Trail · 127 records

Asylum row

Institutions concentrate both suffering and paperwork. These dossiers cover former hospitals, sanatoriums, prisons and county homes — places where the documented history is usually heavier than the haunting attached to it. Many are closed, condemned or actively dangerous; several are private property. Admire from the legal distance the file recommends.

Filter the live atlas

High confidence

Waverly Hills Sanatorium

Louisville, Kentucky

Site documented in a Ghost Research Society investigation report.

6 claims · 3 legends→

High confidence

Old Idaho Penitentiary

Historic prison associated with reported whispers.

5 claims · 4 legends→

High confidence

Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary

Petros, Tennessee

Site documented in a Ghost Research Society investigation report.

5 claims · 1 legend→

High confidence

West Virginia Penitentiary

Moundsville, West Virginia

Site documented in a Ghost Research Society investigation report.

4 claims · 2 legends→

Former Hospital

High confidence

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

Weston, West Virginia

Site documented in a Ghost Research Society investigation report.

4 claims · 1 legend→

High confidence

Old Montana Prison

Deer Lodge, Montana

Prison museum associated with paranormal tours.

3 claims · 2 legends→

Missouri State Penitentiary

Jefferson City, Missouri

Prison associated with documented cultural history.

3 claims · 2 legends→

High confidence

Old Charleston Jail

Charleston, South Carolina

SCETV recounts visitors reporting supernatural encounters.

3 claims · 2 legends→

Napa State Hospital

Napa, California

1875 asylum on the hill—still operating, still haunted per lore.

3 claims · 2 legends→

Old Joliet Prison

Joliet, Illinois

1858 fortress prison—Jake and Elwood Blues walked out its gate.

3 claims · 1 legend→

Former Hospital

Eloise Asylum

Westland, Michigan

1839 poorhouse-grown psychiatric city, now a haunted attraction.

3 claims · 1 legend→

Former Hospital

Camarillo State Hospital site

Camarillo, California

1936 psychiatric hospital—its bell tower became a CSU campus landmark.

3 claims · 1 legend→

High confidence

Edinburgh Manor

Scotch Grove, Iowa

Hospital associated with documented cultural history.

3 claims · 1 legend→

High confidence

Yorktown Memorial Hospital

Yorktown, Texas

Hospital in Yorktown; research record.

3 claims · 1 legend→

Former Hospital

Allegan Lodge

Allegan, Michigan

Former hospital associated with documented cultural history.

3 claims · 1 legend→

Former Hospital

Linda Vista Community Hospital

Los Angeles, California

1905 railroad hospital abandoned in 1991, reborn as a horror-film set.

Former Hospital

Old Christiansted Hospital

Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands

Former hillside hospital in Crucian ghost storytelling.

2 claims · 2 legends→

Former Hospital

Old South Pittsburg Hospital

South Pittsburg, Tennessee

Site documented in a Ghost Research Society investigation report.

High confidence

Wyoming Frontier Prison

Rawlins, Wyoming

Former penitentiary interpreting incarceration and executions.

2 claims · 1 legend→

High confidence

Eastern State Penitentiary

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

World’s first true penitentiary, designed for solitary penitence; now a museum and haunted attraction.

2 claims · 1 legend→

High confidence

Alcatraz Island

San Francisco, California

The Rock—federal penitentiary 1934–63, island prison since the 1850s.

2 claims · 1 legend→

High confidence

Squirrel Cage Jail

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Jail associated with documented cultural history.

2 claims · 1 legend→

1859 Jail Museum

Independence, Missouri

Jail associated with documented cultural history.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Burlington County Prison Museum

Mount Holly, New Jersey

Former county prison with museum interpretation and organized paranormal sessions.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Former Hospital

DeJarnette Sanitarium

Staunton, Virginia

Staunton landmark with a published haunting reputation.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Former Institution

Rolling Hills Asylum

East Bethany, New York

Genesee County poorhouse turned paranormal-investigation venue.

2 claims · 1 legend→

High confidence

Ohio State Reformatory

Mansfield, Ohio

The castle-like prison where The Shawshank Redemption was filmed.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Former Hospital

The Ridges (Athens Lunatic Asylum)

Kirkbride asylum campus famous for the Margaret Schilling stain.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Nevada State Prison

Carson City, Nevada

1862 prison that ran executions by gas chamber until 2012.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Former Institution

Madison Seminary

Former institution associated with documented cultural history.

2 claims · 1 legend→

High confidence

Andersonville Prison

Andersonville, Georgia

Site documented in a Ghost Research Society investigation report.

Former Jail Library

Old Noxubee County Jail

Macon, Mississippi

Former jail library in Macon; research record.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital

Morris Plains, New Jersey

The 1876 Kirkbride where Woody Guthrie was a patient—demolished 2015.

2 claims · 1 legend→

St. Elizabeths Hospital

Washington, Washington, D.C.

The federal asylum where Ezra Pound was held—and where the East Campus still stands.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Central State Hospital (Milledgeville)

Milledgeville, Georgia

At its peak, the largest psychiatric hospital in the world—~12,000 patients.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Yuma Territorial Prison

The desert prison where inmates built their own cells—and the "dark cell."

2 claims · 1 legend→

Sing Sing

Ossining, New York

"Up the river"—the Hudson prison where the Rosenbergs and 613 others died.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola)

Angola, Louisiana

"The Farm"—the plantation-prison on the bend of the Mississippi.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Carthage Jail

Carthage, Illinois

Where Joseph Smith was killed—June 27, 1844.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Undercliff Sanatorium

Meriden, Connecticut

The 1910 TB hospital on the mountain—where the "ghost children" are said to walk.

2 claims · 1 legend→

Former Institution

Pennhurst State School and Hospital

Spring City, Pennsylvania

Institution for the disabled whose 1968 exposé helped end warehousing; now a haunted attraction.

Former Hospital

Danvers State Hospital

Danvers, Massachusetts

Kirkbride asylum whose ruins starred in Session 9 before demolition.

Former Hospital

Norwich State Hospital

Preston, Connecticut

Riverside asylum campus that became an urban-exploration legend before demolition.

Former Hospital

Fairfield Hills Hospital

Newtown, Connecticut

Kirkbride campus turned town-owned municipal park with surviving tunnels.

Former Hospital

Old Hilo Memorial Hospital

Former hospital undergoing a county-led reuse project.

Courthouse Jail Museum

Lake George Historical Association Museum

Lake George, New York

Former county courthouse and jail interpreting local history and hosting ghost tours.

Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center

Waltham, Massachusetts

The "School for the Feeble-Minded"—eugenics-era institution with a brutal documented record.

DeWitt State Hospital

Auburn, California

The WWII-era hospital where hundreds of patients were sterilized—and where the truth was hidden.