Call me crazy.
Why would anyone want to walk and roam the halls of the 2nd largest stone cut building in the world with the lights out?
We rented out the entire old hospital in Weston West Virginia for two nights in 2011. It was called the Weston State Hospital in 1913 but has now reverted back to the original name: the Trans - Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Each night, we packed in ghosthunters, skeptics and wanna believers who all admired the architecture, history and ghost stories. Most hoped something of the paranormal sort would happen, and to some, it did!
Darrin and Danielle did not expect to have it happen to them but it did. It occurred on a day time tour! Darrin and Danielle both felt as if "something" moved thru them when they took the history tour at TALA before our private ghosthunt there on Friday the 13th of May 2011. It happened at the same time and caught them both off guard.
Why investigate this building? Come on! Looking at the history alone, one can almost imagine what kind of energy has been left behind here. Lobotomies, electro shock therapies, insulin therapy, and cold water immersion? The list goes on and on.
The hospital structure was begun in 1858 using prison labor and eventually the help of European stone masons. Construction was halted during the American Civil War for almost a year. The final stage was completed in 1881 but patients had already begun arriving in 1864. The first patients were several housewives from Ohio. Hmmm....
The hospital was originally built to house about 250 and ended up blowing that number away by 1950 with around 2400 taking up residence. The hospitals original grounds were 666 acres. Yes.... 666.. The hospital had its own dairy farm, gas well, water supply and its very own cemetery. It was all intended to make the hospital self sufficient and it pretty much did.
The hospital building commands your attention.
It was designed by the renowned architect Richard Andrews following the Kirkbride plan, which called for long rambling wings arranged in a staggered formation, assuring that each of the connecting structures received an abundance of therapeutic sunlight and fresh air. The Kirkbride plan influenced the construction of over 300 similar facilities throughout North America. Other Kirkbride buildings include the Athens Lunatic Asylum in Athens Ohio, Columbus State Hospital, Danville (PA) State Hospital and the Maryland State Hospital for the Insane to name a few.
Weston State Hospital aka TALA
On our July 16th 2011 hunt at TALA, one participant was thrilled to get her first "ghost voice" or EVP on tape. Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP can be captured on audio tape, which means video recorders and voice recorders. She emailed me this:
" I've not gotten through my pictures yet, but I started listening to my audio (not all the way through all of them yet either). My FIRST recording, where I had walked in on a group doing a light session in the children's ward, I got something that literally made me go "Ho-Lee Shit!" (pardon my .... not french). During the session the guy who was asking questions was talking. Over that, you hear a male (sounded about 20 years old) say "Go away. Please leave me alone". The recording was no one in the group!"
Needless to say, this was just one of the many EVPs captured on our ghosthunt at the old hospital.
Why would anyone want to walk and roam the halls of the 2nd largest stone cut building in the world with the lights out?
Darrin and Danielle did not expect to have it happen to them but it did. It occurred on a day time tour! Darrin and Danielle both felt as if "something" moved thru them when they took the history tour at TALA before our private ghosthunt there on Friday the 13th of May 2011. It happened at the same time and caught them both off guard.
The hospital structure was begun in 1858 using prison labor and eventually the help of European stone masons. Construction was halted during the American Civil War for almost a year. The final stage was completed in 1881 but patients had already begun arriving in 1864. The first patients were several housewives from Ohio. Hmmm....
Some of the faces carved by irish immigrants on the wall outside the Civil War section
The hospital was originally built to house about 250 and ended up blowing that number away by 1950 with around 2400 taking up residence. The hospitals original grounds were 666 acres. Yes.... 666.. The hospital had its own dairy farm, gas well, water supply and its very own cemetery. It was all intended to make the hospital self sufficient and it pretty much did.
The famous clock tower. One side does not have a clock face so workers could not look up and see what time it was while they were hard at work!
The hospital building commands your attention.
It was designed by the renowned architect Richard Andrews following the Kirkbride plan, which called for long rambling wings arranged in a staggered formation, assuring that each of the connecting structures received an abundance of therapeutic sunlight and fresh air. The Kirkbride plan influenced the construction of over 300 similar facilities throughout North America. Other Kirkbride buildings include the Athens Lunatic Asylum in Athens Ohio, Columbus State Hospital, Danville (PA) State Hospital and the Maryland State Hospital for the Insane to name a few.
On our July 16th 2011 hunt at TALA, one participant was thrilled to get her first "ghost voice" or EVP on tape. Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP can be captured on audio tape, which means video recorders and voice recorders. She emailed me this:
" I've not gotten through my pictures yet, but I started listening to my audio (not all the way through all of them yet either). My FIRST recording, where I had walked in on a group doing a light session in the children's ward, I got something that literally made me go "Ho-Lee Shit!" (pardon my .... not french). During the session the guy who was asking questions was talking. Over that, you hear a male (sounded about 20 years old) say "Go away. Please leave me alone". The recording was no one in the group!"
Needless to say, this was just one of the many EVPs captured on our ghosthunt at the old hospital.
One of the paranormally active areas in the hospital. Children's voices have been recorded here when no kids are present. People have placed toys and balls in this room as trigger objects.
The Medical Center building
This is the location of the Morgue
Inside the morgue area
We look forward to more investigations in this grand old building in 2012.
You'd be crazy not to.
Awesome article and cool pictures. We recently toured the asylum and had an interesting experience. Here's a link to an article and pictures about our visit: http://www.daniellemcginnis.com/2012/10/we-spent-weekend-at-trans-allegheny.html
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