Bijou Theatre Investigation
This blog post was written by Whitney Dankemeyer.
Formerly known as a Civil War hospital, the Bijou Theatre is on the list of historical places in the National Historic record. It is also known as one of the most haunted places in Knoxville, Tennessee. What makes this theatre so haunted though? Could it be caused by events that occurred inside of it?
The Bijou Theatre was originally a vacant lot on the corner of Gay Street and Cumberland Avenue. Lot 38 was purchased by Thomas Humes, and he died before his renovations were complete. He was merely around long enough to name it the Premier Hotel, but this hotel ran from 1801 until 1856, experiencing countless name changes throughout the years. It went from the Premier Hotel to Jackson Hotel, Jackson Hotel to City Hotel, City hotel to Coleman House, and was renamed the Lamar House in 1856.
A year later in 1857, the Lamar House was under new ownership. The man who purchased The Lamar was Colonel William H. Sneed, and he also owned the property next door. The Colonel used the building to lease it to guests rather than operate it as a hotel. It was eventually taken over by Union soldiers during the American Civil War, so for a while the building was even referred to as “The Lamar Hospital.” General William P. Sanders died in the hotels’ bridal suite on November 19, 1863.
There was another death reported in The Lamar Hotel in 1876, and this death also occurred inside the building. Back then, the men too young to serve in war would host a rifle drilling club. Two people involved with this group were Thomas Atkins and Thomas Sneed. Atkins ran the Atkins Hotel down the road and Sneed operated the Lamar. Sneed was up late drinking with a group of young men when Atkins walked in.
It was 3:00 am and Atkins was drunk, so the man came into the building looking for water. Sneed made the remark, “Why would you need water when you can have a man’s drink?” and this stirred up tension between the two. Atkins was denied service and ran into Sneed. Sneed stirred the pot and hollered that Atkins had a knife. This upset Atkins greatly, so he knocked Sneed on the ground. When Sneed got back up, he pulled a pistol out of his pocket and shot Atkins in front of everybody. Sneed got off on self-defense, but the hatred can still be felt in the air. The two are currently buried feet apart from one another at the Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville.
When Colonel Sneed died, the property was handed over to the Sneed family. Before the year 1881, the business had been passed between several family members. Throughout those years, the business was again renamed multiple times, including The White House, New Lamar House, and Old Homestead. This was before the Auditorium Company swooped in and purchased the property in 1908.
In 1908, the Auditorium Company purchased and remodeled the building with a vision to operate as a hotel, store, and restaurant. Additionally, they built and operated a theatre inside called “Jake Well’s Bijou Theatre.” On March 8, 1909, it sold out entirely for its first show. There was also a policy against black people at this time, so these groups were directed to enter the theatre from Cumberland Avenue instead of Gay Street. This was, however, the only theatre to allow both blacks and whites into it at the same time. Movies here ran from 1913 to 1926 until the Tennessee Theatre purchased it.
When the Tennessee Theatre bought out the building, they sold it to a local businessman who used the property as a used car lot for Mahan Motor Company in 1928. The new owner did not allow the theatre to use the property for any kind of theatrical production, so the Bijou was called the Bijou Fruit Stand during this time. It wasn't until 1935 when Paramount Pictures took a 20-year lease out of the theatre, but in 1965, they chose not to renew it. It was then renamed the Bijou Art Theatre and was converted into an adult movie house.
By 1957, this place was merely a gathering spot for prostitutes, transients, and outlaws. Word traveled fast, and the more it got out, the more civilians saw it as a threat to the community. There was a public outcry to shut the place down, so it was declared a public health hazard in 1969. While the theatre stayed open, the hotel was closed after 152 years of operation.
A Methodist Church tried to take on the building in 1971, but they were very unhappy with the history of the location and quickly sold it to a Knoxville businessman. With the building having closed from unpaid rent and amusement taxes, Bijou was scheduled for demolition in 1975. Within the same year, the Bijou Theatre was added to the National Historic record but was still scheduled to be taken down. The Knoxville Heritage Group launched their campaign to save the building, but they were $50,000 short when the deadline arrived. When all hope was lost, a trustee on the board for the Bijou appeared just in time. John Goodstein decided to donate the remainder of the money so the theatre could stay intact.
