Farrar Schoolhouse 2021 Investigation

In 1919, C.G. Geddes agreed to donate 6 acres of his farm to merge the area’s one-room country schoolhouses. The school boards voted and created the Washington Township Consolidated School District.

The cornerstone inscribed with the year 1921 was set and the dedication ceremony commenced on April 1 1922. The schoolhouse filled with citizens from miles around. An orchestra played on stage in the auditorium as a banquet served the hundreds in attendance.

Not all citizens were behind the new building with its $100,000 price tag. One disgruntled citizen refused to attend the celebration calling it a “monument to the arrogance and vanity of the school board,” with its boiler heating, electric lights, and indoor bathroom facilities.

On May 3 2002, once again, the band played, a banquet served the hundreds in attendance and sadly, the 80-year-old schoolhouse closed its doors for the last time.

The old school sat empty until December of 2006 when Jim and Nancy Oliver purchased the building. It became their home with hopes of slowly restoring the school to its original appearance and layout.

Farrar is an unincorporated community in Polk County, Iowa. An unused elementary school building and one church are located in Farrar and 13 houses.

Located at: 11125 134^th Ave. NE, Farrar, Iowa 5016, 515-577-4213

Owners: Jim & Nancy Oliver

Website: www.hauntingatfarrar.com

Hauntings: Voices, shadow people and orbs were common. Nancy became unsteady on the stairs when a hand on her shoulder helped her catch her balance. She turned to thank her husband for the help only to find no one there. The dark distinct outline of a small boy was sighted on the well lit stairway descending into the gymnasium. The boy appeared to be about 3' 6" tall with one foot on each step and holding onto the handrail. The figure stayed motionless for almost two seconds before disappearing.

People claim to have been attacked by shadow figures on the third floor that have left red welts on their necks. Figures have been seen from the small room next to the principal’s office staring out the window. They have been observed from people standing outside the building. In the gymnasium the sounds of cheering, running noises, laughter of kids and multiple EVPs have been captured. In the boiler room numerous light bulbs have exploded for no apparent reason and it has been quite active for voices and EVPs.

The Boiler Room is a very active and somewhat dark area where some past physical attacks have been reported by past investigative teams.

The GRS investigated Farrar Schoolhouse on July 17, 2021 and the team included: Kathie Para, Mike Rosario, Mike Wright, Greg Kos, Barbara Meagher and Dale Kaczmarek with help from Joe & Tanya Caravello, Lisa Houk and Mark Roberts from The Insane Asylum Podcast.

Equipment setup: A lot of hand-held equipment was used and moved from place to place while conducting experiments. Some of equipment used were; digital recorders, Nightshot camcorders, Phasma Box, REM Epod, Tri-Field Natural EM Meter, K-II Meters, Parascope 360, EDI+ Meter, Dowsing Rods & Pendulums as well as other real-time EVP devices such as Nanocon, SBox, SB-7 Ghost Box and Ovilus.

Experiments performed: Team Dale and Mikey conducted Phasma Box sessions in the Boiler Room and Room 206. We also did some quiet time sessions on the 1^st floor overlooking the Gymnasium. Joe and Mark also joined our team to investigate the Boiler Room.

The rest of the team; Kos, Para, Meagher and Wright conducted Estes Method sessions and real-time EVP sessions throughout the rooms including the Boiler Room and Room 206.

Personal experiences:

Greg Kos: Equipment used by myself included the EDI+, Nanocon Spirit Box, SBox , SB-7, IR camcorder, and Parascope 360,and voice recorder

The rooms we investigated were the gym, two of the classrooms The OPS center, the boiler room, and one of the maintenance closets.

We received numerous EMF readings throughout the night all seemed to be random. No follow-up questions were answered. The two incidents that stood out were both in the boiler room. We were in the hall entering the boiler room I felt a being ahead and Kathie saw a black shadow dart back into the rear of the boiler room. All of us gave chase and the back room dead ended! We decided to do a double Estes Method. We used the SB-7 and the SBox. I went over the words that we said and few were related to the school. All the while we had the headphones on we were picking up an additional frequency above the white noise that can only be described as outer space noise. (Sound of Space). It was weird and freaked Mike out and he stopped and I soon followed. This was not the first time I heard this back noise. I was at Sandlots in Salem, Wisconsin and it happened there. The night in Salem I channeled and said a few disturbing words that related it two guests and they ended up leaving

Barbara Meagher: The Farrar School was toured and investigated. Several EVP sessions were conducted but no EVPs were heard on review of the recordings. My EMF reader went off for quite a while as I looked down into the Gym. Several photos were taken with no paranormal images captured. On the second floor The EMF meter went off frequently during the investigation. On the second floor while investigation a classroom, Mike, Kathie, Greg and I heard someone come down the hallway and slam some locker doors. We thought it was another team of investigators. Before we left to come downstairs, we heard the footsteps and the locker doors slam again. It turned out that the other investigation team had not been up there at all. We were the only team there at the time.

