Haunted Insane Asylum

Those who went there, can you describe what you saw? I want to be prepared when I visit. Thank you for your time fellow ghost believers. 😁

Can anyone tell me where it's located? I seems like a good place to start my investigations of the paranormal. 😁

The mills was completely separate from the state school, BUT the mills took on child labor and had the mentally impared children working in the fields daily. The cement buildings are not the hospital or the mills, however at the end of the work days installed of hauling the mentally impaired children home each evening they would chain them up in the buildings during the week until morning. (Due to the era its was okay to do so, since back then the mentally impaired where treated so badly) they did this for years until one morning they came and the children had all been murdered. Thats why the cross and statue sit in memorial.

I didn't read the comments, but the second time I was there (last year) I saw a kid standing in the doorway of the second building. I thought I was seeing stuff and really freaked out. My niece told me several months later that she saw him too. She described him to a "T"! He was there watching us and totally disappeared... That place is haunted for sure. I tried to take my kids there this year and had a really bad panic attack and had to leave... No joke, that kids image is totally stuck in my head...

I agree that the original author in not describing the same place. I can tell you based on my research this place was never called Walcott Mills. (Prior to becoming Walcott Colony Farm) It was a farm owned by Donald Grant in the late 1800s

Donald Grant Sells interest in Walcott Creamery.REP. 20/SEP/1893. The creamery was Owned By Donald then co owned. He sells out 1893

Minnesota School for the Feeble-Minded, Owned and operated 4 farming Colonies, 1) The Boys Epileptic Colony, 2) Springdale Colony, 3) Walcott colony, and 4th The Grandview Colony. These farming communities were put in place to rehabilitate only those who were able in a trade. These farms were completely self sufficient. They raised livestock and butchered everything themselves, raised cows and made their own dairy products.
The colony of interest is the Walcott colony
1909

Minnesota School for the Feeble-Minded." the board purchased for the school an additional 500 acres to create a colony farm in the town of Walcott, its nearest point being one and one-half miles south of the administration building. Here it is proposed to colonize the trained boys where they will have a farm home and assist in land culture and stock
1918

Tripper,

I grew up in Owatonna and had heard the 'haunted insane asylum' story for a few years before I finally visited the location. I have been there twice, but would like to go back there. I have done some research in the area and discovered the name of the area is Walcott Mills. The location that is south of Faribault (closer to Medford actually,) used to be part of the Faribault Mental Hospital. I am providing a Youtube link of a local newscast that accompanies some paranormal hunters as they investigate the area. I hope this helps!

Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zNmd3U-zSo

Another visit this past Sunday, complete with an array of pictures. I performed a more thorough search of the area. The lower area, near the bunker, and surrounding the elevated floor appears to be the ruins of a larger building, with a depression filled with concrete debris from what appeared to be a lower level at one time. Hints of this lower level appear as openings in the still remaining concrete slabs that open to a space below, which appears to be caved in, partially. The basin farther down the hill appears to be a cistern, being notched to accept a structure above it, which hints to the existence of additional buildings farther down the hill from the main area.

The bunker has two ventilation ducts that open from the ceiling through the ground above, two small rooms on either side of the entry, a a larger single area beyond. Debris is scattered and piled in here. There are ruins that indicate a much larger area than I had initially determined that were covered with buildings. Around at least two sides of the elevated floor exists a concrete curb that may indicate a former road or driveway.

The odd building is the most intact one (except for the rotting wooden doors): the block building on the hill. This building is poured concrete, is approximately 1-1/2 stories, and has two entrances, one at the north side and one on the south side, with a single window above each door. The interior is littered with trash and graffiti, with a single hallway connecting the two entrances, and three equal-sized rooms on either side of the hall. These rooms each have a square opening through the roof, and used to have doors opening to the hall. Remains of electric wiring exists, but I found no evidence of plumbing. What was most curious about this building, is that the walls that separate the rooms from each other do not extend all the way to the ceiling, there appears to be about a one foot gap. The walls between the rooms and the hall do reach the ceiling. I question what this building was used for.

Needless to say, I will be asking some of the lifelong residents about these buildings as well as the Rice County History Museum personnel. My research partner and I will be performing an evening investigation of this site soon.

A couple of of months ago, I walked around the site of the memorial marker and the wooded area beyond. Among the trash, I only found a DNR well. Then there was yesterday... I went for a hike through the area on the southwest corner of 235th St. East and Cabot Ave., in rural Walcott Township. This is the area that a neighbor, and lifetime resident of the area, mentioned to me was the location of several farm buildings that were once part of the state hospital and farm.

It's a shame that the area is littered with garbage, shotgun shells, firearm brass, appliances, auto parts and other items that don't belong (I guess when everyone owns something, no one takes responsibility).

