7-21-18 Randolph County Asylum aka Randolph Infirmary resides down a country road in small town USA. It is a beautiful, architecturally rich abandoned poor farm.
It was a rainy, cloudy day when we arrived at the asylum. This was our second trip to this location. Randolph is one of those huge, old buildings rich in history that you just fall in love with. There was a fair going on across the street at the fairgrounds but the building has walls so thick the noise didn't really bother us.
Ted, our tour guide, told us stories from the past and gave us a walk through of the building. We learned way more information this time as Ted is the local historian. Joe, at one point during the tour, thought another investigator, Chris, was following him but turned around and nobody was there. Were the spirits checking us out?
It was a rainy, cloudy day when we arrived at the asylum. This was our second trip to this location. Randolph is one of those huge, old buildings rich in history that you just fall in love with. There was a fair going on across the street at the fairgrounds but the building has walls so thick the noise didn't really bother us.
Ted, our tour guide, told us stories from the past and gave us a walk through of the building. We learned way more information this time as Ted is the local historian. Joe, at one point during the tour, thought another investigator, Chris, was following him but turned around and nobody was there. Were the spirits checking us out?
We learned there were originally 2 buildings. The building we investigated was the second one and opened in 1899. This poor farm was a self-sustaining farm. Some of the deaths included a women named Ida who, in 1937, lost her mind and was placed into the basement room with bars on the window and hung herself on the pipes in the ceiling. John Oliver Champ resided on the 2nd Floor South side, Room 2, 86 years old, was washing the window in his room when 2 men shoved him out of the window. Willis Cowden fell out of the barn window. Flowers left in the kitchen are for resident, Doris, who spent most of her life at the Asylum, worked in the kitchen, and had a room on the second floor which is now filled with dolls, some of which are hers.
The building has a spring running through the property and a spring house sitting outside the main building, along with a bed of quartz underneath, both of which is known to aid in paranormal activity. Ted also showed us where 51 people were buried on the property.
The building has a spring running through the property and a spring house sitting outside the main building, along with a bed of quartz underneath, both of which is known to aid in paranormal activity. Ted also showed us where 51 people were buried on the property.
THE JUDGE
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After equipment set up, we headed out to the RV for a cookout on the mini grill we carry in the Hunters Bus. As night fell we anxiously awaited what activity was yet to come. Everyone was excited to explore the enormous structure.
Since we had a lot of activity in the attic on our previous visit, that was our first stop. The attic is where a resident nicknamed The Judge, held court and sentenced unruly residents, sometimes to the jail cell on the second floor. Joe and Joey saw shadow figures popping their heads around beams. They also saw a shadow arm a couple times and some blue lights. I got poked in the back which startled me a little. We heard a few noises as well. Joe knocked a shave and a hair cut and even received a response. The attic felt quite active right off the bat. We made our way down to the second floor and conducted a live Facebook video in the jail cell where The Judge may have sentenced some of his victims. We heard a male voice but couldn’t make out what he was saying. After exploring the rest of the second floor we split up in two groups. Tristan, Karen, and myself headed to the basement and Chris, Joe, and Joey stayed on the main floor. In the basement we asked for some activity and received a response on the Oviuls, a device that says words, “Soon.” Was this an ominous warning? Nothing too exciting happened so we headed outside to check out the grounds where bodies were thought to be buried and did a short EVP session. |
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EQUIPMENT DRAINED
The batteries in our camcorder were draining very fast. We kept having to switch them out while recharging the spare. Normally we go through about one and half batteries in a night. We hoped that a spirit was harnessing the energy from our batteries to make something paranormal happen.
We then went to Billy’s room on the main floor and tried out our pendulum experiment. I held a stone suspended on a chain over a mat that had various answers written on it. It is expected that the pendulum will swing to answer your question. I found it very tiresome to hold the chain and try to maintain a steady hand. In the future we are going to build something to suspend the chain so human error can be taken out of the experiment. We conducted a spirit box session also in this room. It was asked what color checkers did the resident like and it sounded like green was the response. Could he have been color blind? We made our way to a couple rooms on the main floor and conducted an EVP session, playing it back listening for a response. Chris asked what was the superintendent’s name and we received a voice that said Bobbie.
Exploring the women’s hall on the second floor we discovered two very old wheelchairs. Joe and Joey had a wheelchair race in hopes of conjuring up some fun for the spirits. We played a hymn off my phone in the woman’s chapel and I heard a male voice down the hall.
