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Wood County Infirmary –
HauntedHouses.com
Haunted
Place — Wood County Infirmary
ADDRESS:
13660 County Home Road
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
(419) 352-0967
Wood County Infirmary web site
LOCATION:
The Wood County Historical Center and
Museum and its 50 acres of park facilities can be found on the
outskirts of Bowling Green, just before the Hwy interchange of 75
and 6, at the corner of Country Home Road and Lindwood Drive.
Wood County Infirmary on Mapquest
DESCRIPTION:
The Wood County
Infirmary: Its Philosophy and Purpose —
In the 19th century, long before any
federal government social welfare system was in place, the poor,
the handicapped, the orphans, the unwed mothers, the homeless, the
infirm, and the insane needed to be taken care of on a level way
beyond the abilities of their families, local area churches and
charities. Many states came up with the idea of a humane and
merciful solution; creating "poor houses."
While the term, "poor house", has a rather
infamous reputation as being a place of disease, slave labor, death
and corruption during the industrial revolution and other time
periods in some places, The Wood County Infirmary was firm but
humane, practical and caring, offering a great service for the
unfortunate, from 1868 until 1971! Part of the reason why this poor
farm had so much success was because it was blessed with two long
term Superintendents, Edwin Farmer and his wife Charlotte as
Matron, and Frank Brandeberry, and wife Lottie. They were dedicated
to their work and made good use with what they had, providing
leadership for the people who lived there as a last resort to
starving, giving them a sense of team work and community, as the
inmates worked together to run the 200 acre farm and grounds. They
also strove to take care of the physically and mentally
handicapped, children who were orphaned and the elderly to the best
of their ability.
In the beginning of The Wood County
Infirmary, useful work was thought of as being therapeutic, and a
positive form of rehabilitation. It was reasoned during this time
period that many people who were in these dire straits were lazy,
lacked common sense and discipline, and didn't practice industry
and thrift. There was a sense of shame and stigma in having to live
here. In the early years, residents were called inmates, and lost
some every day freedoms that the normal American enjoys. Couples
and families were separated by sex, with men and boys living in the
east wing and women, girls and babies living in the central wing.
Couples were separated, seeing each other only in passing. There
were separate dining halls as well.
The promising goal of this poor house work
farm, for the able bodied and able minded, was to instill and
develop qualities and skills needed to survive, including
self-esteem and confidence, as well as to have the opportunity to
practice industry and thrift, without the distractions of
dysfunctional relationships or just regular stresses of family
life. In exchange for room and board, clothes, health care and
other necessities of life, everyone who was able was required to
participate in having some sort of job on this working farm, which
made this institution nearly self-sufficient. Raising the dairy
cattle, chickens, sheep, hogs and horses, crop production, tending
the gardens, canning fruits and vegetables, taking care of the old
and handicapped, and other chores kept everyone involved.
Located just outside the city of Bowling
Green, The Wood County Infirmary was home to 70 to 80 residents on
the average. During the depression, twice as many people lived
here; around 140 residents willing to sleep anywhere there was a
bed, as no one was turned away. The New Deal gave people options,
and relieved the crowded conditions.
Our Tour of The Wood
County Infirmary —
Tom and I visited this museum and were
impressed on how lovely and tranquil this place is during the day
time, very much like a home on the outside and inside, not having
an institutional feeling to the property, perhaps because the
historical society renovated and restored the original woodwork,
Victorian decor, making the place look very good.
Main
Building — on both the first and second floors
of the main building, there are 30 rooms of exhibits. The attics
and basements were shut to the public.
On the first floor, in all three wings, the
rooms were used for showing the history of Wood County as well
as the history and what life was like as a resident of this place.
All the furniture and items making up the exhibits and decor, were
brought in from homes and from people who live in Wood County. Very
little is left of the original furniture.
We saw the areas in the west wing, which
housed the living quarters of the staff and the Superintendent and
his family, the family and staff dining room, their parlor and
sitting room which were all furnished with nice antiques of the
period which would've been here. The central wing had separate
simple and basic dining rooms for men and women, and a kitchen on
the first floor. Pictures of the original rooms showed a very
plain, simple decor. The nurses station was located in an area
between the women's dining room and the east wing.
The three hospital rooms were next in the
central wing. There were exhibits on display in here but there was
on one wall the original tile of the 1950s, and a picture of
patients sitting in beds in front of it.
The east wing had a men's dormitory room,
where beds were set up. In the 1950s, the management in charge
wanted it to look more like an institution, so linoleum was laid
and the woodwork was painted white.
