haunted locations
Whether you normally bypass or embrace historical sites of the American West rumored to have a possible haunted edge, a visit to the Camp Floyd Stagecoach Inn State Park Museum in Fairfield, Utah is worthwhile. Haunted or not, Camp Floyd and the Stagecoach Inn are unique and interesting historical sites well worth your time and attention. The alleged haunting is just the icing on the cake.
Camp Floyd is an intriguing former military post that housed the largest concentration of army troops in the U.S. from 1858 until 1861. When you consider the size of the Camp, it is almost unbelievable such a build up was undertaken in Utah.
Camp Floyd was established in July, 1858 under the command of Brigadier General Albert Sydney Johnston. There were 3,500 troops in Camp Floyd, including cavalry, infantry and artillery units. The camp was named after Secretary of War John B. Floyd and consisted of approximately 400 buildings.
The army was sent to Camp Floyd by President James Buchanan in response to the perceived threat of an alleged Mormon rebellion that was rumored to be brewing and was referred to as the Utah War. It was a tremendous build up of troops in an area that seemed far removed from any need for one. A full one third of the army’s forces were eventually present in Camp Floyd at an astronomical cost to the Federal government.
FAIRFIELD — If you believe everything you read on the Internet, Utah County is a regular Amityville — minus the oozing walls.
Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News
The Lehi Historic Hospital is considered a "haunted hot spot" where, presumably, ghosts' voices have been recorded.
There are reports of a ghost of a dead nurse hanging from a flagpole at the Lehi Historic Hospital and chatty spirits at the old Utah County Jail.
Poltergeists reportedly have taken up residence at Spanish Fork and Pleasant Grove high schools, and the Salem cemetery is said to be home to at least one angry — and somewhat vulgar — polygamist wife.
Then there's Camp Floyd, which from 1858 to 1861 housed 3,500 troops — nearly one-third of the U.S. Army at the time — sent to Utah to take care of a rumored Mormon rebellion.
These days, rumors circulating at Camp Floyd-Stagecoach Inn State Park and Museum settle on the supernatural side.
Members of the Utah Ghost Hunters Society have been getting into the spirit of Halloween by conducting a paranormal probe of the historic buildings at Camp Floyd.
The investigation was requested by Mark Trotter, manager of the state park for the past five years. Trotter said he doesn't necessarily believe the park to be haunted, but he considers such supernatural surveys to be fun.
Still, Trotter has heard a couple of stories over the years about unexplained events at Camp Floyd.
"I had one employee who said every time she'd go to close the door at the (Stagecoach Inn) it felt like somebody would pull back on it," he said.
Another unusual report came from a park volunteer, who told Trotter he saw a dress "that was not where it should be."
"He described it as just hanging there in the air," Trotter said.
Personally, Trotter has had no such supernatural run-ins — "Maybe they just don't like me," he said of otherworldly entities — but he seems to enjoy the search.
In June 2003, he joined members of the Paranormal Society of Utah for a nightlong ghost-activity investigation of Camp Floyd.
"(That group) picked up quite of bit of activity at the (Fairfield) schoolhouse," he said.
By activity, Trotter means electronic voice phenomena, the term used to describe voices of spirits caught on tape.
The Utah Ghost Hunters Society last week used tape recorders and cameras — both digital and film — in an effort to find EVPs and other evidence of supernatural activity at Camp Floyd. The group presented its findings at the Fairfield schoolhouse.
"This is the first time that we've really taped at the Stagecoach," said Nancy Peterson, a member of the Utah Ghost Hunters Society.
The group had previously collected EVPs at the Camp Floyd cemetery, where Peterson said she captured a male voice answering when she asked if anyone was there.
"He said his name was Bryan, and he said, 'But I'm dead,' " she said.
Peterson said she made a return trip to the cemetery and found that a Pvt. Bryan was buried there.
The most unusual EVP Peterson and her husband and ghost-hunting partner, Chris, have captured came during a visit to the Salem City Cemetery.
"It was just my husband and I there," she said. "I walked across a grave that was a man and three women — you know, three wives. I had just said that into my microphone."
When the Petersons later listened to the recording, they heard what sounded like an angry woman's voice saying, "Hey, you little (expletive)!"
"I thought, 'There's one that didn't make the Celestial Kingdom,' " Peterson said.
Cemeteries are considered a can't-miss spot to collect EVPs, but spirits can be found just about anywhere, she said.
Utah Ghost Hunters Society
A photograph taken inside the old Fairfield schoolhouse on Oct. 22 appears to show a floating, gaseous, glowing red-orange ball about four feet off the ground.
