Old South Pittsburg Hospital Investigation

The Old South Pittsburg Hospital was built in 1959 and is located on the foothill of South Pittsburg Mountain, in South Pittsburg, TN. The hospital was built on a solid Limestone rock, as its foundation and a natural spring running directly under the hospital and into the most Northwest part of the Tennessee River. During the Civil war South Pittsburgh original name was "Pittsburg Landing" The Ferry landing is only an eighth of a mile from the hospital that was used by both Confederate and Union Soldiers to land at South Pittsburg, and to travel down to Chickamauga Battlefield. In our City Cemetery there are Union and Confederate Soldiers buried side by side that passed in the line of duty. There is also a small section dedicated to the slaves that lived and died here as well with unmarked headstones.

In 1778, the Chiaha Tribe located in what is now called South Pittsburg, used this land to live, hunt, fish, and grow orchards. During the Civil War the Chiaha Tribe gave safe passage to the Union Soldiers to transport and store their artillery in the foothills behind the hospital. The most notable war event here was the bombing of the Union Army's earthen redoubt, Fort McCook, in August 1862. Many lost their lives including some Native Americans from the Cherokee Tribe. Confederate forces entrenched on the ridges in the New Hope community on the opposite side of the Tennessee River in New Hope, from here timed this attack simultaneously with and attack on hospital land at the edge of town, prior to the hospitals construction. This was in the effort to gain control of this part of the Sequachee Valley. Both assaults were successful in their intent with the Union Army attacking the fort at Battle Creek during the night leaving it and much of the stores and supplies to its Confederate victors. Some of the artillery bunkers still exist today behind the hospital in the foothills of South Pittsburg Mountain.

During the Civil war, Gamble Plantation was built here. There have been reports that there were shackles in the basement for slaves that they kept. This new information is currently being researched to find photos and more information.

Eventually the Union Army would regain control of the area by late summer 1863 and continue its grip until the end of the war. Despite not having a major battle here, the area was ravaged by the thousands of soldiers passing through the area during the war who took livestock, foods and other necessities from the area Native Americans and farmers for the benefit of their cause. This resulted in hard times for many of these families following the end of the war as the attempted to rebuild their lives.

South Pittsburg eventually recovered in shipping its most prized possession and that was minerals and limestone. During 1887, the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis railway was build to bring more commerce to the city. At which point the city grew, both financially and resident wise.

In the doors opened to a hospital situated on 2.3 acres in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. This 68,000 square foot medical facility, founded by four doctors, was known as the South Pittsburg Municipal Hospital (SPMH). Additions to the hospital were built prior to 1980. This bastion of healing would serve the community for almost 40 years before closing its doors for the last time in 1998.

In April of 1997, Hospital Corp. of America (HCA), at the time the nation's largest hospital chain, held the groundbreaking for Grandview Medical Center in Jasper, Marion County. According to HCA, which has also used the name Columbia, the new 50 bed, 95,000 square foot, medical facility was developed to replace the long serving and aging medical center in South Pittsburg.

The loss of their hospital dismayed many in the community who felt that the new hospital should also be located in South Pittsburg. On November 14, 1995 the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that "the city sued in Marion County Chancery Court to force the manager of its hospital to disclose whether it intends to close the non-profit hospital." The mayor of the city at that time, David Payne worried that "Columbia has refused repeated requests that it assure the city that it does not intend to buy South Pittsburg Hospital and close it to prevent competition with the one Columbia plans to build just outside the city." At that time, Columbia, which had managed SPMH for several years, had only agreed to pay $50,000 for the equity in the hospital. The article suggests that Columbia may have been interested in the acquisition of SPMH to acquire its Certificate of Need for beds, which would assist them in obtaining the state approval needed to build Grandview. Over the disapproval of many in the South Pittsburg community, the new $30 million hospital eventually opened its doors to great fanfare the week of September 29, 1998, while the long serving nonprofit hospital quietly closed its doors.

Located at 1100 Holly Ave., South Pittsburg, TN. 37380

Phone: 423-591-0344

Owner: Cindy Lydick

Website: www.hauntedhospital.net

Hauntings: Over the years since its closing, there have been many reports of unusual and paranormal activity relayed from South Pittsburgh residents, Former employees, media, investigators and teams. Some of this activity was reported from the first day the hospital was open. Baby cries in the Nursery when there were no babies there at the time is only one example. Does the hospital hold memories from its colorful past tied to the land or the hospital's darker past and many deaths within its walls? A lot of evidence has surfaced from the Old South Pittsburg Hospital on a regular basis of paranormal activity that you are welcome to view on this website. This activity includes, but not limited to day time and night time photos, being touched, full body apparitions, black shadow people, strange balls of light, disembodied voices calling out to you, doors slamming of their own will, and sounds of footsteps.

