When I was a kid & lived in Niles my mom had friends that lived on Chapel Road in an old victorian house right down the road from that church. I have heard legends about it, including the lady hanging from the steeple. We used to pass by the Church everytime we went over to the house & I vaguely remember lots of woods & it being small & kinda creepy looking.
I live in Buchanan, MI which is like 5 minutes away from Niles. And I've gone out to Morris Chapel a lot, and I know people who grew up in the area. Yes, there was an old church that was built on Morris Drive, but it was out in the woods a little farther, but still in the location. The newly re-built one is closer to the road. They moved the old one out to Pucker St. BUT, an adult friend of mine and I were sharing ghost stories, and before I could tell her my story of what happened at Morris Chapel, she told me THE SAME EXACT story!
While out there with some friends last night, I was driving up to the chapel, and on the left side of the road along the really long fence, there was a REALLY old man walking a little white dog. I got freaked out, and drove off really fast. I turned around in the Morris Farms drive and headed back to leave. I was with six or seven people and we all kept looking for the man again, but no one saw him. All of a sudden as soon as I passed the chapel, he was standing RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! Obviously he wasn't there when I drove past. And I had people riding in my trunk, keeping an eye out on the back.
The friend of mine is in her forties, and told me the EXACT SAME story. She said it happened to her when she was in high school, too.
Morris Chapel is no where near the Morris Farms!! It is on the EAST side of old US 31!! The Center Meeting House is the little church on the E.M. Morris Farms - moved from it's original site - closer to the caretaker's home on Morris Drive! It is NOT haunted!! It is WHITE - and has ALWAYS BEEN white - replica of a New England church back East where Mr. Morris worshiped in his youth!! Sleepy Hollow School has been moved twice!! First from it's original site - Sleepy Hollow Rd - (Now sad to say - renamed Phillip Rd) Then to a spot on Morris Drive - in front of The Center Meeting House. They were BOTH moved to the same new location in the late 1990's. My Mother attended Sleepy Hollow School in the late 1920's! I grew up just "down the road" from the Morris Farms. Many neighborhood gatherings took place there - our 4-H Meetings - my wedding reception and my sisters marriage!! The previous malarkey is how Urban Legends get started!! Anita Frucci
