Most Haunted Places in America: Stringfellow Memorial Hospital

When Susie Parker Stringfellow passed away in 1920, she bequeathed her considerable fortune to those who would build and maintain a hospital in her community of Anniston, Alabama. That mission came to pass in 1938 when a 10-bed tuberculosis hospital bearing the Stringfellow name was opened.

The Stringfellow Memorial Hospital remained as such until 1955 when it was closed for renovations. It reopened in 1958 as the Stringfellow Chronic Disease Hospital. The renovation tripled the building’s capacity, making it a general purpose clinic. Expansions were undertaken in 1965, 1970, 1977 and 1985, making a current capacity of more than 125 people.

One of the ghosts that is said to haunt the hospital is that of Mary Stringfellow herself. During her life, Stringfellow was known throughout the community as a fine organ player, and it seems that this hobby might have continued into the afterlife. Nurses report that during the third shift a phantom organ will begin playing old hymns in the hospital’s chapel. Upon investigation, the music fades when anyone approaches the door, and when the door is opened, there isn’t anyone inside.

The other ghost that haunts the hospital is said to be that of a man who committed suicide there, shooting himself in the head with a shotgun in one of the patient rooms. Numerous people have reported seeing the figure of a headless man roam that room, and there is said to be blood and gore dripping down the wall where the incident happened.

Both of these hauntings seem to indicate residual activity, where past events seem to replay themselves as if part of a recording. The ghosts do not seem to acknowledge their surroundings, and they seem to repeat the same motion over and over again.

The fact that these events are taking place in a fully-functioning hospital makes it deceptively hard to fully investigate. One the one hand, any person in the area can visit the suicide’s room or the hospital chapel. If you try to visit them with scientific investigative equipment, you’ll likely be chased out by well-meaning security.

Related posts:

1. The Spirits at Peoria State Hospital
2. Essex County Hospital Hauntings
3. Ghosts at Northern State Mental Hospital
4. The Paranormal at Metropolitan State Hospital
5. The Haunted Tunnels of Anoka State Hospital