Lila’s Legend: Is the state’s oldest schoolhouse haunted? We sent two reporters to stay the night and find out
For decades, rumors of ghostly happenings have surrounded Centennial Hall in Valentine. The 130-year-old building was a schoolhouse for more than 80 years before being transformed into a museum and thrift store that locals claim is haunted by the spirit of a former student.

Centennial Hall peers out across a neighborhood on the east side of Valentine on Oct. 24. The historic school building is considered by many to be the oldest – and most haunted – in all of the state, rumored to be home to the spirit of a student who died in 1944. Photo by Pierce Gentry/Flatwater Free Press
