HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
1905 Panhandle cattle baron's estate bequeathed to Amarillo — now reporting elevator rides with no passengers and a singing woman in the attic ballroom.
1000 Polk St, Amarillo, TX 79101
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Exterior viewable from public street; interior access depends on current tenant
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved urban setting
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1905 · Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (1965) · Panhandle Cattle Industry · Amarillo Civic History
Lee Bivins (1862–1929) built the home at 1000 Polk Street as his Amarillo town residence while managing one of the Panhandle's largest cattle operations. Bivins also pioneered oil and gas development across the region and served as mayor of Amarillo at the time of his death in 1929.
The brick-and-stone structure features classical styling uncommon to the frontier Panhandle of the early 1900s, reflecting the wealth Bivins accumulated from cattle and petroleum ventures. After Lee Bivins died, his widow Mary Elizabeth Gilbert Bivins (1862–1951) continued to occupy the residence.
Mary Bivins ultimately bequeathed the property to the city of Amarillo. The home subsequently served civic functions, including a period as the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce headquarters. The Texas Historical Commission designated it a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1965, a marker that remains on the property today.
The building at 1000 Polk Street has undergone various uses over the decades since the Bivins family's tenure. Reports from former tenants describe unexplained phenomena: an elevator that runs up and down at night with no apparent occupant, and voices and the sound of a woman singing emanating from the upper-floor ballroom space when the area is unoccupied.
Sources
The most consistently reported phenomena at the Bivins Home center on two locations within the building: the elevator and the top-floor ballroom. Multiple former employees described the elevator moving between floors late at night with no one inside — the doors opening and closing, the cab ascending and descending on its own.
In the attic ballroom space, witnesses have reported hearing a woman's singing voice when the floor was empty. Some accounts include apparitions of a couple dancing in the otherwise vacant room. Local paranormal investigators have noted the ballroom reports are among the more frequently recurring claims associated with the property.
No documented history of violent death within the home has been established. The phenomena, if genuine, may be residual — impressions from the home's long social history as a gathering place for Panhandle society.
The 1905 Bivins Home is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark at 1000 Polk Street. Its brick-and-stone classical facade is visible from the public street. A historical marker on-site documents the Bivins family history and the home's bequest to the city of Amarillo.
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