The History of the Orpheum
The Orpheum Theatre was built in the early 1900s in the heart of downtown Flagstaff. From the beginning, it served as one of the region's premier entertainment venues, drawing performers and audiences from across northern Arizona.
For over a century, the Orpheum has hosted live performances, films, and community events. Its walls have absorbed the energy of thousands of shows and the stories of the people who filled its seats night after night.
Today, the Orpheum remains an active cultural venue in downtown Flagstaff. It stands as one of the oldest entertainment buildings in the region, a physical link between the town's frontier past and its present.
The Haunting
Guests and staff have reported unexplained sounds emanating from the auditorium when it sits empty. Footsteps where no one walks. A voice that carries from somewhere behind the stage when the building should be silent.
Cold spots appear in hallways that have no drafts, no open windows, no logical explanation. The temperature drops and then returns to normal as quickly as it came.
There is a persistent sense among those who spend time in the building that some of the performers from the Orpheum's long history never quite left. Whether that is memory or something else, the people who work there have their own opinions.
What happened on that stage over a century of performances? You will hear the rest standing in front of the building.
The Research Behind the Story
The stories told at this stop are grounded in Susan Johnson's archival research into Flagstaff's historic downtown buildings. Johnson spent years combing through local records, newspaper archives, and first-person accounts to piece together the histories of the buildings that line these streets.
The stories on this tour are not scripts someone pulled from the internet. They come from years of primary source research by a published historian.
Learn more about Susan Johnson's work at susanjohnson.org.
Tour
Downtown Flagstaff Haunted History Tour
Duration
75 minutes, ~1 mile
Meeting Point
Wheeler Park, 212 W Aspen Ave
Schedule
Daily 7 PM, Fri-Sat 7 PM & 8 PM
Walk the Full Route Tonight
7 stops. 75 minutes. Stories you will not hear anywhere else.
Part of the Freaky Foot Tours family