The Lunatic House
— The building is a solid, rectangular two story
brick Victorian structure, made up of two hallways, one on each
floor, with rooms off the hallways. Men who wound up here were
deemed insane by a court of law in a trial. The patient's stark
room was small, with bars on the windows, furnished only with a bed
and eating utensils. It was plainly furnished. There was a shower
room where the staff hosed them down. Still, it was a lot more
humane than locking them up with criminals in the jails.
While the first floor was renovated, with
exhibits about the history of caring for the mentally ill on
display, the second floor was still stripped down, and was
closed.
YIKES! Tom and I visited this building as
well. It was really creepy, even during the day, especially the
stair area. The house has an uneasy, tense feeling of a haunted
place with disturbed presences. (Even I, the un-psychic one, got an
uneasy feeling standing too close to the stairs which led up to the
second floor.)
Sunset Acres
Cemetery — When people died here, they were put in a
simple, pine box and buried in the infirmary's graveyard, Sunset
Acres. Each plot was supposed to get its own number, but no name
was put on the marker. There was a master list with linked the
numbers to the people's names.
HISTORY:
In 1869, this then two story Victorian
style infirmary was opened for use when it received its first six
residents or "inmates." The numbers increased to 65 during the
1870s. As the population of the Wood County Infirmary grew, so did
the buildings. A third floor was added to the main infirmary
building. A chicken coop, and the power house were also built.
The 1880s brought a lot of building
improvements and construction. The west wing attic was added, and
the center and east wing of the main infirmary building were
constructed as well, but needed to be rebuilt in 1898 because of
shoddy workmanship the first time around! The shape of The Wood
County Infirmary with the added wings was shaped like a giant
horseshoe.
In 1885, it became necessary to build a two
story, Lunatic House to house the violent male mental patients,
because the old one next to the main building was in bad shape. For
non-violent yet unsound folks, the attics and basements of the
men's and women's wings were at one time used to house these people
with mental issues. There wasn't much that they could do for them,
as treatment in the 19th century was in its infancy. By 1900, Ohio
did pass a law which had all mentally ill patients going to a
special hospital. After 1900, the Lunatic House building became a
place of honor, becoming "dormitory space for trustworthy male
residents."
A pauper's cemetery was also created, for
those who had no money or no relatives willing to claim the body.
Though each grave was simply marked with a number, there was no
mass burial, and an earnest effort was made to not desecrate the
bodies, or graves, by building on top of them over the years. This
intentionally happened in other cemeteries which other cities in
America had designated for its poor, criminals and victims of
disease, with unintended consequences.
( Denver * San Diego * Kansas * Cincinnati )
From 1890-1920s, other buildings were
constructed: A cow barn, a hog barn, an ice house and ice ponds, a
pest house, a horse barn. In 1903, a lovely front porch was added
to the west wing, for the enjoyment of all.
During the first half of the 20th century,
this infirmary became a refuge for many problematic people.
However, by 1949, the mentally ill, the homeless, the handicapped
and orphans were being sent to/getting help from other programs,
leaving The Wood County Infirmary to become an old age home in its
final years.
By 1970, The Wood County Infirmary, which
was in shoddy physical shape, was also having a lot of trouble in
meeting the new standards set for Ohio nursing homes. There were no
elevators in the place, and it was difficult getting the residents
up and down the stairs. Concerned citizens formed a committee and
were able to get a new home built for its infirm seniors about 1/2
mile away. What to do with the old one? In the short-sighted spirit
of the 1970s, when many old treasures were torn down all over
America, The County Commissioners proposed that the old building be
given a date with the wrecking ball.
However, Lyle Fletcher, Secretary of the Park Commission and
editor and archivist of the Wood County Historical Society, got
busy and led a movement to save The Wood County Infirmary, which
was in woeful condition. It stood vacant for a few years while its
future was being fought over. This property, which had shrunk to 50
acres over time, was finally turned over to the Wood County Park
Commission to be used as a park facility. Buildings not used were
made part of a historical museum of not only this infirmary but
also local history as well. In 1975, it finally opened to the
public.
HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS:
Nothing stirs up spirits like renovation,
renewal and restoration of historical buildings.
The Lunatic House
— Was used as a storage area for many years, until
just a few years ago, when money was raised to renovate it.
Everything was cleared out and stripped down to the cement on the
inside as a first step.
