Haunted Destinations
In 1906, Freelan Oscar Stanley, creator of the Stanley Steam
Engine, purchased 160 acres of land from the Irish Earl Lord
Dunraven near Estes Park, Colorado. Freelan and his brother
Francis were the founders of the Stanley Steamer Company
and had made their fortune manufacturing a steam-powered
automobile that many Americans called a “horseless carriage.”
In 1907, F. O. Stanley began construction of a magnificent Georgian style, 135-room hotel
designed to impress even the wealthiest of the wealthy. The Stanley Hotel located at 333
Wonderview was a grand sight with the majestic Rocky Mountains for its backdrop. The
hotel opened in 1909 and played host to many famous guests including “The Unsinkable
Molly Brown, John Philip Sousa, Theodore Roosevelt, the Emperor and Empress of
Japan, and a variety of Hollywood personalities.” Author Steven King was a guest at the
Stanley Hotel for five months where he began writing “The Shining.”
It was reported that Steven entertained special guests of his own during his stay on the
hotel’s 2nd floor. He complained about a young child that kept running up and down the
halls calling for his nanny. Other guests that stay in room 217 have had trouble sleeping,
because of the noise of children playing in the hallway all night. When they complained to
the hotel’s staff, they were told “there were no children booked in the hotel at that time.”
However it is room 418 that gets the most reports of haunting activity, apparently from
children’s spirits. “Tour guides tell a story of the ghost of a small child who has been seen
by many of the staff in various areas of the old hotel.”
The entire 4th floor is said to be haunted. There have been many reports by guests of
haunting activities in Room 401. Lord Dunraven is said to be seen standing in the corner
of room 407 near the bathroom door. “At other times, a ghost has been reported to be
looking out the window of Room 407, when the room is not booked.” Chambermaids
report hearing footsteps and many strange noises from the room, as well as seeing
impressions on the bed even though no one is lying there. Other employees report hearing
footsteps and seeing apparitions throughout the building.
Other areas of the hotel are said to be haunted as well. The most notable ghost is F.O.
Stanley himself who “is most often seen in the lobby and the Billiard Room, which was his
favorite room when he was still alive.” He appeared in the Billiard Room to a tour group as
they visited the hotel. Bartenders have also reported that they have seen F.O. stroll through the bar and then disappear near the kitchen entrance.
Flora Stanley also haunts the hotel, continuing to entertain guests with her piano playing in
the ballroom. Many who have heard the music also have seen the keys moving on the
piano. Those who have the courage to take a closer look say that when they approach the
piano the music stops and the keys stop moving.
As of this writing, evening ghost tours of the Stanley Hotel are offered weekly for an
admission fee of only $10.00. Ghost hunters are invited to “Come hear the music play.”
The Stanley Hotel is a Cabaret. “Come to the Cabaret.”
The Hotel Del Coronado
The Hotel Del Coronado is located at 1500 Orange
Avenue, Coronado, California. This massive all
wooden structure sits on the southern tip of North
Island just across the bay from San Diego.
The Hotel is home for the rich and famous guests of the largest Victorian beach resort on
the North American Pacific Coast. It is one of the oldest and largest hotels on the beach,
facing the Pacific Ocean. It is the brainchild of retired railroad executive Elisha S.
Babcock from Evansville, Indiana.
On December 19, 1885, Elisha Babcock, Hampton Story, of the Story and Clark Piano
Company of Chicago; and Jacob Gruendike, president of the First National Bank of San
Diego bought North Island for $110,000. The Hotel Del Coronado was built in 1888 at the
cost of one million dollars. Labor for the hotel was provided largely by Chinese immigrants
from the area.
Although quite famous for frequent visits from Presidents and Movie Stars, it may be the
visits of Kate Morgan’s ghost that give this luxurious resort the most notoriety. Kate and
her husband Thomas were noted con artists. To keep their true identities from being
known, they had made reservations at the Hotel Del Coronado under the assumed names
of Lottie A. Bernard and Dr. M.C. Anderson. Their plan was that Kate, aka Lottie, a very
beautiful 24-year-old, would play the part of Thomas’ sister. She would entice young men
to court her but they must first have the approval of her overprotective brother Thomas, aka
Dr. M.C. Anderson. To gain his favor, she would suggest that her suitor should play poker
with him, since that was his favorite game. After cheating the young man out of his money,
Lottie would end the courtship and look for another sucker.
Legend has it that in route to Coronado, Kate informed Thomas that she was pregnant.
Thomas was up set, fearing this would end their scam. They had a huge argument and
he left the train in Orange, California. Kate went on to the Hotel Del Coronado.
On Thanksgiving 1892, she checked into room 3312, to wait for her husband to arrive. She
waited for several days but Tom never showed up. One morning Kate took the ferry to San
Diego checking the registry of hotels to see if Thomas had checked in. While in the city,
she was reported to have bought a .44 caliber pistol and some shells. She returned to the
hotel and was found dead the next morning on the steps of the veranda, leading to the
beach. The hotel reported her death a suicide stating that she had all the symptoms of
quinine poisoning. A large bottle of quinine was found in her room and they suspected she
had tried to abort the baby. Some feel that the hotel called her death a suicide by poison
to protect its good name, because forensic evidence revealed that she was shot in her
right temple. There was no exit wound or blood on her hand or the gun, which was found
“two steps above her hand.” Murder or suicide, Kate’s death still remains a mystery.
Soon after Kate Morgan's death, hotel staff reported that room 3312 was haunted.
Drapes were seen moving behind closed windows, screens fell off the windows and a
strange glow was seen coming from the room when there was no one around. Kate's
ghost has been seen standing at the windows and walking down the hotel’s hallways.
Room 3312 is not the only room at Hotel Del Coronado that is thought to be haunted. Kate
had become friends with one of the maids who lived in room 3502. The day after Kate’s
funeral, the maid mysteriously disappeared. Could Tom Morgan have killed the maid as
well as his wife? The lights in room 3502 flicker and sometimes turn on and off by
themselves. Objects moving around, cold breezes blowing even when the windows are
closed, the sound of murmuring and oppressive feelings have been experienced in this
room. It is rumored that years earlier, the mistress of Elisha Babcock lived in room 3502.
She, like Kate, took her own life soon after she learned that she was pregnant. Her body is
said to have just disappeared, “perhaps removed by someone wishing to avoid an ugly
scandal.”
Other “paranormal” guests at the hotel are said to be the ghosts of a little boy and girl
running down the hall and playing on the stairs. Also seen is a woman in a Victorian style
dress gliding across the dance floor.
Welcome, to the Hotel del Coronado. Come check in as our guests. Many before you
have checked in, some of them may not have checked out!
The Crescent Hotel
The Crescent Hotel and Spa, sometimes called “The Grand
Old Lady of the Ozarks” is located in Eureka Springs, near
Beaver Lake in northwestern Arkansas. Designed by
architect Isaac L. Taylor, the hotel was built atop West
Mountain between 1884 and 1886.
Eureka Springs was well known for the “healing waters” that flowed from the nearby
mountain springs. It became so popular that in the late 1880’s, the Frisco Railroad built a
special line to it. The Crescent Hotel was built to accommodate the many visitors to the
area. Billed as “America’s most luxurious resort hotel,” it was built with all the finest
modern conveniences. While the hotel was under construction, “Michael,” an Irish
stonemason fell from the roof and died from his injuries. His body landed right on the spot
where room 218 was being built. Room 218 soon became one of the “hot spots” of
paranormal activity. Guests of the Crescent Hotel have called it, “the most haunted place
in the Ozark Mountain region.”
The hotel prospered greatly in the early 1900’s but as time passed the waters of Eureka
Springs lost their “healing” notoriety. The hotel continued to lose revenue and was unable
to keep its creditors happy. By the end of 1907, the hotel was struggling to keep its doors
open.
In 1908, the hotel became the Crescent College and Conservatory for Young Women. It
also served as an exclusive academy for the wealthy ladies of Eureka Springs. The
conservatory closed in 1924 and the once glorious structure sat sadly vacant. In 1930, the
hotel reopened as a junior college and remained active until 1934.
In 1937, Norman Baker leased the hotel and converted it into a hospital and “health
resort.” Baker claimed that he had found “miracle cures” for cancer and brain tumors. He
was found later to be a crazy quack, performing torturous experiments “on both the dead
and the living.” His so called “miracle” medicine was proved to be nothing more than
crushed up watermelon seeds mixed with spring water. He administered the potion
directly to the tumor after first cutting open the body. It was reported that he would “peel
back the patient’s scalp exposing the brain and then pour the mixture directly onto it.”
Many of the patients awoke screaming madly in agonizing pain. Driven to insanity by the
severe pain they were assigned rooms on the fourth floor which Baker had converted into a
makeshift “asylum.” After their deaths, Dr. Baker would hide the bodies until they could be
burned later in the hotel’s incinerator. It will never be known how many patients died each
month from cancer or from the “cure.” Baker was finally convicted of fraud in 1940 and he
was sentenced to four years in Leavenworth State Prison. The dastardly deeds of Dr.
