So Ags, I got a question for ya. Lately I've been talking to some people about some old stories/legends/whatever here on campus. And supposedly there are haunted buildings (Animal Industries, Francis Hall) Does anyone on here know the origins of these stories? It'd be good to know.

Somebody was apparently murdered or killed themself in the Animal Industries building. I think it was in the basement - somebody probably knows the details.

Ask a tour guide

LMAO ducks

In the animal industries building it was an accidental death. Thats where the meats lab used to be and the guy was there working late and either dropped a knife on his leg or somethign like that and they found him later - he bled to death.

bob, I think you need to do some of your fine dancing on these tours.

Somebody died from the stench in the Heldenfels crapper.

He was carving up a side of beef for a meats lab and accidentally cut his femoral artery. He tried to make it upstairs, but bled to death before he could reach the next floor. Apparently, that is why the haunting effects the elevator.

http://www.tamu.edu/buildings/animalind/ghost.html

quote:

---

Rumored hauntings of Animal Industries Building
Roy Simms, meat laboratory manager in the Animal Industries Building, was doing some routine meat cutting one weekend afternoon in 1965. Simms was not wearing a cutting apron. On the third slice, he cut straight through the meat and into his leg, severing his femoral artery and bled to death.
From that tragedy, many stories have emerged about the building being haunted. Sightings, voices and moving objects have been recorded in the building. Custodial workers remind professors to leave the elevator on the bottom floor so Simms can use it at night. Otherwise, Simms' ghost cannot get into the elevator and will wander around the meat lab instead.

According to Cushing archives, visitors to the building have reported hearing someone walking through the halls or doors loudly opening and closing when there was no one in the building. However, the ghost of Roy Simms is not the only legend attached to the Animal Industries Building. From the rise of its walls in 1929, the 44,859-square-foot building has enjoyed celebrity status. Built for $225,000, the Animal Industries Building first housed the animal science department. In 1931, the building was opened, and in 1936, it was dedicated as a memorial to the pioneer livestock men of Texas.

The building is a hallmark of the Depression era. It was built by people out of work who were part of the programs set up by President Roosevelt. The University brought in people who were masters of masonry and metal work. It was well built and has beautiful artistry.

The workers wanted the architecture of the building to reflect a theme of agriculture. The masons outfitted the building with many stone images of animals. Concrete horse skulls, horse profiles and cattle and goat heads lend to the building's character. Above the south entrance of the building, two goat heads support a crown above a shield wearing a bovine skull. Inside, the animal motif is continued in the lobby. Iron workers created the main door, which was adorned with iron grills, and made brass and steel figures of longhorns. The floors are laid with marble instead of tile, which is commonly found in many other buildings on campus.

In 1976, the Kleberg Building was built and the Animal Science Department moved to West Campus. In 1978, the Rangeland Ecology and Management Department moved into the building.

---

12thman99 is correct.. it was my grandpa's prof for meats class. My grandpa said it was because the guy kept his knife razor sharp

edit: the link is great

[This message has been edited by slim-jim (edited 7/12/2005 10:55a).]

I never knew that, Slim.

quote:

---

...was doing some routine meat cutting one weekend afternoon...

---

Not a phrase you hear just everyday.

Most people who work in meats labs keep their knives razor sharp.

Dull knives don't cut meat very well.

Did someone try calling Dr. Venkman?

Maybe his grandfather is master of the obvious?

the old rural sociology building is gone, right? it was next to Lechner - it had some stories about it as it was originally a hospital - i hated the offices below ground as they used to be the morgue.

I used to work in a butcher shop. Those saws are amazing, but will go right through anything. Was back there when a guy took off part of his finger.

I talked to a guy who was working in the ANIN building and he told me a little about the legend. The man supposedly either died waiting for the old fashioned elevator to come down to the basement, or trying to walk up the stairs. The stairwell is the one that's located behind the big auditorium. Back then, the walls in the basement were unsealed, bare concrete. Until they painted and sealed the walls many, many years later, the walls would "bleed" when it rained, due to the cow's blood from years of butchering in the basement.

Scoates has some fascinating gargoyles on it; not sure if there are any stories but the architecture sure is impressive and arguably from the same era.

Oveta -- I think the building you're talking about was razed just before my freshman year (Fall of '01). According to my Dad, it was the old campus hospital -- the original "Quack Shack".

The only haunting in Scoates was from when Craig Rotter was taking classes there.

zing!

FCR, btw

oh dang! that is harsh

Whoop05 is right. That building, which contained a laundry facility for students in the years before it was razed, was the health center before Beutel was built.

seems about right, whoop05 - i worked there from 97-98. it was creepy. you could tell the break room was an old exam room.

Was that the "Special Services Building" behind Lechner? If so, it was razed... it was a piece and had to come down...

Sometimes you Win. Sometimes you Lose. Sometimes it Rains.

yeah, that's what it was called. it had the head of rural soc in there and he ran the Texas State Data Center and then the laundry thing was in the back

Yeah... it was falling down on itself, and couldn't be salvaged...

I know not what is there now...

Sometimes you Win. Sometimes you Lose. Sometimes it Rains.

Didn't someone die in an accident involving one of the infamous glory holes found in the men's room of the Academic Building?

Sometime back in the late '80s. The GLSS was investigating.

Sounds like someone was @ the scene of the crime.

The last of Old Army is dead, gradually replaced by the Ghosts of Pu**y Past, Present and Future, starting back in the late sixties and early seventies.

Overall, I think, that's been a very good thing for Texas A&M University.

The Bonfire Memorial is haunting.

The Spirit of Aggieland remains a positive presence both on campus and off and still makes frequent public appearances, if you know when and where to look.

On the minus side of the ledger, the ghosts of our dead mascots can no longer see the real scoreboard.

Carry on.



Gig 'em, FAST FRED '65.

Before the world wide web, village idiots usually stayed in their own village.

[This message has been edited by FAST FRED (edited 7/12/2005 11:53a).]

While studying for a Plant Taxonomy exam in ANIN one night we heard the elevator start moving, and of course we couldn't help but notice that it was the "Old" elevator shaft, and not the current one that we heard the noise from, pretty creepy

Wadd...There's nothing there right now. Just green space from Lechner to Walton and FHK to the street.

quote:

---

I know not what is there now...

---

If I'm thinking of the right spot, nothing's there. It's just an open field. We used to play ultimate frisbee on it two or three times a week. It was especially fun during the rainy times because the middle of the field turns into a big mud pit.