I just wanted to share some videos, pictures and history after recently visiting Northern State Mental Hospital with the lady friend. I haven't seen
anything paranormal in any of the videos or pictures I took, but it seems the Ghost Hunters TAPS guys did a show there at one point and found some
creepy stuff that I will add to the thread. I know the camera isn't great but I think you can at least get a feel for how creepy parts of the grounds
are. To be fair, we did not go to the main buildings that at this time are still occupied, but we did sneak past the dairy farm and into some
dorms/other buildings without security catching us.
Northern State Mental Hospital was completed in December of 1912. It housed mental patients and allowed them to work in areas like farming, printing
and dairy. This actually helped the Hospital maintain itself fairly well. The hospital was known for treating inhabitants much more progressively
than most similar facilities. If you visit my sources you can read more about some of the staff and more new age treatments.
Despite all that good news, Northern state was also the first place to experiment with the transorbital lobotomy. This was rather controversial at
the time, and the procedure was performed by a Dr. Jones along with Dr. Walter Freemen.
The most common hauntings reported are those of a little girl with a red ball, a trickster ghost named Fred and a man that seems to be searching for
the little girl. There are also a number of reports of cold spots, people feeling they are being grabbed or strangled and strange audio/visual
hallucinations. One source also claimed it was possible to view a dead body hanging in a window.
I'm going to start with the pictures because quite frankly they are better than the videos my camera can shoot.
This was in a rather odd spot and I was wondering if someone could tell me if the King of Clubs is used in some
circles dealing with the paranormal. Some sort of ritual perhaps? It was probably nothing but still stuck out as
odd and the card was in excellent shape.
Here is the graveyard, no markers and it was also strangely quiet.
This first video is our approach from the little gravel parking area. As we were walking up we saw some people wearing all black capes (there was a
renaissance fair nearby) bolt out of one of the buildings and take off fairly quickly. It was a bit surprising, and of course I failed to get it on
video!
The second and third videos are of some of the facilities out near the farm area. One of the buildings I was in appeared to be used at one time for
milking cows, though with the fairly steep steps outside I'm a bit unsure how they got the cows in and out. The Other buildings seemed to be some
sort of stables. There was a fair amount of graffiti, most of it about ghosts and being cautious etc.
This last video still gives me the creeps, which is very rare for me. We walked into this building and there was a very peculiar odor. Still can't
really explain it. Almost sweet with a little bit of ammonia or something. Near that sheet that's hanging it smelled strongly of sulfur. This was
the only building that had no pigeons inside and was much more quiet than the other areas. My lady friend wouldn't actually come more than a foot
into this building and the hairs on the back of my neck were standing straight up. She finally pointed out that rope you see hanging from the
rafters. I got a bit of it on video, then turned off the camera and walked up to it. The rope looked fairly old, had some mildew and I do have to
wonder if someone used it to kill themselves. I couldn't find anything in the local papers. Pardon the Spike Lee angles lol!
Here are a few more vids of the place, the first being the reveal on Ghost Hunters. The last few are not from me but I figured I might as well add
them too!
If you see anything you think I missed don't hesitate to point it out! I will come back tomorrow and post a few of the ghost stories I got from the
locals. I have 3 on tape and one in the memory. I plan on going up again in the next month or two at night with some better cameras and a few more
people. I need to get farther into the facility. Will keep posted!
Exploring old mental asylums and abandoned buildings is for sure a ton of fun. That thing looks like an old furnace, probably to heat the (some
portion of) building(s). If you're goal is to capture something paranormal, you will most likely have better results if you go in the middle of the
night. Looks like a sweet place though!
Yeah It looks like there is definitely a place to light a fire inside it, only thing is that area is REALLY small. Just a little room with a
'DEATH' hole lol.
Looks a creepy place tho, thanks for sharing Although I've never been to an abandoned mental facility, I've been in a few derelict buildings
and they certainly have an eeriness about them.
Those are some nice pictures, I just wish you had caught something (and I assume you wish you did as well). It does seem like a creepy place. Nice
job!
It actually reminded me of the Saw movies, the second one I believe, where the guy has to get the needle with the antidote in the back of a similar
furnace, and is burned to death. Especially eerie how in the same room, DEATH is written above what could be a glory hole
Great pics, I'd love to explore a place like that.
I had a quick look about playing card history with the occult and came across this site. I'm not sure what to make of it really, or how accurate it
is, but in this context it adds to the creepiness.
The King card represents the enemy of God, the devil. The Ten spot represents the spirit of lawlessness and is in direct opposition to the Ten
Commandments of the Bible. Closely associated with the ten spot is the Club card. When cards were invented the club was the weapon of the murderer. In
those days there were no revolvers or machine guns. The Club card stands for murder.
Oh wow I appreciate you looking that up! Seeing that card on the ground, in perfect condition seemed a bit strange. Perhaps someone was just playing
cards in the middle of nowhere but it seemed like it had been placed. Thanks!
Very creepy place i love the photos ! I would love to go and explore one of these Mental Hospitals there has to be alot of restless souls still
roaming those old buildings and halls..This is a great thread S&F
If anyone is interested in these hospitals, you have to go to the one in Traverse City, MI. I'm not sure if it's still there but I went a few years
ago and it was totally creepy. Much like the one in the OP, this one has old buildings. Some of them are being used as government offices and there
is(or was) a fancy restaurant in the basement.
We took some pictures when we were there and I swear you could see figures in the windows. I've been meaning to post them but it was about 5 years
ago and the picture got stored somewhere.
Domo1 you may enjoy checking out the magazine and other publications put out by the guys behind 'Weird New Jersey'. They share pics & stories of
many odd old places. They had a TV show for a while based on the same theme. As the years have gone by they've covered more and more areas. What
helps make their publications fun is they encourage people to share their photos and stories, so there is a never-ending flow of material. Pretty
entertaining, overall.
I saw the picture of the King of clubs. This was very interesting to me because for a while I have been studying how they use a normal deck of cards
as tarot cards. The meaning of the King of Clubs when it is 'up' means Dark useful man and when 'reversed' it means a sick dark man.Either way
this gives me the chills...because both of that has a dark man in its meaning. Thanks for sharing the pictures.
I've always been interested in Urban Exploring and I am determined to do it someday! The only thing is theres not any places around where I live to
do it, apart from and old hospital which there is no entrances to
Yikes that's a little creepy. Thanks for the info! The card seemed very obviously out of place and I figured it might have been used for some sort
of ritual or something.