Baker have left their lasting impression on the Crescent Hotel. Many believe the haunting
of the hotel started immediately thereafter. Baker himself has been seen in the basement
recreation hall and is said to plays phone pranks on the clerks at the front desk
Legend has it that when the hotel was being remodeled, dozens of human remains were
found in several secret chambers. It is also said that, supposedly hidden somewhere,
there are jars containing preserved body parts, although they have never been found.
Several guests and employees have described strange events in room 424. The door has
slammed shut and strange sounds and sensations have been experienced in this room. In
July 1987, a guest claimed that she, “saw a nurse pushing a gurney down the hallway in the
middle of the night. The nurse reached the wall and then vanished.” Others have reported
seeing the same exact thing outside room 424. Another resident of the fourth floor is
reported to be the ghost of a woman who calls herself “Theodora.” “Most often seen by
housekeepers in Room 419, Theodora courteously introduces herself as a cancer patient,
before quickly vanishing.”
One night a salesman was asleep in Room 218, when he was awakened as he was
shaken violently back and forth by his shoulder. He reportedly heard footsteps scurry
quickly across the floor, but he saw no one in the room.
Another ghost has been seen sitting in the Victorian style lobby and bar of the hotel. He is,
“a distinguished-looking man with a mustache and beard and who dresses in old-
fashioned, formal clothing.” People often see him sitting alone at the bar. When they try to
talk to him, he vanishes into thin air.
Two young girls reported seeing “a man carrying a tray of butter and dressed in a uniform
similar to the waiters' uniforms. He followed them out of an elevator and towards their third
floor room, where he seemed to disappear.” Another person opened the door of her room
and saw the man staring directly at the two young girls.
The ghost of a young female who once attended the Crescent College and Conservatory
for Young Women has also been seen at the hotel. The story is that the young girl either
jumped from, or was pushed from a balcony to her death. Today, guests report, “hearing
her screams as she falls.”
Some tell of a gentleman in 19th century attire, sitting at a table near the window. When
approached, he says, "I saw the most beautiful woman here last night and I am waiting for
her to return." Others have seen large groups of dancers in similar style dress, gliding
across the dining room floor.
The Crescent Hotel and Spa provides ghost hunters with a smorgasbord of paranormal
activity to experience. If you have the ghost-hunting bug, the Crescent Hotel just might have the “miracle cure.”
The Myrtles Plantation
The Myrtles Plantation was constructed
in 1796 by General David Bradford in
St. Francisville, Louisiana, near Baton
Rouge. He named this beautiful estate
"Laurel Grove."
Clark Woodruff married his daughter, Sara Mathilda, in 1817. After David Bradford died in
1808, Clark and Sara managed the plantation for Elizabeth, Bradford’s widow. They had
three children: Cornelia Gale, James, and Mary Octavia. Elizabeth sold the plantation and
its slaves to Ruffin Gray Stirling. Stirling and his wife Mary added rooms to the house,
nearly doubling its size. They renamed the plantation “The Myrtles.” Five of the Stirling’s
nine children died at young ages. Lewis Stirling, the oldest son of Ruffin G. Stirling, was
reportedly stabbed to death in the house “over a gambling debt.” Ruffin Stirling died in
1854 and left the plantation to his wife. In 1865, Mary hired William D. Winter to help
manage the plantation. Winter was married to the Sterling’s daughter, Sarah. Sarah and
William Winter lived at the Myrtles with their six children, one of whom died from typhoid at three years of age. In 1871, William Winter was shot by an unknown man on the porch of the house and died. Sarah remained at the Myrtles until her death in 1878 and the
plantation passed to Stephen, one of her sons. Stephen sold it in 1886 to Oran D.
Brooks. It was purchased from the Brooks family in 1891 by Harrison M. Williams who
divided up the land among his heirs. In the 1950s, Marjorie Munson became the new
owner of the house. Marjorie was the first to report odd things happening around the
house. At some point in the 1970’s the plantation was sold to Arlin Dease and Mr. & Mrs.
Robert Ward who completely restored it. James and Frances Kermeen Myers were the
next owners of the Myrtles. The Myers apparently believed the house was haunted, and
began to feature it in books and magazines about haunted houses. Billed as "one of
America's most haunted homes,” the plantation is reported to be the home of at least
twelve ghosts. The "ghost with the green bonnet” is the one seen most often.
Legend claims that Clark Woodruff was quite promiscuous. He took Chloe, one of his
slaves, as a mistress. Giving in to Woodruff's sexual advances kept Chloe from hard labor
in the fields. Always fearing that Woodruff would send her back to the fields, she listened
intently for any word of his displeasure. She would stand by the door of Woodruff’s study
and listen to his private conversations through the keyhole. One day he caught her
listening in. Clark ordered his servant to cut off one of Chloe’s ears to teach her a lesson.
It is believed by some that she always wore a green turban around her head to “hide the
ugly scar that the knife had left behind.” It is uncertain why Chloe put a handful of crushed
oleander in a birthday cake that she was told to bake for Woodruff's oldest daughter.
Some claim Chloe only intended to make the family sick and then by nursing them back to
health she would regain favor with Woodruff. Others say she intended to kill the Woodruff
family to avenge being sent back to the fields by Clark. In either case, only the two children
and Sara had slices of the poisoned cake. Woodruff didn't eat any of it. Before the end of
the day, all of them were very sick and some believe they all died. Others believe that only
Sara and one of the children died, but Mary Octavia survived and lived to see adulthood.
Legend contends, “the other slaves, perhaps afraid that their owner would punish them
also, dragged Chloe from her room and hanged her from a nearby tree. Her body was
later cut down, weighted with rocks and thrown into the river.” Woodruff was supposedly
murdered in New Orleans in November 1851. Chloe continues to haunt the plantation
where she lost her life.
The only verifiable murder to occur at the Myrtles was that of William Drew Winter. He was
shot by an unknown assailant while he was standing on the side porch. Winter staggered
back into the house onto the staircase that rises from the central hallway. He then
managed to climb to the 17th step where he died in his wife’s arms. Another murder
allegedly occurred in 1927, when a caretaker at the house was killed during a robbery.
During the Civil War, three Union soldiers were killed when they tried to ransack the
house. Supposedly, “there is a blood stain in a doorway, roughly the size of a human
body.” Other legends say “that cleaners have been unable to push their mop or broom into
that space.”
The house is reportedly built over an Indian burial ground and the ghost of a nude young
Indian woman has been reported. Also, “a young girl, with long curly hair and wearing an
ankle-length dress, has been seen floating outside the window of the game room, cupping
her hands and trying to peer inside through the glass.” Perhaps the apparition is that of a
“young girl who died in 1868, despite being treated by a local voodoo practitioner.” She
supposedly appears in the room where she died, practicing voodoo on people as they
sleep in this room.
Other strange phenomenon occurs at the Myrtle Plantation. The grand piano on the first
floor is said to play by itself, usually playing the same chord repeatedly. There have been
others who report hearing odd sounds while staying at the plantation. Also, a mirror
located in the house supposedly holds the spirits of two children - perhaps that of two of the Stirling children who never reached adulthood.
The house at the Myrtle Plantation is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is
now a bed & breakfast owned by John & Teeta Moss, who offer historical and mystery tours.
The Mansfield Reformatory
The Mansfield Reformatory, (also known as the Ohio State
Reformatory) is a historic prison located at 100 Reformatory
Road, Mansfield, Ohio, USA. The Reformatory was built
between 1886 and 1910 by architect Levi T. Scofield, from
Cleveland.
The prison was designed in Romanesque Revival style to look like the old world castles
and cathedrals in Germany. It was built on the site of a former Civil War camp, Camp
Mordecai Bartley. OSR is known for having the world’s tallest free-standing, steel cell
block, at six tiers high. The OSR was built as an intermediate prison between the Boys
Industrial School in Lancaster and the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. It was used for first
time offenders, the more hardened criminals were sent to the Ohio Penitentiary. On
September 17, 1896 the first 150 inmates were brought to the OSR. By the early 1930's
the prison was extremely overcrowded and outdated. However, it was not until the 1980's
that the OSR was deemed unfit to serve as a prison. The state officially stopped using it as
a prison in December of 1990.
From 1935 until 1959 Arthur Lewis Glattke was the Superintendent. Glattke's wife, Helen
Bauer Glattke, died three days following an accident in November 1950 when a handgun
discharged as she was reaching into a jewelry box. Rumors have it that the warden
actually murdered his wife and a huge cover up ensued. Glattke died following a heart
attack suffered in his office on February 10, 1959. The Reformatory has an incredible list
of haunted tales that are part of its long history, probably because over 200 people died
within the walls of the prison over a long period of time. Many were murdered, others
committed suicide and a few guards were killed during escape attempts.
