Most Haunted Places In America

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We know America as the land of spacious blue skies and high-rise buildings. However, it also happens to be the land of the haunted. Throughout the years America has been the home of countless numbers of ghost stories.

Hauntings have taken place all across the country all throughout history. Haunted places in America can be found in pretty much every single state.

Most Haunted Places In America

List of most Haunted Places in America

As it turns out, ghosts are not only found in hundreds of movies but rather all across the nation.

Lingering spirits have and continue to roam freely through hotels, prisons, old factories, and even abandoned insane asylums. Whether you are looking for your next ghost hunting location or simply love a good scary story, this is the post for you.

This list will cover the most haunted places throughout the country. Beware! You might just come across the state you live in or even your own hometown!

yuma Territorial Prison

1. The Territorial Prison

Yuma, Arizona – The name of this place alone sounds terrifying enough. Yet, it is its history that truly makes it one of the most haunted places in America.

The desert lands of Yuma seemed like the perfect location for building the state’s first prison. Extremely isolated and right on the edge of the Colorado River, this place promised to solve all issues most prisons encountered.

At the time, inmates breaking free was a quite common occurrence and being surrounded by a large body of water seemed to solve that issue.

The Territorial Prison at Yuma, Arizona first opened its gates to prisoners in the late 1800s. Both men and women filled the strap iron cells and solitary confinement chambers that they had been forced to build themselves.

Those in power claimed that the Yuma Prison was more like a “country club” and had a “progressive” administration. Needless to say, the prisoners did not agree with those statements.

They referred to the place as a “hell hole” with tiny overcrowded cells, no bathrooms, and an infestation of roach and rodents.

Over a hundred prisoners are known to have died behind the confined walls of this jail. Legend has it that most of them have never left. Their restless souls still fill whatever is left of the cells and till this day taunt those who visit the site.

Cell 14 is infamous for its eerie feeling and mysterious cries. I would recommend this location for more advanced paranormal investigators, due to the place’s dark past. Entities that have suffered through their death are known to become hostile and even malicious.

The Lincoln Park Zoo

2. The Lincoln Park Zoo

Chicago, Illinois – The Chicago Lincoln Park Zoo was built right on top of what used to be the city’s burial grounds.

The location used to be a cemetery that housed up to about 35,000 bodies. Apparently, the cemetery was so closed to the city’s water supply that it became a health concern.

For that reason, it was decided that the bodies would be dug up and moved from the location. Most of the bodies were moves, but some of them remained deep beneath the ground even after the Zoo was built in its place.

It is common knowledge to all ghost hunters that messing with any burial ground is the easiest way to get haunted. As it turns out, the Lincoln Park Zoo was not an exception.

Several of the park’s visitors have made claims of seeing women dressed in Victorian dresses aimlessly roaming all through the area. All sorts of ghostly noises have also been reported all throughout the zoo.

If that was not enough, there also appears to be strange orbs of negative energy all around. Many visitors have reported becoming physically sick once they come across one of them.

A well-known parapsychologist, Ursula Bielski, has even referred to the zoo as one of the “most active” sites that she has investigated. With so many claims of paranormal activity, this place would be a goldmine to any investigator looking to further their research.

I would especially recommend it to those who have a keen interest in the spirits of the Victorian Era.

The Moundsville Penitentiary

3. The Moundsville Penitentiary

Moundsville, West Virginia – The Moundsville Penitentiary in West Virginia is said to have been built in old Native American’s sacred burial grounds.

It is believed that once the Penitentiary was built on top of the sacred tombs, the land and facility itself was cursed. All the dark and negative energy of the dead Native American filled the prison before it even had a chance to open its doors.

To make matters worse, the Moundsville Penitentiary soon became one of America’s deadliest correctional facilities. It is said that over 1,000 criminals died tortured by the guards, suicide, killed by inmates, or even the place’s poor living conditions.

Charles Mason himself is said to have written a letter requesting to be transferred to this specific facility.

Although no one knows for sure, it is assumed that he made such request due to many of his demented followers, family members, and a friend lived near the area.

Today most investigations that have taken place in the location lead to very pronounced findings of paranormal activity.

Investigators and common visitors have all reported hearing eerie whispers, disembodied footsteps, cold spots, and even shadow people lurking around.

This particular location would be a mother lode to any ghost hunter who is prepared to deal with the darker side of the spirit world.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

4. Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

Weston, West Virginia – Located right in the Heart of West Virginia, the West Trans-Allegheny Asylum was once called the West Virginia Hospital for The Insane.

The hospital was intended to be a state of the art facility, with top-notch equipment, to aid in the treatment of those with mental health problems.

The building itself was meant to be spacious, very well lighted, and comfortable enough to house about 250 patients. That, however, was not the case for very long.

