Edinburgh Manor Investigation

The town of Edinburgh was originally the county seat of Jones County. In June 1840, the land located at section 36 in Wayne Township was originally deeded for courthouse purposes with the grant being signed by President Buchanan. Shortly after this grant the county seat was changed from Edinburgh and the commissioners kept the grant for the establishment of the county poor farm. Described as a "comfortable retreat for the lazy, able-bodied and willingly dependent applicants," the poor farm housed the poor, incurably insane and disabled. Tenants were given shelter and food for their labor. They would farm agriculture and livestock. The poor farm was in operation from 1850-1910 and in that time there were over 80+ documented deaths on the property.

In 1910, the poor farm closed down and was demolished. Edinburgh Manor was then constructed from 1910-1911 to house the incurably insane, the poor and the elderly. Edinburgh Manor, also referred to as The Manor, was in operation until November 2010. 

It was opened up to paranormal investigations in the summer of 2012. Medical documents and personal belongings can still be found in The Manor. When the last patients and employees left the building in 2010, they never returned. (Credit: Edinburgh Manor website for the history)

Edinburgh Manor is situated on over eleven acres of land. The East side was used for the women, while the West side was for men. Most all of the beds and furniture are original to the building.

A former patient drowned in pond and there was an actual article on this event. Another article states that an escaped patient was hit by a car on Route 151 in the 1960s or 1970s. There are also documented reports of several patients who fell down the stairs, hit their heads and died. Two people from the Poor Farm are actually buried in the cemetery across the street.

Address: 13241 E23 County Home Rd, Monticello, IA 52310

Telephone: 319-558-7753

Website: www.edinburghmanor.wixsite.com/edinburgh

Hauntings: There have been reports of a child peering out of the upstairs windows on occasion. Sounds of a chain sliding across the floor and a man hung himself in a very small room on the main floor. He was actually found hanging from the doorknob!

Men’s Recreation Room: All the objects and furniture are again original. A strange melodic sound was recorded on my camcorder during the initial walk-through.

Men’s Upper Level: An apparition was seen by the owner on the top stair, upper level at around two in the afternoon in either January or February of 2017. A female investigator said something grabbed her shoulder here. The apparition was described as a female with long brown hair.

Purple Room: A woman’s spirit has been encountered here. Photographs taken from outside of the room claim to have captured a face in the window.

Room 200: The owner spent the night in this room and he was woke up very early in the morning by something that grabbed his feet and, at the same time, his dog, who also stayed in the room with the owner, began barking at the wall. Another group picked up an EVP saying, “I grabbed you.” At the same time of the EVP capture, an EMF meter also alerted.

Doors slam in the middle of the night and footsteps have been heard.

Kitchen: There have been reports of kitchen utensils that have fallen off of the counter. Nearby is a padded room often called a time-out room for unruly patients. It has been said that the piano has been heard making musical sounds.

Cafeteria: Dark shadows have been seen here and chairs move to the center of the hallway by themselves.  An apparition nicknamed “The Joker” that apparently pulls the hair of unsuspecting visitors. A tall, dark man has been seen in the back room on occasion. A number of people have been touched and sometimes scratched.

Boiler Room: Cell phone batteries often drain here and an apparition of a man has been seen standing in a corner of the room. There was a tea kettle and coffee pot knickknack hanging on the wall. When it was removed from the wall, the owner found a pair of steel handcuffs behind them.  

The Ghost Research Society investigated Edinburgh Manor on August 8, 2017 and the team members included: Stan Suho, Kathie Para, Marge Sucha, Michael Rosario, Barbara Meagher and Dale Kaczmarek

Equipment setup: Two IR cameras were set up facing down the long hallways and illuminated by supplemental IR lights which can illuminate an object over 300 feet. Visible light cameras were used in some areas and pretty much the rest of the equipment used was in hand-held mode. There was no Command Center set up.

Experiments performed: EVP, Radio Specter and Ovilus X sessions were conducted in Room 218, 212, 202, 200, basement, 106, 108 and the top of the stairs on the second floor. Laser grids, REM Epod, Melmeter, a bell, X-Cam SLS system, digital recorders, digital tape recorders and IR camcorders as well as visible light cameras were also used.  

Personal experiences:

Kathie Para: GRS investigated Edinburgh Manor on Aug. 8, 2017. Members of the group present were Dale, Stan, Mike R., Barb, Marge and I. Edinburgh Manor is a very large building with two floors and a full basement. We toured the whole building before we began our investigation. This location housed mentally challenged people and has a very interesting history. There is also a cemetery just down the road where some of the residents are buried.

We conducted several EVP sessions throughout the building and had cameras set up in various locations. We tried to cover the “hot spots” but, due to time constraints, there were still many rooms we didn’t get to investigate.

