Walnut Street Inn

The ghost of Katherine McCann, who built this 1894 Queen Anne Victorian with her husband, sits on guests' beds in the Rosen Room, tells them 'this is my room,' and vanishes when approached. The haunting started in 1987 before the bed and breakfast even officially opened.

"No, this is my room." A man staying at the Walnut Street Inn in Springfield, Missouri was stretched out on the bed in the Rosen Room when he looked up and saw a woman sitting at the table against the wall. She turned to face him, said those five words, and vanished. He wasn't the first guest she'd spoken to. He won't be the last.

The ghost at the Walnut Street Inn is specific about her territory. Multiple guests in the Rosen Room have woken up to find a woman in Victorian clothing sitting on the edge of their bed. One woman felt the covers being pulled back, opened her eyes, and found someone in a high-collared dress with her hair pinned up, sitting to her left, looking directly at her. The figure disappeared. The guest stayed awake the rest of the night. Other visitors have been told "get out of my room" before the woman fades. If you move toward her, she's gone faster.

Staff and guests believe the ghost is Katherine McCann. She and her husband Charles built this three-story Queen Anne Victorian home in 1894 on Walnut Street. Charles was a successful Springfield businessman with several local companies, and the couple raised their children here and lived in the house for the rest of their lives. The building features cast-iron Corinthian columns and a wraparound veranda, and it still looks very much like a home someone would refuse to leave.

The McCann-Jewell House, as it was later known, passed to Mr. and Mrs. Harry S. Jewell in 1917. The home changed hands again in 1953 when Gary and Nancy Brown bought the property, and in May 1988 they converted it into the Walnut Street Inn bed and breakfast. The ghost stories started almost immediately, in 1987, before the inn even officially opened to paying guests. Whatever renovation work stirred Katherine up, she made herself known right from the beginning.

The Rosen Room is the focal point. It's where nearly every direct encounter has happened, where guests report being spoken to, where the covers get pulled back in the middle of the night. But smaller signs turn up throughout the main house too: lights switching on by themselves, footsteps in empty hallways, doors swinging shut in rooms with no breeze. The activity stays concentrated in the original 1894 structure rather than spreading to newer additions, as if whatever presence remains here knows exactly which part of the house belongs to her.

The inn sits at 900 East Walnut Street, still operating as a bed and breakfast. Katherine McCann doesn't hurt anyone. She doesn't throw objects or scream or slam cabinets. She sits on your bed, tells you it's her room, and leaves when approached. Territorial but composed. The Rosen Room is still bookable, and the inn doesn't hide its reputation. You can stay in Katherine's room if you want. Just don't be surprised if she lets you know whose house you're sleeping in.