Springfield High School, Springfield, Illinois November 2012
http://www.sancohis.org/Historico/Historico2005.htm#Apr05
(See April 2005 entry)Investigators: CAPS: Dave, Trish,
Alan, and Vicki with special investigators Dan and Joe
Weather clear and unseasonably warm.
Years ago, I lived on the 500 block
of Monroe Street in Springfield; an older home that had been converted into
efficiency apartments. As I was lying on
my couch, I happen to look over to a mirror hanging on my living room wall
where I saw an image of a small boy with white blond hair sitting cross-legged
on the floor watching TV. As I was
babysitting at the time, I assumed it was one of the kids not taking their
nap. When I leaned over the coffee
table, ready to chastise the child in question, to my surprise I discovered he
was lying down sound asleep. Glancing back at the mirror I realized the specter
had vanished?
I elected to keep this incident to
myself, thinking it must have surely been my mind playing tricks on me, but
then several days later, I received a frantic phone call from my mom. She proceeded to tell me how she had fallen
asleep lying on her couch and when she awoke, she saw the back of a little boy
with blonde hair sitting on the floor, in front of her TV...who vanished! One thing you should know, she lived just
down the block in the apartment building right next to Springfield High
school. Though my old apartment has long
since been demolished, that episode has always lingered in me.
Years later I learned that
Springfield High School was actually built on the grounds of one of the first
Cemeteries in Springfield. Hutchinson
Cemetery was first opened in1846 and by 1857, more than 1,000 people were
buried there. In 1866, they began the
relocation of the occupants to Oak Ridge Cemetery and the former cemetery was
seeded to the city where it became Forest Park, because of all the old
trees.
In 1915, when they broke ground for
the construction of Springfield High, it was discovered not all the remains had
been moved. A story exists that when
they dug ground to install an elevator they found even more bodies and a
mysterious headstone without a name that read "Cut down, but not
destroyed" In the 1930's, the school
suffered a boiler explosion resulting in a tragic fire that caused the death of
3 people and injured several others.
With such a rich history already
attached to this location, it is not surprising that the rumors of Springfield
High being haunted run rampant. Such
reports have been loud mysterious noises, lights being turned on and off, doors
opening and closing on their own, and the elevator seemingly being operated by
invisible sources. There are several
people that have sworn they have seen an apparition of a little girl near the
elevator and running down the halls.
When CAPS was given the opportunity
to investigate Springfield High, we were all quite eager to see what we could
capture for ourselves. For me it was a
mixed emotion, because going back to High school has been a nightmare of mine
ever since I graduated.
Our team assembled at around 5:00pm
and while Alan, Dan and Joe began to unload the equipment, I got my first
glimpse of the location. When I stepped
into the entrance hallway on the 1st floor I immediately got a strange
sensation. Dave informed me that this
was where the little girl had been seen.
As we followed her purported path I found myself becoming increasingly
dizzy. I felt like a drunkard on
unsteady legs as we traversed our way back to meet up with the rest of the
team. It took me a few more minutes
before the dizziness passed and I was back to normal, well as Dave likes to
say, back to "Vicki Normal".
After our initial walkthrough of
this immense location; Alan, Dan and Joe went about setting up their various
cameras. CAPS (Top Cat) Dave gave Trish
and I leave to go about our investigation knowing that our skills with
electronics would not be necessary or appreciated. Throughout the night the various
investigation teams had a number of personal experiences. These seemed to be focused in a few locations
in the building.
On the 3rd floor, there is a storage
room they call the "Book Room". When Joe
walked out of that room and down the hallway alone, he thought he heard a male
voice then saw a light in a locked room that suddenly turned off.
When in the Auditorium, Dave and
Alan detected EMF spikes and experienced significant battery drains, only to
have the batteries come back to full power when the spikes subsided.
It was the Art Room where we had
most of our experiences. This was an
amazing loft-style room with a staircase that stretches from the second to
third floor. Both Joe and Trish seemed
to get cold chills simply walking down the hallways by this room.
It was in this particular room that
Trish and I kept hearing noises and saw a dark shadow flitting in front of the
doorway located in the rear of the lower level.
When the men first entered the Art room they thought they heard voices
having a conversation, but no one was there.
When they started recording they heard a loud crashing noise like
something had fallen or was thrown. They
were unable to determine the cause, but seemed to think it came from the
northwest corner of the room where they also detected elevated EMF levels in
response to questions.
Towards the end of the night Trish
and I returned to the Art Room, and for fun I asked if anyone knew me from when
I lived in the area. I really was not
expecting any response, but when we were going through the evidence and on my audio
recorder I had captured a male voice answering "yes".
As I write this and look around me,
I am woefully aware of what a challenging task it is to keep any place tidy
amongst the mayhem of children. I want
to commend all the janitors who kept this remarkable location so well
maintained.
It was indeed an honor to be
entrusted with this rare opportunity to investigate such an historic
location. I cannot think of a more
fitting tribute to those buried on these sacred grounds than to have this
monumental building, dedicated to teaching the young with a proud past, present
and a bright future for generations!
EVPs
Here's how loud the bang was in the art room.
Caught this one in the second floor hallway by the art room.
Dave caught this child's voice while they were in the library.
Trish and I captured this laugh while in the Art Room.
This was a spirit box session in the auditorium.
Dave caught this one while they were in the old gymnasium.
Response to Trish back in the Art room.
Response to Vicki back in the Art room.
Additional Photos
There aren't a lot of schools that can sport two gymnasiums.
A couple pictures of that amazing art room.
Dave in the bookroom and one of the auditorium.
Dave caught this light anomoly in the auditorium.