Is there a darker side to NHS?

Crowded hallways, bright lights, the squeak of chalk, and the humming of over-heads: all descriptors of NHS by day. But what is the school like after hours, when the corridors are dark and empty, without a student in sight? The third shift custodial staff knows best. Without declaring the existence of spirits or ghosts, every person may have experiences they simply cannot explain, and every building has its haunted history. Now Noblesville High School’s is revealed.

According to building supervisor Bruce Games, before the high school building was constructed in 1996, the County Farm occupied the grounds. The building provided a caring facility for people without money. Two high school students burnt the building down, and the high school was constructed shortly afterward.

“I’m sure there were a lot of people who died that weren’t at rest,” director of housekeeping services Steve Coverdale said.

Building the high school was the largest project in central Indiana at that time. As the first new high school in 15 years; the construction was a task that was surely to be accompanied with obstacles.

“It was a learning experience not only for myself, but for the corporation,” Games said. “I don’t believe in that kind of thing [ghosts], but things would go wrong during construction.”

Rumors began to build right along with the building.

“There were rumors of an Indian burial ground under the high school, but that’s not true. The problems were mainly with coordinating all the different contractors,” Games said.

“We have not had a lot of things lately, but the people who were here at the beginning would say ‘I heard some things last night that were just not right,’” Coverdale said.

These encounters include things such as doors slamming shut that should not have been open early in the morning and the sound system randomly turning on in the pool area.

“For four or five years there were a lot of weird things by the pool,” Coverdale said, “It didn’t make sense that the sound system would come on when none of us knew how to use it.”

“When I heard the stories, I just thought they were funny until it happened to me,” custodian Carola Blackledge said. She was cleaning the school at night a few months ago, pushing her cart by the biology wing when she saw a figure on the wall out of the corner of her eye. “I stopped and pulled my cart over for them to pass, but when I turned around, there was nobody there,” Blackledge said.

Blackledge described the figure of a man in a trench coat and top hat on the wall.

However, not everyone holds these superstitions or has experienced the unexplainable.

“I don’t believe in that kind of stuff,” custodian Carole Skinner said.

Coverdale, although he has experienced similar situations in the school, is confident that whatever the case may be, the school is safe.

“I’ve never felt uncomfortable,” Coverdale said, “I don’t say that it’s haunted.”