History & local legend
Thompson-Clark Hall at Westminster College in New Wilmington carries a memorial to Mary Thompson in its history. Her father, science professor S. R. Thompson, helped fund the science building after her death at eighteen. During a later renovation, one construction worker became convinced that Mary was still upstairs.
Project manager Larry Ratvasky described the incident to The Vindicator in 2001. Something had swept past the worker’s face on the top floor, and he believed Mary’s ghost had struck him. He refused to return to that part of the building.
The presence eventually revealed itself: a white barn owl was living among the rafters. Its departure was dramatic enough to end the mystery when it flew through a double-paned window.
Sources
- The Vindicator, Laure Cioffi interviews project manager Larry Ratvasky, March 2001
- Westminster College, history of Mary Thompson and the science hall
- Westminster College official campus map, building 3
- OpenStreetMap, named Thompson-Clark Hall footprint
- Westminster College, 1906 yearbook photograph of the science building