The Utah Ghost Hunters Society's paranormal adventures in Utah County also have included visits to the old Utah County Jail and the Lehi Historic Hospital — two locations listed on various Web sites as "haunted hot spots."
Rumors surrounding the abandoned county jail include lights turning themselves on and off, doors opening and closing by themselves, and voices coming from empty cells. Peterson says she collected an EVP at the jail of a man noting the obvious: "You are a woman."
At the Lehi Historic Hospital, the Utah Ghost Hunters Society recorded voices saying, "Get out of here" and "I'm cold." According to the Web site Haunted Utah (www.utahghost.org), people have reported seeing the image of a nurse hanging from a flagpole at the hospital. The accompanying story, according to the Web site, was that the nurse was working late when a doctor went crazy, killed her and hung her there.
High schools also appear to be a hit with haunters. At Pleasant Grove High School, the door to the theater/auditorium under the stage regularly unlocks itself, according to the Web site Seize the Night (www.carpe
noctem.tv/). Despite the use of six heavy-duty padlocks each night, the door would be open by morning.
That story is familiar to PGHS drama teacher Stewart Shelley.
So is there any truth to it?
"I have spent numerous hours in the basement and have as of yet not been haunted," Shelley said, "and the auditorium has recently been renovated, so I think we've driven out any haunting spirits."
Still, Shelley doesn't completely rule out paranormal activity in the school's theater.
"Our lights will sometimes just turn themselves off," he said. "We don't know why. We just turn them back on. That's just started happening as of late. It could be an equipment malfunction."
Chris Peterson with the Utah Ghost Hunters Society shows pictures taken during a recent ghost hunt at the old Fairfield schoolhouse and Camp Floyd. The group uses tape recorders and cameras to collect data.
Spanish Fork High School has a ghostly drama brewing, too, according to The Shadowlands (theshadowlands.net/places/utah.htm)
The school's "little theater" is haunted by a custodian who slipped, fell and died while installing light bulbs there.
According to the Web site, students are told never to go into the theater alone. When they disregard that counsel, the curtains will rise and fall by themselves, sound effects will start playing and the lights will flicker on and off.
Of course, that's all news to Jennie Bruce, drama teacher at Spanish Fork High for the past five years.
"The (scariest) thing we've got is we have mice in the theater," Bruce said. "Every now and again, if a student's working there, they hear the mice moving. But that's about it."
Camp Floyd is an intriguing former military post that housed the largest concentration of army troops in the U.S. from 1858 until 1861. When you consider the size of the Camp, it is almost unbelievable such a build up was undertaken in Utah.
Camp Floyd was established in July, 1858 under the command of Brigadier General Albert Sydney Johnston. There were 3,500 troops in Camp Floyd, including cavalry, infantry and artillery units. The camp was named after Secretary of War John B. Floyd and consisted of approximately 400 buildings.
The army was sent to Camp Floyd by President James Buchanan in response to the perceived threat of an alleged Mormon rebellion that was rumored to be brewing and was referred to as the Utah War. It was a tremendous build up of troops in an area that seemed far removed from any need for one. A full one third of the army’s forces were eventually present in Camp Floyd at an astronomical cost to the Federal government.
FAIRFIELD — If you believe everything you read on the Internet, Utah County is a regular Amityville — minus the oozing walls.
Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News
The Lehi Historic Hospital is considered a "haunted hot spot" where, presumably, ghosts' voices have been recorded.
There are reports of a ghost of a dead nurse hanging from a flagpole at the Lehi Historic Hospital and chatty spirits at the old Utah County Jail.
Poltergeists reportedly have taken up residence at Spanish Fork and Pleasant Grove high schools, and the Salem cemetery is said to be home to at least one angry — and somewhat vulgar — polygamist wife.
Then there's Camp Floyd, which from 1858 to 1861 housed 3,500 troops — nearly one-third of the U.S. Army at the time — sent to Utah to take care of a rumored Mormon rebellion.
These days, rumors circulating at Camp Floyd-Stagecoach Inn State Park and Museum settle on the supernatural side.
Members of the Utah Ghost Hunters Society have been getting into the spirit of Halloween by conducting a paranormal probe of the historic buildings at Camp Floyd.
The investigation was requested by Mark Trotter, manager of the state park for the past five years. Trotter said he doesn't necessarily believe the park to be haunted, but he considers such supernatural surveys to be fun.
Still, Trotter has heard a couple of stories over the years about unexplained events at Camp Floyd.