As I made my way through the woods, I discovered the first building, on the rise, a concrete structure with several windows, and a large doorway on the north and south ends. I found the bunker, another concrete structure, opening out of the east side of the hill, below, and to the southeast of the first building. The elevated concrete foundation slab and stair were all that remains of a third building, just east and below the bunker. One last concrete structure was near the foundation, which appears to have been some sort of trough, a concrete basin with the remains of plumbing within.

The walk back to the town road (235th St.) drew my attention to two large round concrete platforms along the east side of the access path, which appear to be the covers of wells or some other unknown underground structure. My partner in crime and I will be performing an investigation of this area soon, when there aren't paintball players and firearms shooters in the area.

I'm not saying the author's story is or is not true, but wanted to clarify that the author is not talking about the cement buildings that several of the people who left comments are talking about. That is a different place altogether.

hello babygirlacm, I would like to talk to you, I have an email if you would email me. I will send you one soon, I would like to know more about this place, because of the fact that we are acctually ghost hunting and I would like to know where it is at and how do I get into this tunnel that they kept people in and killed. I have heard stories and I would love to inspect this and know for myself, what is down there. So if you would please contact me, zamins94 [at] hotmail.com. Thanks!

Me and 3 of my friends we went to an asylum that was abandoned, in Faribault MN its a very small city. We camped over there, we got there about 10pm and we went into the woods then we went back into are car and we got the camping supplies, we decided to take pictures of the trip so we did, in all of these pics that we took in the forest area you can see small orbs even in 1 you can see a white shadow right where my friend was standing, we camped right next to the abandoned asylum there was a Corrections Department a mile away, the camp was set up at 12. We decided to explore around the asylum when we were coming out of the tent we heard the noise of Axe being moved we heard it coming from the asylum, we quickly go back in. Then it was 3:30 first we heard the train, then we heard a girl yelling We freaked out. Then about 5am we left my friends went to this building that was in ruins and we wanted to take pictures there, so we went there and we took some pictures next to the place there was this shed when we were taking pictures by there we heard some noise of something moving, when we were done with pictures and heading back to the car, knowing that we had miles to go. We all started walking back, and my friend says to me "Don't look back". I look back of course like any other human, and I see a white shadow behind us, my heart starts raising over me. All of my friends felt like they were being watched. I have pictures of all of these, if anybody is wishing to see them please email me, c3cy [at] live.com.

The place mentioned was not the same place I was thinking about. I was thinking of an old rundown place off a dirt road sort of near railroad tracks. It has to standing buildings, one above ground with doors that lead out of it on both sides of it, and rooms lining it on both sides. It's completely made of concrete, big open doorways with no actual doors on them, and a small opening high above. Filled with trash and graffiti. The other building is right by it, built into the ground, a couple of rooms on both sides just as you walk in, and then ends with a big open room. No windows as it is built underground. Also filled with trash and graffiti. Very creepy. You can tell there is more stuff underground, but it's all caved in and overgrown. Very creepy, and a fun place to go to when you're a teenager to tell spooky stories. I'm 25 years old now, and haven't been there since I was 19. Not even sure it still exists.

Not that I think you're lying, I've seen too much to not believe, but your age (as sunnyblond25 said) seems off therefore losing some credibility.

im sory but in one comment box you said you were 16 then another you said you were about 14? Um kind of weird you can't keep your answers straight dude I'm just sayinn 😕

That is freaky:]
What did the child look like?
And why would there be a newspaper in his room about his death?
You should try to get it out of your friend what happened with him.

Last night, my friend and I hiked through the trails along the west and south perimeter of the site. We entered the trail at Teepee Tonka Park, and hiked to the intersection of Dairy Lane, where the old farm still exists. The trail was very icy, the temperature quite cool, breezy at times and there was a fog setting in, a perfect setting for an evening in the dark trails around what used to be a state hospital, now prison, on Friday the 13th.

For this investigation, we brought several flashlights, a digital still camera, a digital video camera with low-light capability, a GPS and a K2 electromagnetic field detector. We discovered and walked through the only tunnel we could find, twice, recording audio and video as well as monitoring the K2. There were no anomalies for the entire trip, save two: 1.) the battery for my still camera died suddenly after taking one picture, and 2.) the K2 meter reported elevated EMF levels once, but after looking up, we realized that we were directly below power lines.

We focused on the tunnel, since the author described some specific things about it (and it is the only landmark she described that the general public may still legally access), namely hearing screams and seeing a figure standing at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel is probably about 200 feet long, and quite dark. Every so often, there are openings in the ceiling that lead to tunnels to the top of the bluff (and into the prison) the tunnel goes below. The inside of the tunnel is covered in graffiti. There are no lights, however there is evidence that there were lights at one time. On our way back through the tunnel the second time, we spent a long time standing, without light, listening. The sound outside of the tunnel, including barking dogs, voices and traffic, in addition to the sounds inside: our voices, footsteps, breathing, gives an eerie feeling. Both of us mentioned that while walking through the tunnel we felt as if something or someone was peeking in at the end of the tunnel. We called out for someone to acknowledge us, however the K2, video and audio, as well as our experience proved fruitless.