OSR is supposedly haunted with several paranormal "hotspots" such as the two chapels,
the area around the warden's office, the infirmary and solitary confinement. The cell that is
marked with an "X" has also been reported to have unusual activity. The ghosts of both
warden Glattke and his wife Helen are reported to haunt the reformatory's east
administration building. Many orbs and mists have been photographed in the
administrative wing over the years. Visitors to this wing have felt cold air spots while
wandering its halls and have complained of camera malfunctions. The sound of slamming
cell doors and someone running through the halls have been reported. Almost every visitor
feels as though they are being watched from many of the cells. The Chapel is also an
area of high paranormal activity. Orbs, mists, equipment failures, and mysterious shadows
are just some of the strange events that occur here. Some people believe that the Chapel
was used as an execution chamber before being converted into a place of worship.
The facility gained fame when it served as Shawshank State Prison in the 1994 movie,
The Shawshank Redemption, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, and was the
site of the Hollywood production of Air Force One.
In 1995, the "Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society" was formed. They have turned
the prison into a museum and conduct tours to help fund grounds rehabilitation projects
and currently work to stabilize the buildings against further deterioration. (As of this writing) Mansfield Reformatory tours are given Tuesday through Friday at 2pm, as well as in the afternoons on Sundays starting every 15 minutes. The last tour is at 4:45pm on Sundays.
Tours are only available in the summer, starting around Memorial Day. For an unguided
tour, adult guests can take part in ghost hunts in the summer for a $50 fee. Guests will be
given free-range of the castle armed with only flashlights for the hours between 7:30pm and 6am. Guests can leave at anytime, but may not re-enter. These dates in the summer sell out very quickly. Today the location serves as a hot spot for haunted house goers offering the "Haunted Prison Experience" during the month of October.
Whaley House
The Thomas Whaley House Museum is located at
2482 San Diego Avenue in the heart of Old Town,
San Diego, California. In 1857, Whaley built what
is thought to be the first brick house in San Diego.
Made from the bricks of his own kiln, this two-story home with a one-story addition is said
by some to be haunted. According to America's Most Haunted, “the house is the number
one most haunted house in the United States.” In addition to being the family’s home, it
was also Thomas Whaley's own general store. It served many other purposes such as
County Court House, grainery, ballroom, school, pool-hall and San Diego's first
commercial theater.
Born in New York City in 1823, Thomas was the son of Thomas Alexander Whaley Sr. and
Rachel Pye. After acquiring a general education he enrolled in business classes at
Washington Institute. In 1849 at the height of the Gold Rush, he left New York and headed
for San Francisco. With the help of George Wardle, Thomas set up a store on
Montgomery Street selling items from his father’s company and lending out mining
equipment and utensils on consignment. The store was a smashing success, but ended
suddenly in May 1851 when an arsonist set a fire that destroyed the plaza and his store
building.
Aware of booming business opportunities in San Diego, Thomas Whaley set sail with a
fellow merchant named Lewis Franklin. Arriving in San Diego, they opened a store called
Tienda California. The following year Franklin sold out his share of the business to
Whaley. Thomas was well liked and soon became known for his ability to generate and
maintain retail stores. He returned to New York City and married his high school
sweetheart Anna Eloise DeLaunay in 1853. Continuing success made Thomas quite
wealthy and he wanted to build a home for Anna and himself. Even though he knew that
public hangings had occurred where he planned to build, he did so anyway. They moved
into the house in the fall of 1857. Thomas was appointed as President for the San Diego
city Board of Trustees for the 1858-1859 term. Later, this position became known as that
of Mayor. The one-story addition on the house served as the county courthouse until 1870.
The County Board of Supervisors also met and kept city records there. When Alonzo
Horton established New Town, San Diego in 1868 he built a new court house and
demanded the old records from Old Town. The people of Old Town fought to remain
independent and refused to hand over the records. In March 1871 while Whaley was away
on business, Horton staged a raid on Whaley House. Holding Anna on the stairs at
gunpoint, he forcefully seized the records. Many people say they still feel a cold chill when
they reach the ninth step on the staircase.
At 17 months, Little Thomas Whaley III mysteriously died in his bed. The cries of a baby
have been reported coming from the bedroom. Young Violet Whaley committed suicide in
1885 leaving Thomas and Anna heartbroken. They moved to New Town, San Diego
leaving Lillian, the Whaleys' youngest daughter, behind them. She lived in the old house
until 1953. Thomas Whaley died in 1890 and his wife Anna died in 1913.
Lillian was convinced that the ghost of “Yankee Jim” haunted the Whaley House. James
Robinson had been convicted of grand larceny in 1852 and hanged on a gallows erected
on the spot where the house now stands. The heavy footsteps of Yankee Jim can be heard
throughout the house. Another reported haunting is that of a young blond girl who has been
seen in the kitchen and running around out in the yard. She is thought to be the apparition
of a young girl who in the mid-1800s’s crushed her throat when she ran into a clothesline.
She was carried into the kitchen and placed on the kitchen table. She died a short time
later.
Hundreds of strange incidents have been reported by visitors to the Whaley House. The
sounds of piano music, singing and laughter have been heard throughout the house. The
smell of perfume and cigar smoke linger in the hallway. Objects are often seen moving as
if someone touched them. Curtains move without a draft; rocking chairs rock; pots and
pans sway back and forth; crystals on the lamp move without being touched; and pillows
and beds show the impression of someone lying there. Mirrors and the glass bookcase
cast the reflections of the former residents of Whaley House. Even the family pet, a terrier
named Dolly Varden, is said to have been seen running down the hall and entering the
dining room - its’ ears flapping and tail wagging.
Some believe the ghost of Thomas Whaley, wearing a black frock coat and wide-brimmed
hat, stands on the second floor landing surveying his home while Anna, wearing her
favorite calico dress, moves throughout the house preparing it for an unknown visitor. Will
you be the next guest at the Whaley House?
Winchester Mystery House
The construction of this unusual mansion located at 525 South
Winchester Boulevard in San Jose California began in 1884
under the watchful eye of Sarah L. Winchester, the widow of
William W. Winchester (manufacturer of the winchester rifle).
Seeking guidance after his death, Sarah consulted a medium (known only as the “Boston
Medium”) who told her of her late husband’s wishes that she move westward to a location
he would show her and build a home. The medium also informed Sarah that William had
said, “There is a curse that has resulted from the terrible weapon created by the
Winchester family. A curse that took my life and the life of our child. It will take your life too. You must build a home for yourself and for the spirits who have fallen from this terrible
weapon too. You can never stop building the house. If you continue building, you will live.
Stop and you will die.”
So construction continued 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, until
Sarah’s death 38 years later on Sept. 5, 1922. There was never a master plan. Sarah
would consult the spirits at night and instruct the workers the next day. An estimated 160
rooms existed in this seven story mansion. The actual total is not known as rooms were
built inside of rooms and some of the upper floors collapsed during the 1906 earthquake
and were not restored. Rooms were added to rooms and then entire wings were built.
Roof peaks were added to roof peaks, skylights located on top of skylights and towers
erected at various spots. There were countless staircases inside which led no-where; a
blind chimney that stops short of the ceiling; trap doors; double-back hallways; closets that
opened to blank walls; doors were joined to windows and others opened to drop offs to the
lawn below; all of the stair posts were installed upside-down; many of the bathrooms had
glass doors and there were other odd features as well.
It is obvious that the number "13" was used often in the construction. Nearly all of the walls had 13 panels; many of the wooden floors contained 13 sections; some of the rooms had 13 windows, each containing 13 panes of glass and every staircase but one had 13 steps. The exception is a winding staircase with 42 steps, enough to take one up three stories. In this case, however, the steps only rise nine feet because each step is only two inches high. The greenhouse also had 13 cupolas. The house had over 40 bedrooms, 2
ballrooms and 47 fireplaces. Three elevators were installed to get to the upper levels.
Is the house haunted? In the years that the house has been open to the public, employees,
visitors and psychics share clams of unusual phenomena reported here. There have been
banging doors; mysterious voices and whisperings; footsteps; windows that bang so hard
they shatter; lights going on and off, strange moving lights and red balls of light that fade
and explode; doorknobs that turn by themselves; security alarms being set off from within
the house; a couple lingering in the corner of a bedroom; cold spots in Sarah's bedroom
as well as apparitions of Sarah. The sound of music has been reported coming from the
“Blue Room” where Sarah died. Perhaps one of the oddest reports is the smell of chicken
soup coming from a long-unused kitchen.
Psychic Jeanne Borgen visited in 1975 and reportedly took on Sarah Winchester's
appearance for a short time. Authors Richard Winer and Nancy Osborn spent the night
there in 1979 while researching a book and were awakened by footsteps and piano
music. Tours of the Winchester Mystery House can be obtained on-line. Besides the
normal tours, Winchester Mystery House offers special flashlights tours every Friday the
thirteenth and at Christmas.
