LOCATION HISTORY

The town of Edinburgh was originally the county seat of Jones County. In June 1840, the land located at section 36 in Wayne Township was originally deeded for courthouse purposes, with the grant being signed by President Buchanan. Shortly after this grant, the county seat was changed from Edinburgh, and the commissioners kept the grant for the establishment of the County Poor Farm. Described as a "comfortable retreat for the lazy, able-bodied and willingly dependent applicants," the Poor Farm housed the poor, incurably insane, and disabled. Tenants were given shelter and food for their labor. They would farm agriculture and livestock. The poor farm was in operation from 1850 to 1910, and during that time, there were over 150+ documented deaths on the property.

In 1910, the poor farm closed down and was demolished. Edinburgh Manor was then constructed from 1910 to 1911 to house the incurably insane, the poor, and the elderly. Edinburgh Manor also referred to as The Manor, was in operation until November 2010.

Medical documents and personal belongings can still be found in The Manor. When the last patients and employees left the building in 2010, they never returned.

From https://edinburghmanor.wixsite.com/

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Investigator's Notes

Jennifer, Lead Investigator: 

We arrived around 7:00 PM and met up with the owner, Cindy, who is always wonderful. I asked her to give us a general tour but not to share any information about the activity reported in certain rooms. I wanted us to go into the investigation with a basic knowledge of the Manor's layout but not much information about the reported activity.

After the tour, those who had been there before (Becky and I) talked with Cindy separately from the rest of the group. She gave us an updated account of events experienced in certain rooms. 

My idea for this first experiment was to see if the people who had not been there experienced anything new that was reported or similar to what Becky and I had experienced on our previous visit. I did not want the members who had not been there to have preconceived notions or expectations.

We then began setting up equipment throughout the Manor, including cameras, a Tesla coil, a plasma ball, puck lights, and motion-activated devices. We also set up a base area for monitoring the video cameras. 

The second part of my experiment involved solo investigations with the investigators who had not been there previously. I took Sarah, Greg, Christina, and Edward to separate areas throughout the Manor blindfolded so they did not know which room they were in. After removing the blindfolds, I had them document what they were hearing, thinking, feeling, and seeing. I was curious to see what type of experiences they might have in certain rooms. 

During these personal solo investigations, they each had personal experiences. The rooms selected were the basement, the Red Room, the Blue Room, the Children's room, and the "Assault Room." Among the things reported were feeling uncomfortable, feeling relaxed, seeing shadows, hearing voices and tapping, and hearing movement. 

After they returned to the home base, we separated into two groups. I had two people watch the monitors while one group went downstairs and the other went upstairs. We rotated throughout the night. 

Christina, Becky, Edward, and I went downstairs first. We had motion-activated lights around downstairs because people have reported seeing shadow figures. We repeatedly saw what appeared to be a light on a vibration detector moving in the hallway. Becky knew it had to be an optical illusion as we could tell the device had not been moved when the lights were turned on. Following some quick research, Becky found this is called the "Autokinetic Effect." 

The autokinetic effect (also referred to as autokinesis) is a phenomenon of visual perception in which a stationary, small point of light in an otherwise dark or featureless environment appears to move. It presumably occurs because motion perception is always relative to some reference point.

When upstairs, Christina, Becky, and Sarah had some interesting experiences. They reported seeing shadow figures between the "red room" and "the blue room." Becky, Greg, and Sarah all reported seeing shadow figures there. Most of the activity was experienced in the hallway between these rooms, specifically inside the "blue room." 

Later, Sarah reported seeing a small child-like shadow moving near the "blue room." The group reported the most uncomfortable feelings in that room. Several members reported it felt difficult to breathe in that room, and others reported feeling watched from one of the corners. A couple of team members noted that it felt almost hard to talk in that room. 

To try to understand what they were seeing between the "blue room" and the "red room," I sat in the "blue room" by myself. I could not see anything causing the shadows, but I felt very uncomfortable the minute I stepped into that room for about 15 to 20 seconds. After that, I sat down, and things felt fine. 

We also spent time investigating what is known as the "puzzle room" and did not experience too many things, just some foundation noises that we could explain. 

We also spent some time in the "child's room" with the toys. This room was not as active, although Sarah heard what she thought was somebody talking. She also noticed what she thought was a small deflated balloon floating around near her. At first, Sarah thought she might have kicked it accidentally, but then she realized she was not near the balloon, so she was a little startled by seeing that. 

Several of our members felt uncomfortable in the basement. Greg and Sarah reported experiencing very intense headaches at the same time, and Christina reported a foul smell in the basement. 
The Manor is interesting and quite big. We spent time in other rooms, but the most active ones were the hallway between the red and blue room upstairs, the "blue room" itself, and the basement. 

We have done two investigations at this location and experienced different phenomena, so it would be interesting to return soon and keep comparing our investigations' notes. 

Cindy is a wonderful and kind host; we love working with her! We look forward to going back!

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Previous Investigations at this Location:

Edinburgh Manor, August 29, 2021

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