Ellerbe Road School

Ellerbe 1957 Ellerbe 1998

photos courtesy of LSUS Archives and Special Collections, Noel Memorial Library

The Legend...

This school experienced the bizarre disappearances of several elementary students as well as the school janitor. Despite the best efforts of parents and school officials, neither the students nor the janitor were ever found. The grieving parents chose to close the school, leaving the building desolate. The school at present is now private property, the lot on which it stands used as pasture land for the owner’s cattle. People who have dared to trespass on the property have claimed to hear the sounds of children's laughter and screaming as well as the maniacal cackling of a deranged man.

The Facts...

The rise and fall of the Ellerbe Road School are much more mundane than what the legend would have us believe. The school was started in the 1950s under the name of George Washington Carver High School. The school, while state of the art for its time, eventually closed due to a low population base to feed it students, closing its doors in 1973. For years after its closure, the building stood vacant while local and state officials pondered what to do with the property; it was briefly considered for use as a state prison during Governor Edwin Edwards' 1975 term. It was not until 1981 that Baptist Christian College bidded to lease the property, breathing life into the former school. Baptist Christian College vacated the site shortly afterward in 1985, citing low attendance and high upkeep costs as the reason for the propety closure. Since then, the site has remained closed. It is, however, private property.

No one is known to have either disappeared or die on the property. The story of the janitor and the children disappearing seems to have been conjured up by local storytellers.

However...

Since the school's ultimate abandonment, evidence of Satanic rituals have been noticed by police as well as local thrill seekers on the site. Demonologists and paranormal experts believe that dark ritual worship can summon forth beings from other planes of existence. Once summoned, these spirits can remain long after any rituals have ended. These Satanic rituals may very well be the true cause for the haunting activity at the Ellerbe Road School. The Satanists seem to have moved on due to the constant attention of local thrillseekers. It would make sense, since they would need seclusion and privacy to conduct their business.

Despite the false legend of the property, one thing remains true...something lurks there. Trespassers have reported the sight of moving shadows, cold spots (even during the summer) as well as the uncomfortable feeling that something unseen was watching them.

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