Pleasant Hill Ghost Tour Draws Sellout Crowd, Unearths History and Hauntings Downtown

When the sun sets over downtown Pleasant Hill, the old buildings along Wyoming Street take on a life of their own. The creak of floorboards, the faint echo of footsteps, the whisper of a long-forgotten name — they’re all part of the city’s living history. And this fall, that history came alive in a way Pleasant Hill has never seen before.

A Walk Through Time

On October 11, 2025, Downtown Pleasant Hill, Inc. hosted its first-ever Walking Ghost Tour, in partnership with Dark Realm Paranormal – KC. The event ran from 8 to 11 p.m., guiding visitors through a moonlit exploration of the town’s most storied locations.

Participants followed lanterns through the heart of downtown — from the Missouri Pacific Depot to the old Times Building — where historians and paranormal investigators shared chilling tales pulled straight from the Pleasant Hill Times archives.

The night began at the Depot, where one of Pleasant Hill’s most tragic stories took place more than a century ago. On February 20, 1915, a gunfight erupted between Town Marshal Jos. Adams, Night Policeman Clarence Poindexter, and two men accused of fitting the description of the “Richardson Robbers.” By the end of the shootout, Adams and Poindexter were dead. The suspects, W.F. Williams and E.F. Ryan, were captured — though one would later be lynched by a mob from the Bell tower behind City Hall. The Times headline from February 26, 1915, summed it up best:

“The ferocity with which the two men fought, however, satisfies the police that these two men were guilty of something…”

Standing near the old train depot, guests could almost hear the echoes of that fateful day.

Ghosts Beneath the Streetlights

From there, the tour wound its way to the Lumberyard, Gazebo Park, and 115 Wyoming Street — each stop carrying stories layered with smoke, sorrow, and laughter. The Lumberyard was once home to a wagon shop, a power plant, and the Benson grain elevator. The park, once a saloon corner, is said to be haunted by the spirit of Bill Allen Kennedy, a gambler whose mother ran a boarding house on the site.

And then came 115 Wyoming — the heart of Pleasant Hill’s haunted lore.

Inside that building, the former owner, Julie McBride, experienced things she could never quite explain. Her stories were compiled in a piece titled “My Encounters With the Unseen,” which quickly became the talk of the tour.

“It all began that first Christmas,” she wrote. “I placed large blow-up Christmas bulbs in the upstairs window, but each morning I’d find them knocked over. One morning, one bulb was completely deflated. That’s when I felt it — the unmistakable sensation of being watched.”

Later, paranormal investigators captured the image of a man standing in that same upstairs window, gazing down at the street below. They said his name was Wyatt Guthrie. Since then, the window has remained his.

Light, Laughter, and the Unseen

McBride’s encounters didn’t end there. Cameras once caught orbs dancing across her patio — “like bubbles from a machine,” she said — while a spirit she called The Playful Protector roamed the restaurant below.

“He would call me by name — ‘Julie’ — in a voice that was clear and familiar,” she recalled. “I never felt afraid of him. In fact, he felt protective, even playful.”

When McBride sold the building in 2023, she felt the spirits knew it was time.

“That final night was not just a farewell,” she wrote. “It was a moment of mutual respect and gratitude between the living and the unseen.”

Keeping the Past Alive

For the volunteers of Downtown Pleasant Hill, Inc., this ghost tour wasn’t just about scares — it was about history. Proceeds from the event will help fund local improvement projects, including a new crosswalk near the fairgrounds.

“This was our way to celebrate Pleasant Hill’s stories,” said organizer Brenda, who also works with Dark Paranormal KC. “Some of them are funny, some are tragic, and some still walk among us. But they’re all part of what makes this town special.”

The Spirit of a Town

As the night drew to a close, the streets quieted again, leaving only the hum of the lampposts and the whisper of autumn leaves.

The tour may have ended, but the stories linger in the Depot’s brick walls, in the laughter echoing from Gazebo Park, and in the soft glow of that second-story window at 115 Wyoming Street, where Wyatt Guthrie still keeps watch.

“Whether you believe in spirits or not,” McBride wrote, “some places hold more than just history — they hold energy, emotion, and connection.”

And on that cool October night, Pleasant Hill proved that its history is very much alive.