By: Taylor Christensen | Royal Oak Review | Published October 29, 2024
ROYAL OAK — The Orson Starr House in Royal Oak is a long-standing historical hot spot in the community, but being one of the first homes in Royal Oak is not the only thing that the house is known for.
It is also known for being haunted.
In 1845, Orson Starr built the wooden frame house 2 miles north from what is now downtown Royal Oak at 3123 N. Main St.
It housed him and his family, and descendents of the Starr family, until 1970. According to Alex Kerrigan, chair of the Historical Commission, there have been a lot of deaths on the property.
Orson Starr was from upstate New York and a well-known manufacturer. He and his family made their living by making bricks and cowbells. The Starr cowbells are now considered collector’s items.
“There is a lot of history on that property, on that land,” Kerrigan said. “It goes back to 1831 when the Starr family moved to Royal Oak. They didn’t have the house right away, but they built the house in 1845 and that land itself holds a lot of history.”
The Starr home is an active location for both the living and the dead, hosting historical tours and ghost tours throughout the year.
Ghost hunting tours are led by a paranormal investigator group, Flyer Paranormal. It is a group of three guys who joined together because of their love for the unexplainable.
“A couple of years ago, me and my team were looking for a spot to investigate, and we were turned on to the Starr house by a fellow investigator from the west side of the state,” John Yost, Flyer Paranormal member, said. “We got in there (the Starr house) and did some investigating, and then one thing led to another and we are hosting events every month.”
Having so much foot traffic coming through the Starr house since 1845 is one of the reasons the place holds so much energy and paranormal activity, according to Yost.
“Whether it be the open houses, historical tours or the paranormal tours that have been offered there for quite some time, the house does offer a lot of energy,” Yost said. “We are still trying to find answers to what spirits reside there, but we get a lot of activity.”
Yost said that having so many historical objects in the house provides spirits with a sense of belonging and keeps them attached to the premises.
Along with original artifacts from the Starr family are artifacts donated from different families in the Royal Oak area that hold historical significance. Yost believes some of those artifacts hold spirits that aren’t even related to the Starr family.
Kerrigan has always been open-minded about the paranormal but always tries to find a way to debunk the situations she has experienced. A few have stuck with her that she categorizes as real paranormal encounters.
“It was a couple of years after I had been volunteering that I heard footsteps myself,” she said. “I was completely alone in the house; it was the middle of the day. It was during COVID and I heard someone walking up the stairs.”
She said she walked over to the front door to check if anybody had entered without her knowledge.
“I didn’t see anybody. I thought maybe it was something on the porch. And that is when I heard the footsteps upstairs in the kids room,” she said. “It was super eerie, clear as day.”
Kerrigan called her mom to come and investigate with her, thinking there was someone in the house. They found nothing, and Kerrigan accepted that she had just heard the disembodied footsteps of one of the Starr children.
During the nights while nobody is there, the spirits are active, according to Kerrigan, who said she has come back for her shifts in the morning with doors open and cabinets left open.
Although seeing an apparition is rare in the Starr home, Yost said that it has happened.
“On our first investigation there, I had encountered a shadow figure three different times,” he said. “One of my investigators has encountered an apparition, one in a time period dress, walking through the hallway on the first level going into a bedroom.”
This particular woman has been reported by other people who have visited the home, according to Yost.
One of the most compelling pieces of evidence recorded by the Flyer Paranormal team is a recording of a woman wailing taken on their first investigation, according to Yost.
“We would set up our cameras and go away for about an hour for dinner and come back and review the cameras,” he said. “I had a camera set up in the Starr bedroom, and all of a sudden my (infrared) light starts going on and off and then all of a sudden, in the background, you hear a woman wailing and just crying her eyes out. It sounded so sad.”
Yost and Kerrigan have never felt feelings of danger or negativity in the house.
“I never felt overwhelming fear, I always felt like someone was watching,” Kerrigan said. “There is always a feeling of being observed or to treat the house with respect, but not in a mean way.”
Although the home is a hot spot for activity, Yost said it is never promised that if you are in the home or at an investigation that the ghosts will be making noises, but if you do happen to get the chance to experience that, it is worth staying up late.
“One thing we tell everybody that comes through is that it can be the most boring night of your life, you may not see anything,” he said. “But it’s a great spot, lots of history here and with the items in the house and the spirits that are active here, I don’t think they want to be forgotten.”
For more information on the Starr house, visit www.romi.gov/621/Orson-Starr-House. For more information on Flyer Paranormal, visit flyerparanormal.com. Tours will be resuming in November. To sign up for a tour, visit www.eventbrite.com/e/ghost-hunt-at-the-orson-starr-house- tickets-871065479297. Tickets cost $55 with half benefiting the Historical Commission.