Posted by In 1989 the Los Angeles Times reported that the old school in Gorman, California, was believed to be haunted by students and teachers: doors locking by themselves, an extra paper apple on the noticeboard, books thrown to the floor. According to legend it is the spirit of Harriet, a little girl who died in the 1920s and was buried where the school was later built.
On 1 November 1989 the Los Angeles Times published an article about a school haunted by the ghost of a little girl.
The ghost girl of Gorman
Gorman is a tiny mountain community in Los Angeles County, California, along Interstate 5, with very few residents. Its school district is the smallest in the whole county: in 2008 it had a single elementary and middle school with 42 pupils. In 1989 there was a school built in 1938, now no longer in use.
Many students had no doubt that the building was haunted, and specifically by the ghost of a little girl. Some said they had seen her, others had heard strange noises, others still had seen objects move.
But it was not only the children who believed in the ghost: teachers and school staff did too.
Kindergarten teacher Joanne Yolton-Pouder said she had arrived at school to find her classroom door locked, even though she had been the last to leave and had not locked it. The locks were so old that there were not even copies of the key anyone could have used.
What’s more, once inside she went to the noticeboard where she had pinned a drawing of a tree. Nineteen paper apples had been stuck on the tree, one for each child in her class. Looking closely, though, she realised there were 20 apples.
Stacey, meanwhile, told of what happened to her aunt, who had worked at the school ten years earlier. The aunt was in the building when she heard a voice telling her not to go outside. She ignored it, and as soon as she went out she fell down the stairs, breaking her hip and an arm.
Two students, after tidying the library, came back a few minutes later to fetch a book and found all the books thrown on the floor.
Who is the ghost
The ghost is said to be that of a little girl called Harriet, who died in the area in the 1920s after being run over by her father’s tractor. The heartbroken man wanted to bury his daughter in the garden, near him. Later the school was built on that land, and the strange episodes began.
Some people are sceptical about the ghost, but those who claim to have seen or heard it have no doubt: Gorman school is haunted by the spirit of little Harriet. They are also convinced that it is not an evil spirit, but one that just wants company.
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