One of Missouri’s Most Haunted Locations!

The Vaile Mansion, Independence, Missouri

This foreboding mansion is so extremely haunted that many experienced ghost hunters have fled, and still refuse to step inside!

The myths and legends surrounding this mansion grow more and more with each passing year. Reports of a woman in white wandering the property and peering out of the windows at unsuspecting visitors are a common occurrence. It’s widely believed that this is Sophia Vaile, the wife of Colonel Vaile who committed suicide in her bedroom on the 2nd floor. She has been spotted mainly on the 2nd floor, and she’s the main culprit behind a lot of the paranormal activity that occurs.

There’s also the spirit of a young man, who is thought to have been a patient of the sanitarium. He can often be seen roaming the 3rd floor, where he’s believed to have spent his entire life until his death.

There’s an angry male entity that has made himself known in the basement through disembodied voices, loud bangs, and EVP’s. He’s also terrifyingly made himself appear in a full-bodied apparition on occasion too. He’s a very intense spirit that’s for sure!

Every area of the house is active, with shadow figures seen darting throughout the rooms and hallways, with the disembodied voices of dead residents a common report. If you happen to heading up or past the main staircase, you may just see a dark figure ascending or descending the steps!

This truly is a very chilling place to investigate, and the paranormal activity here just continues to grow. Just what was the “psychic terror” that caused everyone to flee the place never to return? Maybe you’ll get find out for yourself!?

This event isn’t for the faint of heart that’s for sure. If you’re brave enough to join us, maybe head down to the basement to do an alone vigil with the angry male entity in the basement? Though we wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t!

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Vaile Mansion History

The mansion was built for Colonel Harvey Merrick Vaile and his wife, Sophia, starting in 1871 and lasting 10 years. The couple would go on to die in the mansion, their lives engulfed in scandal.

Both prominent in the Jackson County social scene, the Colonel wanted to express his wealth, and the $4 million Vaile Mansion was the result. The mansion served as a luxurious place of hospitality to notables such as U.S. Senators and people of standing from across the state and the country. During these years (1881-1890), Colonel Vaile was twice brought to court on charges of fraud against the government. However, both of them concluded with a non-guilty verdict, and Vaile was left with over $100,000 in trial expenses and a damaged reputation.

It was during this tumultuous time, that Sophia was left behind to pick up the pieces alone, dealing with the turmoil and the embarrassment of having her and her husbands’ honor challenged in such a way. It was all to come to a head when a trip to the doctor after feeling unwell, saw Sophia dealing with more devastating news, as she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Upon returning home she committed suicide by taking an overdose of morphine. Her death coming all whilst her husband was still in Washington D.C. on trial.

Colonel Vaile returned to the empty house and lived the rest of his days as a reclusive eccentric old man, dying in 1895. Local legend has it that Vaile could not bear living without Sophia, so upon returning to the mansion he buried his wife on his estate in a glass casket, so he could visit her and look upon her face. After protests, locals forced Vaile to bury his wife in a more dignified and conventional burial.

After the death of Colonel Vaile, the estate went into a lengthy court battle, lasting 5 years. The house was finally sold onto a private buyer who would operate the mansion as an inn. It was later used as a private asylum and sanitarium and was later used as a base of operations for the Vaile Pure Water Co., which operated it for a number of years until it was turned into a rest home.

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