A couple of weeks ago, my ghost group, HGWI, trekked down to have a paranormal investigation at Taylor Memorial Hospital. When we arrived in the small town, the old sprawling building just sprung up out of nowhere. When we set everything up, we toured the building and listened to some history. After sunset, we initiated our investigation.
The town really prized this hospital when it was built in the 1930's, and you could see the craftsmanship put in to it. There were high ceilings, long hallways, and remnants of marble floors in some areas. It fell in disrepair after the hospital relocated to more modern facilities in the 1970's. There was a man, they say, who acquired a large sum of money to renovate the old building, but he abandoned the project (they say because of the amount of paranormal activity he had witnessed). A nonprofit group called People Helping People United now owns the place, collecting money by hosting investigations in order to restore the building, which they hope will house facilities to help families in need.
Some of the activity that was described to us included objects moving, or flying rather, as if they had been picked up and dropped, or even thrown. They also report a considerable amount of shadow activity. With this in mind, we looked forward to seeing what we could find. Even though we had this information, we tried to be as objective as possible.
After we split into two groups, we investigated the entire building until the sun rose. One thing that remains in my head is the expansiveness and interesting rooms. There was an old elevator shaft now filled with water that contributed to the eeriness. However, despite the ominous look of the building, it was not very active. There were a couple of interesting things that happened though. One of these occurred when we all walked down to the basement for the first time. Just past the stairs, there was a large piece of wood propped against two open doors, blocking off the rest of the basement. The women who showed us around told us that this was not the case earlier, and that they had no idea who would have put it there. There were a couple of times where we heard some knocking, but it was most likely mundane. And although this last bit is not paranormal , I thought I'd share something interesting. Some of our group members found a piece of newspaper from the 1930's stuck to the ceiling. We read it, and at the bottom, the newspaper had a story saying, "Amelia Prepares for Oversea Voyage." It was Amelia Earhart, and that voyage would be her last... Overall, I had no ill feelings about the place, especially towards the end. I honestly could have slept by myself in the building with no trouble. Even though the activity was lacking, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and expect to go back eventually.
If you want to check out some pictures, I've copied a couple from the website:
It's very nice to read about your investigations. The hospital seems like a beautiful building by your description. I hope that they will be able to raise the money to restore it and use it for their purpose.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed the post! It was absolutely beautiful, ans I hope so too.
DeleteThat bit about the newspaper was eerie, but an old elevator shaft filled with water would probably give me nightmares :)
ReplyDeleteWhat's more is that everything is done in almost complete darkness. We turn all the flashlights off during EVP sessions.
DeleteYou sure do have an exciting and interesting pastime!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I get visited by paranormal researchers who ask permission to investigate one of the cemeteries here. Unfortunately, the organization is adamant in their stance that they want no such investigations taking place here. I know that cemeteries are not supposed to be all that active, but there is a lot of history here and I even had an interesting encounter one night. It's too bad they won't allow it. I don't know what they're afraid of.
I can sympathize with the owners of the cemetery. When it's dark, it may be easy to accidentally damage fragile headstones. Also, there are many groups who aren't so reputable and may yell, provoke, and condone the use of ouija boards. At the same time, the organization could easily interview the groups beforehand. I hope they allow it! Some cemeteries can be very active depending on what happened there and whether or not the spirit's still attached to his/her body. There's a civil war era cemetery in my hometown that is reported to be very haunted. I've had experiences there myself.
Delete