KENTUCKY's
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History
In 1880 three Prison Commissioners were given the task of finding the best location for a branch penitentiary.
In April of 1884 the Act was passed in the Kentucky State Legislature to build the prison in the Eddyville area. A ledge overlooking the Cumberland River was chosen as the site.
The prison officially opened on December 24, 1890 and immediately began easing the overcrowding at the Frankfort Penitentiary.
The new branch prison had a capacity for 1,000 prisoners and came in under budget at $484,140 ($16,005,350 in 2023 dollars).
By 1889 the prison was already overcrowded – yes even before the official opening - which led to a program allowing some prisoners to work outside of the penitentiary’s walls. This program, however, was ended quickly when over 50% of the prisoners escaped and the incidences of guards abusing prisoners – when they weren’t under the prison administration’s eyes – dramatically increased.
In the first decades of it’s existence a sign hung above the front entrance: “Abandon all hope all ye who enter here”.
In September of 1910 the electric chair was installed at the penitentiary and a Death House was built.
In 1912 the facility became the Kentucky State Penitentiary while Frankfort became the Kentucky Reformatory. All prisoners 30 and under were moved to the Reformatory and older than 30 were jailed in the penitentiary.
On July 13, 1928 seven men were executed one by one in the electric chair starting shortly after midnight. By far the most executions in one day.
163 men were put to death in Old Sparky and 2 men were put to death by lethal injection in total.
The last execution in Kentucky took place in 2008 in this prison by lethal injection.
Paranormal Activity
This an operational maximum security and super max prison; except for staff and those visiting prisoners there is no entry period.
The river below the prison grounds has flooded over the original Eddyville and it is said that many people refused to leave and were caught by the quickly rising water. Strange lights are seen under the water after dark to this day.
It said you can’t walk 10 feet in the prison area without coming across a place where something violent took place.
Most of the reports of paranormal activity come from staff members over the decades.
There are numerous reports of the apparitions of prisoners seen both in unused cells as well as on the grounds. In the majority of these reports the ghosts showed an obvious awareness of the living.
The former Death House is the most active building.
Many staff have reported having vivid nightmares about the prison.
There are also reports of sounds as if someone is at the front gate either yelling or banging to get in. When investigated there is never anyone there.
Other Reported Activity: shadow figures; objects moving on there own; electrical disturbances; disembodied voices and screams; cold spots; empathic feelings of intense negativity; sudden physical symptoms including migraines and nausea; phantom footsteps; light anomalies; a long list of unexplained sounds including sudden bangs and feelings of being watched and not being wanted.
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History
This site claims to be the oldest continuously operating distillery in the United States. The Guinness Book of World Records gives that title to Burk’s Distillery – distillers of Maker’s Mark Whisky.
Distilling was began at this site in 1775 by 2 brothers. The first actual industrial distillery was opened in 1812. The distillery had multiple owners and products over the years. They were even allowed to distill whiskey during the Prohibition for “medicinal purposes”.
In October, 2016 the foundation of the original 1873 distillery – which burned down in 1882 – was found while doing renovations on the modern buildings.
Ghost tours were available – due to the Covid-19 pandemic tours are closed for now – at the site for no charge and include product tastings. Thus far no date has been given for the tours to begin again; if ever.
Paranormal Activity
Yet another location that you can find multiple claims that it is one of the – if not the – most haunted site in the State. But when you dig into the stories just a little further, there are very few details.
We have not been to the site, let alone the tour, but the ghost tour has had some not very favorable reviews. Unfortunately, the ghost tour is temporarily on hold due to Covid-19 and as of October 2023 is not offered.
Here are some of the reports of paranormal activity we have found:
A rather dubious claim has been made that there are 27 separate spirits on site. This can be neither proven nor disproved.
The Stony Point Mansion – a house built on the site in 1934 – is said to be haunted by its builder: Albert B Blanton. He makes himself known most commonly with phantom footsteps and extreme cold spots. His housekeeper – Sarah – is also said to haunt the house and makes herself known by disembodied humming and singing.
In Warehouse C the disembodied words, “get out”, have been heard.
This site is, of course, an industrial site which was operating in a time period where worker safety was of little to no concern. Although we could not find any kind of historical record of accidents – fatal or otherwise – on the site; it is conceivable that ghosts from this period may roam the site.
At the very least this location needs further study by experienced paranormal investigators.
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History
In 1786 General James Wilkinson bought most of the land that now makes up most of downtown Frankfort. He laid out the original street map and happily named all the streets after himself and his friends.
In 1796 he sold 4 acres to Senator John Brown who was one of the men that was instrumental in making Kentucky a State.
The Senator was often away in Philadelphia – the Capitol of the United States at the time – but always had a team in Frankfort working on his future home. The bricks of the house were made from clay in the basement of the house.
In 1800 the house was complete – except for glass windows which were added in 1804 – and the Senator moved in. As well as the main house there were many outbuildings constructed at this time including: a kitchen, a laundry, a smokehouse and slave quarters.
