Most Haunted Places in America: Northern State Mental Hospital
The Northern State Mental Hospital near Seattle, Washington no longer houses the mentally insane. It is now the home of the Cascade Job Corp. But for the last century, this eerie location has been the rumored, and evidently true, residence of countless ghosts, apparitions and unsettled spirits who continue to haunt the grounds.
The Northern State Hospital was built just outside of Seattle, 4 miles north of Sedro Woolley, Washington. There were two other mental institutions in the state at that time, but the people of Sedro Woolley, still recovering from the economic crash of 1893, decided that the town needed another source of industrial income if they wanted to remain on the map. Thus, in 1909, 600 acres of land was purchased as the foundation of the Northern State Mental Hospital, with the arrangement that this institution would be for the sole use of non-dangerous, but mentally unstable, individuals.
The first 200 patients were moved in between December of 1912 and January of the following year. The mental institution became well known for its humane practices; a notable occurrence since most mental hospitals of that time were reputed for their intolerably ill treatment of the patients. The facility continued to grown and expand to double it’s original acreage, giving the dwellers an opportunity to learn vocational skills – farm, greenhouse, dairy, printing and other markets that proved self-sustaining for the hospital.
The very first murder known to have occurred at Northern State Hospital occurred in February of 1922. At that time, the hospital was headed by Dr. James Winfield Doughty. He remained in charge until 1950, (short of a 3 year stint in the 30’s from which he was re-appointed), when Dr. Charles H. Jones was appointed to the position.
Dr. Jones already had an interesting reputation by this time. Around 1945, as WWII was coming to an end, the young surgeon performed a highly experimental, and largely disapproved of procedure, with the assistance of Dr. Walter Freeman. The procedure in question, if you haven’t guessed it already, was known as a “transorbital lobotomy”.
Dr. Jones and his radical new method of curing the mentally insane took over the Northern State Hospital on January 1, 1950. there were more than 2,000 patients residing at the institution, and many more being sent their way on a regular basis. According to a report from Dr. Jones, the hospital was taking in about 650 new patients per year, while discharging about 400, and another 200 either died or got transferred elsewhere.
It is not known exactly how many patients, or employees, died within the walls of Northern State Mental Hospital, but it is widely believed that there are at least 1,000 bodies buried in unmarked graves behind the gymnasium building of the institution.
The most common reports of haunting refer to a ghost known as “Fred”, who seems to be the prankster type, enjoys tossing objects about, such as sheet pans that have flown across the room unassisted. The nurses dorm area has received numerous complaints of an extremely frigid, reoccurring cold spot, even in the dead heat of summer.
The dorm is also reported to be the home of the apparition of a little girl with a red ball. Claims also state that there is an older, male ghost who is eternally searching for the little girl. More disturbing accounts speak of a body hanging in the window of the old nurses station.
The Northern State Mental Hospital has an enormous root-work of underground tunnels, also reported to be heavily haunted.
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i visited a supposed “haunted mental asylum” in sedro woolley..this doesnt seem to be the one i visited..i was just wondering if there is any history about the one that i did visit..its on the out skirts of east sedro woolley..as i remember its just off the long main road in sedro woolley..its by a supposed “indian barial ground”..i have to admit it was very scary going to this place…its all white exterior building color and the fact that it was old and dirty on the outside gave it a very eerie feeling..it was kinda creepy too because when me and my friends got right up next to the building..we started to hear wolfs howl..that definetely scared us..causing us to end our “ghost hunt” short..so please could you tell me more about this place i visited or give me a website to look up..thank you soo much..vanessa ruiz
I will try and find out some information for you. There were 3 hospitals in the area if I remember correctly from research, can not find the names but will keep looking.
