Hauntings: Pennhurst Asylum

(Lexa's Note:  This post is long because 

the true history behind the facility is so shocking.)

 

 

Pennhurst Asylum (Pennsylvania)

In 1908, the “Eastern Pennsylvania State Institution for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic” was built.  It contained many buildings and was capable of housing as many as 10,000 patients, medical staff, and employees.  Pennhurst's patients were committed by court order or brought by a parent or guardian for things like: vices of constitution and habit, feeble-minded disorders, blindness, defective sight or hearing, muteness or imperfect speech, paralysis, epilepsy, imperfect gait, deformity of face, head, limbs and/or feet, microcephalic or hydrocephalic head, and offensive habits.

In 1913, the Commission for the Care of the Feeble-Minded labeled the disabled “unfit for citizenship” and said they posed a "menace to the peace.” The Commission decided they should be locked up permanently, so their genes would not be intermixed with those of the general population.

The Real Life Horror Story

Pennhurst patients (both adults and children) were tied to beds, their bedding was rarely changed, they wandered in various states of undress, and some were imprisoned in solitary confinement for bad behavior or forced to take tranquilizers to stay docile.  Some patients were strapped to wheelchairs by straightjackets.  Most toilet areas didn’t have toilet paper, soap, or towels.  Patients beat and severely injured one another.  Rapes were common.  Staff members hit and beat patients.  After being committed, some mentally challenged patients lost the ability to walk, talk, or control their bowels.  There were also allegations of forced sterilization.

In 1968, conditions at Pennhurst were exposed in a television news report by CBS correspondent Bill Baldini called “Suffer the Little Children.” The documentary revealed much abuse and neglect. It included a doctor describing how he dealt with a bully who’d beaten another patient by figuring out which injection would cause the most pain to the bully without permanently injuring him, and then administering it.

Pennhurst remained open.

In 1977, a class action suit was brought by patients and heard by a U.S. district judge, who ruled that the conditions at the institution violated patients' constitutional rights.

Pennhurst remained open.

In 1983, nine employees were indicted on charges ranging from slapping and beating patients (including some in wheelchairs) to arranging for patients to assault each other.

Pennhurst remained open.

After many appeals and legal fights, Pennhurst was finally closed in 1986. Its buildings were abandoned, left just as they were, with patients’ clothes and belongings strewn about, and furniture, cabinets, and medical equipment, some dating as far back as the 1930s, were left to decay. 

The Ghosts of Pennhust

Since Pennhurst closed, visitors to the property have reported seeing shadows moving along corridors or scurrying away from the light, objects have been thrown through the air, and doors opened and closed by themselves.  People have heard shouts, crying, and screaming.  They've been touched, scratched, and shoved or felt an icy wind in areas that are sealed.  Many visitors experience such an overwhelming feeling of despair inside the buildings, they can't remain inside them for longer than a few minutes.

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Hauntings: Orphanage at Gettysburg

Orphanage at Gettysburg (Pennsylvania)

After the Civil War, many orphanages were opened around the country to take care of children whose parents died in the war.  One opened in Gettysburg and was run for many years by  Phelinda Humiston.  When she retired, she left the children in the care of a woman named Rosa Carmichael.  However, Rosa was a merciless sadist who beat the children, imprisoned them in the basement for days, and even killed some of them.

One young girl escaped and told others of her experiences at the orphanage, which included being beaten by teenage boys, who Rosa armed with sticks, and being tied to a fence in the hot sun until she suffered serious burns.  When the house searched, it was found to be full of torture devices, and the basement had been converted into a dungeon where children were shackled to the walls and left to starve.

Today, the house is the Soldiers National Museum, but the dungeon was kept as it was in the 1870s -- the shackles can still be seen in the basement and many of the other artifacts from Rosa Carmichael's time there are on display.

Visitors have reported hearing children crying or moaning and feeling invisible little hands tugging on their clothes.  Photos come out with strange white streaks on them, and sound recordings with e.v.p.s (electronic voice phenomena) have been made.

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Hauntings: Fort Mifflin

Fort Mifflin (Pennsylvania)

The British built Fort Mifflin south of Philadelphia in 1772 to defend against naval attacks from the Delaware River.  But in 1777 during the American Revolution, the British destroyed it with a barrage of cannonballs estimated at a thousand rounds every twenty minutes.  Nearly three quarters of the garrison stationed there were killed.  The fort was rebuilt twenty years later and used in the War of 1812 and then made into a prison during the Civil War.  

The fort’s now a tourist attraction featuring guides in historical dress and war reenactments.  However, the actors aren’t the only ones attracting tourists.  Many come to see the ghosts!

The Lamplighter's Ghost appears on the second-floor balcony of the barracks, carrying a long pole with a dimly flickering light on the end.

The casements, which were probably the most heavily bombarded area during the British attack of 1777, are the site of too many ghost sightings to number.  The visions are mostly pale outlines, but one of the apparitions is visible enough for people to see he’s missing his face!  The Faceless Man is supposed to be the ghost of William Howe, a war criminal held in the cells during the Civil War for killing his superior and desertion of duty in wartime.  He was hanged with a black bag over his face as the mark of shame for being a deserter.  People report seeing his ghost in Civil War clothing, but with no face.

The Screaming Lady is never seen, but her wails are heard in the old officer’s quarters.  She's supposed to be Elizabeth Pratt, an 18th century neighbor of the fort whose daughter had an affair with an officer.  After Elizabeth renounced her and threw her out, the girl died from dysentery. Consumed with guilt at her loss, Elizabeth killed herself.  Her crying isn't the only spectral sound at the Fort.  Near the blacksmith shop, the rhythmic pounding of hammer against anvil often rings out but disappears when people come by and peer in.

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Hauntings: Eastern State Penitentiary

Eastern State Penitentiary (Pennsylvania)

The Eastern State Penitentiary is a former prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania built by the Quakers in 1829.  It broke with traditional prisons of the time because it was very expensive to construct, had an innovative wagon wheel design, and emphasized keeping prisoners isolated so they could “pay penance" for their sins -- which gave birth to the word "penitentiary." 

The facility was originally designed to hold 250 inmates in solitary confinement.  At the height of its use, however, the prison population rose as high as 1,700 prisoners.

The prison's most famous inmate was Al Capone, jailed on illegal weapons possession in 1929.  During his stay, it's said that Capone was tormented by the ghost of James Clark, one of the men Capone had murdered in the infamous St. Valentine's Day massacre.

Other reported hauntings include:
~  A shadow-like figure that scoots quickly away when approached.
~  A figure that stands in the guard tower.
~  In Cell Block 6, shadowy forms have been seen sliding down the walls.
~  Mysterious, ghostly faces are reported to appear in Cell Block 4.
~  In Cell Block 12, spectral figures have been seen, slinking from cell to cell as if trying to not be detected, and laughter, whispers, and evil cackling have been heard.
~  Although no executions were ever carried out at Eastern State Penitentiary, prisoners spent time on “death row” until they were transferred to another prison to be executed.  Over the years, shadow figures have been seen in this area and people have heard crying and weeping.

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