With evenings getting earlier and Mount Nittany losing its summery shade of green, it seemed appropriate to resurrect a Halloween tradition from Lemont’s recent past – The Haunted Granary.
The Haunted Granary was Lemont’s own Frankenstein’s monster – part community event, part fundraiser, part history lesson, part spooky fun. Decorated buses came in from campus. There were costume, pumpkin-carving and scary short story contests. There was face painting, food and live music. And, of course, according to a 1998 Daily Collegian article, there were “ghosts and ghouls in every nook and cranny” of Lemont’s most historic building.
And even though it had a brief lifespan (1996-2010), the annual two-day event was a favorite of community members and students alike. Hundreds volunteered (many of them high school students), thousands participated, and the Haunted Granary was often the Lemont Village Association’s biggest fundraiser of the year.
Some years, the festivities stretched beyond the granary. A 150-foot maze ended by the coal sheds for more spooky fun. Some years, volunteers put on shows in the post office and Art Alliance. Fan favorites were the antics of spooky (but funny) witches and the Halloween-inspired menu of a scary chef described as “Emeril Lagasse meets Beetlejuice.”
The inaugural event in 1996 included a significant amount of history about Lemont and the granary’s significance to the village and the region. Although that aspect shrunk, it never went away. The ghost of Moses Thompson – who laid out the village of Lemont and built the granary for his son John in 1885 – was often the first to welcome visitors to the granary. He spoke of the ghosts of children who died beneath piles of grain that may or may not haunt the building today.
The Haunted Granary was not recommended for children under 8 years old. However, in the event’s later years, the LVA created a Halloween Bash outside the granary for all ages. The bash included candy, decorations, face painting, music and a choreographed performance of zombies dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
Proceeds from the Haunted Granary went to the LVA for maintenance and renovations of the granary. Now in its 138th year, the John I. Thompson Grain Elevator and Coal
Sheds is a historic landmark at the center of the village. (No paranormal activity has been reported since 2010. Please let us know if you see some.)
In 2011, the LVA decided not to continue the event due to logistical reasons and lack of volunteer interest. Today, however, people still talk fondly of the Haunted Granary. You may even see someone in a Haunted Granary t-shirt running down Pike Street or walking through town. Which means the spirit lives on, and one never know, Lemont’s Haunted Granary may one day spook again.
This article will appear in the 2023 fall Lemont newsletter.
