Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA 1913 Hartsville dormitory on the campus of Coker University where students and staff report unexplained sounds, disrupted electronics, and a hazy figure associated with the building's long oral tradition.
300 E College Ave, Hartsville, SC 29550
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Coker University campus is generally accessible to visitors during daylight hours. Memorial Hall is a functioning campus building; access to the interior depends on university policy.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved campus paths; standard dormitory building access.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1913 · Constructed 1913, one of Coker University's oldest surviving campus buildings · Part of Coker College's early Colonial Revival campus development in Hartsville · Original elevator shaft converted to stairwell during a later renovation
Coker College — renamed Coker University in 2020 — was founded in 1908 in Hartsville, South Carolina, as a women's liberal arts institution. Memorial Hall, completed in 1913, was built as a residential dormitory to house the growing student body. The building's Colonial Revival architecture was consistent with the campus aesthetic established in the institution's early years.
The Wikipedia article on Memorial Hall, Coker University confirms the 1913 construction date and the building's status as a historic structure on campus. Hartsville, the seat of Darlington County, is a mid-sized city in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina; Coker University remains one of its principal institutions.
The building underwent interior renovation at some point in the twentieth century, during which the original elevator shaft was converted to a stairwell. This architectural change — the removal of the elevator — is the detail most commonly cited in the oral tradition surrounding the building. Memorial Hall continues to function as a student residence.
Sources
The oral tradition at Memorial Hall centers on a figure students call Madeline — a name that has circulated through the campus community long enough that multiple generations of Coker students know it. The legend holds that Madeline was a student who died in the building, with the converted elevator shaft in the stairwell as the architectural focal point of the account. The details of the tradition are stated here without elaboration: a student's death is serious, the specific circumstances are unverified, and the oral tradition should not be treated as confirmed history.
Reported activity in the building is consistent across student and staff accounts recorded by paranormal writers: unexplained sounds from the stairwell and corridors, radios that switch off without cause, alarm clocks that ring at unpredicted times, and a hazy white humanoid figure that has appeared in photographs taken inside the building. The photograph claim is the most specific and the least verifiable without the image itself.
The building is a functioning dormitory. Residents encounter the legend as part of campus culture — passed down by returning students rather than formal documentation. The haunted places aggregator circuit lists the building, but the primary documentation is the Wikipedia article on the structure's history and the Coker University campus records.
Notable Entities
Memorial Hall faces East College Avenue and is visible from the campus perimeter. The building's 1913 Colonial Revival exterior is the draw for most visitors; interior access to the dormitory is subject to Coker University policy. The campus is a working academic environment and should be treated accordingly.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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