Mounting Evidence at
the Crump Theater
Tells Haunting Story
by Kenny
Wilson
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evidence seems to be adding up that the old theater is haunted.
Hoosier Paranormal Research (HPR) investigated the theater in December,
2006 and captured several EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomena) that would
seem to indicate just that. Recently, Columbus historian, David
Sechrest has uncovered more evidence that also helps support this
theory. While going through writings by William Marsh, columnist for The Columbus Republic in the '30s and author of the book, “I Discover Columbus”, Sechrest discovered that the theater was once home to a local mortuary. According to Sechrest, “Back when the theater was first remodeled into a theater by John Crump in 1889, the front part of the building existed prior to the addition of the actual theater building.” Sechrest also states that this information can be verified by Sanborn Insurance maps from the time periods of 1886 through 1890.  This was
a postcard photo taken sometime after 1893. This photo was obtained by
HPR from the "History of the Crump Theatre" website.
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The
original store front contained three independent businesses under each
arch-way. Under the center arch-way was the entrance of the
theater. The left side was the mortuary. This design remained this way until the 1920 remodeling when the
side businesses were removed and the entire front became the
theater lobby entrance. What is interesting about this information is that the EVPs that HPR captured were captured on the left side of the lobby where the mortuary was located. There was more than one EVP captured in this same area. These EVPs can be heard by visiting the Crump investigation page or the “EVP” section. Hoosier Paranormal Research would like to thank David Sechrest for this information. For more information about the Crump Theater, visit: http://www.historiccolumbusindiana.org/jscrump.htm  This is the Crump Theater today. A much different look than in 1893.
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