Randolph County Infirmary

Randolph County Infirmary was built in around 1851 as county poor farm which burnt to the ground and people died in that fire. The next building was constructed around 1855 and this building stood for forty years until the county closed it down due to conditions inside. The building which is today known as the Randolph County Infirmary was started in 1899 and was also known as the Countryside Care Center which eventually closed down in 2009. At that time only five patients were housed within. The current owners bought the building in August of 2015.

The location was used for everything from orphan children to homeless people, mentally insane and even tuberculosis patients. The attic was used mostly for storage and the wooden bins still there today were used to dry corn. There is a solitary room that has a prison cage complete with bars that was often used by the county sheriff for a drunk tank. Later, unruly patients were kept caged up there.

Located at: 1820 S. US27, Winchester, Indiana 47394

Telephone: 765-405-0122

Owners: Dann Allen

Hauntings: Shadow figures are seen in the attic as well as the second floor and the basement from time to time. The sounds of children running around up here have also been reported as well as one person’s account of being scratched on the neck. The sound of doors slamming, female conversations and screaming has been reported. On a first floor stairwell leading to the lower level, an apparition of a lady in white was seen by a female investigator at the bottom of the stairs that eventually walked through the outside door and continued to the basement.

In the basement, Mr. Allen saw a shadowy figure come up from a room and stood on the stairs. He was described as wearing what resembled a turban on his head and had stuffing coming out of his jacket.

Crashing sounds have been heard in the cafeteria in the basement and shadows are frequently seen in the hallways.

The GRS investigated the Randolph County Infirmary June 12, 2016 and the team included: Stan Suho, Kathie Para, and Dale Kaczmarek

Equipment setup: The Command Center was set up at the desk right in the foyer as one enters into the building. Nightshot cameras were set up on the 2^nd floor and the basement. REM Epod was deployed as well as motion detectors; none of which activated anytime during our investigation.

Experiments performed: EVP, Ovilus X and Ghost Box sessions were conducted in the room with the jail cell, 2^nd floor women’s hallway, kitchen area in the basement, 1^st floor hallway where a wheelchair was located, 1^st floor stairwell where a female apparition was reported in the past and lastly in the attic.

Personal experiences:

Stan Suho: This is a great big old building in the middle of nowhere. Three floors with a big timber frame attic and a big basement. For years this was used as an Infirmary/Rest home. The 1st and 2nd floors each have two long corridors, one for men and one for women. On the 1st floor and the basement, I set up my Sony IR Cameras facing down the long hall ways. These were accompanied by IR spotlights.

This place was well setup for Ghost hunters with a kitchen and mattresses to overnight on. In the front of the building was an area for the command post with tables and power and "wait for it" a Jacob's Ladder right out of a Frankenstein movie. This is a high "read that” very high voltage transformer with two vertical wires that sparks climb bottom to top. Very impressive.

Dale set up a camera on the second floor. Since there were only three of us we were spread kind of thin. The long dark corridors were very noisy and I'm not sure all of the noises were building noises. Dale and Kathie disappeared into a vortex and I manned the command post solo. The time passed quickly then we bedded down in a room right next to the command post. I kept my camera right close by locked and loaded lest I miss a picture of “the monster".

Conclusion: Since this building is so large, I recommend a larger investigating group to cover place. I didn't see anything paranormal but next time I'll use one of Dale's big IR lights to better see down the long hallways. I think this building should be on everyone's wish list. Hell the Jacob's Ladder alone makes it worth the trip.

Kathie Para: Ghost Research Society conducted an overnight investigation in this building in June of 2016. Only three members attended: Dale, Stan and me.

This is a very large building with four floors, which includes a basement and attic. It was a poor farm and also housed medical patients who had nowhere else to go. Men and woman were separated and had their own wings on the first and second floors. It pretty much was a self-sustained little community. It is in very good condition, considering its age.

We had cameras set up on the first and second floors as well as the basement. Considering the skeleton crew we had, we covered many areas during the night.

The first EVP session was in the room with the bars on the second floor. It was fairly quiet in spite of the fact that the first question asked was if there was anybody there with us. The Ovilus answered with “ghost”.

The most active area was the first floor men’s hallway. We got K-II and Melmeter activity and a figure kept showing up on the SLS camera. Dale felt a sharp pain on his hand but we found no sign of a scratch or bite.

