Speaker 1: Welcome to Haunted Road, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 2: From the outside, the Green County Historical Society's main building
Speaker 2: might seem unremarkable. It sits in Waynesburg, a small southwestern
Speaker 2: Pennsylvania town known for sheep farming and coal mining. The quaint,
Speaker 2: two story structure has a brick facade, a white porch
Speaker 2: and trim, and four chimneys, at times red, white and
Speaker 2: blue bunting hanged from the railings. The inside is surprisingly
Speaker 2: spacious for a house that was originally built in eighteen
Speaker 2: fifty seven. Rooms that once served as a parlor, dining room,
Speaker 2: and kitchen now hold glass cases with displays about the
Speaker 2: county's history. It's well lit, with cheerful pink flooring and
Speaker 2: floral wallpaper. As visitors explore the museum, they may find
Speaker 2: themselves in newer editions, hallways and wings that were added
Speaker 2: later in the nineteenth century. Some rooms in these extensions
Speaker 2: feature recreations of settings like a schoolhouse, a chapel, and
Speaker 2: a train station. Still there are signs of a darker
Speaker 2: history here. In the west wing, there are marks on
Speaker 2: the doors as if someone tried to break them down
Speaker 2: or escape. But it's the basement that holds the real terrors.
Speaker 2: Sometimes called the dungeon. The underground chambers are unfinished, with
Speaker 2: dirt floors and bare brick walls. A shackle hangs from
Speaker 2: the ceiling, a silent testimony to the brutality that was
Speaker 2: once common here.
Speaker 3: However, when it.
Speaker 2: Was built in eighteen fifty seven, the facility was an
Speaker 2: ordinary house for the Reinhardt family. They dwelled there for
Speaker 2: just four years before they sold the building to the
Speaker 2: State of Pennsylvania. Now public property, the house was converted
Speaker 2: into a housing facility for low income people. The new
Speaker 2: owners installed several additions, including numeros bedrooms for residents. Initially,
Speaker 2: the facility didn't have a formal name, and over the
Speaker 2: years it was referred to as the Green County Poorhouse,
Speaker 2: the Green County Poor Farm, and the Green County House.
Speaker 2: As its various titles imply, the residents worked on an
Speaker 2: on site farm to earn their keep. Some had mental
Speaker 2: health conditions or physical disabilities that prevented them from working,
Speaker 2: while others were families who had simply fallen on hard times.
Speaker 2: The population had many diverse needs and history shows the
Speaker 2: staff at the Green County House weren't always well equipped
Speaker 2: to help all of them, but at first the facility
Speaker 2: ran pretty well. Green Scene magazine published an article by
Speaker 2: Matt Cumberlidge titled Going Green. In it, he noted that
Speaker 2: public officials conducted inspections throughout the first decade of operation.
Speaker 2: By and large, the visitors were impressed. They noted in
Speaker 2: their reports that the residents seemed happy, the staff appeared
Speaker 2: dedicated and compassionate, and the housing itself was in excellent condition. However,
Speaker 2: the eighteen seventy one inspection, which occurred ten years after
Speaker 2: the Green County Poorhouse opened its doors, was less glowing.
Speaker 2: By this point, the facilities were packed. Although they'd been
Speaker 2: designed to accommodate forty clients, there were seventy three adults
Speaker 2: and eleven children on site, more than double the recommended capacity.
Speaker 2: The Board of Commissioners of Public Charities of the State
Speaker 2: of Pennsylvania included more disturbing details in their report. They
Speaker 2: said that two mentally ill women were held in barred
Speaker 2: cells toward the back of the building. One of them
Speaker 2: was completely nude when they paid their visit. However, their
Speaker 2: conclusions were oddly optimistic, and they suggested the Green County
Speaker 2: House could reclaim its previous stellar reputation with some improvements.
Speaker 2: Sadly said improvements did not materialize to make matters worse.
Speaker 2: Within another four years, the Green County Poor Farm had
Speaker 2: become even more dangerously overcrowded. They hadn't made any updates
Speaker 2: to expand their capacity, but by now they'd swelled to
Speaker 2: house ninety residents. To make room for everyone, the staff
Speaker 2: laid out eight beds in the attic to accommodate sixteen
Speaker 2: extra clients. The building was crumbling and in desperate need
Speaker 2: of maintenance. Cumberledge's reporting and Going Green noted that mice
Speaker 2: and other pasts swarmed through the dormitories. By eighteen eighty one,
Speaker 2: the poorhouse was considered to be one of the worst
Speaker 2: in the nation, according to an Atlantic Monthly article. In
Speaker 2: eighteen eighty four, the state intervened, relocating many residents with
Speaker 2: mental health conditions to psychiatric wards that were better equipped
Speaker 2: to address their needs. This shift followed a visit where
Speaker 2: as Lancasters, the New era newspaper, reported, visitors determined the
Speaker 2: building was unsafe and the floors were pitted with holes.
