by Mike Ricksecker:

The establishment of the Blue Belle Saloon has existed since Guthrie’s tent town days during one of Oklahoma’s land rushes. Located on the corner of Harrison Ave. and 2nd Street, the saloon has seen a few different facades with the tents being replaced by a wood frame building in the early 1890s, and in 1901 the current brick structure was constructed.

Operating at the same location was Miss Lizzie’s Girls, a group of frontier prostitutes run by their madame, Miss Lizzie. By all accounts, Lizzie was an intelligent church-going woman who kept a fine reputation, however, she would take very young girls into the profession. Local legends maintain that families about to lose their homes would sell their young daughters into the service of Miss Lizzie and put them to work in her bordello.

The 1901 building expansion allowed for a 17 room second floor, which housed a gambling den and a full-fledged bordello for Miss Lizzie. This was more of a private club and not generally open to the public, but both outlaws and local authority figures are said to have ventured up the east side stairwell to the second floor. There was also a private iron catwalk from the bordello that stretched over the road to the hotel across the street where local politicians and affluent visitors had access to the bordello girls.

With a bustling historic saloon comes bustling historic ghosts, and a number have been spotted over the years. The apparition of a man has frequently been seen in different areas of the first floor including the bar and around the restroom. Most women feel uneasy in the restroom, and many refuse to use it at all. A dark haired woman has been seen many times throughout the bar area as well, and people believe this is the spirit of Miss Lizzie. In the basement there is said to be the spirit of a disgruntled man with a handlebar mustache a brown derby hat that is sometimes present hurling obscenities at those who enter.

Upstairs in the bordello loud knocks and thumps emanate throughout. Shadows can be seen moving from room to room and disembodied voices are heard, including humming and occasional singing. Sometimes the soft sound of a girl crying permeates the air, and this has been attributed to both Claudia and Estelle, girls that once worked for Miss Lizzie.

One Blue Belle legend is that Claudia was beaten to death and buried within the saloon by the old coal chute. Near the chute is rumored to be an entrance to the old labyrinth of tunnels under Guthrie, which would have been used by prominent patrons of the Blue Belle and bordello that did not wish to be seen. It would have been a perfect exit for a getaway by whoever may have murdered the girl. Whether or not the murder really happened no one knows for sure, but the spectral cries that emanate from that location have many convinced of her unfortunate demise.

Additional details about the history of the saloon and its hauntings are available in Ghosts and Legends of Oklahoma.

DarkMedia contributor Mike Ricksecker is currently featured on DarkMediaCity, a free social network for those who like it Dark. Whether it be literature or film, music or art, horror or sci-fi, paranormal romance or paranormal investigation, we’ve got something for you. www.DarkMediaCity.com

Mike is also the author of Ghosts and Legends of Oklahoma, Ghosts of Maryland, and Deadly Heirs, a Chase Michael DeBarlo mystery novel.

He has appeared on Animal Planet’s The Haunted television show, is currently a paranormal investigator and “ghostorian” with Society of the Haunted, and regularly speaks about the paranormal and writing. He can be followed on his website at http://www.mikericksecker.com or on Twitter at @MikeRicksecker.