Waverly Hills Sanitorium
In 1900, Louisville, Kentucky had the highest tuberculosis death rate in the country. This was due to the fact Louisville is such a low valley area and before development, was basically all swampland and perfect breeding ground for the Tuberculosis bacteria. As with many other towns and cities across the country, hospitals were needed to care for the sick. In 1910, a wooden, two-story hospital with 40 beds opened on one of the highest elevated hills in southern Jefferson County to try and contain this ravaging disease.
Officials soon found that this small hospital was simply too small, as they were soon housing more than 130 cases of tuberculosis. Louisville needed a much larger facility and money began to be raised for its construction. Land was donated and $11 million was used to started construction on the new hospital in 1924.
The hospital, known as Waverly Hills, was opened in 1926 and was considered to be the most advanced tuberculosis hospital in the country. If a patient had any chance of surviving the disease, Waverly Hills was the place to come for treatment. Of course, treatment in those days was primitive at best, meaning that many simply came here to die. In those days, it was believed that the best cure for tuberculosis was plenty of nutritional food, plenty of rest and plenty of fresh air. Many patients came to Waverly and were actually cured and became well enough to once again enter society. For those not as fortunate, Waverly was the last place they ever saw. Records have been lost, but it is estimated that tens of thousands died at Waverly. At the height of the tuberculosis epidemic, it is reported that one patient an hour died. The doctors and nurses volunteered their lives to try and find a cure for this disease. Many of them lived and died there with the patients. A number of different experiments were attempted in search for a cure. Some of these experiments may sound barbaric, or even pointless, by today’s standards, but others are now common practice. The lungs were exposed to ultraviolet light to try and stop the spread of the bacteria. This was done in early versions of “sun rooms”, using artificial light to mimic the effects of sunlight. Patients were also placed on the roof or on the open porches on the upper floor to take in air and sunlight. Keeping in mind that fresh air was thought to be a cure for the disease; the patients would often to be placed in front of the open windows in both summer and winter. Photographs exist that show many of the dying literally covered in snow but still placed outside in hopes that their lungs would expand in the clean, country air.
Many of the treatments were much harsher -- and much bloodier. Balloons were surgically implanted into the lungs and then filled with air to try and expand them more, often with disastrous results. Hydrotherapy often caused pneumonia. But some experiments were useful and these procedures are still used today. Pneumothorax was a procedure that consisted of deflating the infected area of the lung for a period of time and then letting it heal. Thoracoplasty was a very invasive surgical procedure where the chest of the patient was opened and then cords of muscle and up to seven ribs were removed. The opening was then closed up with the idea that the lungs would then be free to expand further and allow more oxygen into the lungs. This bloody procedure was only attempted as a last resort because fewer than 5% of the patients ever survived it. In many cases, entire families came to live at Waverly Hills. Some were cured but many others left the hospital through what was called the “body chute”. This was a tunnel that led from the hospital to the railroad tracks at the bottom of the hill. It consisted of a motorized rail and cable system where the bodies were placed and lowered down on one side of the tunnel and steps led up and down on the other. A small steam plant on the property heated the tunnel, as well as the hospital and provided warmth for the maintenance workers that lived off the property. This was their entrance and exit for work. The tunnel was totally enclosed from the Morgue wing of the hospital. The purpose of this was so that the patients couldn’t see how many bodies were leaving the hospital. It was believed this would negatively affect their morale as the doctors discovered early on that the mental health of the patients was just as important as their physical health.
Because of the procedures and experiments that were performed at Waverly Hills and other hospitals around the country, tuberculosis was declining worldwide by the late 1930’s. It wasn’t until 1943 though that a young graduate student at Rutgers University by the name of Albert Schatz discovered Streptomycin, the first real medicine against the disease. By the mid 1950’s, tuberculosis had been largely eradicated because of this antibiotic. In 1961, Waverly Hills Sanatorium was closed because there was no longer a need for a tuberculosis facility. The buildings were reopened in 1962 as Woodhaven Geriatrics Sanitarium.
There have been many tales of patient mistreatment and unusual experiments that have filtered down from the hill over the years. Some have been proven false, while others unfortunately have turned out to be true. Electroshock therapy was widely used, although it was considered to be a very effective treatment in those days. Even today, it has been used with great results but now, as it was then, tragic losses sometimes occurred. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, a time of budget cuts for facilities of this type, there were many well documented cases of horrible conditions and unusual treatments at mental institutions all across the country. Apparently Woodhaven was no different because the state of Kentucky closed it down in 1982 due to patient abuse. The buildings, contents and land were auctioned off and the doors were locked for good.
The building and land changed hands several times over the next 18 years. The second owner of the property wanted to tear all the buildings down to construct the world’s largest statue of Jesus Christ. He succeeded in demolishing all of the buildings except for the main hospital and was only stopped by an injunction because the building is on the National Historic Register’s “endangered” list. He then decided that if he couldn’t legally tear it down then he would do everything in his power to get it condemned. He let vandals come into the building and tear it up. After breaking windows, porcelain sinks, toilets and doors, they began spraying graffiti on every available wall. The owner then dug around the foundation, in some places as deep as 30 feet, to try and make the foundation crack. If this happened, then he believed he could get the building condemned and would be able to legally tear it down. Fortunately, the structure refused to give way and his efforts failed. The area where his extensive digging took place can still currently be seen.
By 2001, this once regal and majestic hospital had been ravaged by time, the elements and vandals and was a shell of its former self. Waverly Hills had now become every town’s “haunted house”. Vagrants took to living here and kids broke in for the rush of finding a “ghost” or just to get high. It started to get the reputation of being haunted and rumors had it that satanic rituals were taking place within its walls. There were tales of a little girl running up and down the third floor solarium playing hide and seek with trespassers, of a little boy playing with his leather ball, of rooms lighting up as if there was still power to the building, doors slamming, disembodied voices, a hearse driving up and dropping off coffins and an old woman running from the front door with her wrists bleeding screaming “help me, somebody save me!” The years went by and the owner decided to sell the property to the new owners, who took possession in 2001.
Eastern State Penitentiary
Known as being the most expensive building built in the U.S. at the time,
the Eastern State Penitentiary became a prototype in design to 300 prisons.
The facility was operated under the Pennsylvania System from 1829 to 1913. This system, used by the Quakers, was designed to force the incorrigibles sent there to look inside themselves and find God. In reality, the system which placed inmates in complete solitude, drove many a sane man to madness.
Prisoners at Eastern State had a toilet, table, bunk and Bible in their cells, in which they were locked all but one hour a day. When the prisoners did leave their cells, a black hood would be placed over their head so they could not see any other prisoners as they were guided through the halls of the prison. Interaction and any form of communication between inmates was forbidden. Inmates lived a life in mundane solitude and would only get a glimpse of sunlight, known as "The Eye of God" which came through a slit in the prison ceiling. In desperate need of human interaction, prisoners would tap on pipes or whisper through vents to each other. If caught, the penalty was brutal. Harsh punishments included
The Water Bath
The inmates who broke the rules risked being dunked in a bath of ice-cold water then hung from a wall for the night. During the winter months, when this punishment was most popular, the water on the inmates's skin would form into a layer of ice before morning.
The Mad Chair
The Mad Chair was named such because it was not uncommon for an inmate to go mad before his punishment ended. Inmates would be strapped into the chair with leather strips, so tightly that it was impossible for them to make the smallest of movements. They would sit for days, without food, until the circulation in their body almost stopped from the tightness of the straps and the lack of movement.
Iron Gag
The most deadly punishment was known as the Iron Gag and specifically designed for those inmates who refused to obey the no communication policies. An iron collar was clamped onto the tongue of the inmate, and then chained to his wrists which were strapped high behind their back. Any movement resulted in a tearing of the tongue and severe bleeding. Many inmates who suffered this torture died from loss of blood before their torment ended.
The Hole
Dug under Block #14, the hole was nothing but a pit in the ground where incorrigible inmates would stay locked, sometimes for weeks. There was no light, little air, and those thrown into its tortuous grip would receive water and a slice of bread, if they got to it before the rats and roaches.
It has been reported that the Quakers were not responsible for the punishments the inmates were forced to endure. The extreme penitence was something the hired staff in the prison designed and enforced.
Charles Dickens visited the prison in the 1840s and found the conditions appalling. He described the inmates at Eastern Penn as being "buried alive..." and wrote about the psychological torture the inmates suffered at the hands of their captors.
Prior to its reform in 1913, the prison which was designed to house 250 inmates had over 1700 prisoners jammed into tiny makeshift cells where there was little light and even less ventilation. Finding the conditions of the prison unacceptable, the prison was taken over and reformed and the Pennsylvania System was abolished. Finally, in 1971, the sprawling monstrous prison was closed.
Since its closure visitors, employees and those researching paranormal activity have reportedly heard unexplained eerie sounds throughout the prison.