We went to the basement to continue our investigation. Upon entering the basement, I saw a shadow figure fly past me and into a short dead-end hallway. Mike and Greg did the Estes Method with Kathie taking video. Mike became very disturbed and stopped the session early. He stated that he was hearing insect noises in his headphones that were getting more and more pronounced. Also during the Estes Method Kathie and I were almost hit with several small stones that were being thrown at us from several different directions. Most of them seemed to be coming from behind the boiler.

Kathie Para: GRS members Dale, Mikey, Barb, Greg, Mike W. and I spent several hours investigating this location. We were also joined by four members of Insane Asylum from Madison, Wisconsin.

After spending time in several areas of the building I have concluded that Room 206 was the most active that night and did two separate EVP sessions there. The first time was with Mike, Barb and Greg. We used Dowsing Rods, the portal, REM pod, several EMF meters, Ovilus, cameras and audio recorders. The REM Epod responded, the K-II meters were lighting up, especially when we said the Pledge of Allegiance and did a roll call for attendance. We got some relevant words from the Ovilus. We heard what sounded like a locker slam shut in the hallway and later realized it was not any of the others in the building. We were the only ones on the second floor. I saw a white mist in the middle of the classroom toward the front, which was unmistakable. Barb also saw it and said when she looked through it the area behind the mist was blurred.

Later we joined Mikey and Dale in Room 206 and once again there was a loud noise in the hallway while we were the only ones left in the building. We got relevant responses from the Phasma Box and the K-II meters were going off. Dale saw a white shadow in the doorway to the hall.

One other place of note is the boiler room. It had a negative vibe to it from the minute we walked in and saw a shadow figure go out of sight in the back of the room. We did a double Estes Method there and one of the participants had to stop about 12 minutes in because of disturbing noises coming through the headphones. We heard several sounds we couldn’t explain while in the room and we got some relevant meter flashing.

Farrar School is a very interesting building to be sure. I would definitely go back

Mike Rosario: Equipment and Initial Investigation: The investigation at this school located in Maxwell, Iowa, took off at approximately 7:30pm with Dale Kaczmarek, TheMarkJoe’s team, Kathie Para, Mike Wright, Barb Meagher, Greg Kos, and me. Weather was still warm in the evening hours, and a bit humid outside. Equipment used was my K-II meter; a Philips VoiceTracer Digital Voice Recorder; a DVC 4K Ultra HD 48mp Night Shot Digital Video Camcorder; a CMVision IR130-198 LED IR Illuminator Light for nighttime investigating, and an Apple iPhone 8-Plus 256GB Smartphone for interior and exterior HD pictures and videos.

For this investigation, I was accompanied by Dale, and we pretty much stuck together as one group for this investigation as the other GRS members formed teams and scouted out in other parts of the building. I began by doing my usual K-II sweeps in and around the school grounds. My readings fluctuated actually higher in this location than others we’ve been to (around 5.2-28mG!). Afterwards, I began taking some pictures and videos in hopes of capturing some good visual and audio evidence whilst we were there. We ventured in the Basement, Gymnasium, First and Second Floor landings, and in Room 206, which actually turned out to be very active for most of us members. We even did many Phasma Box sessions there as well.

Evidence: Upon reviewing all of my evidence, although there was no visual evidence, I did have some audio evidence associated with the school itself. This evidence is as follows:

“Stay.”

“What are you trying to figure out?”

“Kathi Kresol.”

“Mike Rosario.”

“It’s Titan…?”

Mike Wright: After arriving at the school we split into two groups I went with Greg, Kathie Para and Barbara Meagher. I used a recorder, Dowsing Rods, K-II, spirit bottle and Ovilus for the investigation

First place we investigated was the Ball Room

Primarily used the Dowsing Rods which were responsive when question were being asked but did not pick up anything on recorder or with the spirit bottle. Greg set up the portal which seemed to be responding but it was very hard to understand.