Speaker 2: The stretched too thin staff let their residents wander around
Speaker 2: and made no effort to treat clients with mental health
Speaker 2: conditions any differently from the general population. They even noted
Speaker 2: in their report that there was no running water in
Speaker 2: the building and residents had to bathe outdoors in a
Speaker 2: river even in the dead of winter. I'm Amy Bruney,
Speaker 2: and this is haunted road. Afterward, the staff tried to
Speaker 2: reform operations at the Green County House, but their efforts
Speaker 2: were apparently too little, too late. They were unable to
Speaker 2: address the chronic overcrowding issues. Each time they reassigned residents
Speaker 2: to another facility, new clients would come pouring in, and
Speaker 2: the structure continued to crumble. In eighteen eighty six, the
Speaker 2: staff expanded the house with new wings and wards to
Speaker 2: accommodate their growing population. But even with the new additions,
Speaker 2: the Green County Poor Farm remained infested, dirty, and the
Speaker 2: staff were still unable to care for their residents's unique
Speaker 2: mental and physical needs. An article is in Davenport's Daily
Speaker 2: Democrat titled an Asylum Horror, posted a quote from one
Speaker 2: resident who'd been there for five years. He said, I
Speaker 2: cannot sleep in my bed for the bugs. I have
Speaker 2: been sleeping in the hall here nigh on five years
Speaker 2: now here the bugs no bother me. Later that same
Speaker 2: article described the unsanitary conditions that many sick residents had
Speaker 2: to deal with while fighting serious and potentially fatal illnesses.
Speaker 2: They put it starkly, several of the inmates were dying
Speaker 2: like hogs in their filth. More construction and renovation still
Speaker 2: failed to address the issues, and in eighteen ninety reports
Speaker 2: began appearing in the papers that the man who ran
Speaker 2: the facility, William B. Cage, had a sadistic streak. The
Speaker 2: Story of an Aged Institution, again by Matt Cumberlidge, says
Speaker 2: William gravitated toward brutal punishments for minor infractions. He beat
Speaker 2: residents with his cane or chain them in the basement
Speaker 2: where they weren't fed. He was also said to steal
Speaker 2: food from his clients, throwing gallas and serving it to guests,
Speaker 2: while the people in his care starved, neglected, and demoralized.
Speaker 2: The residents suffered horrible tragedies. One man hung himself on
Speaker 2: the premises in eighteen ninety one. One of the most
Speaker 2: disturbing accounts from this time was reported again by Cumberlage.
Speaker 2: According to Matthew, some time around the turn of the century,
Speaker 2: a woman who was staying at the facility became pregnant
Speaker 2: by another resident.
Speaker 3: On a chilly.
Speaker 2: Day, fearful that the baby wasn't warm enough, she put
Speaker 2: her newborn in a bread oven and left it there
Speaker 2: until it died. The scent of its baking body permeated
Speaker 2: the house. Finally, around this time, the public pressure became
Speaker 2: too great and the cruel director, William B. Cage, lost
Speaker 2: his position. Afterward, the Green County Poorhouse transformed rapidly. The
Speaker 2: facilities were cleaned up and repaired, and the population was
Speaker 2: reduced to a more manageable forty adults. The new management
Speaker 2: also adopted a name change to Green Hills Farm. Interestingly,
Speaker 2: this was the first time the facility had an official name. Afterward,
Speaker 2: the complex continued operating in relative peace and quiet until
Speaker 2: nineteen sixty four, when it closed down for good. Five
Speaker 2: years later, in nineteen sixty nine, the century old structure
Speaker 2: was condemned, but it didn't have long to sit and
Speaker 2: fall into disuse. The following year, a group called the
Speaker 2: Green County Historical Society began renting the facilities for the
Speaker 2: very low price of one dollar per year with a
Speaker 2: guarantee of no rate increases for half a century. The
Speaker 2: Historical Society had been operating since nineteen twenty five, and
Speaker 2: as reported on the Green County Museum's website, they were
Speaker 2: devoted to preserving important artifacts and records related to their region.
Speaker 2: As time went on, their archives grew and they were
Speaker 2: in need of a new headquarters to accommodate their expanding collection.
Speaker 2: In nineteen seventy one, they reopened the Green County House
Speaker 2: as a museum with displays for their artifacts and antiques. Today,
Speaker 2: anyone can drop by and see the exhibits between April
Speaker 2: and October, but during the winter and early spring they're
Speaker 2: only open first special events. But even during quiet stretches
Speaker 2: where visitors don't come by, it's said the dead are
Speaker 2: quite active. Like many haunted places, there are reports of
Speaker 2: footsteps and screams with no apparent cause. Passers by here
Speaker 2: pounding on residents' former bedroom doors, possibly the same doors
Speaker 2: that show signs of damage from previous escape attempts.
Speaker 3: These noises are especially.
Speaker 2: Common in the basement, even when it's supposed to be unoccupied.
Speaker 2: Visitors have heard moans and screams coming from below. The
Speaker 2: woman whose baby died in the oven is said to
Speaker 2: still linger in the kitchen the location of her great
Speaker 2: personal tra and other full bodied apparitions have popped up
Speaker 2: throughout the house and the surrounding grounds. Sometimes these spirits
Speaker 2: are dressed in clothing from the eighteen hundreds. Passers through
Speaker 2: might feel a tug on their clothes or a pinch.
Speaker 2: A piano in the main hall occasionally rings out with tunes,
Speaker 2: even though no one is sitting by to play it.
