Elkhart Civic Theatre

A community theater housed in a historic 1897 building. Originally known as the Bristol Opera House, it has been the home of the Elkhart Civic Theatre since the 1960s and is one of the oldest continually operating community theaters in Indiana.

The Bristol Opera House, home to the Elkhart Civic Theatre, was built in 1897 by brothers Cyrus and Horace Mosier as a cultural centerpiece for the small Elkhart County community of Bristol, Indiana. For over a century, the building has served as a venue for arts and entertainment, though by the early 1960s it had fallen into such disrepair that demolition seemed inevitable. The Elkhart Civic Theatre company stepped in to save the historic structure, restoring it and establishing one of northern Indiana's longest-running community theater programs. But the company inherited more than a building -- they inherited its resident ghosts.

The primary spirit haunting the opera house is known as Percy, believed to be the ghost of Percival Hilbert, a man who lived in the building's basement with his family after being evicted from his home during the Great Depression. With nowhere else to go, Hilbert moved his wife and young daughters into the lower level of the opera house, making the theater their unlikely home during one of America's darkest economic periods. Percy never truly left. His ghost is said to haunt the costume room and stage area, hiding in the curtains and brushing up against actors during performances. He has a particular dislike for musicals, and has reportedly moved props and set pieces during musical productions -- as though expressing his displeasure from beyond the grave. Some believe the apparitions of his little girls also remain in the building, their childlike presences occasionally sensed in the basement where the family once lived.

Beyond Percy, the opera house harbors additional entities. Staff members and theater guests have reported a range of paranormal phenomena including books and papers flying off shelves, small objects levitating in mid-air, and sewing machines in the costume workshop running on their own without anyone at the controls. Moving shafts of unexplained light have been observed projecting through darkened rooms, and shadows drift through the building without any visible source. One of the more striking apparitions is a floating woman with dark hair who has been seen by multiple witnesses, her identity unknown but her presence unmistakable.

A notable aspect of the Percy legend is that it has been partially disputed. A visitor to the theater noted that Mary Hilbert -- identified as one of Percy's daughters -- was still alive in a nursing home, and that her father had relocated "where the work was" rather than being evicted as the legend states. This contradiction between the folk narrative and the family's own account is common in haunted location lore, where the stories passed down through generations often diverge from the lived experience of those involved. Whether Percy was evicted or left voluntarily, the paranormal activity attributed to his spirit has persisted for decades.

The Elkhart Civic Theatre continues to operate in the Bristol Opera House, presenting a full season of productions each year. The building's haunted reputation has made it a point of interest for paranormal researchers and ghost enthusiasts visiting northern Indiana, while the theater company embraces the building's colorful history as part of what makes performing there a unique experience. Percy, it seems, remains the opera house's most enduring patron -- attending every show whether he enjoys the genre or not.