We then went to Class room 206 Kathie set up her REM Epod and Greg also set up his meter and both of their devices responded with the pledge of allegiance. My K-II was on a desk and was not lighting up. The Dowsing Rods were being somewhat responsive. We also all heard a whistling sound in the beginning of the session which the recorder picked up.

After the class room we went to the Boiler Room In the basement Greg and I did a double Estes Method and I had to quite the session early because of very odd clicking noises that were coming from the Frank’s Box. There were also noises coming from the corner and when Kathie asked is there anyone there, an answer came through Greg almost immediately with a YES. It was a very active room with noises all around where we were sitting.

We then went back to Room 206 with Dale and Mike Rosario. Dale was using the Phasma Box which said Estes just when Greg had set himself up with the portal to do an Estes session. There was some more meter activity and unusual responses coming from the Phasma Box.

Do not know if I would go back to this location because of the experience that I had while doing the Estes Method.

Dale Kaczmarek: This was my second time investigating this location and again it didn’t fail to amaze me. We picked up all intelligent responses while asking questions in the Boiler Room and Room 206. The Boiler Room felt very active and somewhat dark when our EVP session was conducted. I’m sure that I caught at least one shadow figure out of the corner of my eye. I got a very strange feeling that was almost immediately followed by the Phasma Box saying, “He found us.” That was pretty creepy.

In Room 206, my laptop went crazy and began opening and closing various apps for quite some time before stopping. Rosario and I both heard the sounds of footsteps outside of the room in the hallway when we were setting up. When we both left the room for a second to check camera angles, an audible sound came from the room. Rosario identified the noise as a rubber football that had fallen to the ground. We recreated the sound by dropping the ball to the ground ourselves and it was identical.

The K-II Meter went into the Yellow range several times and stayed there for quite some time.

Evidence collected:

200 souls Farrar.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Boiler Room, a question was asked, “Is there a male or female here?” The device responds with what sounds like, “200 souls.”

Brian Farrar.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in Room 206, a question was asked, “Who threw the football in this room?” The device responds with a low voice that says, “Brian.”

Bye people Farrar.MP4 – while nearing the EVP session in Room 206 the group was talking amongst themselves when the device suddenly said, “Bye people.”

Camera shut off Farrar.MP4 – a static 4k Sony Nightshot camera facing down the hallway past the lockers suddenly shut off the Nightshot video but the audio continued.

Is there Mike Farrar.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Boiler Room, a question was asked, “Can you say Mike?” The device responded with, “…Mike.”

It’s Alice Farrar.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Boiler Room, a question was asked, “What’s your first name?” The device replies with, “Its Alice.”

It’s Titan Farrar.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session on the 1^st Floor, a question was asked, “What ship sank in 1912?” The device said, “It’s Titan…”

Kathi Kresol Farrar.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session on the 1^st Floor, the device suddenly said in a deep male voice, “Kathi Kresol.”

Let me be Farrar.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session in the Boiler Room, a comment was made, “You’re not making a lot of sense. You’re talking to one another.” A deep voice came through the device that said, “Let me be!”

Rosario Farrar.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session on the 1^st Floor, the device clearly said, “Rosario.”

Stay Farrar.MP4 – while conducting a Phasma Box session, a question was asked, “Do you want us to stay or do you want us to leave?” The device said, “Stay.”

Words spoken by the Phasma Box: Boiler Room – 200 souls, it’s Alice, Let me be, screaming, police, lights out, dungeon, whoops, barns, Mike, he found us, it’s just not fair, prayer, laughing; 1^st floor – please stop, I’m really cold, I’m working on it, we need to figure it out, turn off the radio, looking at; Room 206 – it’s government, turn around and my spirit.

Conclusions: There was a lot of background cross-talking in several of the EVP sessions which made identification of actual EVPs almost impossible. Other investigators were conducting simultaneous EVP/Estes Method sessions in the same room at the same time. This should not be tried as it filters unnecessary background voices and responses at the same time and I believe confuses the spirts present as to which device to attempt communication with.

Others need to be mindful of camera angles and not block the view as was done on more than one occasion.

This still proved to be another interesting investigation of this old school and I believe that there may be a mixture of both residual and intelligent hauntings taking place within the confines of the building.