St. Alban's Sanatorium Investigation

The history of the land that St Albans was built on begins in 1775 with The Draper Meadow Massacre. This murder of five people, including an infant child, set the tone for the darkness that has become the legacy of the imposing complex.

During the Civil War the Union Army once occupied the hill that St. Alban’s was later built on and were bombarding the Confederates who held the New River Bridge. This resulted in the deaths of around 24 people between the two armies.

Professor George Miles first opened a Lutheran boy’s school; St. Albans School for Boys in 1892. The school started out successfully but was completely closed in 1911. Dr. John C. King, who established the Saint Albans Sanatorium, purchased the buildings in 1915. A massive $200.00 addition was made in 1980, which made the entire facility around 68,000 square feet, and the mental hospital remained at the site until 2004. Many of the treatments administered there are considered very barbaric by today’s psychiatric standards. We also cannot forget the many deaths at the hospital due to various causes. Suicides were very prevalent. Although the actual death count isn’t known, it was significant enough that the hospital had its own morgue onsite.

(History courtesy of Paraholics: https://paraholics.com)

David Hagan, who owns Shah Development and other companies with Larry Shelor, purchased both the former St. Albans and King House at auction in early 2008 for $777,000.

During our walk-through owner pointed out the Purple Room that was used as classrooms and the Dragon Room where a large picture of a dragon painted on the wall by a former patient now adorns. The Alcohol Room where patients were treated for their abuse of alcohol had a large circle of chairs where other groups have conducted EVP session. Wade said that she felt a heaviness in this room.

There is a very beautiful Grand Staircase just inside of the back entrance to the building. There is a “Suicide Bathroom” where at least four suicides have occurred there.

Address: 6248 University Park Dr., Radford, Virginia 24141

Phone: 540-260-3111

Owner: Marcelle Hanauer

Website: www.stalbans-sanatorium.com

Hauntings: The smell of gunpowder has been encountered as well as distant cries and screams.

The Green Room has had a lot of EVPs recorded there in the past. Near the Electroshock Therapy Room, our guide heard a voice coming from down the hallway. The Long Hallway is considered to be extremely active. This facility even has a two-lane Bowling Alley in the basement where the sounds of bowling balls have been heard. Other areas of interest included the Boiler Room and nearby X-Ray Room.

The Grand Staircase is a very active area that also proved itself so during our investigation.

People report seeing full-bodied apparitions, shadow people and levitating objects. Some have felt as though they are being touched by unseen forces and disembodied voices are plentiful here.

In the Rocker Room, a lone rocking chair apparently rocks back and forth by itself. The Bowling Alley is the home of the spirit of a young girl, possibly the daughter of someone who died in the hospital. Past experiences include a strange mist appears when the name Gina Renee Hall; a young woman who was brutally murdered near St. Alban’s in 1980. Some have even reported being scratched.

The Ghost Research Society investigated St. Alban's Sanatorium on June 1, 2019 and the team members included: Greg Kos, Mike Rosario, Charles Williams and Dale Kaczmarek, with help from Dean Thompson, Amanda Pilgreen, Timothy Schmuldt and Melissa Johnson from Ghost Head Soup, Bob Davies from Champaign Urbana Paranormal Society and Joann Wade

Equipment setup: Other members of our group did in fact setup some gear at different locations throughout the building, I preferred to stay more mobile and just used, for the most part, hand-held gear such as Melmeters, Tri-Field Natural EM Meter, Ovilus X, Phasma Box, K-II Meters and REM Epods.

Experiments performed; EVP, Ovilus X, SB-11Ghost Box and Phasma Box sessions were conducted at the Grand Staircase, 2^nd floor hallway, Bowling Alley and the Alcohol Room.

Personal experiences:

Greg Kos: Members of GRS included Dale, Chuck, Mike W, and Mikey. Bob Davies and Joann Wade were there from Champaign, IL. Ghost Head Soup members included Dean Thompson, Tim Schmuldt, Melissa Johnson, and Amanda Pilgreen.