In 1934 Mary Scott – John Brown’s great-granddaughter – passed away and left Liberty Hall to her brother who sold it to a citizen’s group called Liberty Hall Inc. They opened it up as a museum in 1937.
Today Liberty Hall – as well as the adjacent Orlando Brown House that the Senator had built for his second son – are owned by the National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Kentucky. They are both open to the public as museums.
Paranormal Activity
The Grey Lady Ghost
The Grey Lady is Margaretta Varick, the wife of Senator John Brown, who stopped in Frankfort to see her niece on her way to see her son in Illinois. On the night of July 27, 1817, she became violently ill and was dead by morning. Her cause of death was never determined.
The first recorded sighting of the Grey Lady was in the 1880’s by Mary Mason Scott in an upstairs bedroom. The ghost appeared as a full body apparition of a tall lady veiled in grey; she would appear again for the next 2 nights.
Mary went from being frightened half to death to referring to the ghost as “our beloved ghost”.
The Grey Lady Ghost has been seen countless times since then. Many people believe – due mostly to the fact that no one has ever found her gravesite – that Margaretta was buried on the house property. That is the accepted theory as to why she continues to haunt Liberty Hall over 200 years after her death.
The ghost was photographed on the stairs in 1965; the photo can be seen on the Liberty House website.
These days she is most commonly seen looking out of the Palladian window – the window above the front entrance - or on the stairway.
A Spanish Opera singer is also said to have disappeared on the property and her apparition walks the property.
The final ghost on the property is that of a young soldier that has been seen looking into the ground floor windows.
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History
This house was built between 1847 and 1860 by Andrew Jackson Caldwell.
In 1860 Caldwell and his wife, Harriet, and their family moved into the house.
During the Civil War the house was used as a hospital for both Confederate and Union soldiers.
Confederate soldiers also hid in the house from Union troops from time to time.
Harriet continued to live in the house after her husband’s death in 1866.
In 1916 the house left the Caldwell family and was sold to a Nashville doctor.
In 2001 the Octagon Hall Foundation bought the house – it is one of only 2 octagon houses left in Kentucky – and turned it into a non-profit museum and paranormal attraction.
Paranormal Activity
Only Paranormal Teams with at least 1 year experience can book the overnight investigations. Novice teams will be booked on a novice ghost tour.
Many people consider this location one of the most haunted – if not flat out the most haunted – site in the South.
A Confederate spy called Jerome Clark has been contacted by mediums in the house.
A Confederate soldier who died in the attic still lingers there. He is said to be dragging his leg where he was shot by a Union soldier before escaping to the house and hiding in the attic. It took 3 days for the Union forces to move on and by that time the Caldwells discovered the man had died.
Mary Elizabeth Caldwell died in the basement when she was only 12 years old. She got to close to the kitchen fire and her dress ignited; she died a week later. Mary’s apparition is seen in the basement and throughout the house and grounds and she is known for lightly touching people she likes.
Mary is buried just outside of the home.
Numerous unexplained sounds have been heard and recorded in the house including disembodied voices, singing, sighs and breathing.
Other reported activity: apparitions of both Confederate and Union soldiers; objects moving on their own; doors opening and closing on their own; light anomalies and feelings of not being alone.
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History
The original wooden hotel was built here in the 1880’s but it burned down in 1909, although it is unclear if there were any fatalities related to this fire.
The brick building still standing was built on the same site and a thriving business when the town was a commercial hub due to it’s location near the railway.
As the 20th century went by the hotel became more and more run down. By the 1980’s – when it was closed down – it had become a haven for the lost and forgotten.
There were at least 3 suicides here, along with who knows how many other premature deaths, as prostitutes, drug dealers and runways became the main clientele.
It stood abandoned afterwards for a number of decades and was almost demolished on more than one occasion.
Sometime around 2015/2016 it was bought, and an attempt was made to turn it back into a fashionable hotel. There were retail businesses opened on the main floor but the hotel part was never remodeled; in part because of the frequency and intensity of paranormal activity.
The building now allows overnight investigations and is also used as a haunted house tourist attraction.
Paranormal Activity
This location was made famous by a 72 hour investigation done by the tv show Paranormal Lockdown.
It was also closed for a period of time due to the number of injuries suffered by investigators; including bites, scratches and bruises by unseen entities.
The majority of the furniture and decorations in the building date back to when it was an operational hotel. One dirty mattress with rust colored stains is said to be the very mattress a 19 year old girl slit her wrists – resulting in her death – on.
Reported Activity: multiple reports of apparitions both in the hallways and the rooms; many of the apparitions reported are not human and have been described as creatures; shadow figures; physical attacks on the living including bites and scratches; disembodied voices; cold and warm spots; time slips and dimensional slips; unexplained breezes; phantom screams and whispers; unexplained noises including loud bangs and things being dragged; empathic sensations of anger, fear and loss; light anomalies; touches, tugs and pulls by unseen entities; electrical disturbances; objects moving on their own and feelings of being watched, not being wanted and not being alone.
