Stull, Kansas

Stull is located at (38.9711124, -95.4560872), at the corner of North 1600 Road () and East 250 Road () in Douglas County, which is west from the outskirts of Lawrence and east of the Topeka city limit. ==History==

Founding Stull first appeared on territorial maps in 1857. It is unclear where this name came from, although Martha Parker and Betty Laird speculate that it could either be a translation of an indigenous location name or that it could have arisen after a deer was seen by a body of water. The first European settlers in the area spoke German as their native language. Until 1908, the sermons at the small chapel were preached in German. In 1867, a cemetery was chartered for the town next to the church. According to Parker and Laird, the United States Post Office simply selected the name based on the name of the postmaster. The name stuck even after the post office was discontinued in 1903. 20th century In 1912, only 31 people lived in the Stull area, and at its maximum size, the settlement comprised about 50 individuals. Christ Kraft, an inhabitant of the settlement during the 20th century, recalls that life in the small town was "quiet and easy, sometimes even boring." and it was not uncommon for the Stull community to bring hauls of about 300 freshly killed rabbits to butchers in Topeka. The Roaring Twenties brought preliminary discussion about constructing an interurban railroad line between Kansas City and Emporia that would have run through Stull. Anticipating that their city was about to grow, the residents of Stull began discussing the idea of establishing a "Farmers State Bank" in the area; the Lecompton-based banker J. W. Kreider even secured an official bank charter. During the 20th century, the settlement suffered two major tragedies. The first occurred when Oliver Bahnmaier, a young boy wandered into a field that his father was burning and died. Oliver's tragic death led to the rumor that if one stepped on Oliver's tombstone, they would go to Hell. The second occurred when a man was found hanging from a tree after going missing. 21st century On July 25, 2022, the new Stull church mysteriously caught fire between 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.. No injuries were reported but there was substantial damage to the building and fear that the bell may fall. According to WIBW, officials have hypothesized that the fire was caused by a lightning strike. Due to vandalism, the Stull Cemetery is locked at night and the area is patrolled by law enforcement personnel. Trespassing can result in six months of jail time or a fine of up to $1000. ==Legend of Stull Cemetery==

The Stull Cemetery has gained an ominous reputation due to urban legends involving Satan, the occult, and a purported "gateway to Hell". The rumors about the cemetery were popularized by a November 1974 issue of The University Daily Kansan (the student newspaper of the University of Kansas), which claimed that the Devil appeared in Stull twice a year: once on Halloween, and once on the spring equinox. People soon said that the cemetery was the location of one of the seven gates to Hell and that the nearby Evangelical Emmanuel Church ruin was "possessed" by the Devil. Others claimed (erroneously) that the legend was engendered by the killing of Stull's mayor back in the 1850s (of note, Stull was never organized as a town, and so never had a mayor). “They say that in the basement of the abandoned church in Stull, Kansas, there is a staircase. And if you follow that staircase, down, down, down, you will reach the entrance to hell, itself. And if you can crawl your way back up that ladder, escape from the bowels of hell to reach the surface, you will have to climb for weeks. That is... if the devil does not grab you first. [...] They say on the night before Halloween, a woman in a white dress lures drivers to their death along the highway's edge, never to be seen again”. In the years that followed the publication of the University Daily Kansan article, the legend persuaded thrill seekers to visit the cemetery, and they would claim that weird and creepy events such as noises and memory lapses happened to them, leading to further speculation that the town was haunted by witches and the devil. It became a popular activity for young folks (especially high school and college students from Lawrence or Topeka) to journey to the cemetery on Halloween or the equinox to "see the Devil". Many would jump fences or otherwise sneak their way onto the property. Over the decades, as the number of people making excursions to the cemetery grew, the graveyard started to deteriorate; this was exacerbated by vandals. Those caught inside the cemetery after it is closed could face a maximum fine of $1,000 and up to six months in jail. It has been argued that the British band The Cure canceled their show in Kansas because of Stull's cemetery, Nothing Left to Fear (2013) and the unreleased film Sin-Jin Smyth. In-universe, Sam and Dean Winchester (the series' protagonists) are from Lawrence; in a 2006 interview, Eric Kripke (the creator of Supernatural) revealed that he decided to have the two brothers be from Lawrence because of its closeness to Stull. ==Gallery==

File:Fire department .jpg|The Stull fire department. File:The United Methodist Church.jpg|The outside of the United Methodist Church. The church continues to hold services every Sunday. File:Stull Cemetery.jpg|The Stull cemetery in 2019. Image:Stull Cemetery 2014.jpg|Stull Cemetery (facing northeast) in 2014. Image:Stull ks cemetery.JPG|Stull Cemetery (facing northeast) in 2007. The remnants of the old church are visible in the background. Image:Stull ep uo.jpg|Cover of Stull by Urge Overkill. The now-destroyed chapel is in the background. File:The Daily Kansas Warning.tif|A snippet from The Daily Kansan warning students not to vandalize Stull on Halloween. ==See also==