1846 Methodist School Turned Civil War Hospital and Ursuline Girls' School
211 S College St, Arcadia, MO 63621
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Lodging, dining, and tours available. Paranormal tours require overnight stay. Seasonal haunted house September-October. Check arcadiaacademy.com for current pricing.
Access
Limited Access
19th-century campus with multiple historic structures; uneven surfaces
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1846 · Civil War Hospital · Catholic Girls' School History · Ozarks Educational Heritage · Missouri Methodist History
Arcadia Academy began in 1846 when Jerome C. Berryman, a Methodist circuit-riding preacher, founded what was originally called Arcadia High School in the Iron County Ozarks of southeastern Missouri. Berryman drew families to the area for their children to attend his school, and by 1859 the institution had passed to principal Asbury Farnham, with an enrollment of 109 boys and 66 girls.
During the Civil War, from 1861 to 1863, the Academy buildings were used as a Union hospital. After the war, the institution continued to operate as a Methodist school until financial circumstances forced a sale.
In 1877, the Ursuline Order purchased the property for $30,000 — the acquisition advocated by Father Hennessy and arranged by Mother Johanna. The Ursuline nuns transformed the campus into a Catholic girls' school. They operated it for nearly a century, until the final graduating class in 1971.
Following the school's closure, the nuns continued to operate a daycare on the property until 1991, when they held a public auction and relocated to St. Louis. The campus passed into private family ownership, where it remains. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district.
The current operators have preserved the campus's historic structures — theater, church, gymnasium, dormitory, and classrooms — and run the property as a bed-and-breakfast. The on-site cemetery where many of the Ursuline sisters are buried remains a contemplative focal point of the grounds.
Sources
The paranormal tradition at Arcadia Academy centers primarily on the nuns. The sisters who ran the Catholic girls' school from 1877 until its 1971 closure are buried in a cemetery on campus, and the prevailing folklore holds that their presence has persisted in the buildings they inhabited.
Reported phenomena include orbs and vortex shapes documented in photographs taken on the grounds — a form of evidence common to sites with strong association to a specific historical group. Strange mists have been reported in and around the structures.
The academy's layered history — Methodist school, Civil War hospital, Catholic girls' school — creates multiple potential origins for reported phenomena. The current operators have developed formal paranormal programming around these associations, offering investigation tours to overnight guests on select dates.
The on-site cemetery, where the nuns are interred, is the focal point that most clearly anchors the paranormal tradition to specific historical individuals rather than to anonymous energy or generalized atmosphere.
Notable Entities
Sleep on the campus of an 1840 Methodist school that became a Civil War hospital and then a Catholic girls' school operated by nuns until 1971. The property retains a theater, church, gymnasium, dormitory, and classrooms. The nuns who ran the school and are buried in the on-site cemetery are associated with reported orbs and mist in photographs taken on the grounds.
Paranormal investigation tours of the historic academy campus are offered on select dates. Overnight lodging is required for participation. Check the Events page at arcadiaacademy.com for current scheduling.
Self-guided or owner-led tours of the historic campus structures — theater, church, gymnasium, dormitory, and classrooms dating to the 19th century. Donation-based admission. 15 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on group.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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