ASHMORE ESTATES
April 5-6, 2012
HISTORY
Ashmore Estates, built in 1916, is located in Ashmore, Illinois. From 1916-1956 it was called the Coles County Almshouse or "poor farm" which housed the elderly, alcoholics, homeless, and over flow from the state mental institution, and was the site of many deaths. The third floor housed the worse of the worse. From 1956-1976 it was a private psychiatric facility. In 1976 it was called an Immediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled and closed in 1987 due to lack of funding. The building has sat vacant until 2006 when it began to be used as a haunted house other than in 1998 when an owner attempted to renovate the building into a private residence failing due to vandalism.
Ashmore Estates, built in 1916, is located in Ashmore, Illinois. From 1916-1956 it was called the Coles County Almshouse or "poor farm" which housed the elderly, alcoholics, homeless, and over flow from the state mental institution, and was the site of many deaths. The third floor housed the worse of the worse. From 1956-1976 it was a private psychiatric facility. In 1976 it was called an Immediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled and closed in 1987 due to lack of funding. The building has sat vacant until 2006 when it began to be used as a haunted house other than in 1998 when an owner attempted to renovate the building into a private residence failing due to vandalism.
CLAIMS
Full body apparitions are seen including a little girl named Elva Skinner who died in a fire at Ashmore in 1880 in a previous building on the property, a man in a top hat called Kentucky Joe, an apparition called Jumper who was a doctor who jumped out of a window to his death, and a woman in white roaming the halls. (What haunted building doesn't have a woman in white!)
Ghost Adventures filmed an episode at Ashmore. Here are some of the experiences they had. During a spirit box session in the first floor corridor they heard a spirit identify himself as "Adam". When asked how did you die, this spirit laughed. Nick climbed up a ladder leading to the attic and saw something coming toward him. They also heard sounds on the ladder as if something was coming down it. They heard various banging noises, particularly in a storage room on the second floor where they caught on camera a dark shadow figure coming out of the room. Zak also had his leg grabbed near this room. While in the room, Zak said "Throw it at my head" and received a response that said "You're gonna pay." While Nick was in the basement/boiler room he had a hard time breathing and was scratched. He caught an EVP that said "I'll cut you" and "Don't bring that *** down here." Aaron was in the third floor stairwell. He made a whistling noise and got an EVP that said "stop playing."
On October 30, 2009, a meteorologist named Kevin Orput was filming a segment for a local television station with a group of paranormal believers and a group of skeptics. He had an experience there that will haunt him for the rest of his life. At the second floor nurse's station about 4am Mr. Orput suddenly woke on the ground lying on his shoulder/side. He believes "something" lifted/pushed him to the ground. Afterward he was agitated and not himself for days. The Ghost Adventures crew interviewed him at the location of his experience and he still appeared shaken. They think this was a demonic attack. Here is Kevin Orput's account in his own words.
Doing some research on Elva Skinner, I came across a blog article that gives a lot of information about Elva here.
Full body apparitions are seen including a little girl named Elva Skinner who died in a fire at Ashmore in 1880 in a previous building on the property, a man in a top hat called Kentucky Joe, an apparition called Jumper who was a doctor who jumped out of a window to his death, and a woman in white roaming the halls. (What haunted building doesn't have a woman in white!)
Ghost Adventures filmed an episode at Ashmore. Here are some of the experiences they had. During a spirit box session in the first floor corridor they heard a spirit identify himself as "Adam". When asked how did you die, this spirit laughed. Nick climbed up a ladder leading to the attic and saw something coming toward him. They also heard sounds on the ladder as if something was coming down it. They heard various banging noises, particularly in a storage room on the second floor where they caught on camera a dark shadow figure coming out of the room. Zak also had his leg grabbed near this room. While in the room, Zak said "Throw it at my head" and received a response that said "You're gonna pay." While Nick was in the basement/boiler room he had a hard time breathing and was scratched. He caught an EVP that said "I'll cut you" and "Don't bring that *** down here." Aaron was in the third floor stairwell. He made a whistling noise and got an EVP that said "stop playing."
