The Haunted Belvidere Mansion, Claremore: John Bayless's House

The Belvidere Mansion stands at the corner of 4th Street and Chickasaw Avenue in Claremore, half an hour northeast of Tulsa: a three-storey house of red brick with a round tower at each corner, a red tile roof, a white columned porch and a ballroom on the top floor. It is the only building left of the many that John M. Bayless built in Claremore, and it is now a house museum with a tearoom, run by the Rogers County Historical Society.

It is also one of the best-known haunted houses in Oklahoma. Paranormal groups have investigated it, local teams have held fundraising ghost nights there, and psychics have described the man who built it. The historical society, to its credit, tells visitors to make up their own minds and says plainly where the records do not support a story. That makes it a good place to separate history from legend.

History of the Belvidere Mansion

John Melville Bayless was a businessman from Cassville, Missouri, who built railroads, including the Cassville and Western, and invested in banks and land. He began coming to Claremore around 1901, when the town sat on two railroads in Indian Territory, and he put up a hotel, an opera house and an athletic club with an indoor pool. His daughter Francis and her husband George Davis ran the Bank of Claremore, and his son Guy joined them.

Bayless bought the corner lot in 1905 and broke ground on the mansion in March 1907. On June 2, 1907 he died after an operation for appendicitis, months before the house was done. His son Earle finished it, and his widow, Mary Melissa “Mollie” Bayless, moved in with the rest of the family by early December 1907. The house cost close to $50,000, and some of its woodwork and fittings were salvaged from the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.

Older accounts, including Legends of America, give 1902 as the year building began. The historical society’s own research, drawing on family records and newspapers, dates the purchase to 1905 and the start of work to 1907, and the historical marker outside gives 1907. The name Belvidere comes from an Italian phrase meaning beautiful to see.

The house has three storeys, a tower at each corner, three colors of brick and 62 windows. An open atrium about five feet square rises through all three floors to a skylight, pulling warm air up in summer. The third floor was a ballroom of about 2,400 square feet. Among the family, Wayne Bayless later became chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, and Earle, who never married, died of appendicitis at 35, like his father.

Mary Bayless moved out around 1919. The house then became the Cinnabar Hospital, a private hospital for skin and blood diseases; a 1920 Claremore Progress notice records a patient dying there. In the mid-1920s the Bell family bought it and divided it into apartments, and it stayed in that family for decades. By the late 1980s it stood empty and faced condemnation, until the Rogers County Historical Society bought it on April 9, 1991 and began a long restoration. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The ghosts of the Belvidere Mansion

John Bayless

The figure most often named is the man who built the house and never lived in it. Psychics who have visited have described a distressed John Bayless, and Legends of America and KLAW report that some visitors say they have seen him. It is easy to see why the story attaches to him: he planned every detail and died before the family moved in.

Footsteps, whispers and the second floor

Paranormal groups report most of their activity on the second floor, where the family bedrooms were. Visitors describe footsteps, whispers, hazy figures, hot and cold spots, the feeling of being touched, and toilets that flush with no one there. Bryan Casey of the Sooner State Paranormal Society, who grew up in Claremore, told FOX23 that he heard footsteps coming down the basement stairs and found no one when he turned on his flashlight.

Children at play

Mediums have described children playing in the house. The Bayless family had seven children, and later the building was a hospital and then apartments with many families, so the stories have a long history to draw on.

The tenant who never was

The darkest story is of a young woman who is said to have taken her own life while living in the apartments in the 1940s. The historical society says it has found no record of anyone hanging themselves in the house. It notes that one Bayless daughter, Bland, did die by suicide, but in Kansas City, where she lived after her marriage. We repeat the story only to say that, as far as anyone can find, it did not happen here.

Where to look

• The second floor: the old family bedrooms, where investigators report the most activity.
• The basement stairs: where a local investigator says he heard footsteps.
• The atrium: the open shaft through all three floors to the skylight; listen from the top.
• The third-floor ballroom: a 2,400-square-foot room under the roof, used for parties and events.
• The master bedroom: with a chair and table that belonged to Mary Bayless.

Visiting the Belvidere Mansion

The mansion is open to the public for self-guided tours, with a tearoom serving lunch in the old parlors and a gift shop in the former gentlemen’s parlor; proceeds go to the upkeep of the house. Opening days and hours have changed over the years, so check with the Rogers County Historical Society before you go. The ballroom can be rented for weddings and parties.

There are no regular ghost tours, but local paranormal teams have held occasional exploration nights as fundraisers for the historical society; FOX23 reported one in October 2022 at $100 a ticket. Claremore is about 30 minutes from downtown Tulsa on Route 66, and the Will Rogers Memorial Museum is a few minutes away.

• Visiting A house museum with a tearoom and gift shop, run by the Rogers County Historical Society
• Tours Self-guided tours during opening hours
• Ghost hunting Occasional paranormal fundraiser nights hosted by local teams

Tips for your visit

• Stand in the foyer and look straight up through the atrium to the skylight.
• Find Mary Bayless’s gown on the second floor and the carriage step carved with the couple’s wedding year, 1879.
• Have lunch in the tearoom; it helps pay for the house.
• Watch the historical society’s announcements for paranormal fundraiser nights, usually in autumn.
• Pair the visit with Cain’s Ballroom and the Gilcrease House in Tulsa.

More haunted places nearby

• Cain's Ballroom, Tulsa: the dance hall where Bob Wills is said to linger
• Haunted places in Tulsa: the Tulsa Theater, the Cave House and more
• Haunted hotels in Oklahoma: where to stay the night
• Haunted places in Oklahoma

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

• Rogers County Historical Society: Belvidere Mansion history
• Rogers County Historical Society: Belvidere Mansion FAQ
• Legends of America: Haunted Belvidere Mansion
• HMdb: Belvidere Mansion historical marker
• FOX23: Paranormal exploration set up at Claremore's Belvidere Mansion (2022)
• KLAW 101: Tour this historic, allegedly haunted Oklahoma mansion (2022)
• News On 6: Historical Belvidere Mansion (2012)