We have no plans to make public the camera stills, video and audio taken last night.

Overall, with the lack of any physical, electronic, audio or video proof as to anything or anyone there, other than a raccoon on the river bank watching us cross a bridge, this was a 'bust' investigation, however it was far from a waste of time. It was quite exciting walking through the woods and the tunnel, especially without any light.

My objective of this investigation was to attempt to find scientific evidence that backs up the story of the author. I've substantiated many of the details of the location, which adds some believability to the story. I'm a sceptic at heart, with a very curious tendency to search for truth. I hope through my postings that I've helped with educating those who've taken time to read them, since this topic has certain local historical significance.

The last area that we will investigate is the area around the marker in Walcott Township that I've described before. We have planned on exploring the woods around the marker, and I will ask around town to determine what the significance of this location was to erect this memorial marker. One of the other posters in this thread has mentioned something about building ruins, and I wonder if this location may be just that.

Tripper Harrison

As promised, I traveled to the site today, being such a lovely day to wander the trails of the River Bend Nature Center. I walked around the old dairy farm that used to be part of the facility, which (unfortunately) appears to be in a state of demolition, and is off limits to unauthorized personnel, as it's part of the correctional facility that has absorbed the former state hospital. I took several pictures, and will be examining them for anything unusual.

On my hike, I noticed that there are, as the author conveyed in her story, not one, but two tunnels along the trail between the former dairy farm and Teepee Tonka Park, nestled quite close to the viaduct, the large concrete arch bridge that takes Minnesota State Highway 60 across the ravine created by the Straight (formerly Owatonna) River. So it would appear that some of the author's details are accurate, as far as the structures are concerned.

I've been continuing my research on the facility and its history, and have found information from at least two local 'research groups' stating that they've recorded voices and other oddities around the old dairy farm as recent as 2007.

Being that time was limited today, I will be returning to the site to investigate and take some more pictures around the two tunnels that appear on the trail maps in the area. At least one of the tunnels appears to pass inside the fence line of the prison, so this ought to be interesting.

A word about the facility--this is a minimum/medium security state prison now. I highly recommend maintaining proper distance from the facility and the old farm. There are regular security patrols around the perimeter of the facility, plenty of fencing and razor wire, and video surveillance which extends into the nature center, probably due to its close proximity to the prison. There are signs posted around the perimeter warning approaching vehicles and pedestrians of criminal prosecution should they trespass on this state land, including the immediate area surrounding the old farm (when I was at the farm today, I kept a safe distance from the old barns and brick silos).

To summarize, it's a little disappointing that there's no longer any public access to the facility, as the old buildings have been converted to prison use, or removed from the property, but it is a very scenic area to hike through.

I will post an update when I venture through the tunnels (if they're still there).

-Tripper Harrison

I have to go with the flow here and say I just do not believe this story. It sounds like a lot of horror films from that time mixed together.

There is no way to know that some guy was killed in a certain room (I doubt any newspaper would have mentioned it..."he died in evil room #398, of course").

Also, it would seem important to find your friend more than you let on. I hope I never go ghost hunting with the group that is in this story.

Overall, I get the feeling this is a nice little story made up by a young person. It's interesting, but far from anything I would truly believe.

Thank you for the informative updates, Tripper. Please keep us posted on developments with your research and reconnaissance. If you get them, photos would be greatly appreciated, too. Thanks.

An update--I drove around the north perimeter of the area in question, to no avail, as the road access to the former facility is fenced off, as part of the prison. On my way home, I remembered a detail of the author's story, one that was received with disbelief by another comment--the 'tunnel.' The only (legal) way to get near the former facility is through the River Bend Nature Center, from the south. The last time I went hiking through there, I remember quite vividly, a tunnel, which is in a shaded part of the wooded trails, that could quite well be the tunnel she was referring to in her story.

As my attempt to get within sight of this facility was unfruitful today, I will attempt to reach it from the south in the upcoming weeks, weather permitting.

I must also correct a misstatement with my previous post. The marker I referred to in my previous post has only one cross there. Again, it's quite prominent, probably made of granite, and has 'Faribault State Hospital' engraved in it, along with a message along the bottom, which I cannot remember.