Following are the rooms I, personally, spent time in:

Second floor: Room 218 “creepy doll” room. We had a lot of activity from various types of EMF meters. Noises, including a long breathy sound were heard in the hallway outside this room. We had some relevant responses from the Ovilus. When we asked if someone could move one of the dolls the Ovilus responded with “move.” Unfortunately, none of the dolls moved while we were in there.

Room 212 and 211: Lots of EMF activity and the name “Steven” from the Ovilus.

Room 202, the “purple” room was quiet.

Room 200: We heard several different noises, including what sounded like footsteps, coming from the hallway. While reviewing my audio I heard a strange sound, like the sound of interference that only lasted a few seconds which I found odd.

Room 106: This was the most active and exciting room. We got many clear responses from the ghost box. These recordings are included with this report. We also heard noises and footsteps coming from the hallway.

Room 108: This room was fairly quiet but we heard some noises from the hallway and got a few relevant responses from the Radio Specter.

All in all I’d have to say Room 106 and the hallways were the most active for us that night.

I most definitely want to make a return visit to Edinburgh manor!

Barbara Meagher: Investigation began in Manor with multiple photos taken throughout the manor. No apparitions or orbs appear on the 112 photos taken.

At least 2 EVP sessions were attempted; one in the “Doll room” and one at the cemetery. No EVPs were heard and unfortunately the recordings were corrupted and cannot be played.

During the investigation while all of the investigators were in one room music that sounded like it was coming from a music box could be heard. No music box that played that tune could be located.  

Michael Rosario: This was my first trip to the infamous Edinburgh Manor located in Monticello, Iowa. This was a facility with a fascinating history. Once called “The Poor Farm” back in the mid to late-1800’s, the original building either burned down or was demolished at the turn of the 20^th century. Through 1908-1911, they built the current building which was called the Edinburgh Manor, and was considered as a facility where people, patients (residents), mentally insane, and the criminally insane were housed until the end of their days. At least up until 2010, where the building was eventually sold, and new owners were acquired in 2011. It’s been in a dilapidated state ever since, and the new owners opened the site up to paranormal investigators and special tours.  

The investigation took off at approximately 7:15p.m with me using my Sony HandyCam HDR-XR160 AVCHD 42xEZ, attached it to my tri-pod, and started recording audio/video near the little cemetery located just a short way from the Manor across the road with fellow GRS investigator, Barb Meagher. There, while filming at the same time, I started taking pictures of the area with my disposable Kodak and Studio 35mm single-use camera. I also used my K-II Meter to get some base readings of the cemetery as well. All ranged between 1.6-1.9mG. Nothing too active. There was nothing too evident there at the cemetery, but was interesting to see that most of the graves pre-date the Edinburgh Manor. The cemetery was actually restored back in 2004.  

We then packed up and headed back to the Manor to investigate with the rest of the group. There, I unpacked and set up the camcorder, and did a base sweep of the main floor (1st floor) with the K-II. I hardly any spikes on that floor, so I traveled to the second floor, and did some base readings there. The K-II slightly spiked between 2.0-2.8mG at times. Coming back down to the first floor, and almost immediately after entering the room where it was said that a patient who committed suicide by hanging on the first floor, GRS investigator, Stan Suho’s fully-charged camcorder battery had drained! A first of the many events happening to us there that night. We all then headed to the basement, and grabbed my K-II for additional readings. The K-II did spike again from 2.0-2.7mG at times. After this, I took some still shots with the 35mm camera. We all agreed to conduct an EVP session on the second floor where a little girl has been seen. She’s said to have touched people, walking in an out of the adjacent rooms, singing, and running up and down the halls as well. Although, there are no records of her here when the new facility was built, it is said that she could be a resident of the older poor farm that was here originally, and her spirit has permeated these areas from then on.  

Evidence: Upon reviewing my evidence during the EVP session conducted on the second floor, I heard many sounds. In fact, plenty of sounds. For instance, on video one, I heard a cough and slight yell coming from the basement. At 40:22, video one, I heard a female voice say something along the lines of, “Say bye,” and then a “Thank you” at the end. In the “Sun Room,” located on the second floor (room 216), where dolls were situated on a small couch, GRS investigator, Kathie Para, asks, “Does anybody here like these dolls?” Then, on video two, at 00:15, you hear what sounds like an indistinct male voice speak following her question.  Then at 00:38, there was a deep breath. At 02:51, there was a long, drawn-out exhaling of a breath afterwards. At 05:22, we heard creaking on the floor followed by some footsteps. Lastly, at 11:15, I heard an indistinct voice out in the hall near room 216.  