"I had one employee who said every time she'd go to close the door at the (Stagecoach Inn) it felt like somebody would pull back on it," he said.
Another unusual report came from a park volunteer, who told Trotter he saw a dress "that was not where it should be."
"He described it as just hanging there in the air," Trotter said.
Personally, Trotter has had no such supernatural run-ins — "Maybe they just don't like me," he said of otherworldly entities — but he seems to enjoy the search.
In June 2003, he joined members of the Paranormal Society of Utah for a nightlong ghost-activity investigation of Camp Floyd.
"(That group) picked up quite of bit of activity at the (Fairfield) schoolhouse," he said.
By activity, Trotter means electronic voice phenomena, the term used to describe voices of spirits caught on tape.
The Utah Ghost Hunters Society last week used tape recorders and cameras — both digital and film — in an effort to find EVPs and other evidence of supernatural activity at Camp Floyd. The group presented its findings at the Fairfield schoolhouse.
"This is the first time that we've really taped at the Stagecoach," said Nancy Peterson, a member of the Utah Ghost Hunters Society.
The group had previously collected EVPs at the Camp Floyd cemetery, where Peterson said she captured a male voice answering when she asked if anyone was there.
"He said his name was Bryan, and he said, 'But I'm dead,' " she said.
Peterson said she made a return trip to the cemetery and found that a Pvt. Bryan was buried there.
The most unusual EVP Peterson and her husband and ghost-hunting partner, Chris, have captured came during a visit to the Salem City Cemetery.
"It was just my husband and I there," she said. "I walked across a grave that was a man and three women — you know, three wives. I had just said that into my microphone."
When the Petersons later listened to the recording, they heard what sounded like an angry woman's voice saying, "Hey, you little (expletive)!"
"I thought, 'There's one that didn't make the Celestial Kingdom,' " Peterson said.
Cemeteries are considered a can't-miss spot to collect EVPs, but spirits can be found just about anywhere, she said.
Utah Ghost Hunters Society
A photograph taken inside the old Fairfield schoolhouse on Oct. 22 appears to show a floating, gaseous, glowing red-orange ball about four feet off the ground.
The Utah Ghost Hunters Society's paranormal adventures in Utah County also have included visits to the old Utah County Jail and the Lehi Historic Hospital — two locations listed on various Web sites as "haunted hot spots."
Rumors surrounding the abandoned county jail include lights turning themselves on and off, doors opening and closing by themselves, and voices coming from empty cells. Peterson says she collected an EVP at the jail of a man noting the obvious: "You are a woman."
At the Lehi Historic Hospital, the Utah Ghost Hunters Society recorded voices saying, "Get out of here" and "I'm cold." According to the Web site Haunted Utah (www.utahghost.org), people have reported seeing the image of a nurse hanging from a flagpole at the hospital. The accompanying story, according to the Web site, was that the nurse was working late when a doctor went crazy, killed her and hung her there.
High schools also appear to be a hit with haunters. At Pleasant Grove High School, the door to the theater/auditorium under the stage regularly unlocks itself, according to the Web site Seize the Night (www.carpe
noctem.tv/). Despite the use of six heavy-duty padlocks each night, the door would be open by morning.
That story is familiar to PGHS drama teacher Stewart Shelley.
So is there any truth to it?
"I have spent numerous hours in the basement and have as of yet not been haunted," Shelley said, "and the auditorium has recently been renovated, so I think we've driven out any haunting spirits."
Still, Shelley doesn't completely rule out paranormal activity in the school's theater.
"Our lights will sometimes just turn themselves off," he said. "We don't know why. We just turn them back on. That's just started happening as of late. It could be an equipment malfunction."
Chris Peterson with the Utah Ghost Hunters Society shows pictures taken during a recent ghost hunt at the old Fairfield schoolhouse and Camp Floyd. The group uses tape recorders and cameras to collect data.
Spanish Fork High School has a ghostly drama brewing, too, according to The Shadowlands (theshadowlands.net/places/utah.htm)
The school's "little theater" is haunted by a custodian who slipped, fell and died while installing light bulbs there.
According to the Web site, students are told never to go into the theater alone. When they disregard that counsel, the curtains will rise and fall by themselves, sound effects will start playing and the lights will flicker on and off.
Of course, that's all news to Jennie Bruce, drama teacher at Spanish Fork High for the past five years.
"The (scariest) thing we've got is we have mice in the theater," Bruce said. "Every now and again, if a student's working there, they hear the mice moving. But that's about it."
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