The attic was interesting as well. I kept hearing noises in the back of the attic and had a strong feeling we were being watched. I also saw a bright flash of light that couldn’t be explained.

We also covered the cafeteria and kitchen in the basement and the first and second floors on the women’s side but for the most part it was quiet.

We went to sleep around 2:30 a.m. I personally, didn’t hear or see anything abnormal during the night but Stan said he kept hearing conversations in the building.

I would love to return and investigate with more of the group in the near future.

Dale Kaczmarek: This was one of the most fascinating places that the GRS ever visited. It is a huge, very nicely maintained building out in the middle of nowhere. The fee for investigating this location allowed us to stay until around 10am, so after our investigation, we camped out in a large room near the front of the building, opened some windows and had instant air-conditioning.

A couple of interesting voices were picked up during the initial walk-through of the facility and later some very cool interactive responses. It seemed that most everywhere we conducted an EVP session, we received some evidence!

The SLS X-Cam did pick up a “stick figure” in near the doorway to the kitchen in the basement and along a wall in the 1^st floor hallway that had a wheelchair. The voices we picked up during the walk-through and here both sounded very similar as though it could have been the same person following us around that evening. While sitting in the wheelchair and trying to illicit a response, I felt a very sharp pain in back of my left hand. Upon checking, there were no marks.

Evidence collected:

Alright get out Randolph.MPG – while heading to the lower levels via a stairwell a raspy male voice is heard to say, “Alright, get out.”

Attic noise again Randolph.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the attic, a question was asked, “Is there anybody in the corner over there?” The question is followed by a relatively loud noise from a corner.

Attic noise Randolph.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the attic, a noise was heard and recorded in a corner.

Basement cafeteria hello Randolph.MPG – while conducting a Ghost Box session in the basement cafeteria, a question was asked, “Can you say hello?” The Ghost Box responds with a reply that sounds like, “Hello.”

Get fucked Randolph.MPG – while listening to our guide talk about a psychic who was greatly shook up concerning an experience she had, in the background, a raspy male voice says, “Get fucked!”

Ghost Randolph.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in the room with the jail cell, a question was asked, “Is anybody here?” The Ovilus X was then turned on and the first word produced in dictionary mode was, “Ghost.”

Leave me alone Randolph.MPG – while conducting an EVP session on the 1^st floor hallway and while sitting in the wheelchair, I had noticed a stick figure standing along a wall in between two rooms. Stan took a picture and right after the camera sound, a very faint male voice says, “Leave me alone.”

One Randolph.MPG – while exploring the cafeteria and kitchen area in the basement with the SLS X-Cam, a stick figure suddenly appears to the left of the door opening and stays for a while.

Response1 Randolph.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the room with the jail cell, a question was asked, “Is there somebody out there making noises?” (This is right before we heard and recorded ‘Shuffle.Randolph.MPG). An unintelligible response is heard.

Shit Randolph.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in the 1^st floor hallway and while Dale was sitting in a wheelchair, a question was asked, “What am I sitting in?” The Ovilus responds with, “Shit.”

Shuffle Randolph.MPG – while conducting an EVP session in the room with the jail cell, a shuffling sound was heard by both Kathie and Dale just outside the room.

Who are you men Randolph.MPG – while conducting an Ovilus X session in the cafeteria in the basement and after seeing a stick figure near a doorway, the Ovilus says, “Who are you men?”

Conclusions: There seemed to be an intelligent spirit residing within the walls of Randolph County Infirmary as evidenced by the direct responses we had during our EVP, Ghost Box and Ovilus X sessions. In fact, it seemed to me that at least one spirit followed our team around during the initial walk-through and later in the investigation.

Some of the other sounds, noises and shuffles could have been simply residual in nature; spirits doing what they might have done while they were still alive and living in this facility.

This is an investigators dream come true – a location, fairly isolated, with little traffic and other forms of contamination. The few cars that did drive by were very easily recognized as normal vehicular traffic and could not be misconstrued for anything paranormal.

I would be very interested in returning her with a larger group of investigators, more cameras, equipment and I’m sure much more evidence could be collected. I will definitely keep this location in mind for a future follow-up investigation when we can put together a bigger group.