Hauntings at Dorothea Dix Hospital and Cemetary

In an era when mental illness was considered madness, the handicapped were removed from their homes and communities to consider their hallucinations in the company of each other. Many died in their delusional detention and in the dark shush of yesterday, they accuse their captors and warn modern day.

Nine hundred graves of people forgotten are scattered across Dorothea Dix cemetery. Until 1972, refuse trucks drove over many named, but despised dead to get to the exhausted landfill. Around 250 of their markers slid away, propelling their monikers into an abandoned exile ongoing in life and continuing in death. The unnamed have arose from their exposed graves. They protest their plots poked by workers with kitchen forks. Suffering the location of their vandalized and broken caskets, unextinguished cries have drifted with the pushed, punished dirt. Though they hear the turn of the heavy wheels never more, they howl and hover complaint in the heavy air of Dix Hill hospital. Their earth life may be snuffed out, but their oppressions eclipse again and again like the shrieks of mental agonies. Haunted visions are cast back earthway, eager for a healing that may never come.

NCHAGS, a sincere paranormal group based in Raleigh, NC, has experienced the cries of the undead of Dorothea Dix Hospital. Late one night they slipped into the cemetery to address the departed and found they were not silent. Sounds and words became evident on their recorders while their empaths sensed the uneasiness of the mentally harassed, ensnared souls. One brave, curious team member asked the spirits how they died. The answer is mesmeric and tantalizing. The response from the sharing spirits blazed the researching nature of my own psyche with an inferno, compelling me to write the article on Dorothea Dix's Haunted History on behalf of these rejected patients.

Awaiting any presence near Cry Baby Lane where a Catholic orphanage burned, orbs filled the air with hushed, but childish candor. Cleaned camera lenses could not eliminate the energetic orbs. Possibly children long lost in the orphanage fire? One cannot be sure. The orbs appeared at the rear of the property, perhaps attempting to stay away from the dementia housed deeper in the complex.

You must watch the video of the NCHAGS excursion to Dorothea Dix Cemetery. I am unaffiliated with this paranormal group, but you can delve into their explorations and videos by going to their YOUTUBE page or their website at NCHAGS.org.

In another haunted tale about the Dorothea Dix Lineberger building, a plumber reports working overtime on a Saturday when he hears music and other eerie noises. He knew he was alone and went to investigate. Read his statement for yourself.

These musical noises are reasonable based on my research of Dorothea Dix Hospital. In the early 1900s, patients, nurses and male attendants gathered two times a week to dance and listen to music. This approach worked so well for the institution that the superintendent considered it a therapy even before such philosophies were clearly developed.

Further haunted tales of Dorothea Dix Hospital claim apparition sightings.

Dorothea Dix hospital may not be with the Raleigh community very much longer. For some researchers, this will mean an end to the hauntings. For other investigators, it will signal the beginning of renovation and more solid disturbances.

There are many viewpoints and beliefs about paranormal research and study. A cautious approach, proper protection, good equipment and a skilled/gifted person should always be used.

Many who are exploring the metaphysical through actual investigations are very serious about the research, but many are playing around dangerously, yet unaware of what their own beliefs, opinions and hazards are.

I would suggest to all who have an interest in ghosts and hauntings, leave suspected haunted sites alone. True investigations require some knowledge and permission to be on the site - not only from the living authorities, but from the dead and those who may have never lived...

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