Part 2 Harriman TN: The Investigation

This is Part 2 of our blog about Harriman Hospital in Harriman TN. For the history of the hospital/town please look back at Part 1.

We arrived in Harriman a few hours before the investigation in order to walk around the building and take some photos outside. While there had already been several investigations at Harriman Hospital this day was the official Grand Opening. We knew being a public investigation we would have little control over when and where we investigated so we did not go into the investigation with plans, rather we saw it as an exciting opportunity to get in to a new location, to scout for when we do eventually return for a private investigation, and also meet the special guests Richard Estep and J. B. Coates. 

The event was well organized starting with an introduction and history of the building, moving on to the always appreciated pizza, and finally the investigation. Meg and I were in the red group (there were four groups which would rotate through the four different designated locations). Volunteers brought each group to their location while other volunteers were specifically assigned to the location to help facilitate investigating. I will say that part of what I like most about public investigations is having people of all different skill/knowledge levels. Some people had their own equipment and others were along for the ride looking to learn about investigating.

As stated above since this was public Meg and I didn't have any specific plans. For the rest of the post I will share some links to short videos I uploaded on TikTok of Evps and notable interactions. At the end will be several Youtube videos with video from the night including an angry spirit turning off Meg's camera, me being pushed, and a fantastic Estes Method Communication with a child spirit named April.

Our first stop was in the A3 Hall:

As we were walking in the hall we recorded an evp that sounds like a child's voice saying "Hear Me."

"Hear Me" EVP

Once we reached the hall our group broke off exploring down the main hall and nurse station as well as a second hall. Most of our investigating was at the nurse station because  it is believed a nurse named Joanna haunts that location. Joanna worked for years at the hospital and sadly passed away of a heart related ailment at the hospital. After her passing her fellow coworkers would remark that they felt her presence still.  Furthermore just days earlier a video was shared from that nurse station of a dark shadow figure moving in and out of the camera's view. 

Several in the group thought they saw shadows moving but we did not  record any shadow figures however when teasing that someone was sitting in Joanna's chair we recorded an EVP.

"Get Out" EVP

Meg also at one point used her experience of being in the hospital to take a moment to thank Joanna, and any other staff who still remain. 

"Me too" EVP

The second location we went to we also got to investigate with special guest J. B. Coates. While sitting outside the morgue of the hospital we conducted an Estes Method session using the Spiritus App. While one member of the group sat in the morgue isolated the rest of us were in the hall outside of radiology.  Earlier in the session a spirit had said to stop filming. At the time I turned off one video camera but Meg still had her body camera and I eventually turned my video camera back on.... then this happened.

"Beep" Spiritus Estes Method

Our third location was outside the recovery room where Billy and Tonya from the Nightstalkers were waiting to help guide the interactions. 

At first we sat in the hall listening to the building before breaking off in to the recovery room to use our SBox. Meg put on her headphones and closed her eyes as she listened to the box and I stood by the desk. As I was standing against the desk I felt a push on my right shoulder and moved forward a little. I asked if someone was with us and Meg responded "hopefully" and then "I can see you." Here is a short clip and the full exchange will be below in the youtube video.

Pushed from behind

The fourth location was split between the operating rooms and a hall said to be haunted by a child spirit named April. There Terry, Chris, and Steven from Mid-Tenn Paranormal were waiting.  We began in April's hall with an S-Box session where Meg took the headphones and blindfolded herself as well. This is just a moment of the exchange the whole session will be in the youtube videos and is definitely worth the watch!

Accurate answer from April

I tried to upload one video to youtube but my computer is not cooperating so it will be four separate videos.

Video 1: This is part one of our Estes Method communication with April.

Video 2: You guessed it- part two with April.

Video 3: Part three with April and some really fantastic interactions.

Video 4: This video is a compilation of our different experiences in Harriman Hospital and includes some evps, Meg's camera being shut off, and me being pushed in the recovery room.

Thank you for watching please like and subscribe we are on facebook, twitter, tiktok,  instagram, and youtube.

Harriman TN: Washed in Water and Forged by Fire

With each paranormal investigation we try and do at least some historical research to understand the location and area. So once I bought two tickets to a public investigation at Harriman Hospital in Harriman, TN we began researching not just the building but the whole area.

Harriman is located in Roane County in East Tennessee. 

TN became a state on June 1st, 1796 and five years later in 1801 Roane County was formed. The area's main geographical features are the meeting of the Tennessee, Clinch, and Emory Rivers into Watts Bar Lake and it sits on the boundary between the Tennessee Valley and the Cumberland Plateau.

The American Civil War has been characterized as neighbor versus neighbor and that was keenly felt in East Tennessee. On June 7th, 1861 future President Andrew Johnson spoke against secession on the steps of the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston, TN. The next day the county voted on the manner and voted 1,568 to 454 in favor of remaining in the Union. Unfortunately the statewide vote finished at 102,172 - 47,328 in favor of secession. East Tennessee was out-voted and the state joined the Confederacy. On a side note if you ever get the chance to visit the Civil War Battlefield in Vicksburg there is a fantastic statue representing Kentucky click here for my blog from that trip. 