Speaker 2: The lights flicker or turn on and off on their own,
Speaker 2: and mysterious scents wafted through the air. Sewage, burning hair,
Speaker 2: and rotting flesh are commonly detected. On one occasion, Cumberledge
Speaker 2: was in the Green County Historical Society when he heard
Speaker 2: a door slam. He didn't see anyone around, even as
Speaker 2: footsteps thudded by. Then a box slid across the floor
Speaker 2: all on its own, eerie evidence that he wasn't as
Speaker 2: alone as he thought. He told another story where a
Speaker 2: volunteer worker was startled while they were vacuuming. They saw
Speaker 2: a hand reach toward them from a closet that was
Speaker 2: supposed to be Emptyographers often capture strange images on film,
Speaker 2: extra faces that weren't visible in the initial shot. Notably,
Speaker 2: this happened at least once in the West Wing. According
Speaker 2: to the Observer Reporter, the staff have dubbed it the
Speaker 2: Bad Wing due to the ominous sensations they feel while
Speaker 2: they're When one guest snapped a photo in the Bad Wing,
Speaker 2: they were surprised to find a woman in a nurse's
Speaker 2: uniform in the image, a woman who hadn't been visible
Speaker 2: when they took the picture. Another lady, dubbed Margaret by
Speaker 2: the staff, is frequently cited in this same area, but
Speaker 2: many of the worst horrors seemed to stem from the
Speaker 2: basement where residents were once tortured and starved. Often people
Speaker 2: who descend into the depths get the eerie sensation that
Speaker 2: they're being watched. Now, no discussion of paranormal activity at
Speaker 2: the Green County Historical Society is complete without discussing the
Speaker 2: region as a whole. Apparently, Rosemary Ellen Guiley said Green
Speaker 2: County is the most haunted county in all of the
Speaker 2: United States in the National Association of Counties. Meredith Moran
Speaker 2: noted that it's a hot spot for Bigfoot and UFO sightings.
Speaker 2: Strangest of all, Moran described some kind of lobster monster
Speaker 2: that's said to snatch unwary people who cross its path.
Speaker 2: As ominous as this may all sound, accounts suggests the
Speaker 2: spirits at the Historical Society are friendly overall. In The
Speaker 2: Yellow Jacket's article Paranormal Activity in Green County by Emma Hurley,
Speaker 2: the ghosts generosity is described. Apparently they like to leave
Speaker 2: antique pottery or swords in recently cleaned rooms, a way
Speaker 2: of reaching out to the living, perhaps and saying hi.
Speaker 2: During its operation as a poorhouse, it's said anywhere from
Speaker 2: seven hundred forty six to one thousand people died on
Speaker 2: the premises. It's hard to say for shore due to
Speaker 2: gaps and record keeping, but it's fair to say many
Speaker 2: of the residents were ordinary people who'd ended up at
Speaker 2: Green County House due to circumstances beyond their control. By
Speaker 2: and large, they didn't wish anyone harm during their lives,
Speaker 2: and there's no reason to think that's changed now. I
Speaker 2: can think of no one more qualified to speak on
Speaker 2: this location than Matt Cumberledge himself. I've cited him numerous
Speaker 2: times in this episode, and I had the pleasure of
Speaker 2: working with him and his staff when we spent a
Speaker 2: week investigating there with Kindred Spirits. So he is coming
Speaker 2: up after the break. I am now joined by Matt Cumberledge,
Speaker 2: who is the museum director, and it's so nice to
Speaker 2: have you with us. We actually we met when we
Speaker 2: filmed Kindred Spirits there.
Speaker 1: Yes, indeed that was back in August, if I remember correctly,
Speaker 1: last August.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: I have to say, like, I love love this location,
Speaker 2: like it's one of my favorite episodes.
Speaker 3: It's one of my favorite haunts.
Speaker 2: I'm a little bit jealous that you get to work
Speaker 2: there every day.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. It's something I never grow tired of.
Speaker 1: It's a wonderful building, wonderful history, and interesting paranormal activity
Speaker 1: there for.
Speaker 2: Sure, absolutely, and so like right off the bat, I
Speaker 2: just want to say what I really like about this place,
Speaker 2: just as a researcher myself, is that this is one
Speaker 2: of those locations like I don't I barely had to
Speaker 2: leave to research.
Speaker 3: You have the library.
Speaker 2: There, and you have such extensive records of what went
Speaker 2: on there, even some of the more honestly horrifying accounts,
Speaker 2: like you have documentation, which doesn't happen very often.
Speaker 1: No, it's really uncommon to have stuff like that. Like,
Speaker 1: you know, I've always had an interest in facilities like this,
Speaker 1: Like I'm sure you guys are familiar with transautic any
Speaker 1: lunatic asylum. And you go there and they tell you
Speaker 1: these stories, is not always wonder it's like are they
Speaker 1: making this up? You know, is there any is there
Speaker 1: anything too this? Now, I don't doubt their stories. I
Speaker 1: had an aunt that worked there that actually was able
Speaker 1: to verify some things that happened in the nineties. But
Speaker 1: we're very lucky that we have all of these nineteenth
Speaker 1: century accounts in their vivid accounts, you know, Like I
Speaker 1: tell people when they come here to visit, it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, everything I'm telling you I can back up
Speaker 1: with documentation, and yeah, people seem to enjoy that, and
Speaker 1: a lot of times I like to bring that stuff
Speaker 1: out and like, you know, here, you know, read this article,
Speaker 1: look at this. There's insanely horrifying things that happened here
Speaker 1: way back when.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I honestly like when we were there and
Speaker 2: we were investigating, as you know, we're there a lot
Speaker 2: when when we're filming we basically move in for a
Speaker 2: few days, and even when you know, I had downtime
Speaker 2: where the cameras weren't rolling, I would just run into
Speaker 2: that library and start looking through things because it was
Speaker 2: so fascinating. So, but that being said, it has been
Speaker 2: a while since I've been there. How is the activity?