It wasn’t too long after it opened its doors, that the asylum began to overpopulate. There was a rapid increase in mental health disorders among the population, and the hospital soon held over 2,600 patients.

Needless to say, ten times its original capacity, the conditions of the place became inhumane. Patients were being starved, had no means of sanitation, and slept on the floor.

By the time the asylum was shut down, its graveyard took over an eerie 666 acres of land to accommodate for all the dying patients.

Although it has been closed down for quite some time now, the asylum is said to remain virtually the same. Medical equipment and the cages where patients were once locked in can still be seen throughout the facility.

Among them, are the tortured spirits of the patients that have still yet to escape. The Asylum has become so notorious for paranormal activity that ghost hunting tours have been professionally set up.

For those who are truly interested, there is even an intense 8 hours, overnight paranormal adventure with experienced ghost hunting guides.

Devil’s Tramping Ground

5. Devil’s Tramping Ground

Bear Creek, North Carolina – Deep in the woods of North Carolina, there is a mysterious 40-foot piece of land where no vegetation will grow.

It is an oddly perfectly round circle and no animal will even dare walk across it. There appears to be some sinister energy in the area that animals are able to sense.

Dogs will whimper whenever near and other animals bite refusing to be taken into the circle.

There have also been several reports of objects that were left inside of the circle, only to be found violently thrown outside the next morning. People have even tried to spend the night inside the circle, but none have succeeded.

Those that managed to physically remain in the area were reported to have been left insane. Something so heinous and frightening manifests itself throughout their say, that they are never able to recover.

The Devil’s Tramping Ground has earned its name due to the belief that the devil himself will visit nightly.

Old and new tales continue to say that the desolate piece of land is surrounded by glowing red eyes that help the devil do his bidding.

Throughout the years, the location has become a very popular ghost hunting site. To be honest, it is probably not one that I would mess around with.

There is simply too much evidence of demon forces that surround the area. To those individuals that still want to take their chances, I would suggest investigating the woods surrounding the circle.

Just as much paranormal activity has been reported there, without such catastrophic results.

The Villisca Ax Murder House

6. The Villisca Ax Murder House

Villisca, Iowa – Located in a quiet street of Villisca, is a little white frame house. The old house appears to be quite normal despite it being abandoned.

Upon closer inspection, it’s easy to get a wrenching gut feeling that something is not so normal after all. The house is pitch dark, strikingly quiet, and all doors and window are completely sealed shut.

Despite its sinister presence, the tiny house was once filled with love and hope. A lovely couple known as the Moores’ lived there with their four children.

It all came crashing down one summer night in 1912. The local authorities have confirmed that they were all ruthlessly murdered by a strange man carrying an ax.  

Perhaps more disturbing than the murders itself was what the killer did once he was done. After killing everyone, the man apparently set out to perform some ominous ritual.

He had suspiciously covered everyone’s head and then proceeded to cover all of the mirrors and windows in the house before leaving.

Till this day the man has never been caught and the mystery has never been solved. The suffering souls of the poor family are still believed to linger around the home.

Old neighbors and visitors constantly reported the piercing cries of children, objects falling, and loud footsteps all throughout the house.

Today, those of you interested in doing some paranormal investigating of your own can go on a tour of a house. It is even possible to spend the night on one of the rooms where the family members were killed.

Seven Sisters Road

7. Seven Sisters Road

Nebraska City, Nebraska – This state on its own seems to be the home of many paranormal legends.

However, one of its most macabre occurrences is the story of the haunted Seven Sisters Road. According to legend, seven women were heinously murdered there in the 1900s.

A young man who lived up in the hills is got into an argument with his family. In a fit of uncontrollable rage, the man decided to murder all seven of his sisters.

He hid in the woods until both of his parents had left the house. Once alone, he went back and took his sisters to different trees in the surrounding hills. To their horrid surprise, he then hung them one by one until they were all dead.

Since that day it is believed that those hills are haunted by the sister’s troubled spirits.

Several people have reported hearing piercing screams and mysterious bells ringing all around the area. Even more strange is the numerous claims that cars will inexplicably shut down when driving through the area.

If you ever happen to be near the area and looking for some paranormal activity, this is the perfect place to start. Driving through the hills alone should yield some quite interesting findings.

In Summary

With so many long years of history and intricate characters, it is not so surprising that America is filled with haunted locations.

Tortured souls, lost spirits, and even several demonic entities appear to still roam through the country.

To some, the idea that the dead can still walk amongst them is utterly terrifying. Far from this is the case for those interested in the paranormal. All the haunted locations and ghostly apparitions are like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

If you just happen to be one of those individuals, this post should help you decide on your next adventure with finding ghosts.

Start with a place closest to home and then progress your way all the way across the map! Have any of you already visited any of the haunted places above? If so, what were your experiences like?

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