Robert King Byrd was a local farmer, experienced military man, pioneer, trader, and political figure. He was the son of Joseph Byrd  who had served as Roane County Sheriff and had assisted in the 1836 forced removal of the Cherokee Nation from the area. Robert was against secession because he believed the Union should stand. However he also owned slaves but when faced with a choice between the two he would rather preserve the Union. Of his eight brothers four would serve in the Union army while two joined the Confederacy. Byrd had made a name for himself during the Mexican War and faced with a threat to the Union he founded the 1st Tennessee Infantry and lead almost 2,000 men for the Union from 1861-1864, which included the majority of the adult male population of Roane County. His troops and leadership played major roles in several battles including Mills Springs, Cumberland Gap, Sander's Raid on Knoxville, Stone River, and the Battle of Atlanta. Under Sherman in Atlanta his troops were the first to cross the Chattahoochee six miles upstream of Pace's Ferry. At Cumberland Gap he was shot in the left side below his heart but returned to his command four weeks later. At Stone River his horse was shot from under him and his clothes had bullet holes but he was unharmed and commended on his bravery by two generals. 

In 1864 he returned home to Roane County and his wife Mary. During the war she had also left home after a warrant for her arrest was issued by the Confederates as a "dangerous enemy of the South." Oliver Perry Temple, an attorney and organizer of East Tennessee Unionist as well as co-founder of Rugby TN, described Mary by saying "[n]o one could look into her piercing eyes without recognizing that there was within her frail form an unconquerable will and a dauntless spirit." Robert would live in the area and spend his days trying to preserve and repair the damage done to the Union until his death in 1885. Due, in part, to his work Tennessee was the first Confederate State to rejoin the Union on July 24th, 1866. In his own words "I went into war to save my country from the foolishness of my friends... We saved the country. Now, in the name of God, let us preserve our liberty." 

The Byrd property was split by the Emory River. On one side was Robert and Mary's home. On the south side was their coal mine which was said to be the best coal in the Cumberland Plateau. Not only was the land rich with coal but it also was full of limestone. In 1889, four years after Robert passed away, Captain J.W. Ayers representing the East Tennessee Land Company purchased the property from Mary. She would stay in the area and passed away in 1902. Mary is buried in Bethel Cemetery in Kingston, Tennessee and was mentioned in the "Statement of Significance" section on the cemetery's application to be listed on the National Register Of Historical Places.

The goal of the East Tennessee Land Company, directed by Walter Harriman, was to build a planned city grounded in the Temperance Movement, a social movement against the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The other primary founders of the town were  Minister Frederick Gates, Isaac Funk, AW Wagnalls, Clinton Fisk, and Ferdinand Schumacker. Gates thought the ideals of Temperance would guide the residents and businesses into prosperity. They planned the layout of the town putting the industrial area along the river for easy transport and continuing out with residential, business, and downtown areas. Walter Harriman was from the North East as were most of the founders but the location was selected due to Harriman's father. He had marched through East Tennessee during the Civil War and returned to tell his son about a spot along the Emory River that seemed perfect for a settlement. 

In February of 1890 from the porch of the Byrd home a land sale was held for the 10,000 acres that would become Harriman. Over 3,000 men from 18 states  came to the auction J. C Woodward of Lexington, Kentucky, was the first purchaser securing his plat at $70 a front foot. On the third day of the sale John C. Snow of Brockton, Massachusetts, purchased land for $275 a front foot and within thirty minutes was offered $300 a foot but declined. By the end of the land sale 573 lots had been purchased for $604,705.  Every resident and business that purchased land or operated a business signed an agreement that they would not partake, serve, or sell alcohol. Harriman would be called "The Town That Temperance Built."

The downtown area was planned as the heart of the city. At the corner of Cumberland and Devonia street a private company planned to build a state of the art hotel. Architect Rudolph Gill was commissioned to design the property. When the private company fell into bankruptcy the East Tennessee Land Company took over the property and building of the hotel.  The hotel could accommodate up to 150 people and featured steam heat and "the best table in the entire region."

The first two years of Harriman saw a growing thriving city with 4,000 residents and numerous industries. In a booklet published to commemorate the town's two year anniversary a poem entitled "Our Harriman" showed off the town's pride:

Our Harriman

Lift up your voice in glad acclaim,
O ye who gather here to-day.
And echo every heart the name
To which we loving tribute pay.

O Harriman, dear Harriman!
May peace be thine, forever thine!
Brave hearts, and true, in love thy ways defend,
While heaven's blessings on thy homes descend.

Here field and forest waited long

The music of the hammer's ring,

The thrill of Labor's cheerful song.

And bounty that the years might bring.

O Harriman, dear Harriman!

Thy mountain look with pride on thee;

Hope, faith and courage here have builded well, 

Long may their faith and works thy people tell!

Here loyal hearts and willing hands

Have lifted high their banners brave, 

And heeding Love's divine commands

Have sought the tempted soul to save.

O Harriman, young Harriman,

Grow strong and bold through all the years,

As if within thy pulses run

The blood of thine own pioneers.

O Harriman, our Harriman!

The skies above in blessings bend;

Heav'n hear thy prayer for thee that each heart lifts,

And fill thy future with its choicest gifts.