We returned to the attic to end the night, the place where the activity had begun. We used The Portal and received some responses from it. The Portal is a homemade speaker that connects to a spirit box but the noise is cut out only leaving spirit voices.
We then went to Billy’s room on the main floor and tried out our pendulum experiment. I held a stone suspended on a chain over a mat that had various answers written on it. It is expected that the pendulum will swing to answer your question. I found it very tiresome to hold the chain and try to maintain a steady hand. In the future we are going to build something to suspend the chain so human error can be taken out of the experiment. We conducted a spirit box session also in this room. It was asked what color checkers did the resident like and it sounded like green was the response. Could he have been color blind? We made our way to a couple rooms on the main floor and conducted an EVP session, playing it back listening for a response. Chris asked what was the superintendent’s name and we received a voice that said Bobbie.
Exploring the women’s hall on the second floor we discovered two very old wheelchairs. Joe and Joey had a wheelchair race in hopes of conjuring up some fun for the spirits. We played a hymn off my phone in the woman’s chapel and I heard a male voice down the hall.
We returned to the attic to end the night, the place where the activity had begun. We used The Portal and received some responses from it. The Portal is a homemade speaker that connects to a spirit box but the noise is cut out only leaving spirit voices.
Billy's Room
I SLEPT ALONE IN THE MEN'S HALLWAY
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With 3am approaching we called it a night. Joe, Joey and Tristan headed off to sleep in the RV. Chris and Karen slept on the second floor in one of the many beds set up for overnight guests, and I set up a cot in the men’s hallway and laid on my sleeping bag eyes wide awake.
I picked the Men's Hallway thinking that a women sleeping on their side of the building might elicit activity. For the first time all night I felt very creeped out. I felt like I was being watched and could hear shuffling down the hall. After about 30 minutes just as I was falling asleep I heard a loud knock on the side door to the outside. Nervously I headed that way to see if someone was there. Thank goodness nobody was at the door. I really wanted to get a couple hours of sleep and knew there was no way I could do that in the men’s hallway so I grabbed my sleeping bag and camped out on the couch in the front room. It was an improvement but I still did not sleep well. I heard a woman’s voice and many noises in the distance. Little did I know after evidence review of the static IR camera that was pointed on me while I was trying to sleep, we caught some unusual anomalies. Here is my live Facebook video of my sleeping arrangements before I attempted to sleep alone in that creepy, dark hallway. LIVE VIDEO READY FOR BED |
Men's Hallway first floor
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Here is a video I filmed the next morning after a restless night of sleep.
We have only just begun evidence review of all our video and audio footage. Here is a clip when I was attempting to sleep in the Men's Hall. The hallway is completely dark, the camera is recording in night vision. Three things happen in a span of six minutes. First you see a round, white anomaly on the floor on the right side (03:08:04), then you see the same anomaly on the floor in the middle (03:08:31), then something that appears as a black line shoots from right to left in a spit second (03:14:50). We are not saying this is paranormal but it is strange. The white anomalies could be dust but the dust and bugs we have been seeing on playback are in the air not on the floor. The black line could possibly be a camera glitch but in all the hundreds of hours of footage we have reviewed why did the camera malfunction at this particular time.
Most people will probably debunk these videos but I know how I felt lying in the hall alone in the pitch black. It felt like someone was watching me. I heard feet shuffling down the hall in the same direction as the anomalies and left the hallway after I heard a knock on the door shortly after these videos were recorded. I know something was in the Men's Hallway with me that night.
Most people will probably debunk these videos but I know how I felt lying in the hall alone in the pitch black. It felt like someone was watching me. I heard feet shuffling down the hall in the same direction as the anomalies and left the hallway after I heard a knock on the door shortly after these videos were recorded. I know something was in the Men's Hallway with me that night.
Here are the clips slowed down.
Here is a screen shot of the black line that shot across the screen.
Randolph Infirmary did not disappoint. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite buildings to investigate. The addition of a historian for the guided tour was excellent. We learned so much this time around and dispelled some stories we heard previously.
There is a kitchen with a refrigerator and coffee pot. The second floor had many, many beds to sleep on for an overnight stay. One of the rooms even had an air conditioner. There is electricity throughout the building and a working bathroom. To book your overnight stay check out their website.
There is a kitchen with a refrigerator and coffee pot. The second floor had many, many beds to sleep on for an overnight stay. One of the rooms even had an air conditioner. There is electricity throughout the building and a working bathroom. To book your overnight stay check out their website.