We then traveled to room 200. Upon reviewing my evidence, on video three, at 03:29, Kathie heard some kind of a bell being sounded somewhere out in the hall. We were not sure what would cause this, as the only bell located on the property (as far as we knew) was located outside the grounds. In order to sound this bell, one would have to pull a long, thick rope (with a considerable amount of force) that would then sound a very large bronze bell (actually painted white) that was attached to the rear façade of the building. Possibly, it was there to tell the workers (or residents) out in the fields that either supper was ready or just to tell them that work was over for the day. OR it could’ve been just a residual haunting where a little handheld jingle bell was used by staff somewhere in the building to let residents know what the next scheduled activity was, or if it was used to let them know when it was medication time. At 07:21. There was another long, drawn-out exhale somewhere between the room and hallway. Lead GRS investigator, Dale Kaczmarek, had confirmed this ‘exhale/breath’ as well. Then at 10:06, we all heard footsteps, as well as some tapping noises somewhere in the hallway.  

I did an experiment where I took a piece of peeling paint chips off the wall, and threw them onto the metal stairs leading up to the second floor area to find out if I could replicate the sounds we all heard. Then I took another set of chips, and threw them somewhere out on the floor in the hallway. It almost sounded similar to what we heard, but not as distinct when we were conducting the investigation previously. At that point, it really could’ve been anything.  

We all then headed to the basement where an ominous entity, nicknamed “The Joker,” has been seen and heard by many folks. This ghost has been described as a very tall, thin entity that walks with a slight limp, and has been known to touch, push, play jokes/games, and, on a few occasions, cause harm to those who enter “his domain.” On video four, at 02:46, Dale saw a stick figure on the SLS Camera (Structured Light Sensor X-Cam) in the basement where “The Joker" has been seen. He saw it for a few seconds on the screen, and then it vanished before he tripped on some loose floor tiles. At this time, I started taking photos with my 35mm camera in and around the area where this incident occurred. Afterwards, at 10:24, there was a loud pounding noise coming from somewhere inside the basement. Now, from the stories I’ve gathered, it is said that this entity, in life, had pounded on a window in one of the “time-out” rooms, getting the attention of staff workers, before he eventually, one day, took his own life.  

It is also interesting to note that upon entering the basement earlier during our tour of the facility, I felt very uneasy. It was dark, humid, damp, odorous, ominous, and the room, itself, felt very heavy. After saying this aloud to the group, Kathie Para spoke of feeling the same symptoms while entering the basement as well. She, too, felt uneasy and uncomfortable.

Moving the investigation upwards towards the first floor, we decided to conduct an EVP session in room 106. It was a large room that housed beds, medium-sized furniture, chairs, and some toys. For this session, I decided to use my Green Laser Grid, and shine it at the door entrance of the room with a goal to see if it would be possible to catch an entity moving within the green laser grid patterns itself. While I didn’t see anything visually whilst performing this test, we did get something audibly. Through Dale’s Ghost Box/DTD-Device (Digital Text Display) session, we did pick up some intelligent answers while asking some questions. On video five, at 23:57, we were even getting responses from an entity who liked the laser grid! It told us that it was interested by it, the actual color of it, and even the shapes and designs it produced! This phenomenon went on for about a good minute-and-a-half or so. Needless to say, we were very impressed!  

I enjoyed this location very much! It was truly an awesome opportunity to investigate such a very large structure with so much history behind it. I truly wanted to do a two-day investigation, as there were so many areas inside the building to explore. It’s definitely a location that deserves another visit.  

It was a very productive investigation by all GRS members. I would love to visit again. It truly was an honor to spend some time in a place known where so many people would spend the rest of their final days alive -- A place known out in an Iowa countryside in the middle of nowhere called Edinburgh Manor.

Marge Sucha; Dale Kaczmarek, Stan Suho, Barb Meagher, Kathie Para, Mikey Rosario & I

Equipment: Ovilus X, Radio Specter, EDI+ Research Device, Rook EMF meter, Olympus Digital Recorder.  

On the day we investigated it was sunny and the temperature was 81 degrees.  

First we were given a tour and history of the building.  Edinburgh Manor was constructed in 1910 to house the insane, the poor and the elderly.  It remained open until November 2010 when it closed its doors for good.   

After our tour we decided to do our first EVP session in room 218.  This was the room with the dolls.  We had some interesting responses from the Ovilus.  There were also noises coming from outside the room that we could no debunk.

Some other interesting things that happened. 

Room 202 & 211, during our EVP session one of our investigators heard a male voice outside the room.   Also several of us heard something that sounded like a music box.

Next we went in the room the purple walls.  The first thing the Ovilus spit out was the word "November” This particularly interesting because November was the month this building closed its doors.   

Room 200 I heard a bell noise.  Several of us heard snapping sounds and footsteps in the hallway.  One on our investigators heard what sounded like someone clearing their throat in the hallway.

In room 106 we had some great responses using the Radio Specter.  One of our investigators had his laser grid on and when asked what kind of light is on the spirit box responded "laser".

I did not join in on any EVP sessions in the basement.

Overall this was a very interesting building that did not let me down.  I would definitely go back.