Upon years of research and contacts, some of the former nurses, employees and patients have come forward with their own experiences while working here when it was open. When the hospital was open many employees, patients and security have reported things moving in the hallways, such as medicine carts, shadow people, being touched by unseen hands, full body apparitions and many times the security was called thinking there was an intruder during all 3 shifts because they heard voices heard noises and saw shadow people lurking in the hallways and rooms. Come to find out that there was no one there, and no reasonable cause.

Some of the nurses that worked here reported baby cries or woman screaming, when there was no one there. To this day teams often capture these sounds through EVPs and video. There seems to be many souls that still remain within the aging concrete walls of the Old South Pittsburg Hospital that really want to make contact and be heard.

There has been evidence that suggests that we have many young children and adults that remain and want to speak out to you! We have 2 doctors making rounds as usual, and one that doesn't like you going into the operating rooms without washing up.

One of the most common reports is of a large black shadow man we believe that is a pedophile of children. His menacing presence and doesn't seem to want you here!! He will tell you to Fuck Off, "Get the Hell Out", "Leave", and sometimes will tell the other spirits not to talk to us. There is a deep dark secret that he hides! When he is near, you have an overwhelming feeling of heaviness may occur. Although no one has been injured, this shadow man makes it clear he doesn't want you here! Slamming doors are very common here, voices and numerous EVPs captured reminds you his presence is strong. He has been sighted here on a regular basis. This is just one of the numerous experiences you may encounter while investigating.

From our best estimates, there are at least 8 children, 6 of which remain on the third floor. You may encounter one of the hospitals visitor’s favorites "Buddy", on the 3rd Floor. This is a small child probably about the age of two, wanting to play or asking you to pick him up. There has been a thermal video on this website that was captured of him. Baby cries and woman sobbing have been heard throughout the building.

There is an older woman on the 3rd Floor at the end of the hallway that tends to not like females, but will call out to the male guests. The second floor you may encounter one of the two Nurses that passed here. Or a male that died from TB as he calls out for "Help". A woman screaming or babies crying are very common here in all areas of the hospital.

One of saddest patients here is Hazel, an elderly woman. She is our screaming lady. Her voice has been captured here in the hallways with an unforgettable scream. Back in the day, she was admitted to the Hospital from a local nursing home for a mental observation then to go up to the Psych ward. She has a rough and gravely voice, and tells people to "Go Back!" After 3 days of her stay here, Hazel died from infections, and complications. She has been heard and recorded several places in the hospital. When you hear her scream or yell at you, you will never forget it!!

Down by the Bio-Hazard you sometimes feel and hear someone step closely behind you, only to turn around and no one is there. There have been several photos of the entity we call "Hissing man". He seems to beckon you as you walk near that area, with a "hey"!

In the basement, we have a fun spirit that we call the "Naughty Nurse". She doesn't seem to give up her name, but often will touch you softly in personal places or whisper things or laugh to let you know she is around. In the basement, you may encounter a residual Doctor walking around or black shadow that may walk right up to you. We have had many reports of an old Janitor here that died in the 60's when the Hospital was still operating, that still works around the building and doesn't like you criticizing his work. He is still looking for his keys. These are just some of the spirits that you might encounter here.

Some say all of this History and Geographical formations can amplify the paranormal activity that occurs here on a regular basis. There is the only “Ley Line” In TN located within 2 miles of the property. This Ley line runs directly through Russell Cave, where the Native Americans used to use.

Equipment setup: The Command Center was set up on the main floor nurse’s station with the G.E.I.S.T. equipment set up along the hallway and the GhostCam facing an area where other unusual pictures were taken by other investigators in the past. The first night my IR camcorder was positioned in conjunction with the GhostCam and the second night was placed upstairs facing down the corridor towards Room 305 along with a set of motion detectors, EM Pumps, and Paracorder 667. The X-Cam was set up in the Geriatrics Hallway along with the EM Vortex and Epod positioned on a walker. The second night the digital IR trap camera was set up on a tripod in the upstairs nursery along with the Paracorder 667.

The Ghost Research Society investigated Old South Pittsburg Hospital on July 5th & 6th, 2012. Team members included: Stan Suho and Dale Kaczmarek with help from Jeanne & Michael Chilton and James Clauson.