One major paranormal episode reported occurred to a locksmith doing restoration work in Cell Block #4. According to the tale, he was working to remove a 140-year-old lock from the cell door when a massive force overcame him so powerfully he was unable to move.
Some believe when he removed the key it opened a gateway to the horrific past and offered the spirits caught behind its bars a pathway out. The man spoke of experiencing an out-of-body state as he was drawn toward the negative energy which burst through the cell.
Anguished faces appeared on the cell wall, hundreds of distorted forms swirled around the cellblock and one dominating form seemed to beckon the locksmith to him. The man's experience was so vivid, years after he would shudder in fear when he talked about it.
Today the penitentiary is opened to the public. In a typical year, maybe two dozen paranormal investigations take place in the cell blocks, and according to Assistant Program Director Brett Bertolino, they almost always find evidence of activity.
Tourists and employees have reported hearing weeping, giggling and whispering coming from inside the prison walls.
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz, which earned the nickname of the "Rock", was the ultimate American prison. Bloodletters and badmen and assorted public enemies like Al Capone, Alvin Karpis and Machine-Gun Kelly and others, called this place the end of the line. For 29 years, the damp, fogged-in prison kept the country’s most notorious criminals put away from the rest of the world. The heavy mists, cold wind and water and the foghorns of the bay made Alcatraz the loneliest of the prisons.
From the time it became a federal prison in 1934 until it was closed down in 1963, the steel doors clanged shut behind more than 1,000 hardened convicts, criminals and escape artists. Alcatraz was not conceived as a facility for rehabilitation. It was a place of total punishment and minimum privilege. And those who survived it often did so at the cost of their sanity... and some believe their souls.
Alcatraz Island, located in the mists off of San Francisco, received its name in 1775 when the Spanish explorers charted San Francisco bay. They named the rocky piece of land La Isla de los Alcatraces, or the "Island of Pelicans". The island was totally uninhabited, plagued by barren ground, little vegetation and surrounding water that churned with swift currents.
In 1847, Alcatraz was taken over by the United States military. The Rock had extreme strategic value, especially during these times of tension between the United States and the Mexican government. Topographical engineers began conducting geological surveys and by 1853, a military fortress was started. One year later, a lighthouse was established (the first on the Pacific Coast) to guide ships through the Golden Gate.
A few years later, a military fort was erected on the island and in 1859, Alcatraz saw its first prisoners, a contingent of court-martialed, military convicts. Then in 1861, Alcatraz started to receive Confederate prisoners, thanks to its natural isolation created by the surrounding waters. Until the end of the Civil War, the number of prisoners here numbered from 15 to 50. They consisted of soldiers, Confederate privateers, and southern sympathizers. They were confined in the dark basement of the guardhouse and conditions were fairly grim. The men slept side-by-side, head to toe, lying on the stone floor of the basement. There was no running water, no heat and no latrines. Disease and infestations of lice spread from man to man and not surprisingly, overcrowding was a serious problem. They were often bound by six-foot chains attached to iron balls, fed bread and water and confined in "sweatboxes" as punishment.
After the war ended, the fort was deemed obsolete and was no longer needed. The prison continued to be used though and soon, more buildings and cell houses were added. In the 1870’s and 1880’s, Indian chiefs and tribal leaders who refused to give into the white man were incarcerated on Alcatraz. They shared quarters with the worst of the military prisoners. The island became a shipping point for incorrigible deserters, thieves, rapists and repeated escapees.
In 1898, the Spanish-American War sent the prisoner population from less than 100 to over 450. The Rock became a holding pen for Spanish prisoners brought over from the Phillipines. Around 1900 though, Alcatraz again became a disciplinary barracks for military prisoners. Ironically, it also served as a health resort for soldiers returning from the Phillipines and Cuba with tropical diseases. The overcrowding caused by a combination of criminals and recovering soldiers resulted in pardons to reduce the number of men housed on the island.
By 1902, the Alcatraz prison population averaged around 500 men per year, with many of the men serving sentences of two years or less. The wooden barracks on the island had fallen into a ramshackle state, thanks to the damp, salt air and so in 1904, work was begun to modernize the facility. Prisoner work crews began extending the stockade wall and constructing a new mess hall, kitchen, shops, a library and a wash house. Work continued on the prison for the next several years and even managed to survive the Great Earthquake of 1906. The disaster left San Francisco in shambles and a large fissure opened up on Alcatraz, but left the buildings untouched. Prisoners from the heavily damaged San Francisco jail were temporarily housed on the island until the city’s jail could be rebuilt.
Construction of the new buildings was completed in 1909 and in 1911, the facility was officially named the "United States Disciplinary Barracks". In addition to Army prisoners, the Rock was also used to house seamen captured on German vessels during the First World War. Alcatraz was the Army’s first long-term prison and it quickly gained a reputation for being a tough facility. There were strict rules and regulations with punishments ranging from loss of privileges to solitary confinement, restricted diet, hard labor and even a 12-pound ball and ankle chain.
Despite the stringent rules though, Alcatraz was still mainly a minimum-security facility. Inmates were given various work assignments, depending on how responsible they were. Many of them worked as general servants, cooking and cleaning for families of soldiers housed on the island. In many cases, the prisoners were even entrusted to care for the children of officers. However, this lack of strict security worked to the favor to those inmates who tried to escape. Most of those who tried for freedom never made it to the mainland and were forced to turn back and be rescued. Those who were not missed and did not turn back usually drowned in the harsh waters of the bay.
Other escape attempts were made by men who did not go into the water. During the great influenza epidemic of 1918, inmates stole flu masks and officer’s uniforms and causally caught a military launch heading for the base at the Presidio. The convicts made it as far as Modesto, California before they were captured.
During the 1920’s, Alcatraz gradually fell into disuse. The lighthouse keeper, a few Army personnel and the most hardened of the military prisoners were the only ones who remained on the island. The mostly empty buildings slowly crumbled... but a change was coming.
The social upheaval and the rampant crime of the 1920’s and 1930’s brought new life to Alcatraz. Attorney General Homer Cummings supported J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI in creating a new, escape-proof prison that would send fear into the hearts of criminals. They decided that Alcatraz would be the perfect location for such a penitentiary. In 1933, the facility was officially turned over to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Attorney General asked James A. Johnston of San Francisco to take over as warden of the new prison. He implemented a strict set and rules and regulations for the facility and selected the best available guards and officers from the federal penal system.
Construction was quickly started on the new project and practically the entire cellblock building was built atop the old Army fort. Part of the old Army prison was used but the iron bars were replaced by bars of hardened steel. Gun towers were erected at various points around the island and the cellblocks were equipped with catwalks, gun walks, electric locks, metal detectors, a well-stocked arsenal, barbed and cyclone wire fencing and even tear gas containers that were fitted into the ceiling of the dining hall and elsewhere. Apartments for the guards and their families were built on the old parade grounds and the lighthouse keeper’s mansion was taken over for the warden’s residence. Alcatraz had been turned into an impregnable fortress.
Wardens from prisons all over the country were polled and were permitted to send their most incorrigible inmates to the Rock. These included inmates with behavioral problems, those with a history of escape attempts and even high-profile inmates who were receiving privileges because of their status or notoriety. Each train that came from the various prisons seemed to have a "celebrity" on board. Among the first groups were inmates Al Capone, Doc Barker (who was the last surviving member of the Ma Barker Gang), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud, and Floyd Hamilton (a gang member and driver for Bonnie & Clyde), and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis.
When they arrived on Alcatraz, the inmates were driven in a small transfer van to the top of the hill. They were processed in the basement area and provided with their basic amenities and a quick shower.
Al Capone arrived at the prison in August 1934. Upon his arrival, he quickly learned that while he may have once been famous, on Alcatraz, he was only a number. He made attempts to flaunt the power that he had enjoyed at the Federal prison in Atlanta and was used to the special benefits that he was awarded by guards and wardens alike. He was arrogant and unlike most of the other prisoners, was not a veteran of the penal system. He had only spent a short time in prison and his stay had been much different than for most other cons. Capone had possessed the ability to control his environment through wealth and power, but he was soon to learn that things were much different at Alcatraz.
Warden Johnston had a custom of meeting new prisoners when they arrived and he gave them a brief orientation. Johnston later wrote in his memoirs that he had little trouble recognizing Capone when he saw him. Capone was grinning and making comments to other prisoners as he stood in the lineup. When it became his turn to approach the warden, Johnston ignored him and simply gave him a standard prison number, just like all of the other men. During Capone’s time on Alcatraz, he made a number of attempts to convince Johnston that he deserved special consideration. None of them were successful and at one point, Capone finally conceded that "it looks like Alcatraz has got me licked."
And he wouldn’t be the only one to feel that way.
Alcatraz was not a recreational prison. It was a place of penitence, just as the Quakers who had devised the American prison system had planned for all prisons to be. There were no trustees here. It was a place where the inmates had but five rights... food, clothing, a private cell, a shower once a week and the right to see a doctor.
