we get close to Halloween, Kansas seems to have lots of places to give you a little extra frightening time.
Author
Douglas Pils has been a sports journalist for 30 years in Texas, Arkansas and New York having worked for the San Antonio Express-News, the Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News and Newsday. He currently runs the Student Media Department at Baylor University.
