Thursday, October 19, 2006
This third update from Alton will focus on the Underground Railroad with a few words on a couple of other hauntings, and a few more pictures.
The Underground Railroad provided a means for escaped slaves to go north and become free men. The penalty for harboring an escaped slave was death, either by tarring and feathering or hanging. The secret rooms where these escaped slaves were hidden were dark, depressing places. I have visited several of these hiding places consisting mostly of brick, concrete and stone with no toilets.
Men, women and children were hidden in these small rooms and had to remain completely silent. Any noises could lead to their discovery which many times would mean death or at least a severe beating and then being send back to the slave pens. They were fed whatever scraps the host family could spare, which sometimes was not much.
A picture of one of the many Underground Railroad hiding places; this particular one is in the basement of the old Enos Tuberculosis Sanitarium.
The notorious McPike Mansion. The classic looking haunted house. This home is currently condemned so no visitors are allowed to investigate inside the house. The current owners are in the process of renovating the building and converting it into a bed and breakfast. In the wine cellars of this house a smoke cloud followed the current owner and was captured on video. I’ve seen it; it’s incredible!!
518 South. This home is a restaurant today. The strange happenings involve a particular table in the front left side of the house in which I had the privilege of eating dinner. Things disappear from the table which also has been seen levitating. At one time this place was a funeral home and at least one person has committed suicide in the house. Where? You guessed it; right where the levitating table sits today. On the night I was there nothing happened but the food was excellent. Maybe I will get a chance to spend the night here. HINT! HINT!
The Historic Hampton Mansion designed by the famous local architect Lucas J. Pfeiffenberger, who also designed the Fulkerson House, the Cheney Mansion and several other homes in the 1800's.
The William Fulkerson House is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in historic Jerseyville, IL, it is the twin to the Cheney Mansion, in which I have conducted two investigations.
A Shrek sighting and a view of the remains of the old Confederate Prison
The Confederate Cemetery
The Enos Tuberculosis Sanitorium. The third floor of this building was added to treat Tuberculosis (TB) patients who died at the rate of 100 per year. During this time the only treatment for TB was plenty of sunshine and food. Needless to say many people lived in agony on this third floor.
This building was also part of the Underground Railroad. On the roof is a turret room in which the residents could signal across the Mississippi River when it was safe to enter the city to hide more people.
Today it is an apartment building where residents hear furniture moving and people talking, moaning and screaming on the third floor, when the third floor is vacant. One night a bottle of wine vanished from a kitchen table only to be found hours later in a different room of the apartment.
A view of the turret rooftop
The infamous "Devil Face Photo" taken at the Milton School in 2004. Upon first viewing this picture within our camera displays, it looked liked a white angry face but when we blew up this picture at home on a large monitor it seemed to be just paint on the back wall. The insert on the lower left shows the picture as we saw it on our camera displays. Special thanks to AndyR for creating the insert.
We sent it to the touring company and asked them to check that wall. After the next tour they checked it out and told us there is no paint or white wash on this back wall. So now we don't quite know what to make of it.
Because of this we now wait to view all photos on a larger monitor at a higher resolution before passing judgement. You be the judge: devil face or something on the far wall?
Stay tuned, more to come tomorrow.........
The Underground Railroad provided a means for escaped slaves to go north and become free men. The penalty for harboring an escaped slave was death, either by tarring and feathering or hanging. The secret rooms where these escaped slaves were hidden were dark, depressing places. I have visited several of these hiding places consisting mostly of brick, concrete and stone with no toilets.
Men, women and children were hidden in these small rooms and had to remain completely silent. Any noises could lead to their discovery which many times would mean death or at least a severe beating and then being send back to the slave pens. They were fed whatever scraps the host family could spare, which sometimes was not much.
A picture of one of the many Underground Railroad hiding places; this particular one is in the basement of the old Enos Tuberculosis Sanitarium.
The notorious McPike Mansion. The classic looking haunted house. This home is currently condemned so no visitors are allowed to investigate inside the house. The current owners are in the process of renovating the building and converting it into a bed and breakfast. In the wine cellars of this house a smoke cloud followed the current owner and was captured on video. I’ve seen it; it’s incredible!!
518 South. This home is a restaurant today. The strange happenings involve a particular table in the front left side of the house in which I had the privilege of eating dinner. Things disappear from the table which also has been seen levitating. At one time this place was a funeral home and at least one person has committed suicide in the house. Where? You guessed it; right where the levitating table sits today. On the night I was there nothing happened but the food was excellent. Maybe I will get a chance to spend the night here. HINT! HINT!
The Historic Hampton Mansion designed by the famous local architect Lucas J. Pfeiffenberger, who also designed the Fulkerson House, the Cheney Mansion and several other homes in the 1800's.
The William Fulkerson House is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in historic Jerseyville, IL, it is the twin to the Cheney Mansion, in which I have conducted two investigations.
A Shrek sighting and a view of the remains of the old Confederate Prison
The Confederate Cemetery
The Enos Tuberculosis Sanitorium. The third floor of this building was added to treat Tuberculosis (TB) patients who died at the rate of 100 per year. During this time the only treatment for TB was plenty of sunshine and food. Needless to say many people lived in agony on this third floor.
This building was also part of the Underground Railroad. On the roof is a turret room in which the residents could signal across the Mississippi River when it was safe to enter the city to hide more people.
Today it is an apartment building where residents hear furniture moving and people talking, moaning and screaming on the third floor, when the third floor is vacant. One night a bottle of wine vanished from a kitchen table only to be found hours later in a different room of the apartment.
A view of the turret rooftop
The infamous "Devil Face Photo" taken at the Milton School in 2004. Upon first viewing this picture within our camera displays, it looked liked a white angry face but when we blew up this picture at home on a large monitor it seemed to be just paint on the back wall. The insert on the lower left shows the picture as we saw it on our camera displays. Special thanks to AndyR for creating the insert.
We sent it to the touring company and asked them to check that wall. After the next tour they checked it out and told us there is no paint or white wash on this back wall. So now we don't quite know what to make of it.
Because of this we now wait to view all photos on a larger monitor at a higher resolution before passing judgement. You be the judge: devil face or something on the far wall?
Stay tuned, more to come tomorrow.........
Labels: Paranormal Investigations, Pictures
posted by DarthImmortal at 8:20 AM
1 Comments:
It certainly looks like you had another wonderful adventure.
I would love to see the McPike Mansion video of the smoke cloud. Hopefully the owners of this building will keep in mind the personality of this building, while doing the renovations. It will be a great bed and breakfast to visit once it is complete.
Looking forward to tomorrows update.
Post a Comment
<< Home