Speaker 2: How how have things been going there?
Speaker 1: The activity, it comes and goes. I'm sure you'll remember
Speaker 1: that we're we were kind of in the middle of
Speaker 1: some renovations when you guys were here. We still are
Speaker 1: and that always tends to uh peak the activity a
Speaker 1: little bit. So, you know, it's it's been fairly busy
Speaker 1: here lately. In fact, a few days ago I had
Speaker 1: a pretty interesting experience. Oh share, please, Well we this
Speaker 1: was two weekends ago. We had a local paranormal group
Speaker 1: that came out and they helped us do a fundraiser.
Speaker 1: What they did was they they brought all of their
Speaker 1: equipment and we sold tickets. People were able to come.
Speaker 1: We we served dinner, there were a few presentations, and
Speaker 1: then after everything was done, this local group would take
Speaker 1: groups of people around and investigate various parts of the building.
Speaker 1: Well that that started at three o'clock in the afternoon,
Speaker 1: and of course I was here much much earlier than that.
Speaker 1: I had gotten here about eleven. And I'm sure you
Speaker 1: remember the brick oven in the kitchen with the intermous story,
Speaker 1: so we do use that when we serve food. We
Speaker 1: actually bake food in there. And so I was here
Speaker 1: early to start a fire and get things ready with that. Well,
Speaker 1: I was the only one that was here, and I
Speaker 1: heard the back door open, and I thought, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: it's nothing. So I figured the rest of my staff
Speaker 1: had kind of come in and we're getting started with
Speaker 1: the day. So I had gone back in the west
Speaker 1: wing to do a couple things. And when I went
Speaker 1: back that way, I had gone into one room and
Speaker 1: I heard somebody walking down the hallway behind me, and
Speaker 1: I heard the women's bathroom door open and closed. And
Speaker 1: when I walked back out of the hallway, I could
Speaker 1: hear somebody moving around in there, and I thought, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: well Janis or Barbed they're here. They're cleaning the bathrooms,
Speaker 1: you know, getting ready for tonight. So again didn't think
Speaker 1: anything else it. I go back into the kitchen and
Speaker 1: there's a window in the kitchen that looks back onto
Speaker 1: the building and it actually looks into another window in
Speaker 1: the west wing hallway. I'm looking out that and I
Speaker 1: clearly see a person in a blue shirt walk past
Speaker 1: the window. It was a guy. I'm like, oh, that's
Speaker 1: not any of my staff. So I run out of
Speaker 1: the kitchen. I'm like, who's here? So I come out.
Speaker 1: Nobody's there. I peek down the West wing hallway. No
Speaker 1: one was there. I look up the set of marble
Speaker 1: steps that goes upstairs to the women's wing, and we
Speaker 1: had a curtain at the top of the steps to
Speaker 1: like block drafts and keep the warmth in the parts
Speaker 1: of the building that are heated, because as you know,
Speaker 1: the whole place isn't heated. And I saw that curtain
Speaker 1: move as if somebody just went through it. So I thought,
Speaker 1: oh God, we've got an intruder. So, you know, I
Speaker 1: started to get a bit panic because I'm not thinking paranormal.
Speaker 1: So I run up the steps, go through that. I
Speaker 1: search every room in that hallway, and there wasn't a
Speaker 1: soul to be seen, and that's the only way in
Speaker 1: and out of that hallway. So I come back downstairs
Speaker 1: and I text everybody. I'm like, are you guys here?
Speaker 1: They're like, no, we haven't, We're not there yet. We're
Speaker 1: Jana said she's almost there, So I wait around until
Speaker 1: she came in. I'm like, and I told this whole
Speaker 1: story to Janis. I was kind of half freaked out,
Speaker 1: and she said, well, do you want to you want
Speaker 1: to search the building? I'm like, I kind of do,
Speaker 1: so I told her. I said, I don't want you
Speaker 1: to help me search because the back door is open.
Speaker 1: That's the only way in and out of the building.
Speaker 1: Every other every other exterior door was locked, and they're
Speaker 1: dead bolts that are keyed on the inside and the outside,
Speaker 1: so it's not like you can flip it and get out.
Speaker 1: So I said, I want you to guard this door.
Speaker 1: I'm going to thoroughly search the entire building. So I
Speaker 1: did that. It took me about a half an hour,
Speaker 1: and I mean I looked in closets, I looked in
Speaker 1: trunks and where that was big enough for a person
Speaker 1: to hide, and no one. I come back downstairs and
Speaker 1: Janis is a bit freaked out because while I'm out
Speaker 1: searching the rest of the building, there was somebody just
Speaker 1: outside of the kitchen walking around that she could hear
Speaker 1: but couldn't see.
Speaker 2: Ooh, so wow, that's wild.