However in November of 1893 the East Tennessee Land Company declared bankruptcy.  Many returned to their home states but others choose to stay and make Harriman their home. In 1918 Harriman faced one of many challenges that would visit the town over the next century. The Influenza Outbreak of 1918 effected Tennessee very severely. One town in neighboring Morgan County, Coalfield, saw 98% of residents infected with the disease. In Harriman the city's two funeral homes did not have the ability to keep up with calls and issued a printed apology to the residents. 

 I do not know the local numbers but in total in Tennessee alone 7,721 lost their lives due to the fast spreading illness. 

In 1921 the Cumberland Hotel was destroyed by fire, the first of several fires that would plague the town.

Then on March 23, 1929, Harriman faced its greatest natural disaster. After a particularly rainy February a strong storm traveling from the Gulf northeast dropped nine inches of rain in the span of 24 hours. At noon on 3/22 the Emory river was 35 feet below its top bank. As the rain fell it began to rise reaching a rate of nine feet per hour. Harriman's idyllic spot in the bend of the Emory helped with transportation for industry. It also set it up for disaster when the water ran over its banks. As quickly as the flood waters came they then receded and by 10:30 pm on the 23 the Emory was within its bank. The rushing waters made recovery difficult and of the 20 lives lost only 10 bodies were found. In total fifty homes were washed away and over 3.5 million dollars of damage was left behind. However beyond the physical damage of the flood waters was the emotional damage and toll it took on the residents. Every resident of Harriman. 

One of the worst stories of the flood was the story of Boy Scout Troop 45 that lost seven members and their Scout leader during the flood. 

James Tarwater Wright had been trying to bring the troop out for a camping trip but the rainy month had postponed most his plans. When the day came for the planned camping trip to a cabin near Whites Creek he did not want to cancel. After a day of activities Dick Gilbreath brought two of the boys home. The rest and their troop leader set up for the night. Whites Creek is normally 70 feet wide. As the water rose it spread to 600 feet and the cabin was surrounded. James had the boys climb to the roof for safety. The boys who survived noted how their Scoutmaster joked and kept them calm. At first it seemed they would be able to wait out the storm on the roof. However a railroad bridge among several others upstream had been knocked loose and along with other debris began being carried by the current.  The cabin was hit and broke into pieces. Some of the boys were able to grab branches and climb into trees for safety but others were thrown from the roof. James Tarwater Wright dove in after his boys and despite being a strong swimmer he was killed by the flood waters. There are some accounts of people being pulled to safety by him however he was not able to find any of the boys who had been thrown off the cabin. In total seven of the boys were killed that night.

Tom Douglas was the youngest member of the Troop and in 1978 gave an account of the night and following day. He described James keeping the boys calm and then diving in after the cabin had been broken. He also told how his brother, Willie, and another boy pulled him from the water and his brother moved him from tree to tree to keep him safe. Willie pulled others from the water and would eventually be awarded a gold medal form the Boy Scouts of America for his actions during the flood. The story of the Scouts made newspapers across the State and when visiting Harriman at any mention of the flood of 1929 it will not take long for someone to add "that is the flood with the Boy Scout Troop."

A monument was erected by local Boy Scout Troops from Harriman and Rockwood in honor of the lost boys and James Wright.

Today along the Emory River is a small water front park called David Webb River Front Park. In the park there is a bench in honor of another hero from the flood. Robert Underwood woke up to flooding near and around his home. He quickly loaded his family into a coal cart and moved them to safety. No one would have given it a second thought if he had remained with his family during that day. But he did not. Instead he returned to the rising waters with his cart and began helping others to safety. Eventually he was in the process of rescuing the Jenkins family when his cart overturned. One child, Felix Jenkins, would survive the accident however Robert and the rest of the family were killed. According to the information on the bench he is credited with saving the lives of 75 families.

Since its founding it is not just flooding which the people of Harriman have had to contend with. Fire has also struck several times. Not only was the Cumberland destroyed by fire in 1921 but the business district has been damaged multiple times. The art deco Princess Theater opened in 1926 and in 1932 it was damaged by fire from a faulty projector and then on January 25, 1939, the theater was destroyed by a fire that started in an adjacent building. 

The theater was rebuilt and still stands today showing films as well as hosting live productions. 

In 1938 one of the local schools was damaged by fire and had to be rebuilt. Then on January 31st, 1945, during a band recital the elementary school caught fire. The band played as long as they could before evacuating with the crowd. Besides that fire there were two other fires in town that day. A year later a temporary school was struck by fire, in 1969 another fire claimed a school in Harriman, and in March of 1969 the Baptist St. Andrews Church was damaged and had to be razed when a fire started during the service. 

Destruction by fire and flood was so frequent then that during a review of the year in the Harriman Record the columnist wrote an article remarking how there had been no disaster during the previous year.

However it should be noted that was January of 1939 looking back at 1938. So as mentioned above on January 25th, 1939, there would be a fire causing over $125,000 worth of damage to the business district followed on February 3, 1939, by a flood. 

