Haunted Asylums

Are you interested in learning about some of the most haunted asylums in the world that you've never heard about? Read on to learn about obscure insane asylums and haunted hospitals.

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Maybe you've already heard about all of the ghosts that have haunted Michigan, Georgia, California or haunted asylums in numerous other states, but there are a few haunted hospitals that you've probably never heard about. Many of these haunted asylums are not publicly promoted as haunted hospitals. However, based on the tragic history of these locations, these locations could likely house paranormal happenings.

The Agnews Insane Asylum, located in San Jose California, is now owned by Sun Microsystems and known as "Sun Microsystems/Agnews Developmental Center". The State of California built the Agnews Residential Facility in 1885 as a place for treating mentally ill patients, instead of housing them with criminals or in hospitals with sick and dying patients as was the practice prior to 1885. Angnews was one of the first California hospitals set up for the sole purpose of housing mental patients, and did it successfully for twenty one years. However, in 1906, a terrible tragedy struck the area as a tremendous earthquake shook the ground all around the local area. This terrible event marked one of California's greatest loss of life in a single incident when the main treatment building, including the clock tower, collapsed and killed the 112 residents and staff who were inside. Today, thanks to efforts and funding from Sun Microsystems and local historic groups, the potentially haunted hospital is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The buildings are all restored, and the museum, cemetery and monument to the victims are open to the public. The tragic history of this location suggests that it may be yet another hospital that's haunted in California.

Mental hospitals throughout the United States were not always used to house legitimately insane individuals. The classification of mental illness has advanced significantly through the years, and what people considered as "mentally ill" back in the 1800s might not be considered as such today. Some reasons for "institutionalizing" people back during the early 1800s included alcoholism, depression, women in menopause, racism against individuals of other cultures, or for disobeying husbands or fathers. Taking this into consideration, as well as the fact that "treatment" for mental illness in most of these facilities consisted of some of the worst forms of torture imaginable, it's not inconceivable to consider that these buildings housed individuals who suffered from emotional pain and trauma that most people today could hardly imagine. And as many ghost hunters today recognize, buildings where people suffered under tremendous psychological pain and sorrow often turn out to be a haunted. For that reason, the following hospitals make the list of the "most likely to be haunted asylums" in the country.

• Colorado State Hospital for the Insane
• Colorado State Reformatory
• Delaware State Hospital for the Insane
• South Idaho Insane Asylum
• West Virginia State Hospital For Colored Insane
• West Virginia Penitentiary
• Wisconsin Clark County Insane Asylum
• Wisconsin La Crosse County Insane Asylum
• Wisconsin State Reformatory
• Wyoming U.S. Veterans Hospital

Yet another potentially haunted asylum that a number of entities most surely call home is the Central State Hospital in Indianapolis. This enormous mental hospital was built in 1848, but at the time it was just a single brick building housing only five people. By 1928, the structure and the residential population exploded into a patient count of over three thousand residents. Unfortunately, the facility also housed individuals classified as "criminally insane". This probably didn't provide much of a calm or therapeutic environment for patients suffering from less severe psychological issues. Throughout the early 1900s, the facility became a central treatment facility for the State's mentally ill, with many buildings stretching out over a large acreage. A few patients who died at the facility were buried in unmarked graves, and an additional small cemetery was located at one corner of the property. No one is really certain how many additional unmarked graves exist on the property. Adding the fact that there were a number of claims of patient abuse during the later years, it stands to reason that paranormal hauntings could occur on this property, even though staff at the Indiana Medical History Museum deny that there are any ghosts at the facility.

There are thousands of potentially haunted hospitals throughout the world, and most of them remain unreported. Museum or hospital staff may experience paranormal phenomena, but are afraid to report them because of the stigma associated with such reports and the potential for the sort of unwanted attention that those sort of public reports can bring. However, the fact remains that there are many more haunted asylums in existence than people realize. Are there any mental hospitals that are haunted in your state? Write about them in the comments below!

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