Greek Revival administration building containing the crypt of botanist Constantine Rafinesque, whose 1826 curse on the university is still invoked every seven years.
300 North Broadway, Lexington, KY 40508
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Active university administration building; exterior viewing is free. Interior access by university tour or special event.
Access
Limited Access
Active campus building with stairs leading up to the central portico.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1834 · National Historic Landmark · Greek Revival Architecture · Gideon Shryock Design · Oldest University West of the Alleghenies
Transylvania University, founded in 1780, is the oldest institution of higher education west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university's flagship building, Old Morrison, was designed by Kentucky architect Gideon Shryock and completed in 1834. Shryock — already known for the Old State Capitol in Frankfort — produced a monumental Greek Revival composition with a hexastyle Doric portico that has anchored the campus for nearly two centuries. The building is named for Colonel James Morrison, a Transylvania benefactor whose bequest funded the construction.
A crypt at the north end of the building was created to hold the remains of Colonel Morrison and, later, the bones identified as those of Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, a polymath naturalist who taught at Transylvania from 1819 until his dismissal in 1826. Rafinesque died in Philadelphia in 1840. In 1924, a group of Transylvania figures arranged the exhumation and transfer of remains identified as his to the Old Morrison crypt. Subsequent forensic review has cast significant doubt on the identification — current scholarship suggests the remains may belong to a woman named Mary Passimore — but the crypt is still presented as Rafinesque's tomb on campus.
On the morning of May 14, 1969, a major fire largely destroyed Old Morrison's interior. The building was reconstructed and restored over the following several years, retaining the exterior facade and Greek Revival proportions. The crypt itself was undamaged. Old Morrison today functions as Transylvania's primary administration building, housing the offices of the president and senior administration.
The building is listed as a National Historic Landmark and is the architectural and ceremonial center of the Transylvania campus.
Sources
The principal Transylvania ghost story is the Curse of Rafinesque. Constantine Rafinesque-Schmaltz was a botanist, ichthyologist, polyglot, and self-taught naturalist who taught at Transylvania from 1819 until University President Horace Holley dismissed him in 1826. The reasons given by 19th-century sources vary — laziness and erratic behavior, conflict with Holley, and rumors of an affair with Holley's wife are all in the historical record. On his departure, Rafinesque is recorded as cursing both Holley and the college: 'I took lodgings in town and carried there all my effects: thus leaving the College with curses on it and Holley.'
The curse's reported effects, repeated in The Rambler and other Transylvania publications, include the death of Holley from yellow fever in 1827, cholera and influenza outbreaks on the campus, and a series of major fires at the university — each said to fall roughly seven years apart. The pattern is loose and selective in the way most curse legends are, but the May 1969 fire that gutted Old Morrison's interior gave the story new traction. During that fire, firefighters reportedly observed the figure of a man standing in the doorway of the Rafinesque crypt while flames raged around it. The crypt was untouched.
A second strand of campus lore concerns a security guard tripped by something unseen in a dark hall of Old Morrison. The detail is recurring in Transylvania ghost-story writeups but is not tied to a named witness or date in published accounts.
The most public element of the lore is the annual Halloween tradition: four Transylvania students are selected to spend Halloween night locked inside the crypt with the remains attributed to Rafinesque. Coverage by WKYT and the Transylvania 1780 series describes the practice as a competitive honor, framed as an effort to appease the spirit. The tradition is institutionally supported and routinely covered by local media. Visitors will not be able to enter the crypt outside the Halloween rite or formal university programs, but the building exterior and the crypt door are visible year-round from the campus lawn.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Old Morrison anchors the south end of Transylvania University's main campus and is best appreciated from the front lawn off North Broadway. The building's Greek Revival portico and the Rafinesque crypt at the north end are visible to visitors taking a self-directed campus walk; the surrounding Gratz Park historic district pairs naturally with the visit.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Richmond, KY
Keene Hall is a 16-story, 1969-built residence hall on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. It houses roughly 582 students across 308 rooms and reopened in August 2024 following an extensive renovation. The hall is named for William L. Keene, a longtime English professor who retired in 1965 after 39 years on the EKU faculty.
Louisville, KY
The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Old Louisville is a classical-revival Christian Science church on S. 3rd Street, distinguished by its columned front portico facing what was once Louisville's Millionaires Row. The congregation has occupied the building through the twentieth century and remains active today. Its location sits roughly two miles north of the former Camp Zachary Taylor, the largest U.S. WWI training cantonment, which figures heavily in the church's most famous local legend.
Louisville, KY
Walnut Street Baptist Church organized in 1849 and originally met at the corner of 4th and Walnut Streets (now Muhammad Ali Boulevard) in downtown Louisville. In 1902 the congregation moved into its current Gothic Revival sanctuary at the corner of South 3rd and St. Catherine Streets in Old Louisville, where it remains today. The building's gargoyle-decorated exterior and corner location have made it one of the most recognizable churches in the Old Louisville preservation district.