The Main Infirmary
Building — Inside and outside of the main
institution was renovated and restored to a condition not seen in a
long time. Brickwork was repaired, rotting wood removed and
replaced, woodwork, floors and Victorian deco were restored, etc.,
transforming the dilapidated building into a place of beauty.
People and children did die here, because
of dumb accidents, disease, infections and natural causes, and even
as a result of murder. The Sunset Cemetery was created to hold
their remains.
The Main Infirmary
Building's Attics and Basements — Many people with
permanent disabilities were never able to leave and died here.
Death it seems didn't make them any saner or give them new mental
abilities, and they have stayed here despite being free to go to
the other side.
Eight people are known to have died from
the turn-of-the-century flu epidemic. Other diseases and infections
probably took other lives before the invention of vaccines and
antibiotics.
A Murder — A story is told by a
pharmacist, Dorsey Sergeant, who worked in the rest home from
1965-1971:
A nursing home resident, an elderly woman
who lived in the room across from the top of the stairs, stood up
to another female resident, a transfer from a mental institution,
who was a bully. The bully threw this elderly woman down the
staircase, resulting in this woman's death. It was deemed to be an
accident. Much later, after the residents moved to the new nursing
home, it was found out what had really happened through a witness
to this dastardly deed, as the bully had died just before the move,
and was no longer a threat.
Many furnishings and items which have been
given to the museum seem to have entities attached to them.
The Mourning Room
Display — Had a child's coffin, headstone, an adult
coffin and headstone, a glass pane from a mausoleum. More came to
this display than physical objects.
Nothing upsets and confuses the dead more
than having their remains forgotten, disrespected and disturbed by
the living who are dolts.
( Liberty Hall * Rose Hills * Gettysburg )
It seems that not all the graves in
Sunset Acres were marked, leading to unintended consequences.
Not only did the living lose the list of
names that went with the numbers on the grave markers in Sunset
Acres, but they also didn't mark all the graves at some point in
time. A few years ago, the utility workmen accidentally unearthed
some unmarked graves whose rotting pine caskets just fell apart on
contact, mixing the bones of people together. A good effort was
made to put the right bones back together and rebury them, but it
was impossible to be completely right. OOPS!
MANIFESTATIONS:
Besides the experiences of the museum's
staff, visitors, and psychic Chris Woodyard, some investigations
were conducted in 2002, 2003 and 2004 by psychic/medium/author
Michelle Colson and husband Michael with a crew made up of
University of Bowling Green students. The recordings of these
investigations are found on a DVD produced by the Colsons, The Haunted, which is sold in the museum's
store.
Outside Grounds
—
A mysterious, spooky, black form of a man
— Dressed in a cape, this entity has been seen by staff
striding up the walkway, disappearing right before reaching the
front door.
A gentle entity known as Bert — Who
is described as a physically and mentally handicapped man with a
goofy smile has been seen going about his business pulling his
little red wagon. He has one leg much shorter than the other. This
entity also likes to sings hymns. His unseen presence has also
brushed past the living.
The Pauper's
Cemetery — Sunset Acres
Orbs and EVPs have been recorded. Michael
Colson hit pay dirt when he recorded on his tape recorder an EVP of
a disembodied voice and orbs coming out of graves flying
around.
Others have seen apparitions in the
graveyard.
Main Infirmary
Building —
A benign, friendly entity of an elderly
woman, called Agnes — Who is dressed in a white nightgown and
night cap appears and smiles at the living all over the infirmary
building. It is thought that she was the woman thrown down the
stairs by the bully.
Agnes started to appear during the nursing
home years. A Pharmacist, Dorsey Sergeant, was walking down the
hall with a fellow worker, from the west wing to the central hall
when a real-looking white-gowned elderly woman suddenly appeared in
the hallway, right by the door of the resident's kitchen. She
smiled at them, and then suddenly disappeared.
In the late 1980s, during renovation and
restoration efforts, a work man who was sanding and varnishing the
floor on the second floor of the west wing, felt that someone was
watching him. He looked up and saw this entity watching him, and
she smiled at him too. He finished his work for the day and left.
When he came back the next morning, there was one set of small foot
prints in the middle of the newly varnished floor.
Women's Dining Room
—
During the nursing home years, the nurse's
station on the first floor was located right next to the former
women's dining room.
When no one was in this old dining room,
the nurses would hear the dishes and pans rattle by themselves.
They avoided going into this room alone because of the
uncomfortable feelings which the atmosphere inspired.
When psychic Chris Woodyard walked through
the dining room, she was whacked in the back of the neck by a burst
of spiritual energy, and saw two women fighting.
