Our home resides at the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. It was built in the 1950's but the property was once farmland that stretched many acres into our neighborhood. There are interesting characteristics to this property from the past; an old stone grill, a pit where the outhouse stood, a water well, and supposedly, under the large two-car garage, there was a liquor distillery from the prohibition, and there are many objects buried out in our yard. Like old glass bottles and other period metals.
There have been many small happenings in this house since our family moved here 17 years ago. Strange sounds all throughout the house like objects being dropped on the floor, people having conversations that are inaudible, sink faucets being turned on and off, door handles jiggling. That's it for strange sounds, now here are our experiences.
Many years ago, our landlord's daughter was showering in the smaller bathroom, and she heard her recently deceased grandmother's voice say her name. Once, I was walking through our hallway that always has a creepy feeling and I was hiding in a doorway of a vacant room where an aunt of ours died in and I heard a male voice say the name David. I ran all the way downstairs really frightened.
Once our dad, who's bedroom sits next to the kitchen, thought my twin sister and I were talking loudly in the kitchen, when in fact it was late and we were asleep. My twin was once walking out of our bathroom and she heard what she thought was me calling her name from a spare bedroom, and she went in to investigate, found nothing there and when she walked away she heard the bathroom faucet turn on. She went to see if it really was on and then it shut off on its own.
That same spare bedroom has weird feelings and a strange presence. When in there you feel like you're not alone and you see and hear movement like someone walking around and sitting on the bed looking at you. One night my sister and I were sleeping in the spare room because it was a hot summer night. It was about 3:20 in the morning and we just went to bed, we heard the doorknob turn and the door slowly creek open. We expected it to be our mom, but the door just stood open. Both of us heard this and we both just stared at the doorway. I looked out into the hallway and there was nothing just darkness. Just as I looked the door began to creek shut and closed. This door stood open for a couple minutes and we just stared at it. We heard nothing after that. No footsteps and no other noises. We asked our mom the next morning and she said that it wasn't her.
Sometimes when you're in the bathroom with the door closed you can here movement outside the door like walking around or throwing something onto the floor. Sometimes voices outside the bathroom like they're having a conversation but when I try to concentrate and listen you don't hear anything. No one likes the hallway leading to the bathroom. They never get a good feeling.
There are many small strange happenings in this house, but it makes for an interesting haunting.
I think this account is very interesting, and kudos to realizing that the activity might be tied to the history of the land and not just to the house's time frame. Much of what you describe could be residual, and with the information we were given it's hard to go beyond that. You might do a little foraging into the history of when the property became a farm. As lady-glow pointed out prohibition was 1920-1933, so it is possible that back before the current house was built, there was a distillery or more probable a still on the premises.
I had a rather fanciful thought: you say there's a pit where an outhouse use to be, and it seems the bathroom attracts a lot of the activity. Faucets being turned on, voices, etc. It's a bit hard for city dwellers to understand in some parts of the US, indoor plumbing is nothing short of a miracle, and was fairly late in getting to some rural areas. It could be that what-ever spirit is there (if intelligent) is fascinated by it. If you think about it, the idea of getting water with the simple twist of a knob would be very interesting to someone who did not have it.
You might try keeping a journal, noting dates, times, weather, etc. Of when these things occur. Along with it, you could keep notes of what you discover about the property, house, past residents. If the farm is as old as I suspect, somewhere there should be an old family plot. You might ask around about that. If you can locate it, be sure to ask the current owners permission, and maybe go look at it. That would give you more clues. In all probability you have a town historian, you could pick their brain. (You don't have to mention you think it might be haunted, just your curious about the past. 😊)
Let us know what you find out!