Speaker 3: It was, and so that was going on for a
Speaker 3: long time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the duration of this was probably close to an hour,
Speaker 1: I would say, And like I said, I, I was
Speaker 1: freaked out because initially I thought intruder, but it definitely
Speaker 1: wasn't you know? It was?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I have an interesting story sort of along
Speaker 2: those lines.
Speaker 3: I didn't.
Speaker 2: I don't think it made the show because it didn't
Speaker 2: really have any have to do with anything. But so
Speaker 2: I was outside at one point and I was doing
Speaker 2: what we call an OTF and on the fly interview.
Speaker 2: So there's a camera operator and the sound person and
Speaker 2: producer and I was standing out on the lawn trying
Speaker 2: to I can't really describe like behind that barn area, right,
Speaker 2: And so I'm back there and I'm doing my interview
Speaker 2: and John Tenney was helping us on this case, and
Speaker 2: so he's he was sitting out back smoking and he
Speaker 2: could see me while I was doing my interview. And
Speaker 2: so then as i'm I walked back afterwards, and I'm
Speaker 2: walking in and he's like, he's like, who's that kid?
Speaker 2: And I'm like, what are you talking about? And He's
Speaker 2: like that kid that was like playing around you the
Speaker 2: whole time. Just now, He's like, does anybody who does
Speaker 2: that child belong to? And I was like, there's no
Speaker 2: kid there, John, And he's like what He's like, no,
Speaker 2: I've just watched why you did your interview the whole
Speaker 2: time there was a little kid playing in the grass
Speaker 2: like near you. He's like, and I couldn't figure out
Speaker 2: why you weren't talking to this child. He's like, cause
Speaker 2: you love kids, he said, but I thought maybe you
Speaker 2: just like knew who it was or and he like
Speaker 2: legitimately like started sweating and like turned like pale. He
Speaker 2: was like, are you are you joking? Like you didn't
Speaker 2: see it? Like I'm like, none of us saw this kid,
Speaker 2: Like apparently while I was sitting there, there was this
Speaker 2: kid just like playing, This little kid with dark hair
Speaker 2: just kind of hanging out on the lawn and walking around.
Speaker 2: He's like, and he couldn't figure out who this person
Speaker 2: was and so fully saw it still to this day,
Speaker 2: like if you bring it up, he gets really weirded
Speaker 2: out by it, Yeah, because he's just like because he
Speaker 2: watched it happen for so long.
Speaker 3: So I don't know if anyone else has ever reported
Speaker 3: you see it.
Speaker 1: Definitely not the first. Really, I have never seen that
Speaker 1: little boy myself, but we've had several people, including some
Speaker 1: of my current and past staff, say they've seen a
Speaker 1: little boy about nine or ten years old playing in
Speaker 1: and around the barn out there quite a bit.
Speaker 2: That just gave me full body chills because I don't
Speaker 2: even think we even told you about that.
Speaker 1: I just think I like it aware of that.
Speaker 2: No, Yeah, that is so insane, Like honestly, like, I've
Speaker 2: got such chills right now because, like I said, he
Speaker 2: watched him for so long and he knows me, like
Speaker 2: whenever there's a kid around, I'm like hey, and so
Speaker 2: he was just like I can't figure out why she's
Speaker 2: not acknowledging this child near her. But that's so oh okay,
Speaker 2: that's really interesting to know. Well, now you know Haunted Roadies,
Speaker 2: you heard it here first, So.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: So now that's one of the things I love about
Speaker 2: that location is the activity is constant and it's also
Speaker 2: I mean to a point, there's lots of bangs and
Speaker 2: knocks and like footsteps and stuff that happen all the time,
Speaker 2: but there are so many apparitions that are seen, which
Speaker 2: is kind of uncommon, Like it's it's here and there,
Speaker 2: like places will have full bodied apparitions, but it seems
Speaker 2: like people see like apparitions to the extent like you
Speaker 2: where you think it's a living person or like John,
Speaker 2: you think there's a living person and then they're just gone.
Speaker 2: So that's that's got to be an interesting thing to
Speaker 2: have to work with.
Speaker 1: It is and I can't remember if I told you
Speaker 1: guys in the interviews, but to be brutally honest, before
Speaker 1: I started working here, I didn't believe in the paranormal,
Speaker 1: and my mate, my mind changed very quickly because you
Speaker 1: just start experiencing things like very consistently, Like my first
Speaker 1: week here, there was activity and it's like, what is
Speaker 1: going on? Have I gone schizophrenic? Am I insane? Did no?
Speaker 3: Go ahead?
Speaker 1: And it's like, you know, eventually you just have to
Speaker 1: accept the reality of yes, yes, there is a lot
Speaker 1: of activity here, and yeah, it'll it'll make you a
Speaker 1: believer very quickly.
Speaker 3: Now does Kenny still work there? Is that his name?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 3: Yes he does, Yes, Oh how's he doing?
Speaker 2: I know he was nervous about going up on that
Speaker 2: second floor area after that whole like, So there's a
Speaker 2: there's a clip that he showed us. Basically, he went in,
Speaker 2: he heard all this banging upstairs, he started filming.
Speaker 3: He like opened the door and.
Speaker 2: Like felt shot up there and you could hear it,
Speaker 2: Like it was sounded like someone was just kind of
Speaker 2: banging on the walls and stuff. Like, has anything like
Speaker 2: that happened since?