Experiments performed: EVP sessions were conducted in the Geriatrics Hallway, ICU, Martha’s Room, Room 305 (Nellie’s Room), pharmacy, and nursery.

Personal experiences: I thought I heard a voice directly next to me while we were touring Room 305. I quickly spun my camera around and even Jeanne noticed it and asked what the matter was. A couple of times I got that cobwebby feeling of being touched but especially on the 3^rd floor and Jeanne was constantly getting that feeling the time she was there. I did feel very strange and had the hair stand up on my arms and neck while setting up my camera on the 3^rd floor, even though it wasn’t even dark outside yet and sunlight was streaming through some windows nearby. All of us clearly heard a whimper or cry while conducting an EVP session in the Geriatrics Hallway after Jeanne asked if she could take a picture of the spirit she thought she was seeing at the end of the hallway. It clearly sounded twice, the first not as loud as the second time.

Stan Suho: This was a modern Hospital built in 1957. We entered the 2nd floor of a three story building where our room was located. After a guided tour by our resident Ghost Hunter we decided to set up at one of the Nurses stations. Since we had 2 days this was an unhurried and relaxed chore. In addition we could leave the Command Post set up over night. During the tour I took video and pictures of all the reported active spots.

The standard G.E.I.S.T. was installed about half way down a long hallway. The Ghost Camera was focused back toward the Command Post area which was reported to be very active with shadow people. Some cables were laid to the 3rd floor and down a long hallway to support Dale's Night Shot Cameras. Three 7 in monitors were set up along with an Audacity Laptop.

Jeanie had joined us and was busy conducting several experiments. Jeanie and Dale conducted many EVP sessions during the 2 days.

I thought we had a couple of incidences of tampering, but upon re-thinking them, I concluded they were just the result of jetlag from 10 hours on the road.

When not busy I tried conducting some EVP experiments of my own. I even tried contacting Hank Williams. Hank must have rambled down that Long Lost Highway because he wasn’t singing for me. Dale and the other people spent a lot of time investigating the far corners of the Hospital. I spent most of my time manning the Command Post. I also made several walk troughs taking Photos.

Conclusion; Upon reviewing my evidence I could not find anything Paranormal although Dale and Jeanie did come with some interesting Photos and EVPs. This place might warrant a re-investigation if we are ever down that way again as the price was reasonable and the investigating conditions were excellent.

Evidence Collected:

Bump voice.MPG the static IR camcorder picked up a bump followed by a unintelligible voice in the background.

Cooing.MPG at the very beginning of the clip before Jeanne asks whether or not I want to try the SPB-7, there is a strange cooing sound in the background.

Cry.MPG – during an EVP session in the Geriatrics Ward a question was asked, “Will you let me take your picture?” A disembodied whine or cry was heard by all in the background sounding like female.

Epod.MPG – after turning on the X-Cam full spectrum camera in Geriatric’s the device goes off and lights up as I walk away from it.

Geriatrics.MPG during an EVP in the Geriatrics Ward just as the Ghost Box was turned on the Ghost Box says, “Geriatrics.”

Geriatrics You did.MPG during a walk through of the Geriatrics Ward an EVP is picked up saying, "You did."

Hey.MPG – the static IR camcorder facing the nurse’s station picked up a voice yelling, “Hey” right after Stan opened up a can of soda.

Hospital.MPG during an EVP session in the Nursery the Ghost Box says, “Hospital.”

Not yet.MPG during an EVP session in Nellie’s Room a question was asked, “Have the doctors been in to see you today?” A true EVP whispered voice responds with, “Not yet.”

Nurse.MPG during an EVP session in the Nursery a question was asked, “Are you a nurse?” The Ghost Box responds with, “I’m a nurse.”

Pharmacy EVP.MPG during an EVP session in the Pharmacy an EVP was picked up.

Purple light.MPG – the X-Cam picks up a weird purple light in the doorway on the right side of the hallway.

Red light.MPG – the X-Cam picks up a weird purple light in the doorway on the right side of the hallway which then travels towards the walker and turns red.

Stairwell screaming.MPG we were accidentally locked in a stairwell but had our digital recorders still running at the time and they picked up a female screaming from down one of the corridors.

Temperature.MPG – the X-Cam picks up a 8 degree temperature increase in about 30 seconds in the Geriatric’s Ward hallway and wide sonic pings from 117-306 inches.

Voice in sentence.MPG the static IR camcorder positioned in the upstairs hallway facing towards Room 305 picked up a whispering voice saying a whole sentence which is hard to make out the words.

