Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA 1913 Late Gothic Revival orphanage turned WWII Army service club and POW holding facility — German and Italian prisoners were kept in the basement cells.
1451 E Pythian St, Springfield, MO 65802
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Admission fee required at scheduled events; public ghost tour $18.50/person plus tax.
Access
Limited Access
Ghost and history tours involve walking and stairs.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1913 · Knights of Pythias orphanage and retirement home 1913-1941 · WWII Enlisted Men's Service Club serving O'Reilly General Army Hospital · German and Italian POW holding facility in basement · Active ghost tour and paranormal investigation venue
The Knights of Pythias, a fraternal order founded in Washington D.C. in 1864, completed their Missouri chapter's home in 1913 and officially dedicated it in May 1914. The Pythian Home of Missouri housed orphans of deceased Knights of Pythias members and provided retirement accommodations for aging members until its closure in October 1941, when the organization vacated the property.
The U.S. Army moved quickly. For $40,000 — supplemented by $12,500 from the Springfield Chamber of Commerce — the military acquired the castle and converted it into an Enlisted Men's Service Club serving the nearby O'Reilly General Army Hospital. At its peak, the castle hosted up to 2,000 servicemen per day for dances, entertainment, and social events as the war effort concentrated medical facilities across the Ozarks.
The basement took on a different character. German and Italian prisoners of war were held in cells constructed in the lower levels, with bars that remain in place today. The SGF Citizen documented the existence of the cells, the interrogation spaces, and the general configuration of the wartime basement. The current owner, who purchased and began restoring the property decades after the war, has described the basement as the most historically intact portion of the castle's wartime configuration.
After the Army's departure, the castle passed through private ownership before its current operators developed it as a ghost tour and paranormal investigation venue. The Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures featured the location in an episode that brought national attention to the site.
Sources
Pythian Castle's paranormal reputation is inseparable from its basement, where the cell bars installed for wartime prisoners remain visible and intact. Guests and investigators report disembodied voices in the lower levels, furniture moving without explanation, unexplained cold spots in the interrogation spaces, and electronic equipment — particularly cameras — losing battery charge rapidly in the former cell areas.
The current owner has described personal encounters in which visitors arrive knowing nothing about the property and report being addressed by name or directed to specific rooms. Upstairs, in the main hall and upper-floor rooms that once served as service club space and sleeping quarters, investigators report moving objects and unexplained sounds described as footsteps and conversation from unoccupied rooms.
The Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures documented an overnight investigation at the castle. The combination of its orphanage history — with children living in the building through the 1930s — its wartime military configuration, and the POW confinement in the basement gives investigators multiple periods and populations to work with when interpreting the reported activity.
Media Appearances
A guided tour of the castle including the former POW cell block in the basement, the main hall, and upper floors where paranormal activity has been reported. Tour covers the building's history as a Knights of Pythias orphanage, WWII Army service club, and POW facility.
Extended after-hours paranormal investigation of the full castle including basement cells and steam tunnel areas. Participants bring their own equipment or use equipment provided on site.
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