Speaker 1: No, it hasn't. The activity kind of changes in different
Speaker 1: parts of the building, Like this area might be active
Speaker 1: for a while, this area might be active for a while.
Speaker 1: I don't want to say it's cycles, but you know
Speaker 1: you'll have activity here and then there, and there's a
Speaker 1: lot of it's dynamic. It changes quite a lot. But no,
Speaker 1: nothing like that.
Speaker 2: Since Okay, yeah, that was People comment on that video
Speaker 2: all the time. For the record, anybody who's listening, if
Speaker 2: you've seen the episode of Kindred Spirits that we filmed there,
Speaker 2: there's this clip that Kenny showed us where you hear
Speaker 2: something banging up there and a lot of people are like,
Speaker 2: I see something moving, but when you look closely, it's
Speaker 2: just the shadow from the railing, So there's really nobody
Speaker 2: up there. And that he was genuinely pretty petrified, and
Speaker 2: I can't blame him, Like if I went to walk
Speaker 2: upstairs and heard that. I probably would not be I
Speaker 2: would probably have vacated the building as well. But I
Speaker 2: would have thought person, I would have thought live person,
Speaker 2: I like you. I would have thought, like, somebody has
Speaker 2: broken into this building and I need to like go
Speaker 2: call the police.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. My first few weeks working here, I would
Speaker 1: hear somebody walking around upstairs and it was vivid, you know,
Speaker 1: like you see a lot of the stuff on TV
Speaker 1: and it's like you hear what could be footsteps. I
Speaker 1: mean this was like it sounded like a heavy footed
Speaker 1: person walking round upstairs and I would search. It's like,
Speaker 1: is somebody in here? In my maintenance guy company. He's like,
Speaker 1: you'll get used to this, You'll get used to this,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, no, you won't. But he was right,
Speaker 1: you eventually do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you just kind of you learn to just live
Speaker 2: with it and work with it. Now of all of
Speaker 2: this activity that happens there, Like, who do you think
Speaker 2: is responsible for these happenings?
Speaker 1: I think a lot of it's the people who lived
Speaker 1: in this building in the past. I also kind of
Speaker 1: presume there might be some activity that has kind of
Speaker 1: come with some of the artifacts in the building. But
Speaker 1: I think a lot of it is people who have
Speaker 1: lived there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that makes sense. Do you find that any so sometimes?
Speaker 2: I mean to me, a lot of what we encountered
Speaker 2: seemed kind of residual in nature. But like, are there
Speaker 2: ever any spirits there that just like seems fully intelligent,
Speaker 2: like they're fully trying to interact with you and you know,
Speaker 2: relay some sort of information.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Uh again, I can't remember if we went over
Speaker 1: this in the interviews, but there's definitely intelligent activity there.
Speaker 1: Way way back when I first started here, the building
Speaker 1: was laid out completely differently. You know, we've moved a
Speaker 1: lot of the rooms around, and all of the Native
Speaker 1: American artifacts were displayed in a room upstairs. And I'm
Speaker 1: an archaeology buff. I love that sort of stuff. So
Speaker 1: a friend of mine and I who's also an archaeology buff,
Speaker 1: we were up there cataloging that stuff. And we had
Speaker 1: found part of a collection of Native American projectile points
Speaker 1: and these were all numbered and they were part of
Speaker 1: actually one of our founding members collection from the nineteen twenties,
Speaker 1: so they were all numbered, but there were a few
Speaker 1: of them that were missing, so we assumed they were
Speaker 1: still there. So we were kind of searching to put
Speaker 1: this collection back together. So we had boxes sitting in
Speaker 1: this room and we were going through stuff trying to
Speaker 1: find these last four or five points, and we started
Speaker 1: finding them, and we had gotten down to where we
Speaker 1: needed two left to put this collection completely back together.
Speaker 1: So we were sort of driven to find those so
Speaker 1: we could finish what we were doing. So we looked
Speaker 1: at the list. We knew what sort of point we
Speaker 1: were looking for, so we started going through these boxes
Speaker 1: looking for that. And as we're doing that, we go
Speaker 1: to take a break and we sit back down at
Speaker 1: the table we were working at and we had a
Speaker 1: book laying open that it was an identification book, and
Speaker 1: the points laying right there in the center of the book,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't there moments ago, you know, and so
Speaker 1: we're like, oh, that was kind of creepy. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: we put that with the collection and we start looking
Speaker 1: for the last one and lo and behold, the exact
Speaker 1: same thing happens. As we're looking through boxes. This last
Speaker 1: point just sort of materializes on the book that we
Speaker 1: were using as a reference.
Speaker 2: That's always so when that happens, I have had that
Speaker 2: happen one time.
Speaker 3: Well, a couple of times.
Speaker 2: One of the biggest times was it was an old
Speaker 2: house I was living in years ago, and I had
Speaker 2: a tooth infection and I couldn't find my.
Speaker 3: Antibiotics I was.
Speaker 2: Taking, and I knew I had left them on my sink,
Speaker 2: like I knew it, and I was because that's where
Speaker 2: I put them as I took them in the morning.
Speaker 2: I took it and like I was getting so frustrated,
Speaker 2: like to the point because of tears, because I really
Speaker 2: just wanted to like take my medicine. And I like
Speaker 2: I remember I was in the bathroom and I was
Speaker 2: This is clearly not a story that has to do
Speaker 2: with your location at all, but I just I can
Speaker 2: relate to because it's so creepy and not creepy, but
Speaker 2: just like it's one of those mo moments where everything
Speaker 2: your whole body just kind of goes what just happened.
