Most of the information that I had read about George was on a student website for a university, and is no longer available.  There is some information that the local paper has published, but it isn’t as comprehensive.

The building that I work in started out as a Masonic Temple.  It was built in the 1920’s with a lobby with high ceilings and a huge staircase going up all 5 floors.  It was purchased by Charles Knox during the depression, so it was renamed the Knox Building.  There’s no record of why it went empty, but it was empty for approximately 40 years until the mid 1980’s.  Some time later, the Symphony started using the top 2 floors.  Sometime between when the building was built and when the symphony started using the building, a repairman fell in the elevator shaft and died.  I can’t find any record of when this happened.

The head of the symphony, named Dough Newell, was getting things ready one night and saw a man in a coverall coming down the stairs from the balcony with a cigar in his mouth.  The name on the coverall was George.  Newell called to thank the elevator repair company for sending someone out after hours, and they said they didn’t send anyone.

There have also been instances of the chairs in the balcony being moved.

Most of the information above and more can be found at http://enidnews.com/localnews/x518699447/Stories-of-paranormal-hauntings-abound-in-Enid?keyword=topstory (opens in a new window).

It’s been said around the building that if you smell cigar smoke, then George is around.  I worked with one girl who absolutely refused to go in the elevators because she was worried about running into him.  I’ve never had a problem, and I used the elevators frequently when I was pregnant, as the stairs are rather daunting with 20′ ceilings.  The offices have drop ceilings, but there’s still a lot of room between the floors.  The fire escape has 3 flights of 7 – 10 stairs just to get from one floor to the next.

Someone else I work with went to the 3rd floor to find some rolls of labels.  When she came downstairs, she got spooked because all of the lights had been turned off on the 2nd floor in the 15 minutes she had been upstairs.  Is it possible that everyone left in that time? Of course.  But she no longer makes fun of M who doesn’t like to stay alone in the office in the evenings.