On December 22, 2008, a containment pond at the nearby TVA Fossil Fuel Plant failed and 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash was released into the Swan Pond Embayment, a recreational area used by many Harriman residents.  While dredging the coal ash workers discovered barrels that had been dumped in the preceding decades from the nearby Oakridge nuclear facility. Many of the clean up workers were not aware of the full extent of hazardous chemicals in the coal ash and would eventually become ill and be forced to file a lawsuit against Jacobs Engineering. In 2018 the company was found guilty of endangering the health of the workers and their families and began paying for medical expenses. 

After the Cumberland Hotel burnt down in 1921 it was replaced by a roller rink before finally being replaced by The Old Harriman Hospital (Roane County Medical Center). Throughout its time it was added on to multiple times including the addition of more surgical rooms, extended ICU, geriatric wing, psych ward, and a state of the art surgical ward. 

Around 2013 the hospital was closed when a new facility opened nearby. The Harriman Industrial Board took possession of the building and thought about bulldozing it to increase downtown parking. Thankfully they did not when they discovered it would cost almost 1 million to take it down. Instead Ronnie Dee, owner of Old South Pittsburg Hospital saw the potential in the building and the rich history. 

June 11th, 2022, was the Old Historic Harriman Hospital Opening night as it was opened up to Paranormal Investigators to discover the stories of the spirits who lived, died, or worked there throughout its many years.

Part 2: The Investigation

Part 1: Indiana State Sanatarium Haunting Beauty

Haunting Beauty

In 2021 we began seeing reports that the Indiana State Sanatarium which had been closed in 2011 was opening to the public for paranormal investigations. Meg and I were excited at the opportunity to investigate a location which had only just recently been opened and so reached out to book a date in early 2022. 

The History of the Indiana State Sanatarium in Rockville Indiana.

Long before European settlers came to America the area now known as Rockville, Indiana was inhabited by the Piankeshaw Indian tribe a subgroup of the Miami Tribe. Once a thriving community by the 1800s their numbers were falling as hostilities between the Tribe and the new settlers as well as harsh winter followed by draught took its toll. In 1805 the Piankeshaw were forced to cede their properties in Indiana and move West to Missouri joining with other Native Tribes. 

In 1821 Parke County was formed with the Wabash River serving as its western boundary. Three years later Rockville was laid out and the following year it became the county seat. In July of 1854 the citizens voted to incorporate the town. 

Property records show that the land where the Indiana State Sanatarium would eventually be built was registered to Jonathan Garrison on March 12, 1831. It would then change hands multiple times. At some point there was a distillery on the property, the furnaces were found while building the administration building, however the name and owner of the distillery is unknown though it is believed to date to the 1830s. 

What is known is that in 1907 Parke County began looking for a property to build a sanatarium due to the rising number of tuberculosis cases. They had a list of demands for the property ranging from access to railroads, height above sea level, and landscaping. This helped narrow the choices down to a few properties. On October 9th, 1907 the committee tasked with finding a suitable property came to visit Rockville. For its part the town and residents of Rockville did everything they could to show why they should be selected. They saw the addition of the Sanatarium to their community as a great opportunity to sell their farm fresh goods like eggs, milk, and meat. The building of such a large building would also provide a boost to the economy as jobs both in construction and eventually healthcare would become available. Their efforts paid off and the local paper on May 6, 1908 declared that the Little Raccoon site, named for the river that ran through it, was selected by the Hospital Commission and Governor. 

Before construction could begin the property had to be purchased. The entire tract was divided between seven different land owners: Edgar Adams owned 130 acres, Gary Connelly owned 126 acres, John Adams owned 80 acres, Theodore Jessup owned 49 acres,  William and Charles Bullion owned 44 acres, Claude Kent owned 41 acres, and James Myers owned 39 acres. Either the Bullions never wanted the Sanatarium or they soured on it after the fact but their property was eventually marked condemned as they would not agree to the proposed sale price. Finally in 1909 the first cornerstone of the multi-building facility was set and construction continued over the next two years. 

On April 1st 1911 the Sanatarium opened as The Indiana State Tuberculosis Hospital and began receiving patients. At first the mortality rate was very high but within just a few years it lowered. For example in 1914 the annual report showed 53 deaths, in 1915 there were 24 deaths, in 1916 there were 30 deaths, and in 1917 there were 31 deaths. The staff worked to keep patients highly educated and involved about the disease and their treatment offering lectures 3 to 4 times a year about the disease, phases, symptoms, and treatments to help people understand and prepare for the duration of their stay. Some who recovered would help care for others. In fact the Sanatarium itself was self-sustaining with farmland, orchards, a hen house, and dairy to also help provide food for the residents.

In 1919 the name was changed to the Indiana State Sanatarium which would remain its name until 1968. 

The property consisted of the Administration Building which had doctor's offices, exam rooms, the surgery, and all records. On either side of the Administration Building connected by an enclosed passageway was a tuberculosis ward, one for men and one for women. The wards consisted of long open hallways to allow fresh air and sunlight, two of the main treatments for tuberculosis at the time, to fill the patients' rooms. Originally each ward was built to house 140 each however that number increased and eventually they also had a waiting list of over 400. 

Credit: Indiana State Historical Society

In 1913 the State Sanatarium Bridge was added over the Little Raccoon creek to help aid in travel to the hospital. The bridge is a Kingpost Truss Burr Arch structure spanning 154 feet designed by Joseph A. Britton. 