The equipment I used was an IR Camcorder, a Parascope 360, Voice recorder and EDI+ meter. The IR Camcorder was placed on the first landing of the Grand Staircase shooting up towards the second floor. There were two motion detectors on the stairs in front of the camera in view and had gone off a few times and I was warned to check the camcorder because I probably captured something. Later on I worked my way back to discover the camera off and the battery basically drained. Chuck mentioned to me later that he could see the camera playing in the recording mode and upon reviewing it at home the video was blank.

Joann Wade and I picked a room at the very end of the second floor to do an Estes Method session. There was a little doll and there was a small toy tea set on the floor also. Joann was the timekeeper and recorder of what I heard. There were no direct answers to Joann’s questions yet there were a few answers to previous questions.

Later in the evening Joann and I joined up with Dale, Chuck and Mikey for the Alcohol Treatment area and then to the Bowling Alley. When we were at the bowling alley there were a lot of EMF readings and the Phasma Box produced a few intelligent responses to our questions.

I would love to go back to St Albans. I think it would be great for a whole weekend investigation.

Mike Rosario: Introduction: I loved this location a lot because of its history and haunting past. It brings chills to one’s spine just to read up on what happened there at St. Alban’s Sanatorium in Radford, Virginia. Everything from homicides to suicides, to Indian massacres and patient abuse and deaths has occurred in and around the property.

Equipment and Initial Investigation: Our investigation took off at approximately 6:30pm with a tour of the facility on Saturday, June 1, 2019. Weather was quite nice out; warm and partly cloudy. Equipment used was my K-II meter, a Philips Digital Voice Recorder, a Sony Night Shot Handy-Cam DCR-TRV13 NTSC 560 Digital-8 20X Optical Zoom Video Camcorder, 198-IR Light Module, a Green Laser Grid tool, and a Police Security Elite Blackout 615 Lumen Hands-free Heavy-Duty Head Strap Flashlight.

At times, we were actually together as one whole group, so there really wasn’t any pairing into separate groups that night. I first set up my night shot camera in Hydro-Therapy Patient Facilities rooms, located on the ground floor. I did a few K-II sweeps and got relatively low spikes; usually around 0.2-0.5mG. Dale, Chuck and I went up on the second floor to the Grand Staircase area to conduct an EVP session. I used my green laser grid just down the hall of the staircase in hopes of getting any type of light/shadow disturbance down the ways, but to no avail. Our same group moved to the Patient Facility Quarters where many patients were housed during their stay there. Again, low fluctuations were present whilst using my K-II. We also did an EVP session there as well. Then our group, including Joann and Greg, made our way to the Bowling Alley room. Spikes on my K-II were a little high; usually 10-20mG readings, but they were infrequent. A productive EVP session was conducted there. Finally, Dale, Chuck, Greg, Joann, and I went into the Drunken Room, where patients with alcoholic or substance abuse issues would be taken in order to get treatment. I had some low K-II readings, whilst Joann received more of a jump on hers; around 20-25mG, nearly in the Red. We also did a good EVP session there as well, and we called it a night after that investigation.

Investigation Wrap-Up: The investigation ended approximately around 1:00am on Sunday, June 2, 2019.

Evidence: Upon reviewing all of my evidence, it’s sad to note that nothing appeared out of the ordinary, image-wise, on my night-shot camcorder. However, I did receive a few EVP’s through my digital voice recorder for one location, though. The evidence is as follows:

Grand Staircase Location:

~ A female disembodied voice saying “No.”

~ A voice saying “St. Alban’s.”

~ A female voice saying “Hello.”

~ A woman’s chuckle was heard.

~ A woman saying “Help.”

Conclusion/Overall: As always, I thought it was a very good investigation, and ‘twas very well conducted. Some good EVP evidence was collected there, and really would love to come again and investigate and do some more work in many other rooms inside the Sanatorium as well. Truly a wonder to enjoy and experience. There is just so much fascinating history in this one location alone. Definitely would love to come back soon! A very big thank you to all of the facility’s staff!

