Posted in Purdy, TN, tagged &, a, adding, after, also, and, are, ask, at, attempt, attempting, back, be, because, been, but, by, Cemetery, cool, couple, curious, damage, do, done, enough, find, for, fortunate, girlfriend, Go, great, had, hard, has, have, his, home, house, Hurst, I, if, It, jail, like, lovely, lucky, making, many, me, meet, new, not, of, old, on, over, owner, people, pictures, post, probably, property, Purdy, really, restore, returned, saddens, say, seeing, several, share, shot, so, Some, start, Super, take, taken, that, the, them, There, they, this, through, time, TN, to, tomorrow, tons, tour, trespass, trespassing, unbelievable, until, vandals, very, was, We, weekend, will, with, won't, would, You, youngsters on May 18, 2008|
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I returned to Purdy, TN over the weekend and was fortunate enough to meet the owner of the Hurst House and his girlfriend. They are a super cool couple and we had a great time with them. I have tons of pictures to share but I probably won’t post them until tomorrow because there are so many.
I would also like to say this: After seeing the damage that has been done to this house by curious youngsters, it really saddens me. Because of this damage, if you attempt to trespass on this property you will be shot at. Several people have been taken to jail for trespassing. If you are lucky enough to find the owner at the property, ask for a tour but do not trespass on this property. They are attempting to restore this lovely home and vandals are making it very hard to do.
Back to the pictures…
I have some unbelievable pictures but it will take me some time to go through them. I will start adding them tomorrow.
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Posted in photos, Purdy, TN, tagged 10, 8, about, after, All, almost, am, an, and, Anyone, Anyway, are, arresting, asked, be, because, been, breathe, called, cemeteries, Cemetery, deal, didn't, doing, don't, drinking, enjoy, even, explain, for, from, Go, grateful, had, hard, He, Here, him, his, Hope, I, if, in, interesting, It, jail, knew, landed, left, Let, letting, looked, made, main, me, mean, midnight, mind, minutes, most, must, my, neighbors, new, nuts, of, officer, or, paper, past, people, photographs, pics, pictures, place, police, Purdy, puzzled, quiet, real, reason, so, sure, take, taking, talking, that, the, them, There, think, this, to, told, trip, try, us, very, visit, visiting, want, warn, was, We, were, what, who, why, wishes, with, work, would, years, You on May 10, 2008|
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In all my years of visiting cemeteries, this was the most…interesting trip. I must warn anyone who wishes to visit Purdy Cemetery: Be very quiet. I mean don’t even breathe hard. The neighbors called the police and we had to try to explain what we were doing there. I told the officer that I was taking photographs of the cemetery (past midnight, mind you) and he looked very puzzled and asked, “Why?” I knew if I told him the real reason why I was taking photographs he would think I was nuts or had been drinking, so I told him I had been told it was an interesting place to take pictures. After about 10 minutes of talking to him, he let us go and made sure we left the cemetery. His main reason for letting us go was because he didn’t want to deal with all the paper work of arresting 8 people. Anyway, I am very grateful he let us go and here are the pictures that almost landed me in jail. I hope you enjoy them!
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Posted in Purdy, TN, tagged a, able, about, also, am, and, any, Anyone, are, as, back, be, because, best, Bethel, bring, Cemetery, Church, crowd, date, day, do, dust, email, everyone, for, Forks, Forty, has, have, his, history, holds, Hopefully, I, identifying, if, in, interested, interesting, is, keep, Liberty, like, long, majority, more, my, not, of, off, on, or, photographs, plan, Please, Purdy, rain, returning, Rickey, road, second, sharing, since, Smith, soon, Springs, stirring, story, taking, tales, telling, thank, the, There, this, time, TN, tnhauntings@writersbeacon.com, to, trip, trying, Unknown, up, visit, visitors, weekend, what, will, wish, would on May 9, 2008|
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Since the majority of my visitors are interested in Purdy Cemetery I am trying my best to keep everyone up to date. I will be returning this weekend as long as the rain holds off. I am not telling what day or time I plan to visit Purdy because I will be taking more photographs and I do not wish to have a crowd stirring up dust.
I would also like to thank Rickey Smith for sharing his Purdy Cemetery story and identifying the unknown church and cemetery in Bethel Springs, TN. Hopefully I will be able to visit there soon and bring back photographs.
The Unknown Church and Cemetery is Liberty Church in Bethel Springs on Forty Forks Road. If anyone has any interesting history or tales about this church, please email tnhauntings@writersbeacon.com.