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History
In 1869 the State of Kentucky bought a parcel of land to build a home for troubled youths near the growing city of Louisville. It was named Lakeland after a path that led to the front gates.
In 1900 the institution became an asylum for the mentally ill; a 192 bed facility. As with every other asylum in the early to mid 20th Century this hospital began to grow but not fast enough to keep up with its growing population. By the 1940’s the facility had double the patients it was built for and the rumors of mistreatment, abuse and deaths were rampant. Treatments such as cold water therapy, electroshock therapy and lobotomies were commonplace and it seemed that every other day a patient had escaped.
Escapes was where the so-called sauerkraut cave came in; it got its name because for many years it was used to age sauerkraut in barrels. It is thought the cave underneath the hospital provided many a patient the means to get off of the hospital grounds. The cave connects with a large system of caves spread out under the city of Louisville.
There is also a story telling of pregnant female patients giving birth in the cave – women who were not pregnant when admitted to the hospital and needed to be hidden away. It is possible the babies who were born in the cave may have never left it and been buried there.
In the 1970’s – as was the story of all the large asylums or State Hospitals of that time – the number of patients began to dwindle resulting in decreased funding. With the invention of anti-psychotics and other drugs life time stays in these large institutions were coming to an end. In 1986 the hospital closed its doors forever.
The huge building with its massive, easily recognized, twin steeples lay abandoned for many years becoming more and more dilapidated. In 1996/97 the hospital was finally torn down completely. The cave below, though, stayed and was open to the public as late as 2017 – it is now closed and considered a public safety issue.
There is a fenced off hospital cemetery nearby with upwards of 5000 people buried in it.
Paranormal Activity
The ghost of a large man with a beard is commonly seen. He is unfriendly – to say the very least – and has been recorded saying he will not let any of the other spirits in the cave leave.
Apparitions of other former patients have been seen in the cave and on the grounds surrounding it; meaning the former hospital grounds. Apparitions of former staff are still seen walking the former grounds as well.
Other activity: unexplained mists; light anomalies; feelings of not being wanted, being watched and being followed; empathic feelings of intense sadness, terror and loneliness; disembodied voices; phantom footsteps; unexplained noises such as crying, laughing and loud bangs; electrical disturbances; shadow figures and touches, tugs and pulls from unseen presences.
There are many who swear this is the most haunted site in the State. Even more so than Louisville’s much more famous Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium.
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This former tuberculosis sanatorium is owned by Charles and Tina Mattingly and is open to the public for both historical and paranormal tours – including overnight investigations.
A reservation must be made through their website to book your tour or investigation though.
History
The land on which the old sanatorium building now stands was originally bought by Major Thomas H Hays in 1883. It was here that he built a home for his family but had one issue – there were no schools nearby for his daughters to go to.
His solution was to build his own one room school house and hire a teacher – Lizzie Lee Harris. Miss Harris so loved the works of Walter Scott Waverley that she named the school Waverley School. Major Hays loved the name so he named the property Waverley Hills.
In the early 20th Century the “White Plague” “Consumption” or it's real name Tuberculosis was ravaging the world and killing 50% of the people who contracted it. There was no cure and it was highly infectious through the air; all the makings of an apocalyptic level disease. The only solution was keep those infected away from the general population and so began the era of the sanatoriums.
The area around Louisville was easily prone to this disease as the wetlands around the Ohio River were perfect for the gestation of the tuberculosis bacteria. The original plans to combat this terrible disease were to build a two-story wooden building for administration and two open air pavilions to take care of 40 early symptomatic patients.
In 1911 Louisville decided to build a new hospital, but it was decided that advanced cases of tuberculosis would not be housed in the hospital; likely due to the risk of spread of the disease. To take care of these patients $25,000 was put forward to build a hospital for these specific cases.
Waverley Hill was chosen for this site and the new hospital was named Waverly Hills – it is unclear when the second e was dropped, for years both spellings were used.
On August 31, 1912, all tuberculosis patients were moved to tents on the site while the hospital was being constructed. In December of 1912 a hospital for advanced cases was opened. In 1914 a children’s pavilion was opened which cared for not only juvenile cases but also for the children whose adult parents were in the adult hospital; otherwise they would have had no where to go.
In order to keep up with the admissions and not turn anyone away construction was began in March of 1924 of the massive 5 story building that most well known now. It was opened on October 17, 1926 with a capacity of 400 patients and was a state of art facility.
In 1943 streptomycin was discovered; it was proven to kill the bacteria responsible for the disease. From that point on the war against tuberculosis was on its way to being won. The number of patients in the sanatorium began to steadily decline until it was closed in June 1961; all remaining patients were sent to a much smaller sanatorium in Louisville proper.
In 1962 the building was re-opened as the Woodhaven Geriatric Center. It was a nursing home specializing in cases of dementia and severely mentally handicapped patients. In 1982 it was closed down permanently by the State amid allegations of patient abuse.
In 1983 the property was bought by a developer for just over three million dollars in hopes of converting it to a minimum-security prison. This project fell apart when the neighbors complained.