Voice.MPG the static IR camcorder positioned in the upstairs hallway facing towards Room 305 picked up a voice saying something near the 8 second mark.

Weird Voice.MPG – during our initial walk through right after Jim stops speaking near the 8 second mark a strange male voice is heard echoing through the hallway almost sounding like it came over the PA system. In the video clip of the same event all people are accounted for.

Woman scream.MPG during an EVP session in the Pharmacy you hear the sound of my camcorder being turned on followed by a short, high-pitched female scream in the background.

Conclusions: There were a lot of weird disembodied voices and sounds both heard and recorded such as the strange crying sound in Geriatrics Ward, the weird voice during our initial walk through, the cho cho cho sound and strange voices picked up upstairs on the static IR camcorders which lead me to believe that a lot of the phenomena was residual in nature. However the words hospital and Geriatrics that came over the Ghost Box are much more than coincidental and cannot be ruled out as radio station bleed over.

There were some intelligent responses to exact questions asked and the amazing picture that Michael took in Martha’s room which is very hard to explain away. I personally find it to be one of the most remarkable pictures I’ve seen in quite sometime for evidence of life after death. It was not lens glare or reflections of either flashes or IR light off the mirror but clearly show an older woman with her back to the picture taker in an older style dress and she is semi-transparent.

Additional experiments need to be performed next time using the trigger objects made available by the hospital such as doctor’s robes, stethoscopes and the PA system to create an atmosphere of a working hospital to see what kind of response can be elicited from the spirits.

I believe this location to be extremely haunted but most are probably residual in nature however several appear to be intelligent entities hanging on to this environment.

This is the photo taken in Martha's Room

Date: November 16th &17th, 2012 revisited

GRS Members present: Stan Suho and Dale Kaczmarek with help from Bob Davies, Jeanne Chilton, James Clauson, Mari Bushway, Ken Singh and Jenn Hitt.

Equipment setup: G.E.I.S.T. was set up in the third floor hallway just around the corner from the nurse’s station. A static IR camera, illuminator and Paracorder 667 were also positioned in that hallway for the first night. The second night the static IR camera was reversed to face the nursery hallway. The second night the digital trap camera was positioned on the third floor near the Operating Rooms facing generally towards the nursery area. The full spectrum camera for the first night was placed in Geriatrics along with two IR illuminators and the REM Epod on the walker. The second night all the apparatus was moved to the crossroads facing in the opposite direction of the tricycle.

Experiments performed: During the first night EVP sessions were conducted in Martha’s Room, the crossroads, Recovery Room, Nellie’s Room. The second night we began with a role-playing scenario in one of the operating rooms where we had Jenn as a patient, Jeanne as a nurse and Dale as a doctor along with pre-recorded sounds of a heart monitor and a patient going into cardiac arrest. An EVP session was conducted in Geriatrics along with a fog machine and laser grid. Additional EVP sessions were performed in Recovery Room, 300 hallway, 3^rd floor hallway near nursery and 3^rd floor hallway near Room 305.

Personal experiences: I believe I had someone touch my hair while conducting an EVP on the 3^rd floor hallway. I and the entire group clearly heard knocking sounds on our last EVP session in Nellie’s room. There was numerous times where I heard disembodied voices and/or responses to questions asked in real time with and without amplification. And, again, while conducting a walk through for some people who had never been here before I captured a scream in the background while walking through Geriatrics, captured a weird sound near the nurse’s station and a possible laugh.

While Jeanne was videotaping in Geriatrics, she clearly heard someone walking up behind her that none of us sitting on the floor heard and a few seconds later captured a weird light anomaly on her camcorder.

Localized cold spots frequented many of our EVP sessions and a number of other researchers experienced the sensation of being touched. Bob even claimed on a few occasions to have witnessed a shadowy figure.

Stan Suho: This was the second visit to this Hospital. We were joined by friends from Missouri and back east. We started with a walk through of all the floors which I recorded with my VHS Camcorder. Setup began while it was still light outside. This time G.E.I.S.T. was put on the top floor. The camera was focused down a long hallway to a room that was very active. The complete G.E.I.S.T. setup was used with Ghost Camera and Ghost Microphone being recorded on a DVR back at the command post on the floor below. Also a Laptop running Audacity was recording the Audio. Once the setup was done it was left intact for two nights with only minor rearrangement.

After everything was up and running I occupied my time making walk throughs with the Night Vision viewer and taking pictures with my 34mm and Digital Camera. I also spent a lot of time following Jeanie and Dale around during their EVP sessions and taking photos. An interesting session was when Dr Dale and Nurse Jeanie preformed surgery on a patient in the O.R. The patient was last seen wondering around mumbling something about malpractice. We spent two long nights doing investigating and used just about every hand device we had.