Dean Thompson: First, I would like to say that I had watched the Dead Files episode of St. Alban’s prior to arriving there for our haunted research, and I felt that I needed to bathe in white light prior to stepping one foot into the investigation. There were many signs that day, maybe warnings, maybe something else, but I feel that positive light really needs to saturate the hell out of St Alban's. Once arriving we were greeted by two little kids, in the parking lot, with warnings of their own. There was another older kid who seemed to have disappeared not sure where he went.

After several minutes of trying to locate the entrance we finally were able to step into the building. We were greeted and I recognized the owner from the TV show. I, quickly rapid fired all my questions to her, for which they all were answered, we had a nice conversation about the place, her health and lastly the room she was not too fond of, because that was the room I wanted to go into first.

The File Room: Directly below the control room was the file room. The space was charged. I had Tim go down there and he was so amped up I don't remember a time where he had used more F-Bombs before. I let the spirits aware that I was a visitor and asked if anyone could show us around. Once back in the control room, I hesitate to the final moment to enter the building as a researcher, but I was fine as a tourist. White light bath completed and foot over the threshold and I was good to go, I highly recommend this to anyone who decides to enter this establishment.

The Bowling Alley: Tim and I hung out in the bowling alley as Amanda and Melissa had a session in the Boiler room. As we were standing on the lane, I watched as a red ball of light come in and out of the room. We did not capture footage of the event; however I did piece a video of the moment it happened. I am not certain what caused this red light to enter the room, but we did try to recreate it.

Charles Williams: Hauntings- Unknown until I read the book. The walkthrough gave you the layout of the facility, but was lacking on spirits, and hot spots. I assume they wanted to see what our evidence held out; much like Dale does on a private home investigation. But this only led to confusion as to where to investigate, and set up cameras.

Equipment- Zoom recorder, (2) 4K Panasonic cameras, Sony night shot camera, GoPro camera, IR Lighting, Melmeter, Ovilus V.

Experiments- EVP, Ovilus, Phasma Box, Quiet Time, Facebook Live sessions. I also experimented with the different apps of the Ovilus V. 3 Groups were divided of the 10 investigators, 1) GRS, 2) Bob Davies on his own, 3) GHS. I was worried about contamination, but the facility was large enough it wasn’t an issue.

Personal Experiences- Dale’s motion detectors were acting up, and it will be interesting to see if anything was captured on Greg’s Camera on the Grand Staircase. I had a camera shut off in the seclusion area, AND, settings were changed on it. Will be interesting to see that footage.

Initial Conclusions- A great experience and we could investigate there at least two more times and not visit the same spots.

Evidence collected:

4 knocks Albans.MP4 – while setting up in the Grand Staircase, a knocks were heard on a wall.

A regular smart ass Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Alcohol Treatment Room, a question was asked, “How old are you?” Someone laughs in the basement and then the device said, “A regular smart ass.”

Boom boom Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session near the Grand Staircase, the Phasma Box blurted out, “Boom boom” as though someone was humming a song.

China sound Albans.MP4 – while conducting an EVP session in the Bowling Alley, a question was asked, “Whose turn is it to bowl?” A china-like sound was then heard by everyone with no apparent origin.

Cold Albans.MP4 – while conducting a SB-11 Ghost Box session in the 2^nd floor hallway, a question was asked, “Most hospital food isn’t that good.” Williams’s camcorder picked up via the device, “Cold.”

Crap Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session near the Grand Staircase, a comment was made. “Think we’re gonna call this. “ The device said. “Crap.”

Fuck you Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Bowling Alley, a question was asked, “Can you say good bye?” The device said in a faint, low voice, “Fuck you!”

Fucker Albans.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus X session in phonetic mode near the Grand Staircase, the device blurted out what sounds like, “Fucker.”

Get out Albans.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus X session in phonetic mode in the 2^nd Floor Hallway, a comment was made; “Now you can talk in a full sentence.” The device said, “Get out.”

Good Albans.MP4 – while conducting an SB-11 Ghost Box session in the 2^nd Floor Hallway, a question was asked, “How’s the food in this place?” The device responded with, “Good.”