It was then decided to convert the building into apartments but that also fell apart when the sale for part of the land never happened. That sale was to have provided the funds for the conversion.
In 1996 the property was bought again – this time the plans were built a giant statue of Jesus Christ rivaling the one in Rio in Brazil. The cost of the statue was four million dollars with a later conversion of the main building into a chapel and gift shop at eight million dollars plus. Despite going nationwide for donations only three thousand dollars was raised in the first year. By the end of 1997 this project had also been cancelled.
The property remained vacant until 2001 when it was purchased by the current owners. The Mattinglys have run the site as a paranormal attraction since then using the money to restore the building back to its glory days as a sanatorium.
At last report the building is being converted into a hotel and convention center but plans may have changed as there is no information about this on the website and tours and investigations can still be booked.
Paranormal Activity
This location is considered the most haunted location in the State of Kentucky and a contender for the most haunted place in the entire USA. It is one of the most famous paranormally active sites on the planet.
In the former kitchen there is an apparition of a man in a white coat – doctor or kitchen staff probably – who wanders throughout the area. The phantom smells of food cooking – especially bread – is also reported as well as phantom footsteps.
On the fifth floor there are two medium sized rooms which may have been used for housing the patients who were clinically insane. Between the two rooms were nurse’s stations once of which is the infamous Room 502 (see below).
This being the highest point of the building – aside from the roof – there are many reports of people jumping from here to their deaths. Apparitions have been seen here as well as shadows moving in the windows, a strong feeling that something is just not right and a voice telling people to “Get Out”.
In 1928 the 29 year old head nurse hung herself in Room 502. Reportedly, she was pregnant – possibly by a doctor; and unwed – a rather large no-no in the early 20th Century. Her apparition has been seen still hanging from the ceiling. In 1932 another nurse – who worked in room 502 – either fell or jumped off of the roof to her death. It is also thought possible that she was pushed off. Her phantom screams as she fell are reported here.
A tunnel down the hill from the hospital to the road was built to deal with the large amount of fatalities. The bodies were not tossed down the chute as some sites have reported rather there was a cart and pulley system installed. People have reported intense feelings of unease bordering on fear, not being alone and not being wanted as well phantom sounds of the cart moving up and down the tunnel.
This main purpose of this tunnel was to avoid the other patients seeing large numbers of dead bodies being removed from the building. This, obviously, would lower their morale and will to fight the disease.
The apparition of a an elderly woman is seen in the building – most commonly near the entrance – with her hands and feet chained and bleeding profusely. She pleads for help from anyone who sees her. She’s thought to be from the period when the building was a nursing home.
On the roof is the ghost of Timmy – although he has been seen and felt in other areas of the building – an 8 or 9 year old boy. He is fond of playing with balls and many visitors bring balls for him to play with. There are many reports of him rolling the ball back to people as well as his phantom laughter. He is, rarely, seen as a shadow.
The Creeper crawls through the shadows of the hallways of the old hospital. He (It) is thought to be either a non-human creature or a human ghost severely traumatized from the experience of death. People report feeling powerful feelings of dread when witnessing this creature.
Dopplegangers have been seen in the halls. They are exact replicas of you – sometimes they have black holes where your eyes should be – and are considered extremely bad luck to run into. Many people believe that running into your doppleganger is a foreshadowing of your death coming soon.
A female ghost is often seen peeking out of doorways or around corners at people. She has been photographed many times including one famous photo where she looks exactly like a former patient who passed away from tuberculosis.
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History
This cave system is formed in Limestone under a strongly resistant layer of Sandstone making it one of the most stable cave systems in the world. It is the longest known system of caves in the world at 400 miles (644 km) of underground tunnels thus far discovered.
It was first used by the Native Americans both as burial ground (mummified remains have been found in the caves) and for habitation (many artifacts from this period have been recovered in the caves). In 1797 the caves were first discovered by the European settlers by a member of the Houchin family apparently while hiding from a bear while they were hunting.
The caves were first used for the removal of their large amounts of saltpeter reserves which was needed in the production of gunpowder. This mineral was suddenly in short supply during the War Of 1812 when British ships blockaded American harbors and stopped the imports. The caves were also heavily mined for calcium nitrate in the early 19th Century.
In the mid-19th Century the caves began to be used as a tourist attraction with a display of Native American mummy found within. At this time the caves were owned by a wealthy landowner who had his African-American slaves give tours of the caves.
Stephen Bishop, a slave, became one of the most important figures in the history of the caves when he explored and mapped them further than anyone ever had before by climbing past the so-called "endless pit".
During this time the caves were also used as Tuberculosis Hospital when it was thought that the vapors naturally emitted by them would cure the disease; this hypothesis ultimately prove false (TB was not cured until the discovery of antibiotics in the mid-20th Century).
In the early 20th Century, a period began that is now known as the "Kentucky Cave Wars". During this time many entrances were dynamited open into the caves to allow other landowners access and means to charge admission - other surrounding cave systems were also opened in this time - as everyone scrambled to get their piece of the money pie.