Unfortunately the tuberculosis wards no longer remain because they were removed and repurposed to build the nursing home. Only the tunnels below them used to access the steam pipes remain. Those steam pipes were heated by the coal burning power plant built on site to power the Sanatarium. As we drove around the area it was the smoke stack of the power plant that told us we were getting close, which makes me sad to know the stack is being removed due to structural issues.

 

As time passed more buildings were added including a children's ward and schoolhouse that at its height served 100 children. 

Indiana Historical Society

A five story building, Adams Hall, was also added in the 50s as staff housing and that building still remains having been repurposed over the years.

Around 1922 the Superintendent's Residence was added to the property. This two story structure had multiple entrances indicating that it may have been split between multiple families/staff. 

In the late 1800s and early 1900s many large facilities like the Indiana State Sanatarium opened throughout the country. Tuberculosis was a rising disease that had a lot of fear surrounding it because little was understood about it and treatment was very limited. For the majority of patients that came to Rockville the main prescription was clean air, sanitary conditions, and good food. However there were other treatments that today seem cruel. For example in 1914 they injected nitrogen between the chest wall and lungs in order to collapse the lung and allow it to "rest" and slow the spread of tuberculosis. In five of those they also removed the ribs to help collapse the lung. According to the Superintendent W.A. Geckler "[n]o patients are subject to [surgery] who have any possible chance of recovery without it. Surgery in diseases of the lung is and must remain a last resort." For the doctors and staff at the time I imagine the balance between  "do no harm" and also trying to save and preserve life weighed heavy on their minds. 

With the development of streptomycin to treat tuberculosis in 1943 by Selman Waksman, Elizabeth Bugie, and Albert Schatz large Sanatariums like the one at Rockville began to empty. The property was taken over by a conglomerate and renamed Lee Alan Bryant Healthcare Center. The five story building originally used to house staff became Adams Hall, a mental institution. On the first and second floor coed patients were housed, the third floor was reserved for woman, the fourth floor for men, and the fifth floor supposedly housed more dangerous patients. Between Adams Hall and the original Administration building a single story cross shaped 120 bed nursing home was added. 

Unfortunately as good as the Indiana State Sanatarium was at treating its patients Lee Alan Bryant was bad. There are allegations of abuse, suicides, escapes, and a murder suicide. There are reports of patients running away in the middle of the night and dying from exposure in the surrounding woods. There are stories of a woman who ran away and climbed to the top of the water tower. She was found frozen the next day. Some patients would be lost in the woods their remains found days or more later. Looking back now it looks like the whole situation was out of control for patients and staff. There are reports of attacks between patients and patients and staff. There was a murder suicide between two employees near the power plant with multiple stories about the dispute whether it was over a promotion, raise, drugs, or something else we are not sure. Throughout the building there are passive aggressive notes hanging on the walls warning staff and patients about acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. In 2012 after multiple complaints the state came to Lee Alan Bryant and shut it down. Patients were released or moved to other facilities. Staff were sent away. 

Today nature has worked hard at reclaiming the buildings. Vines grow through the windows and birds nest in the vents. Suitcases, personal belongings, pay slips, and hospital equipment remain. Drywall has fallen down and paint peels from the walls. 

Part 2 Coming Soon.

An Overdue Roadtrip

 It had been awhile since we hit the road and took a drive so it felt nice this weekend to get up at 4am and put the finishing touches on house chores and loading the car. 

The real reason for the trip was an overnight investigation at the Haunted Indiana State Sanatorium in Rockville, Indiana. I will have a blog about that later once we go through the 90 plus hours of audio recording, 40 plus hours of video recording, and over 900 photos. 

We left from Nashville on I-65 heading towards Louisville and made good time as traffic moved well through Tennessee and Kentucky. In Louisville we jumped off I-65 quick to drive through downtown and avoid the toll bridge because tolls are silly.

A few hours later of smooth sailing with the exception of Indianapolis and the highway being closed due to construction we made it to our first stop in Crawfordsville, Indiana. 

The rotary jail was a strange phase in jail building in the midwest where the cells actually rotate to the opening rather than having individual doors that open. The design came from architect William Brown and was built by an iron foundry company in Indianapolis, Indiana. Brown explained in the patent:

"The object of our inventions is to produce a jail in which prisoners can be controlled without the necessity of personal contact between them and the jailer or guard... it consists, first, of a circular cell structure of considerable size divided into several cells capable of being rotated, surrounded by a grating in close proximity thereto, which has only such number opening as is necessary for the convenient handling of prisoners."

The design was not a success and many of the jails were very quickly retrofitted with doors and the rotating mechanism was disabled. The exception to this was the rotating jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa which we stumbled across during a previous road trip. This rotating jail was the last to close in the 1960s. As of now only four are still standing though none are jails. Most have been turned into museums like this one in Indiana. In fact this is the only one where the rotary mechanism still functions.  