Stan Suho: Another big old building with two floors and a big spooky basement with a couple of friendly cats. It once served as an Alms House for the poor as well as several other uses. These places usually have long dark hallways which I like because you can take one of Dale’s big IR lights and pretty much cover the whole hallway with a camera at the far end. Well I had two floors covered with two IR cameras. They ran for about three and a half hours each and recorded to DVRs. They also had a very old cemetery across the street, which we visited and photographed. The rest of the team was busy going from room to room doing EVPs and using Dale’s equipment.

Conclusions; An interesting old building with a long history and well worth the trip down the long dusty road. Nothing to report on my end.

Dale Kaczmarek: This was a location that I have wanted to visit for a very long time. It does seem that prisons, old hospitals and state mental institutions yield the most paranormal evidence by far. This large building was almost too large to cover and we could have used more people and cameras to properly monitor and investigate.

As usual, I did pick up a couple interesting sounds during the initial walk-through including a strange melodic sound in the Men’s Recreation Room. I just had to clown around a little bit near an old piano in the basement and did a parody from the movie Ghostbusters of Bill Murray playing with the high keys of the piano and stating that ghosts hate this. It got a good laugh by Para and Rosario who were nearby.

My Melmeter hit a high of .6 in Room 218, often called the “creepy doll room.” While investigating the basement, I momentarily caught a stick figure behind a large table; exactly where our guide had spoken of others visually seeing an apparition there in the past. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture this figure because by the time the device began to record, the figure was gone and it did not reappear again.

The Radio Specter was extremely active in Room 106 but completely died down when we visited other rooms and even the top of the stairs where a female apparition has been encountered in the past.

Evidence collected:

Move Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in Room 218, a question was asked, “Can you move your favorite doll?” The Ovilus responded with, “Move.”

Movie Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in Room 108, Game Room, a question was asked, “What did the patients do in this room?” The Ovilus responded with, “Movie.”

One Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the basement, a stick figure was picked up by the X-Cam SLS system near a wall and some pipes.

Room 106 ghost box apple jack Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting a Radio Specter session in Room 106, a question was asked, “Can you tell us what your name is?” The Radio Specter responds with, “Apple Jack.”

Room 106 ghost box could be Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting a Radio Specter session in Room 106, a comment was made about a ghost being outside of the room and the Radio Specter responded with, “Could be.”

Room 106 ghost box they’re here real close Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting a Radio Specter session in Room 106, a question was asked, “Where are you at? I can’t see you.” The Radio Specter responds with, “They’re here” followed by “Real close.”

Room 106 ghost box laser yes Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting a Radio Specter session in Room 106, a question was asked, “Do you see this green light?” (Referring to a laser grid that was deployed at the time) The Radio Specter responded with, “Laser!” A follow-up question, “Do you like the light?” The Radio Specter response was, “Yes.”

Room 106 hallway noise again Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in Room 106, Para and Kaczmarek both hear noises that sound like footsteps just outside the room in the hallway.

Room 106 hallway noise Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in Room 106, a strange whistling sound was heard and recorded in the hallway.

Room 108 half-naked Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting a Radio Specter session in Room 108, the Radio Specter says, “Half-naked.”

Room 200 hallway noises Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in Room 200, noises like creaking floorboards and footsteps were heard and recorded in the hallway.

Room 200 strange sound Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in Room 200, a question was asked, “What’s your name?” Immediately after a strange sound that resembles something being dragged across the floor was recorded.

Second floor doll room yeah Ovilus Edinburgh.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in the doll room on the 2^nd floor, a question was asked, “Are you saving up for something big, like a big noise?” The Ovilus responded with, “Yeah.”

Strange melodic sound Edinburgh.MPG – during the initial walk-through in Room 108, the Game Room, a strange melodic sound was captured.

Words spoken by the Ovilus X in dictionary mode:

Room 218: Dollar, move and comfort. In phonetic mode; help, boy and here was heard.

Room 212: Corner, process, let and Steven.

Room 202: November, shirt, wheat, level and orb.

Room 200: Here and piece.

Basement: Attack and allow.

Room 106: Batteries and stone.

Room 108: While and movie.

Top of the stairs: Nothing was said.

Conclusions: This was an amazing place which was quite large with many places where much paranormal activity had been collected during past investigation teams. Many visual apparitions have been encountered in the past as well as tactile sensations, EVPs, disembodied voices, cold spots and phantom footsteps, just to name a few.

Some members of the team reported hearing the sound of a music box playing faintly in the distance while investigating Room 212. Also a snapping sound had been heard in the hallway near Room 200 which is said to be the most active room in the building.

This could be an interesting place to revisit, however if we do, more people should be involved for maximum coverage and perhaps a second place nearby could also be investigated as long as we are already in Iowa; perhaps the Villisca Ax House or Farrar School.