It is also during this time that Floyd Collins (the cave's most famous guide and explorer) spent 10 years exploring and mapping the cave system penetrating deeper into them than anyone before. Mr Collins would eventually die while exploring Sand Cave when a boulder dislodged trapping him.
The rescue attempts to get Mr Collins would lead to further publicity for the caves and, in the end, start a movement to get the Federal Government involved in making sure the caves were protected for future generations.
The Federal Government would eventually buy everyone who owned the land the caves burrowed beneath; although some landowners who refused to sell and forced off their land by the government with very little in compensation.
In July, 1941 the National Park was officially opened and the dream came true to protect the caves for eternity.
In the early 1970's Patricia Crowther squeezed through a slight passage that had defeated the male explorers before her and began the first steps linking Mammoth and the Flint Ridge cave systems.
The National Park Service owns the caves to this day and conducts tours of the system daily. You can go on very short tours into the beginning caverns or take ones lasting many hours to penetrate deep into the system.
In 1981 Mammoth-Flint was recognized as a World Heritage Site and in 1990 an International Biosphere Preserve. It is also thought to be one of the most haunted cave systems in the world.
Paranormal Activity
The Mammoth-Flint Ridge cave system is known as the largest haunted area in the world.
The apparition of Floyd Collins has been seen multiple times since his death. He has even guided people out who had become lost in the caves.
The apparitions of Native Americans have also been reported many times by people in the caves.
Another well known ghost is that of Melissa, who is said to be very beautiful. She fell in love with her tutor and when he failed to reciprocate her feelings, she led him deep into the caves and abandoned him there. When she had a change of heart and went back to lead him out, she couldn't find him and not spends eternity still searching and attempting to undo her terrible crime.
The apparition of Stephen Bishop is also commonly seen in the caves (he sometimes appears with the ghosts of a woman and 2 children) and he often blows out the lanterns of people taking tours without artificial light.
When the population around the caves was forced to move Joppa Church was closed and it's cemetery was left abandoned. One of the graves there belongs to woman who once played the violin, now the phantom sounds of violin music is heard by those near her grave after dark. Inside the church objects sometimes move on their own and other objects have moved only to reappear in a completely different location. Misty white apparitions have been seen exiting the church and walking into the woods beyond. There is also the ghost of a man who is said to have hung himself from a tree nearby - he is said to frequently appear as a ball of orange light.
Other Activity: disembodied voices including whispers and laughter; shadow figures; light anomalies; mysterious mists; touches by invisible presences; feelings of being watched, unease and being followed and cold spots.
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History
None known.
Paranormal Activity
This location is only for experienced paranormal investigators; novices and beginners should seriously keep their distance. Even for experienced investigators it is advised that you stay in your car with the doors locked and the windows up – the experience will be intense enough even sealed up like this.
It is said that the easiest way to know that you have found this cemetery is the overwhelming empathic sense of sorrow you will feel – some people have reduced to uncontrollable sobbing.
The entities here are not friendly but they are more than happy to let visitors know just how unhappy they are.
A phantom dog is said to guard the cemetery and is usually seen limping or otherwise seeming to be injured. This is a ruse and is used to get people out of their cars and to approach it. If this ruse doesn’t work the dog, which is said to have burning yellow eyes, will keep pace with your car no matter the speed until you reach the fork in the road (see below) again. Witnesses who have approached the dog have been physically attacked.
The apparitions of Civil War soldiers still locked in battle have been seen here. Phantom faces have appeared right next to car windows coming out of mists that suddenly spring out of nowhere. Invisible forces have attacked the living resulting in bites, scratches and cuts. Unlocked car doors have been opened by invisible presences and there have been reports of attempts to pull people out of their cars. Cars have also suffered damage here including dents and scratches on the windows. Cars have also stalled here resulting in great difficulty in getting them started again.
The ghosts of loved ones who have passed away have been seen begging people to get out of their cars and follow them. This would seem to be dark entities with the ability to pull images out of people’s minds and project them. There are also reports of the trees being filled with dead men hanging from nooses.
Phantom noises echo through the area including screams, yells, cries and voices. Scenes of horrific car accidents have been played out for witnesses with the ghosts of the victims rising immediately and approaching the witness’s cars. Sudden and abrupt weather changes have been reported including pouring rain to clear skies or vice versa.
The things that call this cemetery home are very aggressive and it suggested that you show no fear and only come to this area fully protected and shielded. People who go unprepared have suffered crippling panic attacks, physical illness and terrible nightmares. It is said that everyone experiences something different here but very few leave untouched.
Directions (Legend says They Must Be Followed Precisely)
It is located off of Baker Church Road going toward Morganfield. You turn to the left off Baker Church Road on to Baker Hollow Road. There is one cemetery behind the church on the left.
After you pass this church there is a fork in the road, follow it to the left and this is where everything begins. However on a good night it begins when you first turn on the road. You have to go after dark but the best time to go is around or after midnight. This cemetery disappears and then reappears in different locations.
However it will not show itself when you drive down the road. You have to drive down to the end of the road and turn around and come back in order to see the cemetery. You will know when you are close to the cemetery because you will have an overwhelming feeling of sadness and may begin to cry for no apparent reason.
