Post by TeKtonik on Jan 31, 2006 15:22:38 GMT -6
During my many exploits chasing after ghosts and the like, I’ve rarely encountered anything that I find “unexplainable”, save for the stray evp capture, etc. One location, above all others I’ve visited, including places like Glenbeulah Cemetary, The Paulding Mystery Lights, The Ruins of Summerwind, and many others, has produced things that have flat out scared me on more than one occasion. That location is The Wood County Asylum, (listed as “old county hospital” on this site) or as locals know it: “Norwood”.
Before I get into any of my personal experiences, I’d like to give a little background on the hospital, as few people have even heard of this location, and even fewer know its history. All the information I have is taken directly from microfilms of central Wisconsin newspapers, it isn’t simply word-of-mouth or lore, it is documented history. Where I am right now however, I don’t have direct access to the copies of the microfilms. However, if anyone is interested, post a reply and I’ll send you a list of what I have available. So, In short, the things I am listing right now are strictly from memory so I apologize for not having dates available. Also, I assure you there is much more information I have available, so I will be posting a follow-up when I have a chance.
Just interesting tidbits:
-The hospital was constructed at the beginning of the last century (1911?) to house the incurably insane
-Much of the Hospital’s food/clothing/supplies were made by the inmates themselves. There is a large barn across the road that used to be part of a large farming operation. At that time, farm work was considered an acceptable form of rehabilitation, to make the patients useful to society. After a few mishaps crossing the busy highway in front of the hospital, a tunnel over 1000 feet long was created underground from the basement of the hospital to the farm (yes, I have been in the tunnel). It is speculated that even when a patient was “cured”, they were too valuable to the farming operation to be released, so they were deemed continually insane, and forced to live/work in the hospital.
-The basement of the hospital contains a chapel, morgue, bowling alley, and other curious rooms, all with labeled doors. All of the hallways in the basement only have doors until a certain point, then a section with no doors, then a dead-end. This was to insure that any patients attempting to escape through the basement could be easily cornered.
-The upper 3 floors of the building contain all of the patient rooms, employee and superintendent’s quarters, a vast attic, various drug dispensaries, and other rooms.
-It is now owned by the adjacent recycling center, and the grounds as well as various parts of the first floor are completely covered with junk
-A strange death occurred early on in the hospitals span of service: There was a patient that believed that he was on the level of a god, and was in constant pursuit of his arch-nemesis, Satan. He believed that he possessed immortality and had the ability to create/destroy life. This particular patient was assigned to shovel coal into the great boiler (which is connected to the main building by tunnel) that heated the hospital as part of his rehabilitation, under the supervision of a fireman. Convinced that Satan was within the hospital’s boiler, he through himself into the flames and burned to death before the attendee could save him.
-In the 1960’s, an orderly was fired for various reasons including the physical/sexual abuse of patients. He was later arrested for murder in another state. He convinced to 6 total murders, two of which occurred while he was employed at Norwood. One murder was the forceful drowning of a patient while he was being bathed. The other occurred when Phillip Soper (the murderer) discovered a patient urinating on the floor. Soper retaliated by ramming the handle of a flyswatter completely into the rectum of the man. The patient, unfortunately, couldn’t speak English and was unable to tell anyone what had happened before succumbing to internal bleeding. Soper was convinced of the slayings.
-An article written by a paranormal investigator after the closing of the hospital (it was shut down in 1971 to make way for the more modern Norwood Health Center) noted that during it’s operation, many strange occurrences at the hospital were being attributed to a haunting, and had continued up until the time of closing, so as far as he knew, whatever was haunting it was still there.
-Of the 50-some years the hospital was in operation, less than 90 people were ever released. They were simply locked up and considered incurable. Bodies were stored in the asylum morgue, then transferred to St Josephs hospital.
As I said, there is plenty more where that came from, and I will be updating shortly when I have the means. I will also post a listing of my experiences.
