Story By: MC 305, Fall 2026
MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Since its founding in 1986, the University of Montevallo has no shortage of spooky stories and strange encounters. The details may not always be easy to verify, but the stories have become an important piece of the university either way.
So, with Halloween right around the corner, follow us to take a closer look at four of UM’s most iconic ghost stories. Whether you’re a firm paranormal believer or someone who needs a little more convincing, consider this a guide to the stranger side of a campus you probably thought you knew.
And the next time you’re walking the bricks after dark, you may give a second thought as to whether that noise behind you was just the wind or a lingering spirit.
1. Condie Cunningham: The girl on fire
Story By: Kayla Cooley
For the students living in Main Hall, it has rarely been peaceful with the spirit of Condie Cunningham roaming the halls for over a century.
On Feb. 4, 1908, Condie Cunningham and her roommate and her roommate were making hot chocolate on a chafing dish in their room when they were interrupted by the curfew bell. As they rushed to put away with the chafing dish, the alcohol used as fuel for the dish spilled onto Cunningham’s nightgown and caught fire.
As the legend goes, Cunningham panicked as she tried to put out the fire. Eventually the dorm accountants — what RA’s were known as at the time — were able to wrap her in a carpet and finally kill the flame. After being sedated for 48 hours, Condie Cunningham passed away at a hospital on Feb. 6, according to the UM archives.
But rumor has it, she still lives in Main Hall to this day.
It was said that after the tragedy, Cunningham’s face appeared in the wood grain of her dorm room door. It was replaced, only for the face to reappear. As a result, that door was taken away and replaced with a metal door that now opens to a storage room. The last wooden door is now part of the University of Montevallo archives. It is put on display in the library each October.
But there are other signs of Condie’s spirit lingering in Main Hall to this day. Some students have reported phantom footsteps running down the hall late at night, and some even claimed to smell fires burning.
What makes Condie’s story so chilling is that we don’t actually know what she looked like. Yearbooks from the early 1900s didn’t clearly identify students in the photos, and oftentimes there are more names listed than people in the photograph, UM archivist Carey Heatherly told VVN in 2023. Records show that she was a member of the basketball team, but we do not know if she is one of the young women depicted in the photo.
So the next time you find yourself inside of Main Hall, the footsteps you hear could be from your current schoolmates or one from 1908.
2. Trummie: The College Night ghost
Story By: Malaya Paul
Not every campus ghost is known for frightening students. It is known that Palmer Halls ghost has a little sense of humor. Dr. Walter H. Trumbauer, one of the designers of Palmer Auditorium is said to haunt the hall because his name was omitted from the list of contributors inscribed on the building.
Dr. Walter H. Trumbauer, affectionately referred to as Trummie by his students was an English professor who held great interest in theatrical arts. Along with teaching English, Trumbauer taught theater, directed student productions and founded a high school drama festival in 1923 (a festival that continues today as the Walter Trumbauer High School Theatre Festival).
According to legend, his spirit lingers around Palmer Auditorium where he makes his presence known by moving banners and rustling decorations during College Night preparations. Some believe Trumbauer causes mischief at theatrical rehearsals and performances, by making noise, moving props and adjusting lighting Many students look for these signs of Trumbauer.
It is said Trumbauer physical body is laid rest in the Montevallo Cemetery but his spirit still roams around Palmer Auditorium, waiting to predict the outcome of College Night each year.
3. Captain Reynolds: The spirit who guards Reynolds Hall
Story By: Chad Strickland
Today the admissions building, Reynolds Hall, welcomes new and future students through its doors. However, it has a haunting past that still shows itself to this day. Captain Henry Clay Reynolds, the university’s first president, is said to still linger in the building that bears his name.
According to the legend, the building was used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. Captain Reynolds left Montevallo to fight Union troops at the nearby Brierfield Ironworks. During his absence, Union troops were able to infiltrate the building and massacre everyone inside.
Devastated by the losses, Reynolds swore to never leave the iconic building unprotected again.
During his tenure as president, it was discovered that Reynolds was using students’ tuition money to help his business that was located on Main Street. Reynolds was swiftly removed from his position, but his spirit has refused to leave the campus.
Since his passing in October 1920, strange things have been happening around Reynolds Hall. There is a portrait of Reynolds that is said to have moved around the hall seemingly by itself, with maintenance people claiming to see it moved and returning it to its original spot.
No one has ever been caught moving the portrait. It is now permanently attached to the wall in the Reynolds lobby.
There are other spooky activities that are associated with the building. Staff members have claimed that doors and windows would open and close on their own. Another staff member has claimed that a television would turn on and off on its own. There are said to be cold spots around the building, giving the sense that Captain Reynolds is still watching.
4. Digging into King House: A fortune worth dying and living beyond for
Story By: Jules Marshall
If you’ve ever cut across campus near King House when the sun is starting to set, you know how quickly Montevallo can go from charming to a little too quiet. The old brick house sits tucked behind the trees just a short walk from the King Cemetery, where old headstones mark the resting places of the family tied to one of UM’s oldest ghost stories.
In 1823, the home was built by a wealthy man named Edmund King. According to the legend, King was so paranoid that Union soldiers would steal his fortune during the Civil War, he buried his gold somewhere on his property. Unfortunately for him, he died in 1863 before the treasure was recovered.
But death didn’t stop his paranoia.
Legends tell of a shadowy figure carrying a lantern and shovel, wandering the grounds desperately in search of his missing fortune.
In 1913, students at what was then Alabama College interviewed local residents about ghosts and published their findings in the college yearbook, Technala. One of those storytellers, Uncle Frank, had been enslaved by King, and it was him who connected the story of King’s restless spirit to his fear that someone would discover the hidden money.
Accounts from local storytellers known as Uncle Ben and Aunt Julia offered other details. At the time, King House was being used as the college infirmary, and Julia talked about moving lights, banging doors, rattling chains, sudden gusts of hot air, and groans that sounded like someone dying happening at many odd times.
There have also been stories of lights appearing among the headstones of the King Family Cemetery, some assuming it to be the lantern carried by King’s restless ghost.
So the next time you pass King House on a dark autumn evening, stay alert. That flicker in the window could be a trick of the light — or just an old building doing old-building things.
Or maybe Edmund is still out there, lantern aglow, searching for his gold.
What spooky things are happening next?
The next time you’re walking across the bricks after dark, you might catch yourself looking twice at a shadow or listening closer than usual for strange noises. After all, Montevallo’s historic past has plenty of stories left to tell.
To experience these spooky locations first-hand, UMPD is hosting ghost tours on campus. All slots are currently filled, but you can contact them to get placed on a wait list.