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Posted in Bolivar, TN, tagged 1980's, a, accessed, add, Administration, ago, All, also, and, another, Anyone, are, around, as, at, attempt, aunt, aunts, awake, awhile, be, because, become, beneath, blog, Bolivar, building, buildings, but, by, camera, cameras, can, captured, care, caught, Clement, condemned, could, decades, did, died, Dietary, disappeared, do, doesn't, don't, down, easily, employees, enter, entire, entrance, entry, even, ever, everywhere, exist, extent, far, figured, First, flying, for, friend, friends, from, fullest, gain, going, grounds, Guard, guards, had, Hall, hangers, happens, has, haunted, have, Health, him, himself, his, Honestly, hung, I, if, illegal, in, information, Institute, internet, is, isn't, It, kept, kill, know, land, large, law, leads, Let, lightening, lives, locals, longer, looking, lost, Luton, main, majority, man, manage, many, mate, matter, maze, me, men, Mental, mirrors, mother, murder, my, nearby, no, None, not, now, occasionally, of, on, once, one, only, or, other, Others, out, patients, people, person, places, populated, property, prosecuted, read, really, rear, reason, recent, remain, removed, retired, revolved, room, rumor, said, say, searching, Secondly, security, see, seen, several, simply, since, snoring, so, sock, Some, spot, spotted, Springs, squirrels, state, stated, still, strangled, struck, supposed, swinging, swirled, that, the, their, them, There, these, they, things, this, three, Timber, TN, to, top, trespass, tube, tunnels, two, Uncle, uncles, unit, units, untrue, use, very, via, view, was, way, well, went, were, Western, what, When, where, while, who, will, wings, with, WMHI, work, worked, works, would, years, You on May 8, 2008|
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I have had several people land on my blog while searching for Western Mental Health Institute so I figured I would add some information.
The grounds of WMHI were once populated by flying squirrels but they have disappeared in recent years. The main entrance leads to the Administration building. This building once had two large wings. They were condemned and removed in the 1980’s. Some of the locals said the wings were haunted but it really doesn’t matter since they no longer exist.
Some of the things I have read on the internet are simply untrue. One person stated that when lightening struck nearby you could see a man who hung himself swinging from the top of the Administration building. None of the employees, security guards or locals have ever seen this. It was also said that there were places in Luton Hall where there are no cameras and the patients use this spot to kill other patients. My mother works in Luton Hall now and did many years ago as well. First of all, there are cameras everywhere. Secondly, this unit is all men. The majority of these men will remain there for their entire lives. They have had patients murder other patients but they really don’t care if they are caught or not. Honestly, what are they going to do to them? Many years ago, one of the men strangled his room mate with a tube sock because his snoring kept him awake. It happens.
One rumor that swirled around at WMHI for awhile revolved around the tunnels beneath the buildings. It was said that patients had become lost in the maze of tunnels and died down there. Some have even went so far as to say that the tunnels are haunted by these patients who are still looking for a way out.
Let me say this now: It is illegal to trespass on state property. All employees have hangers on their rear view mirrors so anyone who isn’t supposed to be there is spotted very easily. Even if you did manage to gain illegal entry to the grounds, the tunnels can only be accessed via the units. If you attempt to enter a unit, you will be captured on camera and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. DO NOT trespass!
The reason I know all of this is because my mother, three aunts, two uncles, and several friends work or have worked at WMHI. Several of them have retired from there and others have worked there for several decades. My mother has worked in Luton Hall, the Clement Building and occasionally works the Timber Springs Unit. My aunt and uncle worked in Dietary. One uncle is a Security Guard. Two aunts worked in the Administration Building. One friend is a Security Guard, another retired from Dietary.
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Posted in Medina, TN, photos, tagged $5, 1931, a, able, All, and, anything, are, be, because, been, borrowed, by, can, Cemetery, claims, complete, covered, died, different, do, Doll, don't, Dorothy, everyday, far, few, from, gained, GhostVillage.com, girl, grave, graves, great, Harvey, has, have, heard, Hill, Hope, house, I, in, Inside, interest, interesting, is, It, it's, large, little, Marie, Medina, much, never, of, old, one, or, ordinary, own, person, person's, picture, place, playing, real, reason, reflection, saw, say, see, so, Some, something, sometimes, spot, still, that, the, think, this, through, time, TN, to, took, toys, two, visit, visited, was, When, who, why, window, windows, with, year, You on April 28, 2008|
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I think the reason why this place has gained so much interest is because one of the graves is far from ordinary. I have been to this place a time or two and it is something interesting to see.
In Hope Hill Cemetery is the grave of a 5 year old girl, Dorothy Marie Harvey, who died in 1931. It is covered by a large doll house that is complete with real windows. Inside it are a few toys and some say you can sometimes see the little girl inside the house playing.
This picture was borrowed from GhostVillage.com:
The person who took the picture claims to be able to see the little girl through the window. All I see is the person’s own reflection. Do you see anything different?
When I visited this cemetery I never saw or heard anything. It is still a great spot to visit because it’s something you don’t see everyday.
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Tennessee Hauntings 