Each of the cells in America’s "first escape-proof prison" measured 4 x 8 feet, had a single fold-up bunk, a toilet, a desk, a chair and a sink. An inmate’s day would begin at 6:30 in the morning, when he was awakened and then given 25 minutes to clean his cell and to stand and be counted. At 6:55, the individual tiers of cells would be opened and prisoners would march in a single file line to the mess hall. They were given 20 minutes to eat and then were marched out to line up for work assignments. The routine never varied and was completely methodical.
The main corridor of the prison was given the name "Broadway" by the inmates and the cells here were considered the least desirable. The ones on the bottom tier were always cold and damp and they were also the least private, since guards, inmates and staff members were always passing through this corridor. New prisoners were generally assigned to the second tier of B Block in a quarantine status for the first three months of their sentence.
The guards at Alcatraz were almost as hardened as the prisoners themselves. They numbered the inmates one to three, which was stunning considering that most prisons were at least one guard to every twelve inmates. Gun galleries had been placed at each end of the cell blocks and as many as 12 counts each day allowed the guards to keep very close tabs on the men on their watch. Because of the small number of total inmates at Alcatraz, the guards generally knew the inmates by name.
While the cells the prisoners lived in were barren at best, they must have seemed like luxury hotel rooms compared to the punishment cells. Here, the men were stripped of all but their basic right to food and even then, what they were served barely sustained the convict’s life, let alone his health.
One place of punishment was the single "Strip Cell", which was dubbed the "Oriental". This dark, steel-encased cell had no toilet and no sink. There was only a hole in the floor that could be flushed from the outside. Inmates were placed in the cell with no clothing and were given little food. The cell had a standard set of bars, with an expanded opening to pass food through, but a solid steel door enclosed the prisoner in total darkness. They were usually kept in this cell for 1-2 days. The cell was cold and completely bare, save for a straw sleeping mattress that the guards removed each morning. This cell was used a punishment for the most severe violations and was feared by the prison population.
The "Hole" was a similar type of cell. There were several of them and they were all located on the bottom tier of cells and were considered to be a severe punishment by the inmates. Mattresses were again taken away and prisoners were sustained by meals of bread and water, which was supplemented by a solid meal every third day. Steel doors also closed these cells off from the daylight, although a low wattage bulb was suspended from the ceiling. Inmates could spend up to 19 days here, completely silent and isolated from everyone. Time in the "hole" usually meant psychological and sometimes even physical torture.
Usually, convicts who were thrown into the "hole" for anything other than a minor infraction were beaten by the guards. The screams from the men being beaten in one of the four "holes" located on the bottom tier of D Block echoed throughout the block as though being amplified through a megaphone. When the inmates of D Block (which had been designated at a disciplinary unit by the warden) heard a fellow convict being worked over, they would start making noises that would be picked up in Blocks B and C and would then sound throughout the entire island.
Often when men emerged from the darkness and isolation of the "hole", they would be totally senseless and would end up in the prison’s hospital ward, devoid of their sanity. Others came out with pnuemonia and arthritis after spending days or weeks on the cold cement floor with no clothing. Some men never came out of the "hole" at all.
And there were even worse places to be sent than the "hole". Located in front of unused A Block was a staircase that led down to a large steel door. Behind the door were catacomb-like corridors and stone archways that led to the sealed off gun ports from the days when Alcatraz was a fort. Fireplaces located in several of the rooms were never used for warmth, but to heat up cannonballs so that they would start fires after reaching their targets. Two of the other rooms located in this dank, underground area were dungeons.
Prisoners who had the misfortune of being placed in the dungeons were not only locked in, but also chained to the walls. Their screams could not be heard in the main prison. The only toilet they had was a bucket, which was emptied once each week. For food, they received two cups of water and one slice of bread each day. Every third day, they would receive a regular meal. The men were stripped of their clothing and their dignity as guards chained them to the wall in a standing position from six in the morning until six at night. In the darkest hours, they were given a blanket to sleep on.
Thankfully, the dungeons were rarely used, but the dark cells of D Block, known as the "hole, were regularly filled.
Al Capone was in the "hole" three times during his 4 1/2-year stay at Alcatraz. The first years of Alcatraz were known as the "silent years" and during this period, the rules stated that no prisoners were allowed to speak to one another, sing, hum or whistle. Talking was forbidden in the cells, in the mess hall and even in the showers. The inmates were allowed to talk for three minutes during the morning and afternoon recreation yard periods and for two hours on weekends.
Capone, who remained arrogant for some time after his arrival, decided that the rule of silence should not apply to him. He ended up being sent to the "hole" for two, 10-day stretches for talking to other inmates. He also spent a full 19 days on the "hole" for trying to bribe a guard for information about the outside world. Prisoners were not allowed newspapers or magazines that would inform them of current events. Each time that Capone was sent to the "hole", he emerged a little worse for wear. Eventually, the Rock would break him completely.
Many of the prisoners who served time in Alcatraz ended up insane. Capone may have been one of them for time here was not easy on the ex-gangland boss. On one occasion, he got into a fight with another inmate in the recreation yard and was placed in isolation for eight days. Another time, while working in the prison basement, an inmate standing in line for a haircut exchanged words with Capone and then stabbed him with a pair of scissors. Capone was sent to the prison hospital but was released a few days later with a minor wound.
The attempts on his life, the no-talking rule, the beatings and the prison routine itself began to take their toll on Capone. After several fights in the yard, he was excused from his recreation periods and being adept with a banjo, joined a four-man prison band. The drummer in the group was "Machine-Gun" Kelly. Although gifts were not permitted for prisoners on the Rock, musical instruments were and Capone’s wife sent him a banjo shortly after he was incarcerated. After band practice, Capone always returned immediately to his cell, hoping to stay away from the other convicts.
Occasionally, guards reported that he would refuse to leave his cell to go to the mess hall and eat. They would often find him crouched down in the corner of his cell like an animal. On other occasions, he would mumble to himself or babble in baby talk or simply sit on his bed and strum little tunes on his banjo. Years later, another inmate recalled that Capone would sometimes stay in his cell and make his bunk over and over again.
After more than three years on the Rock, Capone was on the edge of total insanity. He spent the last year of his sentence in the hospital ward, undergoing treatment for an advanced case of syphilis. Most of the time he spent in the ward, he spent playing his banjo. His last day on Alcatraz was January 6, 1939. He was then transferred to the new Federal prison at Terminal Island near Los Angeles. When he was paroled, he became a recluse at his Palm Island, Florida estate. He died, broken and insane, in 1947.
And Al Capone was far from the only man to surrender his sanity to Alcatraz. In 1937 alone, 14 of the prisoners went rampantly insane and that does not include the men who slowly became "stir crazy" from the brutal conditions of the place. To Warden Johnston, mental illness was nothing more than an excuse to get out of work. As author Richard Winer once wrote, "it would be interesting to know what the warden thought of Rube Persful".
Persful was a former gangster and bank robber who was working in one of the shops, when he picked up a hatchet, placed his left hand on a block of wood and while laughing maniacally, began hacking off the fingers on his hand. Then, he placed his right hand on the block and pleaded with a guard to chop off those fingers as well. Persful was placed in the hospital, but was not declared insane.
An inmate named Joe Bowers slashed his own throat with a pair of broken eyeglasses. He was given first aid and then was thrown into the "hole". After his release, he ran away from his work area and scaled a chain-link fence, fully aware that the guards would shoot him. They opened fire and his body fell 75 feet down to the rocks below the fence.
Ed Wutke, a former sailor who had been sent to Alcatraz on murder charges, managed to fatally slice through his jugular vein with the blade from a pencil sharpener.
These were not the only attempts at suicide and mutilation either. It was believed that more men suffered mental breakdowns at Alcatraz, by percentage, than at any other Federal prisons.
In 1941, inmate Henry Young went on trail for the murder of a fellow prisoner and his accomplice in a failed escape attempt, Rufus McCain. Young’s attorney claimed that Alcatraz guards had frequently beaten his client and that he had endured long periods of extreme isolation. While Young was depicted as sympathetic, he was actually a difficult inmate who often provoked fights with other prisoners. He was considered a violent risk and he later murdered two guards during an escape attempt. After that, Young and his eventual victim, McCain, spent nearly 22 months in solitary confinement.
After the two men returned to the normal prison population, McCain was assigned to the tailoring shop and Young to the furniture shop, located directly upstairs. On December 3, 1940 Young waited until just after a prisoner count and then when a guard’s attention was diverted, he ran downstairs and stabbed McCain. The other man went into shock and he died five hours later. Young refused to say why he had killed the man.
During his trial, Young’s attorney claimed that because Young was held in isolation for so long, he could not be held responsible for his actions. He had been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment and because of this, his responses to hostile situations had become desperately violent.