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History
In the 19th Century atop the hill where the hospital now stands was the Hayswood Seminary an all-girls school. In 1907 Mary Wilson bought the wooden building and donated it to the city for use as a hospital. The city named it Wilson Hospital.
In 1925 the old building was replaced with a 3-story brick one – a 4th story was added shortly thereafter. The hospital became the major medical institution for Mason County; and a large part of Ohio once a bridge was constructed in 1931.
In 1941 the US Navy even used the hospital to treat those suffering from psychological and emotional issues resulting from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
By the 1980’s the hospital was feeling its age and finding it hard to keep its medical equipment up to date. A nearby earthquake caused damage and there was no money for the non-profit hospital to repair the damage.
In 1981 the hospital was sold to Hospital Corporation of America but was finally permanently shut down in 1983. The medical services were taken over by a new clinic on the edge of town.
Many different owners tried to renovate the building into a residential structure but were defeated by the high financial cost of the conversion – especially the remediation of the asbestos – and they were forced to sell.
The building was up for sale again in June of 2021.
Paranormal Activity
Apparitions of former staff and patients were reported even when the hospital was operational. One man waking after surgery saw 2 nurses watching him before they vanished before his eyes.
A shadowy apparition is seen standing at a third-floor window eternally watching. Glowing lights are also seen in the windows after dark in the abandoned building.
A woman who died while giving birth is seen forever wandering through the maternity ward holding her baby. The pain and hopelessness etched into her face.
Disembodied voices are heard as well as babies crying and phantom screams and moans of those who died in pain. Phantom footsteps have been heard approaching people but no one can be seen.
People report the feeling of being watched from the empty windows as well as in the building.
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History
This hospital was built in the late 1940’s/early 1950’s and opened in 1952 with 31 beds for patients.
It was run by the County Government for 43 years – until 1993 - until it was sold to The Medical Center in Bowling Green. Three years after the purchase The Medical Center was moved to a new location and this building was abandoned.
The new owner ran the location as a haunted attraction during the Halloween season.
In 2019 it converted into low apartments for veterans.
Paranormal Activity
It is said more people died here than in any other place in the County; so many that proper records were not kept. A chilling statistic, for sure, but the fact that for a lot of years it was the only place people could go when they were injured, sick, dying or dead is the real cause for the large numbers.
For many of the years this hospital served as the County morgue – although calling it a morgue is overly optimistic as these were unrefrigerated rooms near the ER and Operating Theater. Bodies were kept here, often overnight, until they were transported to Louisville – for an autopsy – or to a funeral home.
The most famous ghost is that of Dr Meredith who is said to have become so fascinated with the patients in the mental ward to the point where he ignored his duties in the rest of the hospital. In the 1960’s it is said he was removed from his position by the State Medical Board but ended up dying of natural causes in the hospital in the mid-1970’s. Many believe his soul has been trapped in the building since.
While the hospital was still operational there were many reports of paranormal activity which was – somewhat jokingly – blamed on Dr Meredith. These included: people being locked in rooms; objects moving on their own or disappearing; doors slamming shut on their own; puddles of water mysteriously appearing; disembodied voices and crying; feelings of being watched and phantom sounds of babies crying in the maternity ward when no one was present.
Apparitions and shadow figures of both former staff and patients were still seen in the rooms, halls and looking out of the windows of the building it was abandoned. The ghost of a little girl in a flowered dress was the apparition seen most often.
While there haven’t been any reports yet since the building was converted to apartments the following activity was reported while the building was abandoned: light anomalies including unexplained bright flashes; disembodied voices and screams; mysterious mists; objects moving on their own including doors opening and closing on their own; feelings of being watched, not wanted, not being alone and unease; touches, tugs and pulls by unseen presences and phantom sounds of babies crying in the former maternity ward.
Testimonial By Cody
I have recently come to stay with a relative here. And since I've been here I am unable to sleep which I've never had a problem with .. extremely fatigued and such unbelievable anxiety that I thought I would go crazy. But as soon as I leave, even in a car ride it's as if I'm back to normal. Even before I knew the stories of the place, I would hear creaking and popping that usually can be attributed to an old building settling. It's a very similar sound to that but not exactly the same. I'm not one that usually believes in such things but after hearing the noises I decided to look the place up online just to check the buildings age. It's absolutely freezing in certain places..and not just cold but a different type of cold. The hallways have motion sensor lights so they are always dark unless someone walks through then turn off again immediately when they walk by it enter their apartment. Sometimes the lights come on for nothing. Sometimes I see water on the floor for no reason. I don't know, it doesn't feel bad or evil or whatever but yes, there is something definitely here.
HAVE YOU HAD A PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE AT THIS LOCATION?