Conclusion: Upon reviewing my recordings and photos I could find nothing paranormal. However there were several places in the Hospital that we did not get to. Maybe one more visit and we can consider this place investigated.

Evidence collected:

Aorta.MPG while conducting an EVP session in Martha’s Room the Ovilus suddenly says, “Aorta.”

Blood Taste.MPG while conducting an EVP session in the Recovery Room, I suddenly got the taste of blood in my mouth.

Dale.MPG while conducting an EVP session in the crossroads, a whispery voice sounds like it says, “Dale.”

Female Moan2.MPG while conducting an EVP session in the 3^rd floor hallway during a conversation, a female moan can be heard in the background over the conversation.

Female Moan3.MPG while conducting an EVP session near the crossroads suddenly a female sound or whimper is heard in the background.

Female Moan4.MPG while conducting an EVP session in the 300 hallway during a conversation, a female moan or whimper can be heard in the background over the conversation.

Female scream.MPG during the initial walk through and towards the end of the clip, you can hear a high-pitched scream or cry of a woman.

Female voice.MPG while conducting a Ghost Box session in the 3^rd floor hallway near the nursery, a question was asked, “Can I speak to the nurse who reports to this floor?” A woman’s voice apparently responds to the question but it doesn’t come through the Ghost Box. It was a disembodied voice.

Geriatrics footsteps.MPG while Jeanne Chilton was shooting with her full spectrum camera in the Geriatrics Ward hallway, she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps behind her and none of us were moving at the time. She also captured a weird light anomaly on her camcorder.

Green.MPG while conducting a Ghost Box session on the 3^rd floor hallway on the Room 305 side, a question was asked, “Can you tell me what color they are?” The Ghost Box responds with, “Green.” (A green laser grid was being used at the time.)

Knocking1.MPG while conducting an EVP session in Nellie’s Room on the last night, a thud followed by knocking sounds can be heard.

Knocking2.MPG while conducting an EVP session in Nellie’s Room on the last night, additional knocking sounds can be heard in the background.

Laugh.MPG Cindy was at the nurse’s station relating a story and right after she says “mummy”, a deep guttural laugh can be heard.

Loud crash.MPG a loud crash was captured on the first night in the third floor hallway and there was absolutely no one around at the time.

Mary.MPG the static IR camera on the third floor on the first night captured this creepy whispering voice that first says, “Mary” and then continues to whisper a phrase afterwards which is unintelligible.

No.MPG while conducting an EVP session in the Recovery Room, a question was asked, “Are you still in pain?” A true EVP response says, “No.”

Nurses Station.MPG Bob Davies of Champaign Urbana Paranormal was filming the Nurse's Station area and when he panned to the left, he caught a whitish figure in the far right of the frame.

Terrible.MPG while conducting an Ovilus session in Martha’s Room, a question was asked, “Can you tell me who the dark figure is who has approached several women in the past few weeks?” The Ovilus responds with, “Terrible.”

Voice.MP3 – while conducting an EVP session in Geriatrics a voice is clearly heard speaking over others.

Voice in background1.MPG while conducting the role-playing experiment in the Operating Room, voices in the background can clearly be heard and they’re not coming from the researchers in the room.

Voices in background2.MPG while conducting the role-playing experiment in the Operating Room; additional voices in the background can be heard.

Yes.MPG while conducting an EVP session in the Recovery Room, a question was asked, “Would you like a pain pill?” A true EVP response replies with, “Yes.”

Conclusions:

This location never fails to disappoint me as far as paranormal activity is concerned especially disembodied voices. It seems to me that the people that lived, worked and died in this place may indeed still be lingering around this locale due to their untimely deaths or their great love of the place. Cold spots were felt by many but didn’t seem to register on the meters to the severity of cold that the witnesses were experiencing which isn’t uncommon. Bangs knocks and strange sounds still permeate this place along with the sensation of being watched or touched. I myself feel very strange in certain locations but especially on the 3^rd floor walking towards Nellie’s Room and in Geriatrics. I constantly feel a charge in the air and usually have the hair on my arms sticking straight up indicating a presence.

This location is a ghost hunters dream and never fails to produce interesting and sometimes remarkable evidence. I would not hesitate in coming back down here to investigate again sometime in the future. It seems to me but especially investigators that have been here more than a few times that the spirits seem to grow accustomed to return visits from familiar people that they feel comfortable with and that don’t show any disrespect.