**DISCLAIMER** Do not, I repeat DO NOT attempt to visit the Asylum. It is completely fenced in with many trespassing warnings. Trust me, you WILL get caught! There are cameras guarding the entrances, and I know of many people being busted there. Also, the hospital has become so dilapidated that it is VERY VERY VERY dangerous to walk around in.
Before I get into any of my personal experiences, I’d like to give a little background on the hospital, as few people have even heard of this location, and even fewer know its history. All the information I have is taken directly from microfilms of central Wisconsin newspapers, it isn’t simply word-of-mouth or lore, it is documented history. Where I am right now however, I don’t have direct access to the copies of the microfilms. However, if anyone is interested, post a reply and I’ll send you a list of what I have available. So, In short, the things I am listing right now are strictly from memory so I apologize for not having dates available. Also, I assure you there is much more information I have available, so I will be posting a follow-up when I have a chance.
Just interesting tidbits:
-The hospital was constructed at the beginning of the last century (1911?) to house the incurably insane
-Much of the Hospital’s food/clothing/supplies were made by the inmates themselves. There is a large barn across the road that used to be part of a large farming operation. At that time, farm work was considered an acceptable form of rehabilitation, to make the patients useful to society. After a few mishaps crossing the busy highway in front of the hospital, a tunnel over 1000 feet long was created underground from the basement of the hospital to the farm (yes, I have been in the tunnel). It is speculated that even when a patient was “cured”, they were too valuable to the farming operation to be released, so they were deemed continually insane, and forced to live/work in the hospital.
-The basement of the hospital contains a chapel, morgue, bowling alley, and other curious rooms, all with labeled doors. All of the hallways in the basement only have doors until a certain point, then a section with no doors, then a dead-end. This was to insure that any patients attempting to escape through the basement could be easily cornered.
-The upper 3 floors of the building contain all of the patient rooms, employee and superintendent’s quarters, a vast attic, various drug dispensaries, and other rooms.
-It is now owned by the adjacent recycling center, and the grounds as well as various parts of the first floor are completely covered with junk
-A strange death occurred early on in the hospitals span of service: There was a patient that believed that he was on the level of a god, and was in constant pursuit of his arch-nemesis, Satan. He believed that he possessed immortality and had the ability to create/destroy life. This particular patient was assigned to shovel coal into the great boiler (which is connected to the main building by tunnel) that heated the hospital as part of his rehabilitation, under the supervision of a fireman. Convinced that Satan was within the hospital’s boiler, he through himself into the flames and burned to death before the attendee could save him.
-In the 1960’s, an orderly was fired for various reasons including the physical/sexual abuse of patients. He was later arrested for murder in another state. He convinced to 6 total murders, two of which occurred while he was employed at Norwood. One murder was the forceful drowning of a patient while he was being bathed. The other occurred when Phillip Soper (the murderer) discovered a patient urinating on the floor. Soper retaliated by ramming the handle of a flyswatter completely into the rectum of the man. The patient, unfortunately, couldn’t speak English and was unable to tell anyone what had happened before succumbing to internal bleeding. Soper was convinced of the slayings.
-An article written by a paranormal investigator after the closing of the hospital (it was shut down in 1971 to make way for the more modern Norwood Health Center) noted that during it’s operation, many strange occurrences at the hospital were being attributed to a haunting, and had continued up until the time of closing, so as far as he knew, whatever was haunting it was still there.
-Of the 50-some years the hospital was in operation, less than 90 people were ever released. They were simply locked up and considered incurable. Bodies were stored in the asylum morgue, then transferred to St Josephs hospital.
As I said, there is plenty more where that came from, and I will be updating shortly when I have the means. I will also post a listing of my experiences.
**DISCLAIMER** Do not, I repeat DO NOT attempt to visit the Asylum. It is completely fenced in with many trespassing warnings. Trust me, you WILL get caught! There are cameras guarding the entrances, and I know of many people being busted there. Also, the hospital has become so dilapidated that it is VERY VERY VERY dangerous to walk around in.