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Searching For Souls At The Haunted Ashmore Estates

 

Ashmore Estates was built in 1916, and was a fully functioning facility until the late 80s when it closed its doors for good. Originally, the land was part of the Coles County Poor Farm, which was home to the poor and mentally insane from 1857 to 1869. The conditions were terrible and there were 32 recorded deaths that occurred between the years 1870 to 1879, though there is estimated to have been hundreds of undocumented deaths on the grounds over the years. By 1911, the conditions had become so bad that the building was officially condemned. In 1916 the new building now known as Ashmore Estates was built and opened. It was run as a poor farm until 1959 when it was turned into a psychiatric hospital. The hospital ran until 1986 before lack of funds shut it down.

Searching For Souls At The Haunted Ashmore Estates 1

This was one of the more active investigations that our team has been on. You could feel the energy in the building as soon as you walked in. It constantly felt as if you were being watched by hundreds of eyes peering out of the darkened rooms as you pass by. As we set up our equipment throughout the building we all had the feeling that it was going to be a fun investigation. However none of us expected to experience the activity that we did or the evidence that we would later discover had been collected.

Searching For Souls At The Haunted Ashmore Estates 2

We experienced our cameras having their on/off switch physically being turned off by themselves, many intelligent responses on our equipment, one team member felt as if something had walked past her and shoved her out of the way, and we also experienced a lot of sounds and shadow movement. At one point we were asking whatever was with us to touch a piece of our equipment if it wanted us to leave that particular floor. Not long after that our MEL meter/ REM pod started to alarm which only happens if something is touching the antennae. We wanted to make sure that it was not a coincidence so we asked whatever was there to do it again, and once again the meter started to alarm. We also captured a great photo of a shadow figure at the end of one of the hallways we were investigating, which was a great piece of evidence.

Overall this was a very memorable investigation and I would suggest anyone who would like to experience the paranormal yourself to head over to the Ashmore Estates website and book an investigation. Our group also has the investigation posted on YouTube under our St. Croix Paranormal YouTube channel for anyone who wants to watch the investigation for themselves.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Mnghosthunter, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Jubeele (26 stories) (899 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-10-15)
Hi Mnghosthunter, thanks for the photo of the shadowy figure. The voices came up quite clearly on YouTube too. Really interesting account.
Martin (602 posts) mod
 
7 years ago (2017-05-11)
Note: some new photos provided by the author have been published.
Mnghosthunter (1 stories) (2 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-03-27)
Hey it is not a problem. Thanks for everything you do! So be patient and the picture will be added eventually. If you can not wait, as I said you can check out the YouTube video of this investigation and the picture is in that as well.

Thanks everyone!
Martin (602 posts) mod
+1
8 years ago (2017-03-27)
Hey guys, I know I'm late with some requests, just busy 110% right now with work and a long backlog of things to do when my schedule do clear up, so it may take a bit. Thanks for not throwing tomatoes at my window 😜
valkricry (49 stories) (3286 posts) mod
+1
8 years ago (2017-03-27)
Mnghosthunter,
I'm really not sure of the process Martin (our admin) has to go through to add pictures to a story, or how many he has to go through, but it does take awhile. Please be patient.
Mnghosthunter (1 stories) (2 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-03-26)
Thanks for commenting everyone. I will try to get the picture posted. I e-mailed it but it was not put into the story for whatever reason.

As to intelligent responses not all the deaths were during the period that the building was used as a psychiatric hospital. Many were when the building and land were used to house not only the mentally ill but also the poor and those with nowhere else to go. We were told stories about a doctor jumping out a window but I left those out of the story because I have no proof of that.
shelbyloree (5 stories) (285 posts)
+1
8 years ago (2017-03-16)
I agree Biblio, I also wondered about the responses. Doubtful anyone working or living there came out (or passed on) with fully working mental capacities strong enough to respond appropriately.

I'm sure there is plenty of activity, but it's probably pretty chaotic and subdued, if that's not a contradiction. Wonder how many were from the 19th century building? They'd probably just move right back in to the next building if that one is taken down.
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+2
8 years ago (2017-03-15)
Greetings, Mnghosthunter:

I have no problem with going to watch your video on youtube, but I don't have the time to do so right now. I was curious as to the kind of intelligent responses you received; after all, if the hauntings stem from the structure's time as a psychiatric institution, there would be a limited number of sentient individuals --let alone hauntings-- who would be capable of articulating coherent responses. After all, over-medication, severe electroshock therapy, confinement, lobotomies, and hydrotherapy would have had deleterious effects upon people who suffered from something as straightforward as "melancholia" or severe depression.

I was a bit surprised by the compact structure of this institution; I was expecting a more Kirkbride-type structure, given the era in which it was rebuilt.

Best,
Biblio.
lady-glow (16 stories) (3186 posts)
 
8 years ago (2017-03-12)
Could you post the picture?
I'm heading to YouTube to watch your investigation.

Thanks for sharing.
Argette (guest)
+1
8 years ago (2017-03-12)
Well-organized account, Mnghosthunter. It amazes me how many abandoned buildings, especially old asylums and poor houses, still exist.

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