HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Victorian governor's mansion turned fraternity house where a woman called Virginia has been reported on the stairs for decades
1111 W 6th St, Lawrence, KS 66044
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Exterior drive-by only; private fraternity house, no public interior access
Access
Limited Access
Residential street; sidewalk access to exterior only
Equipment
Photos OK
Governor William Stubbs Residence · Victorian Architecture · University of Kansas History
William Stubbs served as the 18th Governor of Kansas from 1909 to 1913, and the prominent Victorian residence at 1111 W 6th Street in Lawrence bears his name in local memory. Stubbs was a Republican progressive associated with the era's reform movement and was acquainted with Theodore Roosevelt.
The house itself is a late-19th-century Victorian structure that stood as one of the more architecturally substantial private residences on Lawrence's west side. After Stubbs's political career ended, the property changed hands multiple times before the University of Kansas chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity eventually took it over. The fraternity has occupied the building for several decades.
As a private residential fraternity house, the mansion is not open to the public. Its place in Lawrence's dark tourism conversation comes entirely through the legend of Virginia and the accumulated accounts of fraternity members who have lived in the building over the years. The Kansas University student newspaper, the University Daily Kansan, documented the haunting in a 2023 feature on campus ghost stories.
Sources
The central figure in the mansion's ghost lore is a woman called Virginia, described in fraternity tradition as a servant — and, in some versions of the story, an alleged mistress of Governor Stubbs — who is said to have hanged herself somewhere inside the building. Her apparition, described as a ghostly female shape, has been reported repeatedly on the staircase and in upper-floor rooms.
The Explore Lawrence tourism bureau lists the house among Lawrence's documented haunted and supernatural sites, noting staff and visitor accounts of the apparition on the steps, flickering lights, audible footsteps on unoccupied floors, and doors slamming without apparent cause. The University Daily Kansan documented multiple firsthand accounts from fraternity members in a 2023 feature on KU campus hauntings.
No historical record confirming Virginia's existence or a death at the address has been independently verified. The legend tracks the common folklore pattern of a servant or marginalized figure whose spirit remains attached to the space. Despite the lack of confirmed documentation, the consistency of the reported phenomena across multiple unrelated residents over many years gives the account some weight as campus legend.
Notable Entities
Walk or drive past the Victorian mansion at 1111 W 6th St to view the exterior of the former governor's residence. The building is an active Sigma Nu chapter house; interior access is not available to the public. The Lawrence haunted walking tour season includes this address as a stop.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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