I went to this Job Corp for a year and heard stories. At first I was nervous then after awhile I was like cool! My friends and I would walk next to the asylum and we would get bad feelings and would also see things. one night we snuck off the campus to go to the unmarked graveyard and we got hella scared that night. We were being followed by someone or something. Ever since, I would tell the new inputs to watch out cause of the little girl with the red ball may appear in your room. It was a ghost story I was told as a new input
The hospital just east of Sedro Woolley Is Northern State Hospital. The Indian Reservation ” Upper Skagit” is close by, there is only the one and only “mental hospital” in the area i’ve been up there twice, there is a middle school on the property as well . It is erie , and i would never ever want to go there!!!! but yeah you were in the right place Vanessa
This year there is a haunted house hapening at nortern state, for the first time in years thet are allowing pepole to enter the grounds. I have already been interesting occurences, more than just the actors doing there thing.. I am attending it tonight so let THE SPOOKIENESS BEGIN……
The Northern State Mental Hospital is located in Sedro Woolley. A team of paranormal investigators I was associated with investigated it in 2006. It is definately haunted, we all had tons of personal experiences from slamming doors, lots of evps captured, I saw a apparition on the second floor of a man watching us from down one of the hallways. He stood in front of one of the locked off doors until I got about halfway down the hallway and he disappeared in front of my eyes. A investigator that was there captured a really good ghost photo in the tunnels below the hospital, it is just a amazingly haunted place. It is a place you definately have to experience for yourself. We are going to the haunted house that is being held there this year, can’t wait to get back in that building. Oh yea, I saw that little girl myself while we were on the tour of the grounds before we investigated. This story is real.
Happy Halloween
First of all, Northern State isn’t exactly “right outside” Seattle. In fact, it’s more … almost two hours away from Seattle.
Secondly, the place is quite haunted. It has been documented in countless of investigations into the area. Many of the students who go there attend the Skagit Valley College, a community college in the region, and they all have their own little ghost stories to tell.
Although the building is on Job Corps property and such, the slaughter house that they used is away from the building, and a few people I know used to sneak into it, and experienced the same eerie feeling in the slaughter house as they did in the hospital itself.
It’s awesome that locals have this haunted location near us, that gets a lot of buzz.
Ugh. This place was not “humane!!!!!!!!!!” My great-aunt was an intern nurse there, and quit after two weeks the conditions are so bad!!!!!! She hasn’t been a nurse since.
My friend and I went out there last night and they were competely sold out. We were told that tickets go on sale (no-pre sales) at 5:30pm but people start lining up at 2:30, arghhhh…
We were curious though, what the haunted house was like, what building it was in, and were you able to roam around the grounds? Thanks!
Growing up just down the road from Northern State makes for lots of interesting storys of odd things happening. Friends and I have spent many nights exploring the grounds and cemetary and believe me they are haunted. The cremetorium is one spooky place where we have sighted “a man” and even the headstones disappear when you go looking for them. Another paranormal hot spot in the area is Devils Tower in Concret. It is the site of the old concret mill on Lake Shannon and has been the site of many paranormal occurances over the years. We have sighted an adult male, two women and a crying child up there. Use care when going up there. Not all of them play nice. The man in black is found in the long coridor leading to the concert silo and my roommate almost fell down the hole at the top trying to catch him.
I am dying to get into Northern State {
(no pun intended). My wife and myself have spent many a day at the farm portion of the hospital but have not been able to get onto the Job Corp. campus to explore the grounds. We have been fascinated with this place for a long time and have debated getting hold of Dick Falis whom is a historian for the hospital to try to gain entry to the grounds. If ANYONE has a contact or two or more to gain legal entry please leave a follow up here, it would be greatly appreciated. The plan was to get inside and take photos as we think this place would be most excellent place to do a large black and white series of picture for our home. I sure hope someone can help. As for the haunted house, is it only on the weekends or during the week too? Times?
Brenda,
The old concrete plant at Lk. Shannon is friggin awesome. We too spend much time up there exploring and target shooting at the pit just behind “Devils Tower”. We have got some amazing pictures up there in the tower, that place is HUGE inside. I love the top floor atop the elevator shaft.. And the view of the lake is beautiful.
I agree Eric. Devils tower is a very beautiful place and I have a number of photos from the tower. If I knew how to post pics on here I would show some of them. Sorry but I don’t have any “legal” way of gaining entry to northern state, just the ways we found growing up.
Hey Guys and Gals,
If you want to share pictures you can send them to ghostwriterATghosteyesDOTcom. I will set up a gallery to display them. If you do email them please include a name (if you want) so I can give credit to you.
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Here are a couple qickies of Devils Tower..
Ghost Writer,
Do you just want pictures of Northern State or would you like pictures of Devils Tower also??
Any pictures you guys want to share if great. I will post them in a gallery and publish them in a post.
Just remember to send me your name or name of your group if you want the credit for the picture.