Goodies Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session near the Grand Staircase, the device blurted out, “What do you have?” followed by, “Goodies.” This was as though the spirits were talking to each other since no question was asked.

Hello2 Albans.MP4 – while conducting an EVP session near the Grand Staircase, a question was asked, “Can you say hello?” The camera was jostled and right after that a faint female voice says, “Hello.”

Here Albans.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus X session in the Alcohol Treatment Room, Kos made a comment, “He can drive home with you” to which Kaczmarek says, “No, he can stay here.” The device then inserted a “Here.”

Hey3 Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session near the Grand Staircase, the device said something that sounded like, hi or hide. A question was asked, “Can you say hi?” In the background, a faint female voice was picked up that says, “Hey.”

I help Albans.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus X session in phonetic mode in the 2^nd Floor Hallway, a question was asked, “Are you a staff member here?” The device responds with, “I help.”

I love you Albans.MP4 – during the initial walk-through of the building, Kaczmarek captures a very high-pitched female voice that says, “I love you!” on his camcorder.

I need to go Albans.MP4 – while conducting an EVP session in the 2^nd Floor Hallway, Kaczmarek mentioned, “Closets?” Immediately after that, a faint female voice says, “I got to go.”

I’ll marry you Ken Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Bowling Alley, the device suddenly blurted out, “I’ll marry you Ken.”

Its old people Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Bowling Alley, the device blurted out, “its old people.”

Jerk Albans.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus X session in phonetic mode in the 2^nd Floor Hallway, a question was asked, “Are you an orderly?” The device replied with, “Jerk.”

Just pray choose your fate Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session near the Grand Staircase, the device said, “Just pray choose your fate.”

Making progress Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Alcohol Treatment Room, the device blurts out, “Making progress.” This is a relevant response considering the room that we were in at the time.

May 12^th Albans.MP4 – while conducting an EVP session near the Grand Staircase, a gruff male voice was recorded that sounds like it says, “May 12^th.” Not positive that this didn’t come through Mike’s device at the time.

Mike Albans.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus X session in phonetic mode near the Grand Staircase, the device blurted out something just as Kaczmarek was posing a question. It sounds like either “hi”, “hide” or even “Mike.”

No Albans.MP4 – while conducting a SB-11 Ghost Box session in the 2^nd Floor Hallway, a question was asked, “Are there any patients up here?” The box replies with a faint, “No.”

No staircase Albans.MP4 – while conducting an EVP session near the Grand Staircase, during some conversation, a faint female voice was recorded that says, “No.”

No1 Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session near the Grand Staircase, a question was asked, “Can you tell us the name of this facility?” The device responded with, “No.”

Oops Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Alcohol Treatment Room, a comment was made: “We’re going to be leaving in a few minutes, this is your last chance to say anything.” Rosario’s water bottle falls over and the device said, “Oops.”

Piano sounds Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Bowling Alley, sounds come through the device that sound very much like “Piano sounds.”

PX turned itself on Albans.MP4 – while conducting an EVP session in the Bowling Alley, a question was asked, “Hey, can you climb underneath there and get that bowling ball back?” Some laughter…another Ovilus PX which was in my case suddenly turned itself on and began speaking. We could discern the words that were produced though.

Red eyes Bowling Alley Albans.MP4 – while videotaping in the Bowling Alley, Thompson saw what looked like a pair of two red eyes float around before exiting the room. Later in the clip Schmuldt and Thompson both felt a cold spot.

Roberto Albans.MP4 – while conducting an EVP session in the 2^nd Floor Hallway, Williams, Rosario and I were talking amongst us and acknowledging those who were tuning into a live Facebook video when a voice was recorded that said, “Roberto.”

Roll it by me Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Bowling Alley, a strange-sounding voice came through that says, “Roll it by me” and not “Smell like a pig.”

Self Albans.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus X session in phonetic mode in the 2^nd Floor Hallway when a question was asked, “Are you a doctor? A patient, handling all that?” The device responded with, “Self.”

