Haunting Histories

THE BLENNERHASSETT HOTEL & SPA

The Blennerhassett Hotel opened its doors in May 1889 to guests—many of them well-to-do newcomers seeking places in the area’s booming oil and gas industry. After well over a century of service as a hotel, one can only imagine just how many people have passed through its doors, slept in its rooms, and wandered its halls. Some, they say, wander still.

This Parkersburg hotel has been the subject of supernatural intrigue for many years, with tales coming from employees, guests, and paranormal investigators. Those who aren’t afraid of brushes with the afterlife will be most interested in room 409—the Kaltenecker Suite, said to be the most haunted hotel room in the state. This is where the Man in the Bowler Hat has often been spotted. Guests have also reported sounds of furniture moving as well as voices of people seemingly having a party—only for the space to be empty.

320 Market Street, Parkersburg, booktheb.com, @theblennerhassetthotelspa on FB

^{Photographed by Nikki Bowman Mills}

LAKE SHAWNEE ABANDONED AMUSEMENT PARK

Down in Rock, West Virginia, stands a bone-chilling man-made landmark left to the mercy of nature and the elements. The land was inhabited by Native Americans of the Shawnee tribe for thousands of years before the Clay family staked a claim in the 1770s. Three family grave sites, dug after a violent attack, still exist on the property.

Over a century later, in 1926, businessman Conley Snidow purchased the land and built an amusement park with all the bells and whistles. Local families flocked to the new attraction year after year—but the deaths of a number of children on the premises eventually led to its closure. It reopened briefly in the 1980s but was soon abandoned for good.

Today, Lake Shawnee’s amusement park gains notoriety from its haunted happenings—spectral figures, unexplained voices, and rides long out of operation seemingly moving on their own. Is the laughter you hear a sound of joy, or is it something much more sinister?

470 Matoaka Road, Rock, wvlakeshawnee.com, @lakeshawneeevents on FB

^{Photographed by Nikki Bowman Mills}

THE OLD HOSPITAL ON COLLEGE HILL

At the edge of Williamson on College Hill, looming over the city like an eldritch sentry, is a hospital that has stood the test of time for nearly a century.

This story starts as one would expect: disastrously. Williamson Memorial Hospital first opened its doors downtown in 1918. Just short of 10 years into operation, the facility was lost to a structure fire and was deemed unsalvageable. The hospital found a new home up on College Hill in 1928 with 50 beds—later 72—and served Williamson residents until 1988, when a more modern facility was built up the street.

Since its closure, many new stories about the facility have been told—lights turning on for no reason, figures appearing in the windows, the elevator stopping on floors it shouldn’t, and even long-departed hospital staff still roaming the halls.

Abandoned and left frozen in the hands of time, The Old Hospital on College Hill has new life today—not including those who never left—offering a variety of tours for all levels of spook enthusiasts.

728 Mulberry Street, Williamson, collegehillhospital.com, @collegehillhospital on FB

^{Photographed by Nikki Bowman Mills}

TRANS-ALLEGHENY LUNATIC ASYLUM

Of all of the haunted, otherworldly spaces tucked away in our ancient mountains, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (TALA) is one of the most notorious. Constructed in the mid- to late-1800s, the TALA’s Kirkbride design—a once common architectural plan for mental health institutions that prioritized natural lighting and access to fresh air—makes it the last such structure still standing in America.

The TALA’s layout was intended for no more than 250 patients. However, by the mid-1900s and following a shift in thinking around treatment for mental health, conditions had drastically deteriorated for the more than 2,400 patients there to receive treatment.

Not long after the facility closed its doors in 1994, it became a hot spot for paranormal activity and exploration. Are you brave enough to wander the halls, tour the morgue, or maybe even stay the night? We’re sure you’d have plenty of company.

71 Asylum Drive, Weston, trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com, @talawv on FB

^{Photographed by CARLA WITT FORD}

WEST VIRGINIA PENITENTIARY

Also commonly referred to as the Moundsville Penitentiary, this is another blood-chilling location that hasn’t been in retirement nearly long enough. Housing some of the state’s most notorious and dangerous offenders—Charles Manson would have fit right in, if his plea to be transferred here in 1983 had been granted—the penitentiary operated from 1876 to 1995.

Killings, riots, and executions were not uncommon, and the conditions were brutal for prisoners and wardens alike. Cells were incredibly small and were often home to more than one person. Many prisoners died within its unforgiving walls well before they had any hope of release—and even death wasn’t always a way out. Today, supernatural occurrences abound, making the penitentiary a prime spot for ghost hunters and skeptics. Voices, unexplained noises, the sounds of footsteps in seemingly empty rooms, and even apparitions have been reported by both visitors and tour guides. But worry not! The day tours focus only on the history—although that doesn’t mean someone unseen isn’t tagging along.

818 Jefferson Avenue, Moundsville, wvpentours.com, @wvpen on FB

^{Photographed by Nikki Bowman Mills}