Our next location was a spot I had saved ever since our massive amount of road trips in 2020 (Drive the 48) 

The ball is the work of Mike Carmichael and his family. On January 1, 1977 Mike and his son put the first layer of paint on a baseball. His wife would also join in putting coats of paint on the baseball. They would paint it multiple times when it was small. Today it hangs from a suspension system in a specially built barn beside their house. Meg and I got to add layer 27,765. Mike had it primed and when we pulled up. We chose a nice light blue color and for a period of time we were World Record holders. As we painted the ball he told us about the history of the ball, the fact that this wasn't his first ball of paint, and how the barn was built for the over 8,000 pound ball.

If you would like to visit the Largest Ball of Paint check out Mike's website Largest Ball of Paint

Next was a mad dash down several dirt roads as we made our way to to Terre Haute, Indiana. That was where we were spending the night but also it was Ash Wednesday and I had found a Catholic Church there and the goal was to arrive in time for 6pm mass. 

After mass we checked into our Laquinta and then went looking for dinner. First we stopped at Terre Haute Brewing but they did not have food. So we purchased a flight to try several beers and pick a growler before going down the road to M Mogger's Restaurant. Both buildings are on the property of the original Terra Haute Brewing Company which opened in 1837 and around the turn of the century it became the seventh largest brewery in the USA and its flagship beer Champagne Velvet spread in popularity. The brewery compound covered several blocks and had multiple buildings including a wood shop where they would custom make bars for locations selling their Champagne Velvet. Despite Prohibition and a series of ownership changes the brewery has persevered. They no longer make Champagne Velvet and the current brewery is housed in just one of the original buildings. The taproom is welcoming and when we entered there was live music just finishing up their last set. The growler we chose was their Crossroads beer, a nod to Indiana calling itself the "Crossroad of America".

The next day we left the hotel a little earlier than originally intended and went to Highland Lawn Cemetery. We had used the website Find a Grave to look up notable people buried there and planned to spend some time exploring the cemetery that was opened in 1884 and placed on the National Registry in 1991.

The first stop we made in the cemetery was the mausoleum of M.A. and S.C Sheets. As the urban legend goes Martin Alonzo Sheets had a fear of being buried alive and so had a telephone installed in his mausoleum. He also was buried with a bottle of whiskey so that if he woke up he could call a taxi and have a drink while he waited. Of course there are stories of phantom phone rings and when Susan passed away in 1929 it is said that she was found at home clutching her telephone. 

Next we stopped at the tomb of Chauncy Rose. He was a businessman and philanthropist in Terre Haute. Through his success in business and especially in the railroad industry he was able to fund several projects like the Providence Hospital, the Rose Orphan Asylum, and the Rose Polytechnic Institute (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology). 

The next grave we stopped at is the grave of Eva Mozes Kor, a Holocaust survivor and truly inspiring woman. Born in 1934 in Romania her and her twin sister Miriam were held at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and subject to cruel torture and experimentation by Josef Mengele. In 1984 she founded CANDLES (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors). The goal of the organization is to educate others about the Holocaust and the power of forgiveness. A 2006 documentary "Forgiving Dr. Mengele" was made about her and her story focusing on her use of forgiveness as a path to self healing. In 2015 she traveled to Germany to testify at the trial of Oskar Groning where she thanked him for testifying to the events. Her story has been told through several documentaries like "Voices of Auschwitz" and "Incredible Survivors" and recorded  for the University of Southern California's new "Dimensions in Testimony Project." Just the fact that she survived these experiences is inspiring but her ability to survive and share that experience with others to help educate them is amazing and her ability to forgive those who tortured her is truly amazing. Despite her early life to me she has a connection to humanity that goes beyond most. 

The cemetery was well cared for which is why as we were driving when Meg saw several graves covered in moss it stood out. 

On the way out we noticed a pyramid and stopped to see whose tomb that was. It belongs to Anna White who is a musician, pilot, and archeologist and also very much still alive. 

After leaving the cemetery we stopped at the Vigo County Museum. The side wall was painted with a large mural showcasing the connection Terre Haute has to Coca Cola. Apparently the glass bottle made famous by Coca Cola was made in Terre Haute by the Root Glass Company.

From there it was time to prepare for an overnight Paranormal Investigation at the Indiana State Sanatorium in Rockville Indiana. I'll say here it was an amazing investigation with slamming doors and disembodied voices throughout the night. As we finish our review of over 90 hours of audio recording, 40 hours of video recording, and over 900 photos I will make another blog post with more about it. 

On the way home we had two more stops. The first was Upland Brewing because they now own the rights to Terre Haute Brewing's Champagne Velvet beer. We stopped in at their brewery for a delicious lunch and two flights of beer to taste 8 different beers. 

Then we stopped in Mitchell, Indiana the birthplace of Astronaut Gus Grissom. Grissom took part in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. In 1961 he became the second American to fly into space twice. I read that Gus Grissom was nearly disqualified from the exclusive NASA program due to Hay Fever however after arguing that it would not be an issue due to the lack of ragweed pollen in space he was allowed to continue. He passed away January 27, 1967 during a pre-launch for Apollo One along with Ed White and Roger Chaffey due to a fire started by faulty wiring. There are several memorials to Grissom and we stopped at one that was a recreation of a rocket. Around the base was a description of Grissom's life and accomplishments including his early life in Indiana, military service, and participation in the early space programs. 