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By <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/76792851@N07">Nicolas Henderson</a> from Coppell, Texas - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/texasbackroads/32673976421/">Bobby Mackey's, Wilder, KY</a>, CC BY 2.0, Link
History
Bobby Mackey’s Music World is a nightclub and honky tonk that is currently owned by country singer Bobby Mackey and located on 44 Licking Pike in Wilder, Kentucky. Situated about 8 miles (13 km) south of Cincinnati, and near the north-flowing Licking River and a railroad track, the building is self-proclaimed as “the most haunted nightclub in the USA.
Apparently, a small satanic group made up of local residents gathered at the empty building, managing to practice their rituals in secret. However, they were exposed in 1896 during one of the most spectacular murder trials ever held in northeast Kentucky. It was so large that tickets were sold to the hearing and more than 5,000 people stood outside the Newport, Kentucky courthouse for information about what was taking place inside. The trial, and the murder that spawned it, has become an integral part of Bobby Mackey’s haunted history.
Pearl Bryan, an attractive young woman, was the daughter of a wealthy farmer. She and her family lived in Greencastle, Indiana in 1896. She was the youngest of 12 children from a prominent family and by the age of 22, was one of the most popular girls in the area. She had graduated from Greencastle High School in 1892 and had more than her share of suitors.
Unknown to her friends and the polite members of Greencastle society, Pearl was pregnant. Her cousin and close friend, William Wood, had recently introduced her to Scott Jackson, who was then attending the Ohio College of Dental Surgery in Cincinnati. He and Wood - who was then attending medical school at DePauw University - became close friends.
Unbeknown to Wood, Jackson was an alleged member of the occult group that met in the former slaughterhouse in Wilder. Jackson’s family was as well-to-do as the Bryan’s and so he was immediately accepted as a suitor for Pearl. He soon seduced her however and she became pregnant. Pearl turned to Wood, who in turn, informed Jackson of the problem. He made arrangements to remedy the situation with an abortion in Cincinnati.
Pearl left her parent’s home on February 1, 1896 and told them that she was going to Indianapolis. Instead, she made plans to meet with Jackson and his roommate, Alonzo Walling, in Cincinnati. It would be the last time that her parents would ever see her alive. She was, at that time, five months pregnant.
Jackson’s medical skills were apparently much inept than he had led his friend William Wood to believe. He first tried to induce an abortion using chemicals, apparently cocaine. This substance was later discovered in Pearl’s system during an autopsy. After that, he tried to use dental tools, but botched that as well. After an hour or so, Pearl was frightened; injured and bleeding and that’s when the story gets even darker turn.
The three of them left Cincinnati and traveled across the Ohio River and into Kentucky. Jackson took them to a secluded spot near Fort Thomas and here, he and Walling murdered Pearl Bryan. Using dental instruments, they severed her head from her body. It was a “clean cut”, according to the testimony of the doctor who later examined the body. He also determined that Pearl had been alive at the time because of the presence of blood on the underside of some leaves at the murder scene.
Pearl’s body was found about two hundred feet off the Alexandria Turnpike and less than two miles from the abandoned slaughterhouse. As her head was nowhere to be found, Pearl was identified by her shoes. They bore the imprint of Louis and Hays, a Greencastle shoe company that was able to confirm that they had been sold to Pearl Bryan.
During the trial that followed, Walling testified that it had been Jackson’s idea to cut Pearl up and distribute her body in the Cincinnati sewers. Only the head was taken, for which Jackson apparently had other uses. Pearl’s luxurious blond hair was later found in a valise in Jackson’s room.
Legend has it that Pearl’s head was used during a satanic ritual at the slaughterhouse. It was then dumped into the well of blood and was lost. Jackson and Walling were brought to trial in 1897 and were quickly found guilty and sentenced to death.
William Wood was later arrested and charged as an accomplice. Charges against him would be dropped when he agreed to testify against the other two men. According to reports, Jackson and Walling were both offered life sentences instead of execution if they would reveal the location of Pearl’s head. Both men refused.
They went to the gallows behind the courthouse in Newport on March 21, 1897. It was the last public hanging in Campbell County.
The stories spread that Jackson and Walling were afraid of suffering “Satan’s wrath” if they revealed the location of Pearl’s head. The slaughterhouse was then a closely guarded secret and other occultists would have been exposed if the two men had talked.
One reporter commented later that Walling, as the noose was being slipped over his head, threatened to come back and haunt the area after his death. The writer also stated a few days later, in an article in the Kentucky Post newspaper that an “evil eye” had fallen on many of the people connected to the Pearl Bryan case. Legend has it that many of the police officials and attorneys involved in the case later met with bad luck and tragic ends.
After the trial ended, the slaughterhouse fell silent and remained empty for many years. It was eventually torn down and a roadhouse was constructed on the site. During the 1920’s, the place became known as a speakeasy and as a popular gambling joint.
Local lore has it that during this period, a number of murders took place in the building. None of them were ever solved because the bodies were normally dumped elsewhere to keep attention away from the illegal gambling and liquor operation.
After Prohibition ended in 1933, the building was purchased by E.A. Brady, better known to friends and enemies alike as “Buck”. Brady turned the building in a thriving tavern and casino called the Primrose. He enjoyed success for a number of years but eventually the operation came to the attention of syndicate mobsters in Cincinnati.
