Moundsville Penitentiary

During its more than 100 years in operation, the Moundsville Penitentiary in West Virginia was one of America's most violent correctional
facilities and the final stop for almost 1,000 criminals. The prisoners lived in cramped quarters, which led to riots. Many men were hanged
or killed in the electric chair, while others were murdered by other prisoners. The prison closed in 1995, but according to some, the
tortured spirits are still behind bars and in the bowels of the prison and may be seen or heard on a tour.
HISTORY
In 1863, West Virginia seceded from Virginia at the height of the American Civil War. Consequently, the
new state had a shortage of various public institutions, including prisons. From 1863 to 1866, Governor Arthur I
Boreman lobbied the West Virginia Legislature for a state penitentiary but was repeatedly denied. The Legislature
at first directed him to send the prisoners to other institutions out of the state, and then they directed him to use
existing county jails, which turned out to be inadequate. After nine inmates escaped in 1865, the local press took
up the cause, and the Legislature took action. On February 7, 1866, the state legislature approved the purchase of
land in Moundsville for the purpose of constructing a state prison. Ten acres were purchased just outside the then
city limits of Moundsville for $3000. Moundsville proved an attractive site, as it is approximately twelve miles south
of Wheeling West Virginia, which at that time was the state capital.

Executions
From 1899 to 1959, ninety-four men were executed at the prison. Hanging was the method of execution until 1949,
with eighty-five men meeting that fate. The public could attend hangings, which were public until June 19, 1931.
On that date, Frank Hyer was executed for murdering his wife. When the trap door beneath him was opened and
his full weight settled into the noose, he was instantly decapitated. Following this event, attendance at hangings
was by invitation only. The last man executed by hanging, Bud Peterson from Logan County, was buried in the
prison's cemetery because his family refused to claim his body.
Beginning in 1951, electrocution became the means of execution. The electric chair, nicknamed "Old Sparky",
used by the prison was originally built by an inmate there, Paul Glenn. Nine men were electrocuted before the state
prohibited capital punishment entirely in 1965. The original chair is on display in the facility and is included in the
official tour.
 Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

Once known as the Weston State Hospital, this asylum was home to thousands of people with mental illness,
starting in 1864. Hundreds of people died here before the facility closed in 1994. The spirits that are said to haunt
the site today date back to the Civil War era, when the asylum's grounds served as a military post. Paranormal tours
of the facility feature 2-hour visits to the asylum's 4 main hot spots. The more intense Ghost Hunt is an 8-hour,
overnight paranormal adventure with experienced ghost-hunting guides.
HISTORY
The hospital was authorized by the Virginia General Assembly in the early 1850s as the Trans-
Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Following consultations with Thomas Story Kirkbride, then-superintendent of
the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane, a building in the Kirkbride Plan, was designed in the Gothic
Revival and Tudor Revival styles by Richard Snowden Andrews (1830–1903), an architect from Baltimore whose
other commissions included the Maryland Governor's residence in Annapolis and the south wing of the U.S.
Treasury building in Washington. Construction on the site, along the West Fork River opposite downtown Weston,
began in late 1858. Work was initially conducted by prison laborers; a local newspaper in November of that year
noted "seven convict negroes" as the first arrivals for work on the project. Skilled stonemasons were later brought
in from Germany and Ireland.

St. Augustine Lighthouse, Florida

The St. Augustine Lighthouse is visited by nearly 200,000 people annually, but it is just as well-known for its
otherworldly visitors. Several tragic events occurred at the now-historic site that have contributed to the
alleged paranormal activity. One of the first was when the lighthouse keeper fell to his death while painting the
tower; his ghost has since been spotted watching over the grounds. Another event was the horrific death of three
young girls, who drowned when the cart they were playing in broke and fell into the ocean. Today, visitors claim
to hear the sounds of children playing in and around the lighthouse.
HISTORY

St. Augustine was the site of the first lighthouse established in Florida by the new, territorial,
American Government in 1824. According to some archival records and maps, this "official"
American lighthouse was placed on the site of an earlier watchtower built by the Spanish as
early as the late 16th century. A map of St. Augustine made by Baptista Boazio in 1589,
depicting Sir Francis Drake's attack on the city, shows an early wooden watch tower near the
Spanish structure, which was described as a "beacon" in Drake's account. By 1737, Spanish
authorities built a more permanent tower from coquina taken from a nearby quarry on the
island. Archival records are inconclusive as to whether the Spanish used the coquina tower as
a lighthouse, but it seems plausible, given the levels of maritime trade by that time. The
structure was regularly referred to as a "lighthouse" in documents—including ship's logs and
nautical charts—dating to the British Period beginning in 1763.
The location is the subject of numerous ghost stories and supernatural legends, and the St.
Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum offers tickets for a number of "Dark of the Moon"
ghost tours and ghost-themed private events to the public.

GHOST STORIES
According to ghost hunters, the lighthouse and surrounding buildings have a history
of paranormal activity.The lighthouse has been featured in episodes of
the Syfy television series Ghost Hunters, and the programme My Ghost Story.
Researcher Joe Nickell who investigated has written that there is no credible evidence the
lighthouse is haunted. He noted that supposed spooky noises or sounds from the tower have
mundane explanations such as seagulls or the wind.