Speaker 2: So anyways, I'm I'm in the upstairs bathroom and I
Speaker 2: look at the sinkboard and my medicine's not there, and
Speaker 2: I turn off the light and I'm like in tears
Speaker 2: almost and I turn around. I'm about to leave, and
Speaker 2: I seriously heard this voice in my head that said
Speaker 2: turn around and turn on the light. And I turned around,
Speaker 2: I turned the light back on, and my medicine was
Speaker 2: sitting right in the middle of the sink, like in
Speaker 2: the sink. And I mean this was a span of
Speaker 2: like five seconds, and I was just like equal parts thankful,
Speaker 2: equal parts horrified, Like what just happened? Where did that
Speaker 2: come from? How did I not hear it? So for
Speaker 2: you to have that happen twice, that is crazy.
Speaker 1: Twice in like a few minutes span.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they said they want I mean, they were
Speaker 2: being helpful and they wanted you to have it and
Speaker 2: wanted you to make you to make sure the collection
Speaker 2: was complete. But it's like, where were they? How did
Speaker 2: they get there? I just have so many questions when
Speaker 2: things like that happened. Yet now I know that when
Speaker 2: we did Kindred Spirits there, so I think a lot
Speaker 2: of my listeners haven't necessarily watched Kindred Spirits. But there
Speaker 2: was a point where we did do like a pretty
Speaker 2: powerful spirit box session where we brought in the employee. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was I mean, I wish we could have done
Speaker 2: it justice. I mean, I think it was really compelling
Speaker 2: on the show. But it went on for quite a
Speaker 2: while and We brought in all the employees, which we
Speaker 2: like to do when we're investigating these kinds of location
Speaker 2: sometimes because we know that the spirits are familiar with
Speaker 2: you, you're there every day, and especially the people who we
Speaker 2: could be dealing with, they could have trust issues, and
Speaker 2: so we brought in the employees and you and everybody.
Speaker 2: And so I remember during that spirit box session they
Speaker 2: brought up a garden multiple times, So I want to know,
Speaker 2: did you put in a garden?
Speaker 1: We did in a little area out between the library
Speaker 1: and the smokehouse. This year we started a small herb garden.
Speaker 2: Nice because it was so strange, Like multiple times it
Speaker 2: came up that they were like, we want a garden.
Speaker 3: Where's the garden? So I'm last you guys fulfilled their wishes.
Speaker 1: We try to be respectful them as possible because I
Speaker 1: look at it this way. Their life was probably not
Speaker 1: that great, uh when they lived here, And I think
Speaker 1: the renovations we've done to the building, I think the
Speaker 1: fact that we treat them respectfully, I think it gives
Speaker 1: them a little bit of peace now that they didn't
Speaker 1: have in life.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think that's nice too, that they're being
Speaker 2: acknowledged you know, you're giving them, you know, a say
Speaker 2: in what happens, and you're taking them into account before
Speaker 2: you make changes or and.
Speaker 1: I know er than I have.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, Now do you do you find yourself and
Speaker 2: other like people who work there and volunteer there, do
Speaker 2: you all find yourselves talking to them kind of regularly, just.
Speaker 1: Like they've become part of our day lives. Like we
Speaker 1: try to let them know our schedules because the only
Speaker 1: time I've never really experienced anything properly negative there, but
Speaker 1: there are times when you get the sensation that you're
Speaker 1: not exactly welcome there. Again, not so much in a
Speaker 1: negative sense, more of a can't you just go home?
Speaker 1: It's our time now? So like if we know we're
Speaker 1: going to be there late or things are going on,
Speaker 1: we try to put that out so that they can
Speaker 1: prepare for it. And you know, I mean, I would
Speaker 1: want somebody running around my house at ten o'clock at night,
Speaker 1: So it's nice, nice to give them the heads up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, that's very fair. That's that's kind of you.
Speaker 2: You know, It's it's just not often that you see
Speaker 2: a historical location kind of accept their spirits so so willingly.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean, and like obviously I'm sure
Speaker 2: you know I've talked about this before on the show,
Speaker 2: but just how sometimes these the spirits and the paranormal
Speaker 2: activity can sometimes be, you know, a valuable revenue source
Speaker 2: for historical locations that are, you know, trying to kind
Speaker 2: of make ends meet. And I think that there's a
Speaker 2: very kind of respectful way to do that, which you
Speaker 2: guys have really succeeded in doing. You know, you acknowledge
Speaker 2: they're there, You let people investigate respectfully, You're very true
Speaker 2: to the history and make sure that that is accurately
Speaker 2: portrayed and told there's no sensationalism happening. And so I
Speaker 2: think that that's really key, and I think you could
Speaker 2: probably I think you set a really good example for
Speaker 2: other locations like you who want to kind of embrace
Speaker 2: this side, assuming they actually have hauntings, right, Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 2: And I.
Speaker 1: Really appreciate that because those are conscious efforts we do make,
Speaker 1: and quite frankly, as far as revenue goes, the paranormal
Speaker 1: investigations are what keep us going as a historical society.