In the Hallway Beyond the Alumni Room,
(where pictures of classes of Weston High are found): Psychic Chris
Woodyard found it to be ice cold. She saw an old woman appear, who
was tied into a wheel chair, right across from where Chris was
sitting.
The Mourning
Practices Display — Old Hospital Room
This temporary display was located in one
of the hospital rooms. Paranormal investigators Michelle and
Michael Colson led two paranormal investigations in this area with
interesting results.
A female entity
— Who is attached to the mausoleum glass, was upset
that her glass was in the display, away from her grave site.
She made herself known with cold spots,
communicating with Michelle, and by making the 6 inch area around
the glass itself to have a warm, numbing effect on hands.
Her EVPs explained how she felt.
She tried to hold the door closed,
preventing them from even entering the room.
The entity of a
child, (perhaps attached to either the coffin or
headstone)
This entity was tugging at this female
entity, not very happy.
Many orbs were recorded by Michael, flying
around this room, perhaps entities of residents who died in this
hospital room.
(All of this is recorded and available for
viewing on their DVD.)
Upstairs on Second
Floor of The Wood County Infirmary —
There are moving cold spots.
The living feel that someone is watching
them.
Staff members can hear voices of talking
women coming from the old sitting room when no one living is
there.
Psychic Chris Woodyard saw a woman looking
wistfully out the window in the sitting room.
One of the rooms off the sitting room was
used as a morgue, and Chris picked up on a disturbing atmosphere,
especially strong coming from a bed found there, which was an
original infirmary bed.
Attics of Men's and
Women's Wings —
Psychic Chris Woodyard was given a private
tour through the attics.
The West Wing Attic
— Was at one time a women's dorm, reserved for
noisy, disagreeable women. It is now used for storage. Chris felt
mostly positive vibes.
An entity or entities of a woman (women)
once considered to be noisy and disagreeable came to the rescue of
a curator who was working there, amongst the tall rows of shelves.
While coming down a three step ladder, this curator misstepped off
the ladder, and lost her balance, falling backwards. She was caught
by unseen hands which gently put her back on the step.
A dark KKK robe being stored in a closet
there gave off some really negative energy, giving an upsetting
vision to Chris. In this closet, she heard a man crying and saying,
"Don't hurt me!"
The Center Attic
— It is a huge, ballroom-like area.
Chris saw an entity of a retarded man in a
closet.
East Wing Attic
— It is also currently being used for storage. Chris
reports that this men's dorm had a tenser feel to its
atmosphere.
An unseen presence was tugging at
Chris.
She saw another entity, crying in a
closet.
The Lunatic
House
While standing on the first floor, visitors
have heard heavy footsteps walking back and forth across the second
floor above them.
Chris Woodyard's terrifying experiences in
the Lunatic House — Psychic Chris became tied into the
experiences of the residents here, including a huge man in a
psychotic fit, a woman in a confining outfit to keep her from
hurting herself, and finally her seeing life through the eyes of a
resident.
{Details of all her experiences can be
found in her book, Ghost Hunter's Guide to Haunted Ohio, by Chris
Woodyard, pg. 167-175, Kestrel Publications, 2000}
Michelle and Michael Colson's two
investigations here uncovered some real evidence of multiple
hauntings.
Some
Highlights
Many orbs were caught on film flying around
both floors.
A face of a man looking rather manic
appeared in the window pane at the end of the hall on the second
floor in a picture taken by paranormal investigator,
psychic/medium; Michelle.
Film of a dark shadowy figure was taken as
it slipped out of one of the rooms on the second floor.
A single bolt of lightening in the middle
of the second floor was caught on film.
Michelle felt a very strong presence at the
end of the second floor hallway.
When Michelle was in contact with this
newly-awakened and powerful spirit, Daniel, its yes/no knocks were
recorded, as well as its EVPs as it talked to Michelle.
The sound of it throwing something was
recorded.
STILL HAUNTED?
A huge YES is in order.
SOURCES:
Ghost Hunter's Guide to Haunted Ohio
by Chris
Woodyard
pg. 184-195
Kestrel Publications
2000
Michelle and Michael Colson's DVD "Haunted" —
digital recording of the 2002, 2003 and 2004 investigations done in
the room which displayed the exhibit, Mourning Practices, The
Lunatic House and Sunset Acres Cemetery. Truly a riveting DVD to
own. Part of the proceeds goes to support the museum.
E-Mail to
purchase a copy.
Lunatic House at the Wood County Infirmary * All photographs © Tom
Carr
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