Founded in 1842 as Augusta Female Seminary, the campus hosts four named spirits — including actress Tallulah Bankhead, who allegedly manipulates stage lights in Collins Theatre
318 Prospect Street, Staunton, VA 24401
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Campus grounds publicly accessible; campus buildings subject to university access policies
Access
Wheelchair OK
Hillside campus with paved walkways; some elevation change on grounds
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1842 · Augusta Female Seminary — founded 1842, one of oldest women's colleges in the South · Mary Julia Baldwin served as principal 1863-1897 · Tallulah Bankhead attended in the early 20th century · Campus occupied by Civil War-era armies due to Staunton's strategic position
Augusta Female Seminary was founded in Staunton in 1842, occupying the hilltop campus that the university still uses. The institution educated women from across the South through the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the early twentieth century, and its Main Building and associated structures accumulated the architectural and human history that now underlies the campus's paranormal reputation.
The seminary was renamed in honor of Mary Julia Baldwin, a principal who served the school from 1863 to 1897 and transformed it into a regionally respected institution. Baldwin's tenure spanned the Civil War years, when Staunton was occupied by multiple armies and the school's fate was uncertain. Her long association with the building means her presence is inseparable from the institution's physical history.
Tallulah Bankhead, who later became one of Broadway's and Hollywood's most celebrated actresses, attended the seminary in the early twentieth century. Bankhead's stormy, larger-than-life personality has made her the natural focus for the Collins Theatre haunting stories — the idea that she would continue to interact with the stage equipment after death fits the theatrical persona she cultivated throughout her life. She attended the school sometime in the 1910s before her career took her to New York and London.
Sources
Mary Baldwin's haunting tradition centers on four named presences, each tied to a specific building or space on campus. Richard, described as a uniformed soldier, is reported primarily in the Main Building and Collins Theatre area. His characteristic phenomenon is touching or tapping shoulders — students and staff have described the sensation without finding a physical explanation. His identity as a soldier places him plausibly in the Civil War context of Staunton's occupation, though no specific historical figure of that name is documented in connection to the building.
Mary Julia Baldwin, for whom the university is named, is associated with a recurring anomaly: a child-sized handprint that appears periodically on surfaces in the Main Building. The specificity of a handprint — and the detail that it's child-sized despite Baldwin being an adult during her tenure — is a distinctive claim that appears consistently across the sources documenting the campus.
Agnes McClung is the least documented of the four named spirits; the Southern Spirit Guide identifies McClung Residence Hall as her hot spot but provides minimal detail about her identity or the reported phenomena. The Collins Theatre focus involves Tallulah Bankhead: stage lights in the theater are reported to activate, change, or respond in unusual ways that investigators and theater staff attribute to the actress who attended the seminary roughly a century before. Bankhead's documented attendance is confirmed through historical records; the light manipulation claims originate in student and staff reports accumulated over decades.
Notable Entities
Mary Baldwin University, founded as Augusta Female Seminary in 1842, occupies a historic hilltop campus in Staunton. The Main Building and Collins Theatre are the primary paranormal hot spots. Campus grounds are publicly accessible; interior building access depends on university hours and events.
The university is featured on Staunton's official ghost tour circuit. Guides cover all four named spirits: Richard the soldier (Collins Theatre area), Mary Julia Baldwin (handprint phenomena), Agnes McClung (McClung Residence Hall), and Tallulah Bankhead (stage light manipulation in Collins Theatre).
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Charles City, VA
Benjamin Harrison IV built the current mansion at Berkeley Plantation in 1726, making it the oldest three-story brick structure in Virginia. The plantation became the birthplace of President William Henry Harrison in 1773 and the ancestral seat of a family that produced a signer of the Declaration of Independence and two U.S. Presidents. During the Civil War, General McClellan used the mansion as his headquarters and the cellar held Confederate prisoners.
Macon, GA
Built between 1855 and 1859 for businessman William Butler Johnston at a cost of approximately $100,000, the Italian Renaissance Revival mansion at 934 Georgia Avenue has been called the 'Palace of the South' and is a National Historic Landmark. The Felton family held it through the Civil War period; Confederate general Henry Gray Felton occupied it during the war. The Hay family acquired the house in 1926 and donated it to The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation in 1977.
Indianapolis, IN
Hannah House is an 1858 Italianate mansion at 3801 Madison Avenue on the south side of Indianapolis, built by Alexander Hannah, an Indiana businessman who returned wealthy from the California Gold Rush. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.