The attorney subpoenaed Warden Johnston to testify about the prison’s conditions and policies and in addition, several inmates were also called to recount the state of Alcatraz. The prisoners told of being locked in the dungeons and of being beaten by the guards. They also testified to knowing several inmates who had gone insane because of such treatment. The jury ended up sympathizing with Young’s case and he was convicted of a manslaughter charge that only added a few years on this original sentence.
After the trial, he was transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. After serving his Federal sentence, he was sent to the Washington State Penitentiary and was paroled in 1972. He had spent nearly 40 years in prison. He later disappeared and it is unknown whether he is still alive today.
During the 29 years that Alcatraz was in operation, there were over 14 escape attempts in which 34 different men risked their lives to try and make it off the Rock. Almost all of the men were either killed or recaptured. Only one of the men was known to have made it ashore. John Paul Scott was recaptured when he was found shivering in the rocks near the Golden Gate Bridge. As for the men who vanished, it was believed that most of them succumbed to the cold water and the always churning currents that moved past the island. Although no bodies were ever recovered, the authorities always assumed that the men had drowned and marked the cases as closed.
Of all of the escape attempts though, two of them left a lasting mark on the history of the island. The most traumatic and violent of the two took place in 1946. It was later dubbed the "Battle of Alcatraz" and it began as a well-planned and well-organized breakout from the "escape-proof" prison.
In May 1946, six inmates captured a gun cage, obtained prison keys and took over a cell house in less than an hour. The breakout attempt might have succeeded if not for the fact that a guard, Bill Miller, didn’t return one of the keys to the gun cage as soon as he finished using it, as was required by prison regulations. The strange twist of fate completely disrupted the escape attempt. When the cons captured the gun cage, they found all of the keys except for the one that would let them out of the cell building. This was the key that Miller failed to return to the guard cage. The breakout was grounded before it even began.
But the prisoners, Bernard Coy, Joe Cretzer, and Marvin Hubbard, Sam Shockley, Miran Thompson, and Clarence Carnes, would not give up. They took a number of guards hostage and before the escape attempts was over, three of the guards were dead and others were wounded. Two of them were murdered in cold blood in cells 402 and 403, which were later changed to C-102 and C-104.
Thousands of spectators watched from San Francisco as U.S. Marines invaded the island and barraged the cell block with mortars and grenades. The helpless inmates inside of the building took refuge behind water-soaked mattresses and tried to stay close to the floor and out of the path of the bullets that riddled the cells. But even after realizing that they could not escape, the six would-be escapees decided to fight it out.
Warden Johnston, unable to get a report on how many convicts were actually involved in the battle, came to believe that the safety of San Francisco itself might be at risk. With the entire prison under siege, he called for aid from the Navy, the Coast Guard, as well as the Marines. Before it was all over, two Navy destroyers, two Air Force planes, a Coast Guard cutter, a company of Marines, Army officers, police units, and guards from Leavenworth and San Quentin descended on the island.
The fighting lasted for two days. With no place to hide from the constant gunfire, Cretzer, Coy and Hubbard climbed into a utility corridor for safety. The other three men returned to their cells, hoping they would not be identified as participants in the attempt. In the bloody aftermath, Cretzer, Coy and Hubbard were killed in the corridor from bullets and shrapnel from explosives. Thompson and Shockley were later executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin and Carnes received a sentence of life, plus 99 years. His life was spared because he helped some of the wounded hostages. The cell building was heavily damaged and took months to repair.
While this may be the most violent escape from Alcatraz, it is by all means not the most famous. This attempt was that of Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin. In 1962, a fellow prisoner named Allen West helped the trio to devise a clever plan to construct a raft, inflatable life vests and human-like dummies that could be used to fool the guards during head counts. Over a several month period, the men used tools stolen from work sites to chip away at the vent shafts in their cells. They fabricated the life vests, the rafts and the dummies. They also ingeniously created replicated grills that hid the chipped away cement around the small vents. The quality of the human heads and faked grills was remarkable as they used only paint kits and a soap and concrete powder to make them. They also collected hair from the barbershop to make the dummies more lifelike. These painstaking preparations took over six months.
On the night of June 11, 1962, immediately following the head count at 9:30, Morris and the Anglin’s scooted through the vents and scaled the utility shafts to the upper levels. Once they reached the roof, they climbed through a ventilator duct and made it to the edge of the building. After descending pipes along the cement wall, all three climbed over a 15-foot fence and made it to the island’s shore, where they inflated the rafts and vests. They set out into the cold waters of the bay and were never seen again.
The next morning, when one of the prisoners failed to rise for the morning count, a guard jammed his club through the cell bars at the man. To his shock, a fake head rolled off the bunk and landed on the floor!
Almost 40 years later, it is still unknown whether or not the prisoners made a successful escape. The story has been dramatized in several books and was made into a gripping film starring Clint Eastwood. The FBI actively pursued the case but never found any worthwhile leads.
After this last escape attempt, the days of the prison were numbered. Ironically, the frigid waters around the island, which had long prevented escape, were believed to be the leading ruin of the prison. After the escape of Morris and the Anglin’s, the prison was examined because of the deteriorating conditions of the structure, caused mostly by the corrosive effects of the salt water around it. In addition, budget cuts had recently forced security measures at the prison to become more lax. On top of that, the exorbitant cost of running the place continued to increase and over $5 million was going to be needed for renovations. According to U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the prison was no longer necessary to have open.
On March 23, 1963, Alcatraz closed it doors for good. After that, the island was essentially abandoned while various groups tried to decide what to do with it. Then, in 1969, a large group of American Indians landed on the island and declared that it was Native American property. They had great plans for the island, which included a school and a Native American cultural center. The Indians soon had the attention of the media and the government and a number of meetings were held about the fate of Alcatraz.
The volume of visitors to the island soon became overwhelming. Somehow, during the talks, the island had become a haven for the homeless and the less fortunate. The Indians were soon faced with the problem of no natural resources and the fact that food and water had to be brought over from the mainland. The situation soon became so desperate that island occupants were forced to take drastic measures to survive. In order to raise money for supplies, they began stripping copper wire and pipes from the island buildings to sell as scrap metal. A tragedy occurred around this same time when Yvonne Oakes, the daughter of one of the key Indian activists, fell to her death from the third story window. The Oakes family left Alcatraz and never returned.
Then, during the evening hours of June 1, 1970, a fire was started and raged out of control. It damaged several of the buildings and destroyed the Warden’s residence, the lighthouse keeper’s home and even badly damaged the historic lighthouse itself.
Tension now developed between Federal officials and the Indians as the government blamed the activists for the fire. The press, which had been previously sympathetic toward the Native Americans, now turned against them and began to publish stories about beatings and assaults that were allegedly occurring on the island. Support for the Indians now disintegrated, especially in light of the fact that the original activists had already left Alcatraz. Those who remained were seen as little more than "squatters". On June 11, 1971, the Coast Guard, along with 20 U.S. Marshals descended on the island and removed the remaining residents.
Alcatraz was empty once more.
In 1972, Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Alcatraz Island fell under the purview of the National Park Service. It was opened to the public in the fall of 1973 and has become today one of the most popular of America’s park sites.
The Hauntings of Alcatraz
During the day, the old prison is a bustling place, filled with tour guides and visitors... but at night, the building is filled with the inexplicable. Many believe that the energy of those who came to serve time on the Rock still remains, that Alcatraz is an immense haunted house... a place where strange things can and do happen today!
Every visitor who arrives by boat on Alcatraz follows the same path once walked by the criminals who came to do time on the Rock. The tourists who come here pass through the warden’s office and the visiting room and eventually enter the cell house. After passing the double steel doors, a visitor can see that just past C Block. If they look opposite the visiting room, they will find a metal door that looks as though it was once welded shut. Although the tour guides don’t usually mention it, behind that door if the utility corridor where Coy, Cretzer and Hubbard were killed by grenades and bullets in 1946.
It was also behind this door where a night watchman heard strange, clanging sounds in 1976. He opened the door and peered down the dark corridor, shining his flashlight on the maze of pipes and conduits. He could see nothing and there were no sounds. When he closed the door, the noises started again. Again, the door was opened up but there was still nothing that could be causing the sounds. The night watchman did not believe in ghosts, so he shut the door again and continued on his way. Some have wondered if the eerie noises may have been the reason why the door was once welded shut? Since that time, this utility corridor has come to be recognized as one of the most haunted spots in the prison.
Other night watchmen who have patrolled this cell house, after the last of the tourist boats have left for the day, say that they have heard the sounds of what appear to be men running coming the from the upper tiers. Thinking that an intruder is inside the prison, the watchmen have investigated the sounds, but always find nothing.
One Park Service employee stated that she had been working one rainy afternoon when the sparse number of tourists were not enough to keep all of the guides busy. She went for a walk in front of A Block and was just past the door that led down to the dungeons when she heard a loud scream from the bottom of the stairs. She ran away without looking to see if anyone was down there. When asked why she didn’t report the incident, she replied "I didn’t dare mention it because the day before, everyone was ridiculing another worker who reported hearing men’s voices coming from the hospital ward and when he checked the ward, it was empty."
