West Virginia may be “Almost Heaven”, and according to some stories around the state, it must be. Because there are some who just don’t want to leave. This is our list for most haunted places in West Virginia.
- Mothman– Point Pleasant – The Mothman legend began with a series of sightings, which eventually came to an end with the collapse of the Silver Bridge in 1967. Forty-six people died as a result, and the tragedy has been incorporated into the legend after some people reported seeing the Mothman before the bridge fell. Books, movies, and numerous government conspiracies have become a result of the story.
- Lake Shawnee Amusement Park – Princeton – During the late 1700s, Mitchell Clay brought his young family out west. They established an 800-acre farm and raised 14 children. Tragedy struck the Clays in 1783. A Native American tribe slew 2 of the children while Mitchell was out hunting. They kidnapped one of the boys, Ezekiel— only to burn him at the stake. So someone decided in the 1960s to build an amusement park there. And people started to die. Recently, it was learned that it is an ancient Indian burial ground. Many of the rides still remain.
- Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum – Weston- Construction began on the asylum in 1858 but was disrupted for a few years when the grounds were used as a camp for Union soldiers. Originally built to house 250 patients and at one time known as Weston State Hospital, the facility reached its peak in the 1950s with 2,400 patients jammed into overcrowded, poor conditions. It closed in 1994 and offers tours.
- Harper’s Ferry – Yep, the whole town is haunted with the spirits of Confederate and Union Soldiers.
- West Virginia Penitentiary – Moundsville – Considered one of the most haunted prisons in the U.S. Built in 1875. Tours available.
- Parkersburg – Again, the whole city which is known as “the wickedest city on the Ohio River” . Home to the Blennerhassett Hotel.
- Lewisburg – Yet, another town worth supernatural exploring. Civil War soldiers are said to wonder her streets. Home to arguably the state’s most famous entity: the Greenbrier Ghost, also known as Zona Heaster Shue, the murdered woman whose ghostly appearance helped convict her killer husband in court.