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| West Virginia State Penitentiary ca 1910 Source: WV History on View |
The former WV State Penitentiary at Moundsville has the reputation for being one of the most haunted locations in the state, if not the world. For years, guards, prisoners, and other visitors have reported eerie phenomenon, and today, many flock to the historic institution in search of their own paranormal experiences. But before there was Red Snyder, or even the Shadow Man, there were reports of ghostly goings-on around an area known as "Murderer 's Row."
Over 1000 inmates and multiple staff witnessed mysterious, unexplained sounds. The sounds, which always started after midnight, occurred over a series of weeks in July 1910. The men believed the noises were the result of mournful wailing by those who met their end by execution. White and African-American prisoners alike firmly believed they were witnessing something otherworldly, but a newspaper article mentions that there was a noticeable upswing in the number of Black prisoners who began praying and attending religious services as a result.
Fortunately, it turns out that the noises were NOT paranormal. Instead of coming from former victims of the hangman's gallows...they came from a very much alive prisoner. One evening after the noises started, a brave prison guard tracked the sound down to a cell where he found an inmate blowing on a violin string!
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| Independent-Herald (Hinton, WV) 21 July 1910 |