There is also a museum but with several hours left to drive and after being up most the night investigating we had to keep moving. 

We got home around 8pm and went straight to sleep because the next morning we had to get up early to help with a town clean up project. 

A visit to the Ancient City

Ever since watching Ghost Hunters "Haunted Lighthouse" episode in 2006 we knew we wanted to visit the St. Augustine Lighthouse. Jay Hawes and Grant Wilson pioneered paranormal investigations on TV and brought it to the attention of a much broader audience. Many today would not be where they are if not for this show. 

In January we got to visit the St. Augustine and the Lighthouse for a quick trip. We knew we could not stay long and we wanted to use this chance to explore the eventful history of the city and Lighthouse that inspired many to join the paranormal field. 

The History of the Town:

In 1565 the Spanish crown sent Pedro Menendez de Aviles to destroy the French held Fort Caroline on the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. On the feast day of St. Augustine of Hippo (August 28th) his crew spotted land and on September 8th he claimed the land in the name of Philip II and named the city St. Augustine in honor of the Saint. 

In 1586 Sir Francis Drake, an English privateer and explorer, brought the Anglo-Saxon War to St. Augustine. At the sight of his fleet approaching Governor Pedro Menendez Marquez ordered the residents to evacuate. Drake's forces seized some artillery, robbed the garrison, and razed the town to the ground. 

In 1686 pirate Robert Searle sailed his ship, the Cagway, to St. Augustine. In the fight 60 citizens were killed and Searle and his men raided storehouses, churches, and the homes of the residents. After this and looking at the history of attacks on the small settlement Spain began building the Castillo de San Marcos on the western shore of Mantanzas Bay to defend the city.

It was completed in 1695 and is the oldest masonry fort in the continental US. In 1702 James Moore, Governor of the Carolina Colony, moved to attack St. Augustine. After a 58 day siege and still no progress taking the fort Moore's forces set the city on fire and retreated.

In 1740 James Oglethorpe governor of Georgia again tried to take the city and fort but again they held on and the fort did not change hands.

At the end of the Seven Years' War Great Britain, France, and Spain signed the 1763 Treaty of Paris and in that Treaty Britain finally took control of Florida including St. Augustine. Control was short lived though and through the 1783 Treaty of Paris Spain regained control of Florida. Spain maintained control for 40 years before signing it over to the United States. 

As more settlers came to the area skirmishes increased between them and the Native Seminole, Creek, and Miccosukee people. There were three Seminole Wars with the longest being the Second War between 1835 to 1842 during that time American settlers forced the Natives first to a four million acre reservation in Florida and then to Oklahoma.  During the wars Seminole prisoners were held in the Castillo de San Marcos.

In 1861 the American Civil War began and Florida ceded to the Confederacy. In 1862 Union troops took control of the city and held it for the duration of the war. 

Today it is also known as the Ancient City....

It has been raised, sacked, sieged, burned, and fought over by the Spanish, French, English, Pirates, and both the Confederate and Union armies. Its place as the oldest European city in the United States is evident in the architecture of its oldest buildings.

Pictured above is the original gate of the city built in 1739. Those gates withstood 150 years of raids, regime changes, siege, and a Civil War. 

In 1883 St. Augustine would be changed forever when Henry Flagler came to visit the Ancient City. Henry Flagler, co-founder of the Standard Oil Company, came to the city in 1883 and spent the winter in the more temperate Florida sun. He liked the town and saw room for growth. In 1885 he formed the Florida East Coast Railway which he would continue to build upon for years: at first buying existing railroads and then beginning to lay his own track. He saw the east coast of Florida as an area ready for growth and a great escape for wealthy northerners looking for some place to visit and relax. 

By 1887 he also completed work on two large luxury hotels the Hotel Ponce de Leon and the Hotel Alcazar.  He used Spanish Renaissance Revival and Moorish revival architecture to keep the old world feel of the city. Soon tourism would become the primary industry of St. Augustine. Wealthy northerners would come for the winter and many others would stop in St. Augustine before continuing to other luxury resorts further south. The invention of the car and increased popularity of family road trips and brought families to St. Augustine for fun vacations. 

Today St. Augustine is still a popular tourist destination. Walking through the original gate you enter into a series of buildings that have been reconstructed to their original look. They are filled with small boutique stores, restaurants, and a lot of ice cream shops! 

The History of the Lighthouse:

When the Spanish had first settled at St. Augustine they built a watch tower or beacon at the end of Anastasia island that was documented by Baptista Boazio in 1589 when he drew a map of the area showing the raid of Sir Francis Drake. 

In 1737 they upgraded the wooden structure to one made of coquina, a rock composed of fragments of shells from various shellfish. In 1780 the tower was noted in a Jacques-Nicolas Bellin engraving  "A Plan of the harbour of St. Augustin." 

In 1824 a new tower was built on Anastasia Island and in the early 1850s it was upgraded to a Fresnel Lens which improved the range of the light. However tragedy struck in 1858 when the Lighthouse keeper Joseph Andreu was on scaffolding to white wash the Lighthouse. The scaffolding gave way and the keeper fell to his death. He was buried in the Tolomato Cemtery, Catholic Cemetery, in St. Augustine.