These type of stories truly fascinate me, mainly due to the passion conveyed by the author. I'm quite familiar with the area the author describes, and have been doing a fair amount of research on the facility. I live not far from the place she describes as an 'insane asylum.' The facility she refers to is the Faribault State Hospital, which was closed in 1998, as the State of Minnesota had a change of opinion on how best to 'care' for the 'defectives' of society. The facility operated from 1879 until 1998. The facility went through many iterations of titles; some of which are: Minnesota Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, department for "idiotic and feeble-minded children", School for Idiots and Imbeciles, Minnesota Institute for Defectives, School for the Feeble-Minded, School for Feeble-Minded and Colony for Epileptics, Minnesota School and Colony, Faribault State School and Hospital, Faribault State Hospital, and finally the Faribault Regional Center. The facility closed on July 1, 1998.

I intend to explore the area this weekend, which is located on the east bluff area on the Straight River, which is where there are several medical facilities still operating, the prison, the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind, and the River Bend Nature Center. To the North and East are the Academy for the Deaf, and Shattuck/St. Mary's Preparatory School.

There are many Internet resources available that describe in great detail the facility, its (somewhat questionable) history, and even the measures people have taken to ensure that those who lived and died there will never be forgotten, which is mostly what brought me here. There is a somewhat obscure marker in Walcott Township, just southeast of the city limits of Faribault, on state land, near the corner of 235th St. And Babcock Ave., commemorating those who lived at the facility. The marker, three crosses, and some other markers are just off the dirt road, on the northeast corner of the 'T' junction of the two roads. The grass is always mowed around the markers, and the area is surrounded to the north, east and west by trees and brush. If one explores off the road, the remains of building foundations will be discovered in the woods. This is a small site, probably less than 20 acres, but has fascinated me. If this wasn't the site of a portion of the old hospital, then why was the marker placed here, at least 3 miles from the site of the facility? I will post a follow-up statement when I have more information.

Thank you for your story, babygirlacm. It has renewed my interest in researching this part of local history.

-Tripper Harrison

this is for ninjas_attack well you want to know my place its job core on snelling ave I go to school here feel free to write back

this is for dixie just for your information this was long ago I was 16 when I went there and I'm now 23 so this was long ago my story might not make sense but that's ok you can make fun of this story all you want that's fine and just so you know its still there its by the rail road tracks by the viodock in faribault but that's ok you don't think the story is real tell this to my friends who expeirenced and I was there well feel free to write back

😕
Ok, I'm from Northfield, MN, which is a town about 15 miles, if that, from Faribault. This story is so full of it I don't even know how to begin! I've been to this place MANY MANY MANY times! It's not even a building anymore it's SO rundown. There are only 2 sites that are above ground anymore, the rest has fallen YEARS ago, so long ago in fact, that the earth is actually growing around it. There is no tunnel, no instruments, and no beds there. I have no idea what she's talking about, she sure sounds 14 to me. There is one small building that when you walk into it, there is just room after room after room. The whole place is made of concrete, inside and out, graffiti has over taken it, and there is garbage everywhere. There is another small building, again it's concrete, that when you first walk into it it has a couple room on both sides of you, but then the building ends in one big room. This building is also all full of garbage and graffiti. Like I said before, there is a lot more to this asylum, but it's all under ground, and very obvious that it's been that way for many years. It is really a neat place to go with a group of friends for a little adventure and to tell fun stories. The ONLY truth that I found in this girl's story, is that teenagers like to go there to get drunk and do drugs. I just kept laughing as I read this story. Like I said, there are no tunnels, no windows to be boarded up. The only place that there might have been windows are up REALLY high off the ground, and so small you couldn't crawl out of them, and it doesn't even look as though there were ever any windows in those holes. This place is very old, that I can tell you for sure. It's located out in the country off of a dirt road. When you get to it you just see an old siloh with "no trespassing" signs posted everywhere. Well if you look hard enough you can see a old warn out driving path. Just follow that and it will lead you to the building with all the rooms and then you'll see the other builing. It's obvious where the rest of the place is buried under ground, so watch your step and have fun!

I'm from St. Paul and for years friends of mine have been telling me about this place and I have always wanted to check it out. Can you tell me how to find it?

Well, I did found the story has some gaps but you know babygirlac? Stephen King was critized and rejected tons of times before an editor accepted Carrie so I'm sure you are young and if you put your heart into it, with practice and study you will become a writer if that's what's in your heart. 😁

Guess I'm done with it; still can't see how you could specifically know the room and the man unless the room number appeared in the newspaper AND in the room, or somebody told you the specific room number beforehand.

the schizophrenics room yes not somone elses room! Like I said I was young at the time so I don't remember much and the story may not make sense I'm sorry just ask me questions!

Sorry but I have to agree with everyone.
With some work this could be a good c grade horror but other then that there are ALOT of holes and gaps.
Even after reading your follow up comments you seemed to confuse me more.
Maybe don't quit your day job to follow a writing career.
Sorry 😕

babygirlacm;

Thanks for your reply.
What I'm trying to get at is---Are you saying that the room you were in that had the newspaper on the ground had been the schizophrenic murderer's room, or the room of someone else who'd died?