Places of Interest
Places of Interest
Have a place you think is worth looking into?
Searcy Hosptial
Location:
Mount Vernon, AL
History:
The area at which Searcy Hospital is located was founded in 1828, has housed Geronimo, civil war militias, and Dr. Walter Reed and African American mental patients when it was the Mount Vernon Asylum for the Colored Insane, later renamed the Searcy Hospital, throughout its lifetime. The site was abandoned in 2012 after its closure.
It is one of two still standing, out of fourteen, original arsenals in this country. The place is literally being reclaimed by nature, and buildings are collapsing and/or being torn down by tornados.
In 1900, Alabama legislature established a mental health facility in Mount Vernon, as a hospital for the relief of another facility in another city. It opened its doors in 1902 as the “Mount Vernon Insane Hospital”. It was renamed as “Searcy Hospital” in 1919 in honor of Dr. Searcy, the first superintendent. In the beginning of the hospital's long history, it was originally a hospital for the colored insane. It served African Americans exclusively until 1969, when it was desegregated following the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
By 2010, Searcy Hospital had approximately 400 extended-care beds and 124
intermediate-care beds for those with severe mental illness. It served the
southern one-third of the population of Alabama. It closed in 2012 due to a
decision made by the Alabama Department of Mental Health to transition all but
its forensic and geriatric patients to community-based treatment.
Significant Deaths:
In 1906, 57 patients died during an outbreak of disease in the hospital. At first, the disease was a mystery. Later on, it was identified as a major outbreak of pellagra. This outbreak only affected the patients and spared the staff. Pellagra is caused by a vitamin deficiency, meaning the patients were given poor diets during their stay at the hospital.
NOTE: This area is under constant surveillance and is continually guarded by security. No one is allowed without prior approval.
South Pittsburg Hospital
Location:
Pittsburg, TN
History:
There is a natural spring that runs underneath the hospital, running to the Northwest region of the Tennessee River. About an eighth of a mile away from the hospital, it is said that a ferry transported soldiers from the North and the South to the region so that they could make it to the battlefield known as “Chickamauga”. Limestone is also present in the geography of the area.
In 1778 A native tribe known as the “Chiaha” used to inhabit the land where the hospital now stands. They lived, hunted, and thrived there. During the Civil war, the tribe permitted soldiers from the North to use a section of land behind the Old South Pittsburg Hospital to store supplies such as artillery. Eventually, soldiers of the South got wind of this and launched an assault. Northern soldiers, members of the “Chiaha tribe, and even members of the “Cherokee” tribe, were killed.
In 1863, the union reclaimed the land until the end of the Civil War.
Throughout its history, many many many paranormal claims have been made. I
would rather not post the claims here, nor read about the claims myself, because
I do not want to create an “Investigative Bias” for when we do eventually
investigate this site.
What I mean by “Investigative Bias is this:
If we already know what the claims are and about what phenomena happens, especially in specific areas of the site, then more than likely the group will only focus on those claims.
If we go in “blind” so to speak, we can collect pure footage without presumptions instead of specifically looking for the claimed activity. Not saying that we should go in completely blind. At least one person, at most two, should familiarize themselves with any claims so that during the "Post-Investigation" procedure we can compare and contrast collected experiences against the claims and reported events.