The ones above are great!
This place is so freakin scary! i went there and I was amazed by how many times i was about to pass out. i will never forget the girl with the red ball….. if u go there u will get weird feelings like someone is watching you. u also get chills that seem to go right past u as if someone or something just walked past you. it is so scary. now i am scared to be alone anywhere.
Peanut,
I would like to know what part of the campus that you checked out… Do you know how to gain entry to this facility? Dick Falis that I mentioned in an above post (the historian) is really up there in age. I heard the name Ed, I should stop by there on my way home from work and inquire about a grand tour, whether it would be permisable is another story.
Northern State is definitely eerie; but I felt more at that haunted antique store in Woolley. Since there are two antique shops (at least there were, haven’t been there in while) and I always forget which is the haunted one, I relied on my instincts. I picked out the haunted one right off. The clerk working there confirmed those instincts. There was a closed door leading upstairs from which came numerous noises of someone milling about on the stairs behind the door. The sounds then worked their way up and I could hear someone on the second floor. The clerk told me that there was no one else there and he didn’t here a thing. No way I could work there. The feeling I got was that the entity didn’t like it’s home was a shop and hated all the corporal activity. It felt closed off from the shop area, like part of it’s home had been stolen. Not a particularly evil entity, but definitely angry and wanting to be left alone.
Northern State had so much going on that I couldn’t focus…just a blur of activity.
I have heard there is a jail of some sort there as well as the Job Cor. I wanted to go to the haunted house just so I could get inside this place. Now I will be able to go, as I got a job inside.
My Uncle worked at Northern State for 30 years this month! It IS haunted! He was going to give me a private tour whenever I wanted. He WOULD have been the perfect guide. Unfortunately we suffered a horrible loss in our family and my Uncle was taken from us 2 days ago. He loved his job. I know he has found peace.
I work as an instructor for Job Corps at Northern State campus. I helped to salvage props for the haunted hospital from the Denny building. Myself and another staff member went up to the attic to look around and there was a folding chair in front of a round window… we went to the other end of the attic and when we returned the chair was moved. We were the only ones up there. It is a beautiful campus and a wonderful place to work. During lunch I walk the ground every day.
Somebody hook me up!!!! I just want to get in for photos. Send security in with me if that is what is needed.
I wanted to say that this place is freak en crazy! My mom works at the job corp center and she also worked the haunted hospital. Well over Halloween weekend my mom asked me to come up and help and work in the haunted hospital of course I said yes. (It was held in the basement of the old chapel) not in the hospital itself. But it was across the walkway from Denny hall (where ghost hunters filmed) So my mom asked If i could get a tour of Denny hall for coming up and helping out and being stabbed all night they said yes and I got a tour of it. It blew my mind out! I spent about 45mins in it both nights the first night i didn’t have my camera but the second night (halloween night) I video taped my walk through. I tried to see stuff or hear stuff on the video but i don’t have the right kind of equipment but i sure felt weired in some spots and had cold spots even tho they have the heat on. I wish I was in there longer, but the time I was in I was freaked out
Mostly harmless, is there any way you can get me in? Daytime is fine, just want to do pictures…
I recently went in to take some pictures after my Uncles funeral. We went into the Denny Building, the Chapel and the Nurses quarters. I think I caught some orbs in the Denny building. There were a lot of cold and warm spots, but the heat was on in different areas and on the different levels. It was a really cool experience and I wish my Uncle could have shown us around.
I was up at northern state hospital in 05 working on my next book.
I had been in a lot of places even Amitty Ville did not come close to this place.
I was there as TAPS came in. and I had inded goten sick with in the place.
It was in 1945 that Dr. James Winfield and Dr. Walter Freeman had used the patients fore that of a highly experimenttal pocedure called the transorbital lobotomy. and yes there is over 1,000 bodies buried in unmarked graves.
I have spent 6 years doing the history on places like this . and this is by far the most haunted place I have ever come upon.
I was born in Sedro Woolley in 1961. My father and mother both worked at Northern State, my father in Maintenance and my mother was a nurse. We moved to NC when the facility closed (or downsized)around 1973. My father is still living and knew every inch of the place and still speaks of it frequently. I recall a couple of times during the summer breaks when I was out of school, my father would take me to work with him just to sort of hang out. I got to know a couple of patients there and remember how they used to tell me of the dead souls that roamed the place and how frightened they were. It scared the crap out of me and made me feel sorry for them at the same time. Returned to Woolley for the first time in 35 years in 2008 and drove up to the hospital…a young man at the gate, ask me nicely to leave.