They moved in on Brady, looking for a piece of the action. Brady refused offers for new “partners” and outright bids to buy him out of the Primrose. Soon, the tavern was being vandalized and customers were being threatened and beaten up in the parking lot. The violence escalated until Brady became involved in a shooting in August 1946.
He was charged and then released in the attempted murder of small-time hood Albert “Red” Masterson. This was the last straw for Buck and he sold out to the gangsters. It was said that when he left, he swore the place would never thrive again as a casino. Brady committed suicide in September 1965.
After Brady sold out, the building re-opened as another nightclub called the Latin Quarter. Several times during the early 1950’s, the new owners of the bar were arrested on gambling charges. In 1955, Campbell County deputies broke into the building with sledge hammers and confiscated slot machines and gambling tables. Apparently, Brady’s promises had come to pass.
It was also during this period that the legends of the building gained another vengeful ghost. According to the stories, the owner of the club’s daughter, Johanna, fell in love with one of the singers who was performing here and became pregnant.
Her father was furious and thanks to his criminal connections, he had the singer killed. Johanna became so distraught that she attempted to poison her father and then succeeded in taking her own life. Her body was later discovered in the now infamous basement and according to the autopsy report, she was five months pregnant just like Pearl Bryan.
Bad luck continued to plague the owners of the tavern. In the 1970’s, it became known as the Hard Rock Cafe, but it was closed down by authorities in 1978 because of some fatal shootings on the premises.
Paranormal Activity
Carl Lawson was the first employee hired by Bobby Mackey. He was a loner who worked as a caretaker and handyman at the tavern. He lived alone in an apartment in the upstairs of the building and spent a lot of time in the sprawling building after hours.
When he began reporting that he was seeing and hearing bizarre things in the club, people around town first assumed that he was simply crazy. Eventually, when others started to see and hear the same things, Lawson didn’t seem so strange after all.
“I’d double check at the end of the night and make sure that everything was turned off. Then I’d come back down hours later and the bar lights would be on. The front doors would be unlocked, when I knew that I’d locked them. The jukebox would be playing the ‘Anniversary Waltz’ even though I’d unplugged it and the power was turned off,” Lawson told author Doug Hensley, who has written extensively about the haunted tavern.
The first ghost that Lawson spotted in the place was that of a dark, very angry man that he saw behind the bar. Even though others were present at the time of the sighting, they saw nothing.
A short time later, Lawson began to experience visions of a spirit who called herself “Johanna”. She would often speak to Lawson and he was able to answer her and carry-on conversations. The rumors quickly started that Lawson was “talking to himself”. Lawson claimed that Johanna was a tangible presence though, often leaving the scent of roses in her wake.
Odd sounds and noises often accompanied the sightings and Lawson soon realized that the spirits seemed to be the strongest in the basement, near an old-sealed up well that had been left from the days when there was a slaughterhouse at the location.
The lore of the area, Carl knew, stated that the well had once been used for satanic rituals. Some of the local folks referred to it as “Hell’s Gate”. Although he wasn’t a particularly religious man, Lawson decided to sprinkle some holy water on the old well one night, thinking that it might bring some relief from the spirits. Instead, it seemed to provoke them and the activity in the building began to escalate.
Other employees and patrons of the place began to have their own weird experiences. They began to tell of objects that moved around on their own, lights that turned on an off, disembodied voices and laughter and more.
Janet Mackey also experienced the strange activity. She had seen the ghosts, had felt the overwhelming presences and had even smelled Johanna’s signature rose scent. She also had a very frightening encounter in the basement. While she was there, she was suddenly overcome by the scent of roses and felt something unseen swirl around her.
“Something grabbed me by the waist,” Janet later recalled. “It picked me up and threw me back down. I got away from it, and when I got to the top of the stairs there was pressure behind me, pushing me down the steps. I looked back up and a voice was screaming ’Get Out! Get Out!’” At the time of this terrifying encounter, Janet was, like Johanna and Pearl Bryan before her, five months pregnant.
Once Janet admitted that she had seen the ghosts in the building, other people began to come forward. Roger Heath, who often worked odd jobs in the club, remembered a summer morning when he and Carl Lawson were working alone in the building. Heath was removing some light fixtures from the dance floor and Lawson was carrying them down to the basement. Just before lunch, Lawson came up the stairs and Heath noticed that he had small hand prints on the back of his shirt. It looked just like a woman had been hugging him!
Erin Fey, a hostess at the club, also confessed to encountering Johanna. She had laughed one day at Lawson when he was talking to the ghost. She stopped laughing when she also got a strong whiff of the rose perfume.
Independent witnesses provided matching descriptions of the phantom, never knowing that she had been seen by others. Looking into the historic records to explain building’s past, events of the past were closely connected to the hauntings of the present.
In old newspaper accounts, the story of Pearl Bryan and photos of Buck Brady that matched the description of an often seen ghost. None of the witnesses to the present-day paranormal activity were even vaguely aware of who these people had been or what connections they had to the building.