When unexplained events began happening at the coffee shop where she worked, the ghost of an idea began to take shape in Anna Sokol’s mind. Inspired by ghost tours she had taken with her family, the Alta High School honor student decided to do some research and put together her own walking tour of haunted locales in historic Draper. Sokol hosted her first Draper ghost walks last year and is bringing them back on Oct. 25, 26 and 28.

"I think ghost tours are such a good way to learn about history in a fun way," Sokol said. "It's more intriguing." She explained that she has been on ghost tours in Washington, D.C., Denver, Colorado, Salem, Massachusetts and London, England. “My favorite one was in Washington, walking around the older areas where the presidents used to live,” Sokol added.

She explained that her dad was the one who got the family into ghost tours. “Me and my dad are the adventurous ones,” she said. She said that her mom also has “a spiritual side” and some of her own ghost stories as well.  

Sokol’s “Historic Draper Ghost Tours” starts at the gazebo in Draper Historic Park and meanders up Fort Street, through Draper City Cemetery and past the Sorenson Home Museum and La Petite Maison Antiques. Along the way, she shares a bit of Draper history along with ghostly anecdotes she has gathered from local businesses and from research she conducted at Draper Historical Society.

“I knocked on doors and talked to people,” she said. “Some people were super into it, some less so. I got a few odd looks.”

The anecdotes Sokol collected from local businesses involve mysterious noises and moved objects as well as occasional sightings of apparitions. The Historical Society provided her with a couple of mysterious tales from pioneer days. Once Sokol had a small collection of stories, she wrote a narrative and put up posters around town advertising her ghost walks.

Last year, over 65 people attended the walks. “It was really great talking with the people who came because they saw the posters,” she said. “Some of the little kids said that they saw or felt ghosts. That was really cute!”

She regards the project of putting the tours together as a positive learning experience that she hopes will serve her well as she finishes her senior year and heads to college. Sokol said that her eventual career goal is “to work as a lawyer for a good cause.”

Her interest in local history and ghost stories was piqued during the time she worked at Bubble N Bean which is located next to Draper Historic Park. Employees at the shop, which is located in a historic home, often heard footsteps upstairs and the bells indicating that someone was at the drive-thru or walk-up windows would go off when no one was there. Sokol said that she always felt safe in the shop although the basement where cups and flavored syrups are stored had an eerie feeling to it. “It feels like someone is there,” she said.

Bubble N Beans’ owner, Steve Sugiyama, said he too has felt a presence in the coffee shop, although he is quick to state that he doesn’t believe the business is “possessed” or “haunted” in a frightening way. “Some of the employees have sworn that they have heard doors open and close. I swear I have heard them open but there’s nobody here, nobody in the parking lot,” he said.

In the course of remodeling, Sugiyama has found traces of the people who lived in the home before he and his wife purchased it in 1996, including the remains of family pets buried outside. The house was built “on spec” in 1918 by S. J. Mickelsen who owned the hardware and lumber store just up the road. George Whetman, who later established an automobile dealership on Fort Street, purchased the home in 1922. Whetman and his wife raised eight children there.

Sugiyama is philosophical about the “presence” at Bubble N Bean as well as the other ghost stories in the vicinity of Draper Historic Park. “People come and go, but the land stays,” he said.

The locale is rich in history. Sugiyama mentioned the old partially-built fort from pioneer times that was once nearby and the Native Americans who were there before then. The park itself was the site of Draper’s First Ward, built in 1903, and a rec hall known as the Roundhouse. The domed gazebo, which now stands on the spot, echoes the architecture of that long-ago building.

“The whole area has a good vibe,” he added. “Draper is a positive place.”

For her part, Sokol is a skeptic on the subject of ghosts. She said of her experience at Bubble N Bean, “I would love to believe it is a ghost but at the end of the day, it is unexplainable. We might as well have fun and pass along our stories, that's how I see it.”

Sokol is offering Historic Draper Ghost Tours on Oct. 25, 26 and 28 at 6:30 p.m. starting at the gazebo in Draper Historic Park. The 40-minute tour covers approximately one mile and is appropriate for all ages. There are no tickets, but donations of $5 per individual or $15 per family are suggested. As a means of crowd control, Sokol has created a Sign-Up Genius page for those interested in attending a tour using the QR code. λ