Pennhurst Paracon in Spring City, PA

Just outside of Philadelphia, you’ll find a decaying set of asylum buildings known as Pennhurst. Originally opened as the Eastern Pennsylvania Institution for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic, Pennhurst was once seen as a model of humanity providing a caring environment for those in mental or physical need. Time proved this false as the asylum was found to be a place of horror, torture, depression, and neglect. The abuses suffered by the residents echo in the hallways today as ghostly ripples of negative energy.

Date: May 20, 2023

Location: Spring City, PA

Investigators: Chris, Matt

Location History

Pennhurst was opened in 1908 with the intention to house 500 persons of mental or physical disability. Almost immediately, the asylum was overcrowded and well understaffed. During this era, families were at a loss of what to do with their disabled children. They were seen as shameful secrets amongst society leading to many being abandoned.

The state provided the asylum as a place to hide these people – out of sight, out of mind. The residents had a variety of disabilities from very mild – low IQ, hyperactive, or missing limbs, to the very severe – inability to walk, speak, or feed themselves. Society did not see value in people with disabilities and chose to segregate and sterilize these types of people.

While some doctors and staff had good intentions, there were also those which did not. The “children” as they were often dubbed, were severely abused – caged, tied to beds, neglected, drugged, and quite honestly, left to rot. Even if the staff had a caring heart, they were in an impossible situation where there were only a handful of doctors for 3500 people, and staff was too thin to provide proper care. By the time 1 staff member changed, washed, and fed each of their charges for the day, it was hours before they could cycle back to the first person for any additional needs.

In 1968, a reporter took viewers inside the asylum in an expose they called, Suffer The Children. The cameras showed the secrets behind the walls. The deplorable conditions of overcrowding, neglect, poor hygiene, and malnourished bodies. The reporter compared the conditions between Pennhurst children and zoo animals, noting that zoo animals had less crowded pens, more funding for food, and better access to medical care. America’s shameful secret was burst wide open.

Over the next few decades, Pennhurst was dragged through the legal system and eventually was closed down. The entire saga opened the eyes of society and helped to pave way to better treatment and support for those with physical or mental disabilities. No longer were isolation and segregation seen as solutions, but rather society started to see the merits in family environments and community care.

Our Experience

Today, Pennhurst is a hot bed of paranormal activity. The atrocities of the past have left layers upon layers of negative energy. Many paranormal groups have explored the buildings and spent time trying to connect with the spirits that roam the hallways.

Each year, there is a Paranormal Convention hosted by Pennhurst, called Paracon, that attracts those of us interested in history, ghosts, and haunts. We attended the event and were overwhelmed by the event popularity finding many famous TV ghost hunting personalities in attendance along with a variety of paranormal and oddity merchandise for sale.

We took a daytime tour of the dilapidated buildings and learned much of the history of the asylum. One particular story that stuck with me was hearing about 2 men that were friends and made a plan to escape. They made their getaway and found themselves jobs and a place to live. While they were doing just fine on their own, shamed citizens reported these “less than” people and they were dragged back to the asylum.

We stayed late into the night as the event offered a VIP experience to mix and mingle with the TV personalities as they hosted panels and Q&A sessions. Afterwards we were given free reign to ghost hunt in a number of locations including the medical building and underground tunnels. While we explored the areas and joined some groups as they tried to conduct EVP or Estes method sessions, ghost hunting conditions were not ideal with hundreds of others roaming with us.