107 North Main Street
Mansfield, Texas
In Mansfield, Texas, near Fort Worth, there is a historic site called the Farr Best Theater, which is, so to speak, a real attraction for ghost hunters.
It is located right on Main Street in Mansfield, along Highway 287/157, and is well worth a closer look. It is an old historic building, and if you miss the name Main Street Theater, note that the words “Farr Best” appear at the top of the building. That is interesting, to say the least, isn't it?
The theater was originally named after Milton Farr, and although he himself is not the ghost said to haunt the theater, he is believed to have something to do with it. In 1917, Milton Farr came to Mansfield and became a highly prominent resident of the town. In fact, he was responsible for introducing both the town's first electricity and its water system. He was also a lover of the arts. He loved theater and founded a movie theater on the site where you can now read the words “Farr Best Theater.” The theater opened in the fall of 1917.
Farr died in 1975, and at that time there had been no reports of ghosts or other supernatural phenomena in the theater. The building was eventually sold to a woman named Charlotte Martin, and its name was changed to the Old Bijou Theatre. It operated as a movie theater for another five years, then closed again and awaited another sale.
The next buyer was St. Lutheran's Church, which held services there for another eight years. In 1988, the building was once again put up for sale. It was purchased by a local theater group, Main Street Theatre, Inc., and that was when, after all those years, the ghost appeared.
Walking into the Farr Best Theater today is like stepping back in time. The nearly one-hundred-year-old theater has been restored to the condition it was in during its glory days. Considering this, it is no wonder that the ghost of a long-ago visitor or theater lover might decide to return.
Strange occurrences have been reported, including lights turning on and off without human intervention and lost items suddenly reappearing after the building has been searched. The ghost was named McDougal, and one theater visitor remarked that the ghost seemed to have arrived at roughly the same time that Damon Steele donated part of a Scottish pub to serve as a concession stand.
In 1996, the theater was renamed the Farr Best Theater and designated a historic landmark, so whether McDougal is the only ghost haunting the theater or there are more, it is clear that he chose the perfect place to spend his time.