In 1977, the Bijou Theatre reopened, followed by the Bistro in 1982. By 1985, the Bijou was in the best condition it's ever been with over a million dollars invested in restoration. This did not stop them from suffering when more renovations came along though, so the theatre was mortgaged and forced to close in May of 2004. Mayor Bill Haslam came up with a plan to ensure Bijou remained a Knoxville treasure, and in 2006, the doors were opened again. Since then, they have been able to keep business running, and the Bijou Theatre will be celebrating its 114th anniversary this year.
In terms of paranormal, there have been many reports of spiritual activity at the Bijou. The first spirit is known as General William Pitt Sanders, the man who passed away in the bridal suite. It is said you can see the General walking around in the corner of your eye. Security guards have also mentioned hearing footsteps more in the night. Sanders is known to cause unexplained noises and physically touch the living. Some have reported having their clothes tugged in the bathroom of the second floor.
The other spirit known to haunt the Bijou Theatre is a former theatre director named Elium Smiley. No one knows for certain if Smiley is actually the rumored spirit or not, but he has been seen by the public eye enough to know he exists. Smiley signed his name under the landing bridge at one point in his life, so when he died and activity began, people assumed he was responsible.
This investigation was a unique one for us and this was because we planned to go in without any equipment. Instead of using devices to validate the paranormal (and because devices weren’t allowed past the ticket booth), we planned to use our own abilities to determine if spirits were present. This meant we were relying solely on our thoughts, visions, and senses for this investigation.
The show was the evening of April 28, 2023. We were directed to our seats in the middle of our row and saw that we had a pretty clear view of the stage. The performance we were seeing was Marriage of Figaro, and it was the first opera any of us had been to. The entirety of the performance was sung in Italian, so the three of us were fortunate to be able to read the subtitles stationed above the stage. While the show was going well, it was a third of the way through when we started to be affected by the energy of the room.
The first paranormal experience we encountered was an orb above the stage. I didn’t see the orb myself, but Nicole and Swan captured the experience with their own eyes:
“I was rather enjoying myself during the performance. I always loved all types of theater, although the performance was a little hard to follow, it was still entertaining to me. While the performers were captivating, I couldn’t help but bring my attention to my surroundings. I frequently glanced around at the shadowed corners of the auditorium in hopes to see something that the rest of the audience wouldn’t care to notice. I had paused my search and brought my attention back to the stage. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, I saw a crisp white orb fly in front of me. I tried to debunk it for a bug or perhaps maybe dust, however, dust would’ve just been floating there and the orb did not have the fluttering characteristics that a bug would have. After the performance, Swan had mentioned she had seen the exact same orb as me, confirming that maybe what I had been searching for ended up being right in front of my face.” - Nicole Dankmeyer
“With this being my first Opera Performance, I was doing my best to take in the entire atmosphere & energy of the show. I was finding it a bit difficult to follow along as they were singing in Italian, but I was focused on letting the energy of the music vibrate through my ears & body. We were almost to intermission when I noticed a white orb fly through the top rafters of the stage & disappear before my eyes. We were running on about 2-3 hours of sleep the previous night, so at first I shook it off thinking I was just tired and delusional. That was until Nicole mentioned she thought she saw an orb as we were walking out for intermission. I then told her that I had seen the same orb, and it had followed the same path through the air as she saw! It was very validating to hear she experienced the same thing!” - Sierra Swan
When it came to my experience at the Bijou, I didn’t see anything, but I felt everything. The further we got into the performance, the angrier I started to feel. At the time, there was no reason for my upset. I was simply watching the performance and gradually started to feel worse… and then I started to feel tired. It was as if the energy was being drained out of my body. I kept looking around to distract myself, but I was being engulfed by my own emotions.
There was a point where Swan and Nicole saw me glance over at them, but I cannot recall the entire experience. Swan did mention asking if I was tired TOO (meaning they felt it as well) and saw that I looked incredibly angry. She said my response sounded like I was upset too. We ended up having to step out during intermission in order to gather a breath of fresh air. The energy of this 222-year-old building was intense, and I spiritually blacked out during the performance.
If we would’ve had our equipment and access to the building after hours, I believe we would’ve captured further proof of the paranormal. The energy in the Bijou was already enough to convince us that spirits were present, and they were intelligent enough to manipulate our energy and emotions. If you should ever attend a performance at the Bijou in Knoxville, we highly suggest coming prepared if you're sensitive to spirits. This place is charged.
Supporting Links:
Comments