For thirty years David was an EMT stationed at the hospital. Sometimes when he was scheduled for a twenty-four-hour shift, he would go back into the basement area where there was a room for the EMTs to sleep between calls. He remembers that once, after he woke up in the morning, one of the nurses asked him how he’d slept. He told her that he was kept awake most of the night by doors slamming and objects being moved and dropped on the floor. He asked her who was so busy down there, and she replied that there was no one there but him.
Before we left the hospital and headed for the library, I asked David if I could interview his son, Chris, and some of the volunteers. He called them over to the car, and they were all anxious to tell me about their own ghostly experiences.
Chris started, “One afternoon, while I was working at one of the nurse’s stations where all four halls meet, I heard a clear voice of a young child say, ‘Hello.’ I turned to see who was behind me, and I noticed a broom closet. I thought that maybe a child had gone inside there and was playing a trick on me. I walked over and opened the closet but found nothing there that would have made that sound. This freaked me out so I picked up my tools and left for the day. From then on, when I worked in this room I propped the door open so that if anything like that happened again, I could easily run out of the room.”
David interrupted and added, “I was in what used to be the waiting room for the CCU patients, and while I was working, the door to the room slammed. I went over to open it, but it was stuck. I figured that it must be due to the dampness that the door was swollen and that was why I couldn’t get it opened. I tried for over fifteen minutes to get the door to open. I began to feel a little panicked and realized that the only way out was through a window. I had to hold on to the gutter that gave way as I jumped to the ground. The gutter is still hanging outside the window. I walked around the building and went in through the front to get back to the room, and, to my amazement, the door was standing wide open. And, Patti, I just remembered this,” David continued. “I was working in another one of the rooms to get ready for the Halloween tours. I was standing in the corner of the room with my arms up while attaching a string of lights to the ceiling. All of a sudden, a big splash of water hit my side where I was standing next to the wall. I lowered my arms and looked at my side, and it was soaking wet while the water continued to flow down my legs into my socks. I looked up to see if the ceiling was leaking, but it wasn’t. Anyway, if the water had come from the ceiling, it would have landed on my shoulder, not come from a side angle and hit me in the side just below my armpit. The wall that I was standing close to did not have any signs of water on it. Now that was a totally unexplained experience, and it scared the heck out of me.”
Chris prompted one of the volunteers, Travis Ford, to share one of his experiences. Travis, a bit reserved, began, “I was walking down one of the hallways getting ready to enter one of the rooms where we were working to get it ready for the Halloween tours. To tell you the truth, I have never liked that room. While I’m working in the room, I feel like there are eyes staring at me, so I’ll turn around, and there is no one there but it still creeps me out. Anyway, as I turned to go into the doorway of the room, I stopped immediately. It felt like someone was standing in front of me, but there was no one there. All of a sudden, with a mighty force, I was pushed out the door and landed against the wall in the hallway. Once I realized what had happened, I turned and ran down the hall until I reached the lobby. I was out of breath and scared out of my mind at what had just happened. I remained in the lobby for a while with all sorts of thoughts going through my head, trying to make sense of what had just happened to me.” I asked Travis if he has gone back into the room since then, and he said he had. He told me that he still feels creeped out when he has to work in the room, but nothing has pushed him again.
Once I had finished with the interviews, we left for the library where we had a full house in attendance. While I was there I was able to meet Julie Dinwiddie and she told me about her interests in the haunted hospital. She is a first grade school teacher with a love for ghost lore and ghost stories. She told me how she and David loved to travel, and at each destination they try to find a ghost tour they can go to. Julie and Tallauh, Chris’s wife, complete this family venture by selling tickets for the ghost tours and booking the various ghost groups for overnight investigations.
Now comes the fun part. We left the library and headed out for The Haunted Hospital, as it has now been officially named. We had about forty people waiting to go into the unknown dark site to see what we might experience together. After our prayer of protection we headed down the road that leads to the back of the hospital. As we were walking, I stopped the crowd and told them I had heard voices coming from the wooded area. This caused a few gasps within the crowd. I took my recorder to see if we could capture an EVP. Sure enough, on playback we heard children talking. We couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it was definitely children’s voices. The crowd was thrilled and frightened that we were already getting evidence.
We continued through the back doors of the basement and entered a dark, damp, and moldy area that seemed more like a dreaded dungeon than a former hospital ward. As we continued down the hall, a woman in the group screamed and said that something like a cold hand ran down the back of her leg. This made the atmosphere even more fearful as we continued with our investigation. All in all, it was a good night for us ghosthunters. We were able to pick up unknown energies that made our EMF meters sound out and register a disturbance. We picked up a couple of names, revealed through the use of the Ovilus. Chris is going to research to see if he can find a connection to persons associated with the hospital. I can’t wait to return and continue my investigation of this newfound treasure that appears to be full of ghostly activity.
CHAPTER 7
Jailer’s Inn Bed-and-Breakfast
BARDSTOWN, NELSON COUNTY
AS I WALKED THROUGH THE PUB, making sure all the guests had their needs met, I noticed a fair-haired, slim gentleman sitting at the bar. As I approached him I recognized him as the owner of the Jailer’s Inn. Since I had became the general manager of The Old Talbott Tavern in 1996, I had not taken the opportunity to go next door to introduce myself to the owner of the Jailer’s Inn. This was a perfect time for us to meet. Just as he reached for his drink, I introduced myself and we started to chat.
I learned that Paul McCoy had purchased the Jailer’s Inn Bed-and-Breakfast from his parents, Challen and Fran McCoy. They had purchased the county jailhouse when it went to auction after it closed in 1987. I asked him about his business because I was trying to improve the Tavern’s business and thought we could partner on some ideas. I suggested to Paul that we might promote something special together to bring in more guests. We talked about several promos that would include a wine tasting, or mystery dinner, or romantic get-a-ways. He invited me over to his place to see his facilities and that’s when I discovered something really unique about the Jailer’s Inn. It is haunted! As I entered the front door, I was hit with an impression of a woman who was in charge and guarding this space. From the corner of my eye, I saw figures dart back and forth in the hallway. “Paul,” I said, “I don’t mean to alarm you, but do you know that this building has spirits?” He smiled and almost reluctantly admitted that he did think it might be haunted. I took the opportunity at that time to tell him about my other profession as a ghosthunter and asked him for permission to do a ghost investigation of the Jailer’s Inn. Quietly, he agreed.
Before the building was a bed-and-breakfast it served as a jailhouse for Nelson County from 1819 until 1987. The jailer’s office was on the first floor, and the prisoners stayed on the second floor until 1874 when the county built the extension on the back. They also added a tall stone fence and gallows for hanging the convicted. Once they moved the prisoners to the back of the building, the jailer and his family lived in the front part of the jail.
We set a date and
