HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
Ohio's oldest continuously operating theater, pressed into service as a Spanish flu morgue in 1918 when Camp Sherman's dead overwhelmed the county.
45 E Second St, Chillicothe, OH 45601
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by performance; see the venue website for current showtimes and admission.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic downtown theater with interior stairs; call ahead for accessibility accommodations.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1853 · Oldest Continuously Operating Theater in Ohio · 1918 Spanish Flu Morgue · Camp Sherman History · Ross County
The Majestic Theatre opened in 1853 at 45 E Second Street in Chillicothe, Ohio, on a lot that previously held the city's first bank. The venue has operated as a theater continuously since that founding, a claim it maintains makes it the oldest continuously operating theater in the United States, though that designation is contested by other venues with similar histories.
The building's most consequential chapter came during the autumn of 1918. Camp Sherman, a World War I training facility located on the southern edge of Chillicothe, reported its first influenza cases in late September of that year. The epidemic moved through the 40,000-man camp with unusual speed. By the time the worst weeks had passed, more than 1,700 soldiers had died at or near Camp Sherman—a figure documented in the camp's own records and confirmed by the Wikipedia entry on Camp Sherman (Ohio).
The civilian infrastructure of Chillicothe had no capacity to handle that volume of dead. The Majestic was requisitioned as an overflow morgue and autopsy site. According to accounts preserved on the venue's official historic timeline and in local paranormal research, bodies were stacked in the dressing rooms and autopsy work was conducted in the back of the building. The drainage from that work ran into the alley adjoining the theater, which locals have since called 'Bloody Alley.'
After the epidemic, the theater returned to regular operation. It has continued as a performing arts venue for more than a century since, hosting concerts, plays, and community events.
Sources
The dressing rooms in the Majestic's back section are the most consistently cited location for paranormal activity. Multiple accounts describe a child's figure appearing in that area—the same part of the building where bodies were reportedly staged during the 1918 flu crisis. Investigators from Ohio Exploration have documented experiences in the dressing rooms during organized investigations.
In the main auditorium, a figure in a top hat and formal dress has been reported moving through the aisles and then disappearing. The identity of this figure is not specified in any documented source; the description suggests a patron or manager from an earlier era of the theater's operation.
The term 'Bloody Alley' for the passageway beside the theater is used in regional haunted-Ohio literature to reference the drainage from the 1918 autopsy work. The alley itself is not publicly accessible as a tour feature but is referenced in accounts of the building's history.
Attend a performance at this 1853 theater that claims to be Ohio's oldest continuously operating venue. The building served as a makeshift morgue and autopsy site during the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak at nearby Camp Sherman, when bodies were stacked in dressing rooms and fluids drained into the alley adjacent to the building.
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