A translucent figure of a man has purportedly been seen sitting in seat J47 of the auditorium of Hibbing High School. Photo courtesy of Hibbing High School
At least that?s the story here. If you believe in ghosts.
In 1922, Ratican was lured away from New York City by the small northeastern Minnesota community made rich by iron ore. With the town?s original location threatened by the ever-expanding mining pits, the town was moved. More than 200 structures, most of them two-story houses, made a journey two miles to the south. Other structures, including the school, did not. So to appease the townspeople, the ultra-rich mining company vowed to build a school unlike any other.
With elaborate protrusions and spires outside and polished marble staircases, decorative woodwork and intricate engravings inside, the structure ? costing a hefty $3.9 million in 1920 ? came to be known as ?the Castle in the Woods.? The piece de resistance of the school, still holding classes with some 750 students enrolled today, is the 1,800-seat auditorium, patterned after New York City?s opulent Capitol Theatre. Its hand-molded ceiling was created on-site by Irish craftsmen. Its cut-glass chandeliers, $15,000 each, were imported from Czechoslovakia. Its Barton vaudeville organ is one of only two originals left in the country.
?The school with the golden doorknobs? made its way to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
In its early years, the auditorium held vaudeville performances and symphony orchestra concerts as well as school plays.
And since 1942, when Ratican died, there have been tales of the transparent man sitting in J47.
?Legend has it that this is one of the most haunted buildings in Minnesota,? said Hibbing High School Principal Mike Finco. ?The story passed down over the years was that an old auditorium manager had died and he still floats around here. And J47 is supposed to be where people have seen different images of an elderly gentleman dressed up in old-style clothing that looks to be translucent.?
Finco has been hearing the story of the ghost since he arrived at the school in 2004. He?s also heard what he thinks is a logical explanation. It seems that former head custodian Bob Kearney dressed up as Ratican and sat in J47, and auditorium manager Chuck Perry took his picture.
?And it looks spooky like a ghost,? said Finco.
It appeared, he said, to be a double exposure.
But then he added, ?If you walk around the auditorium, generally the seats are all up. But I bet if I walk over there, J47 will be down, as if someone is in it.?
Sure enough, a walk to Row J found Seat 47 down.
And then Finco said, ?It was a fluke. What happened to the camera wasn?t supposed to happen. The (Polaroid) camera didn?t have the capability of doing what it did. The people who came in to look at the camera said there?s no way that you can double expose it. That can?t be done with this camera.?
So the story persists. The phenomenon has even been studied by the Northern Minnesota Paranormal Investigators, who have photos of the strange sighting on their Web site.
Many more Web sites, however, are devoted to another legend from the auditorium?s past.
In the 1940s, Abraham and Beatrice Zimmerman moved from Duluth to Hibbing with their first-born child, Robert. He would grow up in Hibbing and live there until his graduation from high school in 1959.
Beginning in early 1957, he would appear on the stage of the high school auditorium from time to time, usually as part of an annual talent show. His brand of music, patterned after Little Richard, was decidedly different from the typical Hibbing fare. Some accounts claim the young Zimmerman was laughed at; others say his classmates were thrilled with his shocking musical renditions.
In the fall of 1959, the Zimmerman teen began college at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Less than a-year-and-a-half later he quit school and moved to New York City and took a new name.
Bob Dylan.
The celebrity hasn?t been to Hibbing for a long time, but the town claims him as its own. And each year it celebrates the singer?s May 24 birthday with Dylan Days. This year they?re scheduled for May 22-25. Among the activities are a narrated bus tour, singer/songwriter contest, playwright contest, literary contest and reading, visual arts contest, and of course a concert.
A stop at Zimmy?s Bar and Restaurant, which has a section devoted to Dylan memorabilia and offers Dylan items like T-shirts for sale, is a must. So is the former Dylan home at 2425 Seventh Ave. E., a private residence which sports a huge Dylan album cover painted on the garage door. A portion of the street has even been re-named Bob Dylan Drive. The public library has a Dylan exhibit that includes a life-size cut-out, popular with those who want their picture taken with the star.
And in the auditorium of Hibbing High School, there?s the stage on which the future star performed when he was still known as Bobby Zimmerman ? perhaps under the watchful eye of the specter in J47.
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