Speaker 1: You know, for anybody that's not familiar with this building,
Speaker 1: it's it's very large, it's not you know, state hospital large,
Speaker 1: but you know, most historical societies like us might be
Speaker 1: housed in you know, maybe like a Victorian house or
Speaker 1: something like that. We've got fifty two rooms and thirty
Speaker 1: five thousand square feet. The maintenance alone is staggering, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and the utilities are staggering. So if it wasn't for
Speaker 1: that source of revenue, we would probably cease to exist.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean I think it's good. I think that
Speaker 2: there's you know, I think it's important that that that
Speaker 2: paranormal hobby that some people don't necessarily take seriously, like
Speaker 2: whether or not you believe in it, you know, sometimes
Speaker 2: there's a lot of good that can come from it.
Speaker 2: So I think you're the perfect example.
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: What I like about the people we get coming here
Speaker 1: to investigate is it tends to be smaller groups, and
Speaker 1: they tend to be as equally interested in the history
Speaker 1: of the location as they are the activity. And you know,
Speaker 1: I love seeing that because it is a very haunted
Speaker 1: and active location and it does have a fascinating history,
Speaker 1: and I think it's important that that history be known
Speaker 1: and remembered because you know, almshouses and poor farms are
Speaker 1: sort of one of those forgotten areas of history. You know,
Speaker 1: you don't hear about them, So this is one of
Speaker 1: the few places you can come and actually experience and
Speaker 1: learn about that.
Speaker 2: History, right, I mean they were It's one of it's
Speaker 2: obviously sad history, but it was honestly very important then too,
Speaker 2: Like where else would these people go? So well, I
Speaker 2: do want to thank you for taking the time. Now,
Speaker 2: if people want to visit, they want to support you,
Speaker 2: what do they need to do.
Speaker 1: The easiest way. We're on Facebook under Green County Historical Society,
Speaker 1: and our website is Green County Green with an e
Speaker 1: green countyhistory dot org. And make sure you're looking for
Speaker 1: Green County, Pennsylvania, because I know we get a lot
Speaker 1: of calls for Green counties and other states. So yeah,
Speaker 1: make sure you're looking for Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2: I noticed that myself when I was looking. I was
Speaker 2: trying to find your email address or something, and I
Speaker 2: was like, oh, there's a lot of Green County historicals.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah. A few years ago I got an email from
Speaker 1: this place in North Carolina. They're like, hey, can we
Speaker 1: get you to speak at our event? You know, blah
Speaker 1: blah blah blah blah, and I look at it and
Speaker 1: I'm like, that's nowhere near here. And I replied to
Speaker 1: him joking, and I'm like, I would love to and
Speaker 1: I I typically, you know, I don't expect Pamer for that,
Speaker 1: but in this instance, because you're in North Carolina, I
Speaker 1: might have to ask you mileage.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm sure our listeners will get it right. So
Speaker 2: but I do really appreciate you taking the time. And
Speaker 2: hopefully I'll be back to visit soon.
Speaker 1: Oh, I certainly hope.
Speaker 3: So.
Speaker 1: We'd love seeing you guys again. We had a blast
Speaker 1: when the crew was here. It was fantastic, awesome.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much. We'll talk soon.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Amy.
Speaker 2: We can only speculate on what the afterlife holds, but
Speaker 2: the spirits of the Green County Historical Society might offer
Speaker 2: a hint. Like life, death seems to hold a mixture
Speaker 2: of the good and the bad. The friendly, gift giving
Speaker 2: spirits have apparently found a secure, stable, resting place, but sadly,
Speaker 2: it's also full of reminders of their pain and trauma.
Speaker 2: Even the dead can't escape the challenges they faced while alive.
Speaker 2: I'm Amy Bruney and this was haunted road. Are you
Speaker 2: tired of the same old vacation destinations and cookie cutter experiences.
Speaker 2: Do you crave a sense of mystery, wonder and adventure
Speaker 2: that can't be found in ordinary travel brochures. Do you
Speaker 2: listen to this podcast and think I'd like to visit
Speaker 2: that spooky place? Well, that's why I started Strange Escapes,
Speaker 2: a paranormal based travel company that it takes you to
Speaker 2: some of the most haunted locations in the world. Frankly,
Speaker 2: it's my excuse to combine all of my favorite things,
Speaker 2: which is ghosts, beautiful hotels, food and wine, and other
Speaker 2: weirdos like me. To be honest, If that sounds right
Speaker 2: up your alley and you want to learn more, then
Speaker 2: visit Strange Escapes dot travel and hopefully you can join
Speaker 2: us sometime.
Speaker 3: Also.
Speaker 2: To keep up on all of my upcoming projects and appearances,
Speaker 2: head to Amybrune dot com. I have some really great
Speaker 2: things in the works and I don't want you to
Speaker 2: miss it.
Speaker 3: Thanks.
Speaker 2: Haunted Roadies. Haunted Road is hosted and written by me
Speaker 2: Amy Brune, with additional research by Cassandra de Alba. This
Speaker 2: show is edited and produced by rema Elkali, with supervising
Speaker 2: producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Menke, Alex Williams,
Speaker 2: and Matt Frederick. Haunted Road is a production of iHeartRadio
Speaker 2: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankie. Learn more about
Speaker 2: this show over at Grimanmild dot com, and for more
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