Several of the guides and rangers have also expressed a strangeness about one of the "hole" cells, number 14D. "There’s a feeling of sudden intensity that comes from spending more than a few minutes around that cell," one of them said. Another guide also spoke up about that particular cell. "That cell, 14D, is always cold. It’s even colder than the other three dark cells. Sometimes it gets warm out here - so hot that you have to take your jacket off. The temperature inside the cell house can be in the 70’s, yet 14D is still cold... so cold that you need a jacket if you spend any time in it."
Oddly, the tour guides were not the only ones to have strange experiences in that particular cell. A number of former guards from the prisons also spoke of some pretty terrifying incidents that took place near the "holes" and in particular, Cell 14D.
During the guard’s stint in the middle 1940’s, an inmate was locked in the cell for some forgotten infraction. According to the officer, the inmate began screaming within seconds of being locked in. He claimed that some creature with "glowing eyes" was locked in with him. As tales of a ghostly presence wandering the nearby corridor were a continual source of practical jokes among the guards, no one took the convict’s cries of being "attacked" very seriously.
The man’s screaming continued on into the night until finally, there was silence. The following day, guards inspected the cell and they found the convict dead. A horrible expression had been frozen onto the man’s face and there were clear marks of hands around his throat! The autopsy revealed that the strangulation could not have been self-inflicted. Some believed that he might have been choked by one of the guards, who had been fed up with the man’s screaming, but no one ever admitted it.
A few of the officers blamed something else for the man’s death. They believed that the killer had been the spirit of a former inmate. To add to the mystery, on the day following the tragedy, several guards who were performing a head count noticed that there were too many men in the lineup. Then, at the end of the line, they saw the face of the convict who had recently been strangled in the "hole"! As they all looked on in stunned silence, the figure abruptly vanished.
If, as many believe, ghosts return to haunt the places where they suffered traumatic experiences when they were alive, then Alcatraz must be loaded with spirits.
According to sources, a number of guards who served between 1946 and 1963 experienced strange happenings on Alcatraz. From the grounds of the prison to the caverns beneath the buildings, there was often talk of people sobbing and moaning, inexplicable smells, cold spots and spectral apparitions. Even guests and families who lived on the island claimed to occasionally see the ghostly forms of prisoners and even phantom soldiers. Phantom gunshots were known to send seasoned guards cringing on the ground in the belief that the prisoners had escaped and had obtained weapons. There was never an explanation. A deserted laundry room would sometimes fill with the smell of smoke, even though nothing was burning. The guards would be sent running from the room, only to return later and find that the air was clear.
Even Warden Johnston, who did not believe in ghosts, once encountered the unmistakable sound of a person sobbing while he accompanied some guests on a tour of the prison. He swore that the sounds came from inside of the dungeon walls. The strange sounds were followed by an ice-cold wind that swirled through the entire group. He could offer no explanation for the weird events.
As the years have passed, ghost hunters, authors, crime buffs and curiosity-seekers have visited the island and many of them have left with feelings of strangeness. Perhaps those who experience the "ghostly side" of Alcatraz most often are the national park service employees who sometimes spend many hours here alone. For the most part, the rangers claim to not believe in the supernatural but occasionally, one of them will admit that weird things happen here that they cannot explain.
According to one park ranger, he was in one of the cell houses one morning, near the shower room, and heard the distinctive sound of banjo music coming from the room. He could not explain it --- but many who know some of the hidden history of Alcatraz can. In his last days at the prison, Al Capone often hid in the shower room with his banjo. Rather than risk going out into the prison yard, where he feared for his life thanks to his deteriorating mental state, Capone received permission to stay inside and practice with his instrument.
And perhaps he sits there still, this lonesome and broken spirit, still plucking at the strings of a spectral banjo that vanished decades ago. For on occasion, tour guides and rangers, who walk the corridors of the prison alone, still claim to hear and an occasional tune echoing through the abandoned building. Is it Al Capone?
Or could it be merely another of the countless ghosts who continue to haunt this place, year after year.....?
The HMS Queen Mary
Resting in Long Beach Harbor is the HMS Queen Mary,
a colossal ship that was bigger, faster and more powerful than the
Titanic. The 1,000-foot ship began her life when the first keel plate
was laid in 1930 at the John Brown shipyard in Clyde, Scotland. The
depression held up her construction between 1931 and 1934, but she was
finally completed, making her maiden voyage on May 27, 1936.
For three years the grand ocean liner hosted
the world’s rich and famous across the Atlantic including the likes of the
Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, David Niven, Mary
Pickford, George and Ira Gershwin, and Sir Winston Churchill, just to name
a few. Considered by the upper-class to be the only civilized way to
travel, she held the record for the fastest-ever North Atlantic crossing.
But, when World War
II broke out in 1939, luxury travel immediately ceased and the ship
was transformed into a troopship that would become known as “The Grey
Ghost.” During this time her capacity was increased from 2,410
to 5,500. By the end of World War II, the ship had carried more
than 800,000 troops, traveled more than 600,000 miles and played a
significant role in virtually every major Allied campaign. She
had also survived a collision at sea, set the record for carrying the
most people ever on a floating vessel (16,683), and participated in
the D-Day invasion.
At the close of the
war the ship began to transport more than 22,000 war brides and their
children to the United States and Canada. Known as the "Bride
and Baby Voyages," she made 13 voyages for this purpose in 1946.
Its duty to the war
complete, the Queen Mary
was refurbished and resumed her elegant cruises in July, 1947,
maintaining weekly service between Southampton, Cherbourg, and New
York. However, by the early 1960’s, transatlantic cruises were
falling out of fashion, due to air travel becoming affordable for the
masses. In 1963, the ship began a series of occasional cruises,
first to the Canary Islands and later to the Bahamas. However, without
central air conditioning, outdoor pools, or other amenities now
commonplace on cruise ships, she proved ill suited for the work. In
1967, she was withdrawn from service after more than 1,000
transatlantic crossings.
That same year, the Queen Mary
was sold for $3.45 million to the city of Long Beach, California,
for use as a maritime museum and hotel. On December 9, 1967, she
made her final voyage to Long Beach. After 1,001 successful Atlantic
crossings, she was permanently docked and soon became the luxury hotel
that she is today.
Internationally
recognized, the historic floating hotel and museum attracts thousands
of visitors every year. It has also attracted a number of unearthly
guests over the years. In fact, some say the Queen Mary
is one of the most haunted places in the world with as many as 150
known spirits lurking upon the ship. Over the past 60 years, the Queen Mary
has been the site of at least 49 reported deaths, not to mention
having gone through the terrors of war, so it comes as no surprise
that spectral spirits of her vivid past continue to walk within her
rooms and hallways.
Located 50 feet
below water level is the Queen Mary's
engine room, which is said to be a hotbed of paranormal activity. Used in
the filming of the Poseidon Adventure, the room's infamous "Door 13"
crushed at least two men to death, at different points during the ship's
history. The most recent death, during a routine watertight door
drill in 1966, crushed an 18 year-old crew member. Dressed in blue
coveralls and sporting a beard, the young man has often been spied walking
the length of Shaft Alley before disappearing by door #13.
Two more popular
spot for the Queen’s other worldly guests are its first and second class
swimming pools. Though neither are
utilized today for their original purpose, spirits seemingly are not aware
of that. In the first class swimming pool, which has been closed for
more than three decades, women have often been seen appearing in 1930’s
style swimming suits wandering the decks near the pool. Others have
reported the sounds of splashing and spied wet footprints leading from the
deck to the changing rooms. Some have also spied the spirit of a
young girl, clutching her teddy bear.
In the second class poolroom, the spirit of another little girl named
Jackie is often been seen and heard. The unfortunate girl drowned in
the pool during the ship’s sailing days and reputedly refused to move on,
as her voice, as well as the sounds of laughter has been captured here.
In the Queen’s Salon,
which once served as the ship’s first-class lounge, a beautiful young
woman in an elegant white evening gown has often been seen dancing alone
in the shadows of the corner of the room.
Yet more odd occurrences
have been made in a number of first-class staterooms. Here, reports
have been made of a tall dark haired man appearing in a 1930’s style suit,
as well as water running and lights turning on in the middle of the night,
and phones ringing in the early morning hours with no one on the other end
of the line.
In the third class
children’s playroom, a baby’s cry has often been heard, which is thought
to be the infant boy who died shortly after his birth.
Other phenomenon
occurring throughout the ship, are the sounds of distinct knocks, doors
slamming and high pitched squeals, drastic temperature changes, and the
aromas of smells long past.
These are but a few of
the many reports of apparitions and strange events occurring at this
luxury liner turned hotel.
Today, the Queen Mary,
listed on the National Register of Historic Places, provides not only a
wide range of guest rooms for travelers, but also 14 Art Deco salons, tours, restaurants, shops, and exhibits.
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