The OES visited the Athens Ridges on various dates between 2003 and 2005. Commonly referred to as The Ridges, this large campus was once a thriving mental institution overlooking Athens from a high ridge on the south side of town. When the campus ceased operation as an insane asylum, the entire complex was bought by Ohio University, who owns the property today. Most of the buildings stood vacant, but a few have been renovated.
On January 9, 1874, the Athens Lunatic Asylum opened its doors on more than 1,000 acres on the former Coates farm. Many mental institutions sprouted up during this time period due in large part to Civil War veterans who were suffering from what is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder. Six years earlier, in 1868, construction had begun on the magnificent building designed by Herman Haerlin, a student of Frederick L. Olmstead (the designer of Central Park in New York City). The first patient at the asylum was Thomas Armstrong of Belmont County, although not much else is known about him. Daniel Fremau was not far behind Thomas, after Daniel claimed to be the second coming of Christ.
The main building had 544 patient rooms and housed about 200 patients when it opened. The grounds were expanded several times during the asylum's history, adding many outbuildings including a tuberculosis ward, dairy barn, and gymnasium. The main building's design centered around the idea that it was very therapeutic for patients to live in a home environment. The least disturbed patients were housed near the center of the building to encourage socializing and human interaction. These patients often had free roam of the grounds and participated in recreational activities, plays and church services. The more violent and severe patients were housed near the ends of the building's wings, farthest from the building's entry/exit.
As asylums gained popularity in the 1900s, it became common place for families to drop off elderly relatives who they couldn't care for and rebellious teenagers. The homeless would use the institution for temporary shelter. By the early 1900s, the population of Athens Lunatic Asylum grew from 200 to 2,000, leading to overcrowding and a decline in the quality of treatment. With the decrease in care and attention, treatment led to primitive techniques including water treatment (submerged in ice cold water for extended periods of time), shock therapy (electrical shocks to patients submerged in water or directly to the temples from brine-soaked electrodes), lobotomy (skull opened and the neural passages separated midway through the brain), and trans-orbital lobotomy (unconscious patient has a thin metal instrument inserted through the tear duct and sawing back and forth to sever the neural receptors). The last two options were tricky and claimed the lives of many. The living conditions weren't much better. Patients shared bunks intended for one person and were often restrained. Patients spoke out by carving messages, such as "I was never crazy" in the sandstone and wood trim. It wouldn't be until the 1960s when drugs took over as the main form of treatment.
As patient numbers continued to decline due to the success of drug treatment, the asylum housed less than 300 patients by 1981. President Ronald Reagan's de-institutionalization process was the final nail in the coffin for America's mental institutions. Thousands of mentally unstable people were released into the streets and homelessness rose across the country. The last patients of The Ridges left the institution in 1993. The Ohio University acquired the former insane asylum's campus in the 1990s. The buildings stood vacant for several years until the main building was renovated into an art museum, studios and offices. It is now known as Lin Hall / Kennedy Museum of Arts.
The most well-known story of The Ridges involves a female patient whose body left a permanent stain. While The Ridges was still serving as a mental institution in 1978, a female patient named Margaret Schilling went missing on the first of December. Margaret had free-reign of the grounds and often wandered throughout the building. A search of the entire grounds was conducted to no avail. It wasn't until January 12, 1979, when a few boxes in abandoned Ward N 20 were moved by a maintenance worker and Margaret's body was discovered laying on the floor. She had removed her clothing, stacked them neatly in a corner and laid down on the cold concrete floor to die. The official report indicated that Margaret died of heart failure weeks before her body was discovered. When her body was removed, a stain outlining the places her body touched the floor was left behind. The stain was believed to have been created by sunlight shining in through the windows, causing a chemical reaction between the body and the concrete during decomposition.
During one of our visits, we were fortunate enough to gain entry into the building and see the stain for ourselves. We also recorded two EVPs that are below the photos. Click Here to see the results of our paranormal investigation of The Ridges.
SPECIAL NOTE: The OES' paranormal investigation of The Ridges is covered in John Kachuba's book Ghost Hunters: On The Trail of Mediums, Dowsers, Spirit Seekers, And Other Investigators of America's Paranormal World; Chapter 13. Click Here to buy your copy today!