Shut the fuck Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Alcohol Treatment Room when Kos asked a question, “So, did you push him out of the way?” The device responds immediately with what sounds like “Shut the fuck.”

St. Alban’s staircase Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session near the Grand Staircase, a question was asked, “…St. what?” A loud female voice comes through that sounds like it says, “St. Alban’s.” A follow up question asked, “What’s the name of this facility again?” Rosario believes that he hears a reply, “St. Alban’s” again.

Stairs shadow Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session near the Grand Staircase, the device blurted out, “The stairs”. Kaczmarek repeats, “The stairs it said.” Rosario inserts, “They said they saw a shadow by the stairs.” A faint female voice was recorded that says, “Shadow.”

The bitches Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Alcohol Treatment Room, the device says, “The bitches.”

The boy Albans.MP4 – while conducting an EVP session in the Alcohol Treatment Room, a deep, gruff male voice is heard in the background saying, “The boy.”

There’s no soap Albans.MP4 – while conducting an EVP session on the 2^nd Floor Hallway, over the conversation between us, a voice is heard to say, “There’s no soap.”

Titanic Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Alcohol Treatment Room, a question was asked by Rosario, “What ship sank in 1912?” The device replies with what somewhat sounds like, “Titanic.”

Washington whisper Albans.MP4 – while conducting an Ovilus X session in dictionary mode near the Grand Staircase, a question was asked, “What’s your first name?” The device responded with, “Washington.” A few seconds afterwards, “Washington” is heard in a whispery voice.

Weapon Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Bowling Alley, the device blurted out, “Weapon.”

We’re excited Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session Bowling Alley, the device shouted out, “Oh boy!” A question was then asked, “Are you excited for us?” The device responded with, “We’re excited!”

You Albans.MP4 – while conducting an EVP session near the Grand Staircase, a male voice was heard saying, “You.”

You’re all fucked Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Alcohol Treatment Room, the device said, “You’re all fucked” followed by, “Intimate.”

You’re alright Albans.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Alcohol Treatment Room, the device says, “You’re alright.”

Words spoken by the Ovilus X in dictionary mode: Grand Staircase – Washington; Phonetic Mode – Eddie, fucker and Mike; Phasma Box – Boom boom, crap, goodies, hey, just pray choose your fate, no and St. Alban’s.

2^nd Floor Hallway – Jess, piece, Washington, suit, Betty, these, dinner movie, manual, spirits, female, tickle, amusing, waste, self, jerk, levitation, demon, (K-II hits), classic, supper, promise, most, property, trader, spring, stones, electric, dime, metal, Japanese, traffic, visible, ultimate, teacher, adjust, moment, revenant, orange and multiple; Phonetic mode – get out, air, help and I help.

Bowling Alley – demand, porch and seen; Phonetic mode – help; Phasma Box – Oh boy, we’re excited and I’ll marry you Ken.

Alcohol Treatment Room – though, lord, tied (K-II hits) 70.2 temperature; Phonetic mode – Ed, spook, help and addict. Ghost Hunting Tools – nerve, stay, away and James; Phasma Box – making progress, oh my God and natural.

Conclusions: This building was extremely active with a lot of direct responses of questions asked and other relevant words or phrases based on the locales we were stationed at the time. The entire group broke up into three groups; part of GRS, GHS group and Bob Davies. I always caution people not to go off on their own especially in locations as large as this with a lot of stairs. It’s always safety first and in case someone encounters something, he or she has a second pair of eyes or ears to document each other.

There were just so many hot locations within the building, it would be almost impossible to visit all the locations on a single visit or unless the EVP sessions were limited to 20 minutes each. Just walking from place to place took some time. This would be another location that I wouldn’t mind revisiting sometime to explore other areas not covered during this trip.

It seemed like we picked up a lot of obscenities at various locations. Either the spirits weren’t too happy with us being there or the mood of the ghosts was such due to their predicament. St. Alban’s is an immense location with multiple hot spots that need to be explored. Perhaps it was good that the groups split up. Maybe the other groups conducted sessions and experiments at locations we didn’t have a chance to visit.