I would love to tour the place one more time…day or night.
does anyone have a copy of the map of the northern state mental hospital
I attened job corp for a year and a half and I heard the roomers but never really care much or thought much about it till one night I returned to my one man bay and desided to I lie in my bed and call it a night, just closed my eyes and the next thing I know I hear a mans voice wisper the name Beth into my ear I felt the breath on my ear I quickly looked to my left and saw nothing. I never understood why that happened because my name is not Beth but I continued to stay in that room until thing got worse and left my one man bay for a five. Ill never forget my time there with all the strange feelings and things I heard and seen.
I have been to this location for a disaster training (in June of 2005 … this was before TAPS and so I felt someone justified when they were also unable to disprove the possibility of paranormal)and it is absolutely the most frightening place I have ever been in my life. I am a 4th generation sensitive and have had dozens and dozens of experiences in my life, however, at 23 years old I found myself packing up and leaving in the middle of my 2nd night there. I would love to share stories if anyone out there has some to swap?? ~Nikki
Oh … I feel this is worth sharing as well … at the time I was there it was illegal to go off of the Job Corps grounds, i.e. you were not allowed to approach any of the actual buildings as they were state property. This was a disaster training for me, and I just adore Washington state so I had 3 full rolls of 35mm film. When I got there and realized what I had gotten myself into I immediately went to work getting pics and the group of us had convinced a Job Corp resident to “take us around”. When I came home the lady at Walgreens told me I had given her 2 rolls of unused film?! I asked for the negatives and she said there were none, there were no exposures … that I simply hadn’t used the film. The single roll that did develop was of the barns and grounds off campus … none of the photos from the buildings ever developed for me. But I have the memories and a few from a friends digital. If “they” don’t want you to have pictures … you won’t get pictures.
If anyone wants to share pictures, stories, EVP’s or whatever and have them published here please email them. It can be anonymous but will give credit also if you leave name and group (if you are with any).
Send to ghostwriterATghosteyesDOTcom. West coast trips are once a year for us so may be a while before I see this place.
Im from Sedro Woolley, born and raised my family like many others from here have parents who worked at the Northern State Hospital.The patients were not treated well not at all. Just keep that in mind for thoughs of you who plan on visiting the hopsital.Let them know you mean no harm.
I am currently a student enrolled at Cascades Job Corps Center, formely known as “Northern State Mental Hospital”. The first night i spent here the older students told me many stories about the girl with the red ball, the old man looking for her, a nurse that hung herself, and even people jumping out of the third floor window of the dorm known now as “White Water”. I have never seen or got any weird feelings in any of the dorms, and before did not believe in ghosts. One of my friends and i went around one night taking pics to see if anything showed up and for a long time did’nt seem like we would find anything until we got into the shower rooms….there were SO many orbs it was like they were having a party and they were all gathered around my buddy’s head. My other two stories took place in what is now the dining hall. Another buddy and i were washing dishes in the back when all of a sudden a knife, which was completely enclosed in a cup, somehow flew out and went through my friends leather boot! ( we were the only ones around ). Another story includes in the the kitchen while talking, a 10 lb. pan was picked up and thrown into the wall on the opposite side. The scariest part is not only did we watch it happen with no one there but the kitchen staff member we were talking to at the time was completely calm and simply replied “happens all the time”. other than that i have heard stories about how the dorm i reside in known as “Mount Rainier” is an all guy dorm because whenever a women happened to stay in there they would wake up with violent scratches on they’re back ( i have seen pictures ). They may not tell you but all the staff members have stories and keep files of the history, newspaper articles, residents, and suicides. The more leniant ones have shown me their files. CJCC students are not allowed to leave the grounds besides certain days as long as your going to town….but some people sneak off. What i am most interested in is the buildings right off of the immediate center…SOMEHOW i know that these buildings were an old part of the hospital and seem to be used for wikka rituals due to the pentagram paintings on the walls….this place is extremely haunted in my opinion and the people here have many secrets. if you would loke further info feel free to contact me at Jsbaldwin90@yahoo.com