First boys school, then madhouse, now a retreat for restless souls. Built on blood-soaked ground, the former Sanatorium of St. Albans in Virginia scares even experienced ghost hunters. But what exactly makes this place so scary? Let's start with the history of the building.
The massacre of Draper's Meadow
In July 1755, some european settlers were raided by a group of Shawnee Indian warriors, who killed at least five people including an infant child and captured five more. Among the victims were Colonel James Patton, Caspar Barger, and two people in Mary Draper Ingles' family: her mother and the baby of her sister-in-law Bettie Robertson Draper. It was killed by dashing its head against the wall of a cabin. Other children may have been killed in a similar way. One of the victims, Caspar Barger, was decapitated by the Indians. The incident went down in history as Draper's Meadow massacre.
The boys school of St. Albans
For almost a century nobody dared to step on the ground where the massacre took place. It was considered as a cursed place. Until 1892, when a boys' school was built at exactly this place.
The methods of education in the St. Albans Boys School were strict, hard and cruel. Tender children suffered so much that they often committed suicide. Others were probably killed by the teachers. Official figures about suicides or even murders are missing - but it is said that many students of St. Albans died under strange circumstances.
The school becomes a madhouse of horror
In 1916, the school was converted into a home for people with mental illness. But this was no ordinary hospital. The doctors there tormented their patients with questionable, sometimes extremely cruel therapies. Insulin shock therapies, for example, electroconvulsive therapies or water shock therapies. No wonder that an extremely high number of deaths occurred in this cruel madhouse.
The ghost of Gina Renee Hall
In the 90s, the clinic was closed forever. Since then, the building is empty and forms a perfect backdrop for ghost stories. One is about Gina Renee Hall, who was cruelly murdered on June 28, 1980, near the clinic. The victim's bloodstained car was found near St Albans. Her spirit is supposed to haunt the basement of the building. A Mountain Ridge Paranormal Research Society team filmed a mysterious fog there:
Visitors can explore places like the Rocker Room, which holds a chair often seen rocking by itself.
Let me conclude the story of St. Albans with a quote:
“I’ve seen and heard things in this building that are unbelievable. This building is not for the weak-hearted. If you’ve ever wondered if ghosts are real, here’s your chance. See you there — if you dare!”
- Chuck Griffin, Team Soul Searchers Paranormal, Virginia USA