His distraught wife, Maria Mestre de los Dolores Andreu took up the role of lighthouse keeper and became the first Hispanic-American woman to serve in the Coast Guard. In 1861 at the start of the American Civil War the prized lens was removed by Confederate sympathizers and hidden to avoid Union forces from taking control of it. The lens was not restored until 1867. Around this time Dr. Allan Ballard, who owned the property and the Lighthouse sold the property to the government partly out of fear that it was going to fall into the ocean and because the state told him if he did not agree to the price they would take the property.

As erosion continued to threaten the Lighthouse a new structure was started in 1871 and completed in 1874. During the building of the Lighthouse tragedy struck. Hezekiah H. Pittee was the superintendent of Lighthouse Construction and moved with his family to St. Augustine. In 1873 three of his children and a local friend were playing in a rail car that was used to bring supplies to the worksite. As the rail car approached the end of the track the brakes failed and the children were thrown in to the sea and pinned under the cart. Mary age 15 and Eliza age 13 as well as their friend were drowned before they could be rescued. Only four year old Carrie was rescued from the accident.  

On October 5th 1874 William  Russel, who served as light keeper at the old and new Lighthouse lit the new first order Fresnel lens. It could be seen between 19 and 24 nautical miles depending on the weather. The new tower was well timed as the old one fell in to the ocean in 1880. The ruins still exist underwater and is currently an archeological site. 

In October 1875 William Harn after a career in the military where he lead troops in several major battles including Gettysburg became the light keeper until his death from tuberculosis in 1889. 

In 1901 Peter Rasmusson took over as light house keeper and has the longest tenure of any keeper at 23 years. He and his wife Mary frequently had visitors to the Lighthouse from Flagler's hotels who would stop by to see the 165 foot structure. In a memo sent to the Light-house inspector in Charleston SC Rasmussen listed the increase in visitors over several years.

The tourists came from Flagler's hotels using the wooden bridge that was built across Matanzas Bay connecting St. Augustine to Anastasia Island and the Lighthouse. In 1904 it was renovated to allow for a trolley to run over the bridge further facilitating tourism.  The Lighthouse did close to visitors from February 6, 1917 till after the end of WWI when Peter received orders in the name of national security. A few years later in 1924 Peter Rasmussen retired from his role of keeper and John Lundquist, who had served as an assistant keeper previously in 1893-1901, became the head keeper. 

In 1936 Cardell D. Daniels was the keeper at the Lighthouse when on March 1st it was electrified. The Lighthouse keeper would no longer have to make the long trip up 219 steps to the top carrying buckets of oil or kerosene. 

In 1981 the Lighthouse and Keepers' House were included on the National Historic Register and became protected buildings. In 1994 thanks to the hard work of the Junior Service League of St. Augustine, the Keepers' House and Lighthouse were opened to the public as a museum and for the first time ever visitors could climb to the top of the Lighthouse. 

And finally as mentioned above, and what started this journey for us, in 2006 the tv show Ghost Hunters, about a team of paranormal investigators, filmed their highest rated episode at the Lighthouse. During the episode they captured on camera a shadowed figure peering over the rail in the Lighthouse.

The Paranormal History:

The whole area of St. Augustine has a deep history filled with turmoil and strife. Th'e historic city gate, Castillo de San Marcos, old Huguenot Cemetery, and the old Catholic Cemetery stand today as reminders of that past. Specifically there are several stories on the Lighthouse property. The first is the possible ghosts of Maria and Joseph Andreu. When Maria heard about her husbands death she ran to the top of the Lighthouse and cried. Then as the story goes she heard a voice tell her to 'take up the light' and she recognized that voice as her husband. Maria is rumored to have been seen on the grounds by visitors to the Lighthouse and numerous pictures have been taken of a woman in white with long dark hair at the top of the Lighthouse. Joseph is often thought to be one of the possible inhabitants seen as a shadow figure in the Lighthouse. 

Another possible spirit is Dr. Allan Ballard, the previous owner before the state took control. It is said upon hearing the low price offered he replied: "I will never leave this property." 

There are numerous stories of playful spirits and children's voices as well as wet footprints in the Keepers' House. These could be the spirits of the two young girls who drowned in the accident.

The smell of cigar smoke in the Keepers House is sometimes attributed to William Harn and other times Peter Rasmussen. Both men could also be the figure captured on film by the Ghost Hunters or it could be William Russel, the first keeper who is seen standing to the right in this photo.

Our Findings:

While we did not do a full investigation we did take lots of photos and I looked around with my Seek Thermal but did not see anything strange. We did take this awesome photo which shows the shadow of the Lighthouse cast on the overcast night sky, not paranormal but very cool looking.

And while we were at the top about to come down we both heard a male voice despite the fact that at the time there was only us and one employee who was female in the Lighthouse.

The Huguenot, Protestant Cemetery, and Tolomato, Catholic Cemetery contain graves of some of the earliest residents of St. Augustine including several of the Lighthouse Keepers. Both are only open one Saturday a month so we know we will be making at least two more trips to St. Augustine to see those locations. Each time we plan to explore the Lighthouse and the city more.