On October 30, 2009, a meteorologist named Kevin Orput was filming a segment for a local television station with a group of paranormal believers and a group of skeptics. He had an experience there that will haunt him for the rest of his life. At the second floor nurse's station about 4am Mr. Orput suddenly woke on the ground lying on his shoulder/side. He believes "something" lifted/pushed him to the ground. Afterward he was agitated and not himself for days. The Ghost Adventures crew interviewed him at the location of his experience and he still appeared shaken. They think this was a demonic attack. Here is Kevin Orput's account in his own words.
Doing some research on Elva Skinner, I came across a blog article that gives a lot of information about Elva here.
INVESTIGATORS PRESENT
Joe, Cyndi, Joey, and Austin from our group. Brenda and Ruben as guest investigators.
EVIDENCE
The theme of the night seemed to be music. We had a lot of action in the Music Room and later in the night got an audio clip confirming the theme of music.
AUDIO
The theme of the night seemed to be music. We had a lot of action in the Music Room and later in the night got an audio clip confirming the theme of music.
AUDIO
This audio clip is pretty clear and sounds like a female voice.
This was taken on the third floor. We brought a ball that lights up when moved. We got a big spike on the Mel-Meter and K2 meter. Unfortunately, we did not get this on video.
On the first floor you can hear what sounds like someone singing at the end of the clip.
We are in the Music Room and you can hear the strings on the piano making sounds, as if a spirit is trying to play it.
This clip was taken in the boiler room at the end of the night and summed up the theme of Music. This is a ghost app device which we do not usually think is paranormal but we also got a spike on the Mel-Meter at the same time.
VIDEO
This video clip was taken on the third floor. There is a child spirit thought to reside here named Elva. The K2 meter goes off to questions.
This video clip was taken on the third floor. There is a child spirit thought to reside here named Elva. The K2 meter goes off to questions.
This video clip was taken in the Music Room. Does the spirit like piano music?
This video clip was taken in The Music Room. The camera is tilted so the flashlight on the piano bench and two K2 meters (one on the piano and one on the floor) are all in the picture. The flashlight did not move for 15 min. prior to this clip. We ask the spirit to make a sound. Sorry, the audio is not very good.
This video clip was taken with a stationary IR camera on the second floor. Notice the shadow at the end of the hall.
PHOTO
The first photo was taken in the Music Room while we were getting a lot of activity with the K2 and flashlight. Notice the orb on the bottom right. In the next picture it is gone. The light on the right side is the Mel-Meter. It is an interesting photo but may not be paranormal.
The first photo was taken in the Music Room while we were getting a lot of activity with the K2 and flashlight. Notice the orb on the bottom right. In the next picture it is gone. The light on the right side is the Mel-Meter. It is an interesting photo but may not be paranormal.
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Various photos taken during our investigation.
HAUNTED HUMOR
Nothing paranormal, only humorous investigators.
This clip is not one of Cyndi's finest moments but it sure is funny. Joe, Cyndi, and Joey are meeting up with Brenda and Ruben at command center. Ruben gets a K2 spike and the ghost app says "funny" just before Austin scares her to death. Did the spirit know what was coming?
In this clip Joe is trying to bribe Joey into investigating the attic.
Joe is impersonating the ghost app device in this clip.
TIPS AND DIRECTIONS
We stayed in Charleston, only about 10 minutes away, at the Days Inn. Nice hotel and cheap although we weren't there for long.
Ashmore Estates is located at 22645 E CR 1050N, Ashmore, IL. Take I-57 to the Mattoon exit and go East. You will drive through Charleston, then outside of town you can see the building on the left. UPDATE as of 7/2013, the building was damaged in a tornado and has been sold. Read about it here. UPDATE as of 11/2013 Ashmore is back in business for overnight investigations and flashlight tours. Check it out here.
Special thanks to Scott Kelley for letting us investigate Ashmore Estates.