Page 66 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - Late January 2019

66 26 Most Haunted Places in the U.S.

The 26 Most Haunted

Places in the U.S.

by Caitlan Morton

We know the United States as the land of
spacious skies and amber waves of grain, but it
also happens to be the land of a million ghost
stories. Take a coast-to-coast tour of the most
haunted places in America, where lingering
spirits roam through the halls of hotels,
abandoned insane asylums, Broadway theaters,
and even a city zoo.

Eastern State Penitentiary,
Philadelphia
The castle-like Eastern State
Penitentiary took solitary confinement to new
levels when it was built in 1829. Prisoners lived
alone, exercised alone, and ate alone; when an
paranormal activity. The most famous tale is the church in 1936, they unearthed bones, nails,
inmate left his cell, a guard would cover his
head with a hood so he couldn't see or be seen. that of a luminous floating orb appearing in the and tattered military uniforms near the altar,
The prison had to abandon its solitary system former garden maze of Colonel C.C. Pegues's which some believe belonged to three soldiers
due to overcrowding from 1913 until it closed in house, shortly after the colonel had been killed of the Alamo. Since the disturbing incident,
in battle. The phenomenon became known as visitors have reported shadowy figures and orbs
1970, although the forms of punishment did not
"Pegues’s Ghost," and still attracts curious in their photographs, as well as ghosts in the
get any less severe (chaining an inmate's tongue
visitors to the site today. back of the church itself. Such otherworldly
to his wrists is one example). The site now
inhabitants include a man dressed in black and
welcomes thousands of visitors every year, both
for its museum and ghost tours. Reported Pine Barrens, New Jersey figures in hooded, monk-like clothing.
paranormal happenings have included The heavily forested Pine Barrens spans
disembodied laughter, shadowy figures, and over one million acres and seven counties in Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago
pacing footsteps. New Jersey. The area thrived during the Lions, and tigers, and...ghosts? Oh my.
Colonial period, host to sawmills, paper mills, As it turns out, one of Chicago's most popular
Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, and other industries. People eventually attractions is also one of its most haunted, with
abandoned the mills and surrounding villages much more than just chimpanzees roaming the
California
when coal was discovered to the west in grounds. From the 1840s-50s, the heart of
The Winchester Mystery House might
Pennsylvania, leaving behind ghost towns— Lincoln Park served as the city cemetery,
be one the most disturbing construction projects
and, some say, a few supernatural wanderers. housing some 35,000 bodies. The cemetery was
in history. Following the death of her husband
The most popular Pine Barrens resident is eventually moved due to its proximity to the
and child, Sarah Winchester (wife of the rifle-
without a doubt the Jersey Devil. According to city's water supply, and most of the bodies—but
maker's son) was informed by a seer that her
legend, the creature was born in 1735 to not all of them—were moved along with it. If
family was killed by the ghosts of gunshot
Deborah Leeds—her thirteenth child—with you've ever seen any horror movie ever made,
victims. To keep away the vengeful spirits, she
leathery wings, a goat's head, and hooves. It you know that messing with burial grounds is
commissioned the Victorian fun house-turned-
flew up the Leeds' chimney and into the the easiest way to get haunted, and the Lincoln
macabre dwelling that you see today. Some of
Barrens, where it has reportedly been killing Park Zoo is no exception. As if walking above
the creepier features include staircases that lead
livestock—and creeping out South Jersey several thousand corpses isn't creepy enough,
directly into the ceiling, doors that open onto
residents—ever since. famed parapsychologist Ursula Bielski once
brick walls, and windows that can take you to
said of the area (in its current state): "Without a
secret passages.
St. Augustine Lighthouse, Florida doubt the most active site I’ve investigated";
The St. Augustine Lighthouse is visited and people have reported seeing ghosts there
Hotel Monte Vista, Flagstaff, Arizona
by nearly 225,000 people annually, but it is just since it opened in 150 years ago. We are sad to
Flagstaff's Hotel Monte Vista has its fair
as well-known for its otherworldly visitors. report, however, that no animal ghosts have
share of paranormal guests who have truly
Several tragic events occurred at the now- been spotted as of yet.
overstayed their welcome, including a long-
historic site that have contributed to the alleged
term boarder who had a habit of hanging raw
paranormal activity. One of the first was when Mizpah Hotel, Tonopah, Nevada
meat from the chandelier in Room 210; and two
the lighthouse keeper fell to his death while Mizpah Hotel opened in 1907 as one of
women who were thrown from the third floor,
painting the tower; his ghost has since been Nevada's first luxury hotels, complete with solid
and now attempt to asphyxiate male guests in
spotted watching over the grounds. Another granite walls and Victorian-era decor, and it was
their sleep. There's also reportedly an infant
event was the horrific death of three young girls, fully restored in 2011. But the swanky hotel has
whose disturbing cries have sent staff members
who drowned when the cart they were playing a history as blood-red as its scarlet
running upstairs from the basement. (Actor
in broke and fell into the ocean. Today, visitors furnishings—one it proudly embraces. Legend
John Wayne even once had a paranormal
claim to hear the sounds of children playing in has it that a woman died on the fifth floor, and
encounter here.) Book your stay today!
and around the lighthouse. her soul never left the building. The "Lady in
Red" now reportedly makes her presence
Cahawba, Alabama
San Fernando Cathedral, San known by whispering in men's ears and leaving
Alabama's first capital and famous ghost
Antonio, Texas pearls from her broken necklace on guests'
town takes its name from the state's longest pillows. The Mizpah honors (or capitalizes on)
The oldest church in Texas holds El
river, situated at the confluence of the Cahaba her reputation by letting visitors stay in the
Mariachi Mass on Sunday, and is a stunning
and the Alabama. It was abandoned after the
example of Gothic Revival architecture. But Lady in Red suite or order the Red Lady Bloody
Civil War, and its empty buildings, slave burial
come nightfall, you'd have to be something of a Mary at the hotel restaurant.
ground, and eerie cemeteries are now popular
daredevil to enter its myth-ridden grounds.
settings for ghost tours and stories of (Continued on Page 67)
When construction workers started renovating