Ghosts of the Pioneer Living History Museum

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Ghosts of the Pioneer Living History Museum
April 10, 2009
Debe Branning
Examiner.com

I was recently invited to go on a ghost hunt with Liz Martin and her paranormal team P.A.S.T. Their plan was to investigate the spirits at the Pioneer Living History Museum located just 30 minutes north of downtown Phoenix. The village houses thirty historic buildings from the 1800’s and the turn of the century. I always enjoy having the opportunity to work with various paranormal teams in Arizona to share and learn new ghost hunting methods.
Kenton and I met the P.A.S.T. crew about 5pm. We took a walking tour of the grounds in the daylight in order to familiarize ourselves with the lay out of the complex. Later when total darkness fell, we had a pretty good idea where the roads were as long as we carried a trusty flashlight.

After dinner in the restaurant, Liz broke the group up into three investigating units. Our group headed up to the old log cabins. The first cabin we visited was the old Ashurst Cabin. It was the childhood home of Henry F Ashurst in 1878. The cabin was originally located 100 miles from Prescott at Ashurst Lake.

Drea placed his digital recorder on a table and began asking the spirits a series of questions. His K-II meter responded with blinking lights letting us know a spirit was present. Cold energy filled the cabin for a short period of time.

Our next stop was the Flying V Cabin. It is another one of the original structures brought down from Young, AZ. It was built around 1880. The Cabin was raided by Apaches during their last uprising which ended in the battle of Big Dry Wash. Little or no damage to the cabin was noted except for a few bullet holes. I enjoyed the small V shaped slots along the cabin walls where settlers could point and aim their rifles. Our investigation did not find must spirit activity on this visit but has been known to be quite active in the past.

Liz’s group covered several of the other buildings such as the old schoolhouse. The school was originally located in Gordon Canyon. It was in use from 1880-1922. They also covered the Victorian House which was once located in Phoenix at 7th Street between Thomas and Indian School Road. The Statehood house was once located near Grand Avenue and Camelback Road in Glendale. Now it is part of the village and undergoing renovations. The Northern Home is another original structure moved from Newman Canyon near Flagstaff. It belonged to Jeff D. Newman in 1886. The old Opera House, once known as Elk’s Theatre, was rebuilt from the original bricks. Back in Prescott the Theatre was known as Howey Hall, a general store, and later the opera house was turned into an entertainment hall. A spirit of a woman is often seen in the upstairs offices of this building. All these buildings came to the village filled with many memories…and an assortment of spirit energy.

Even though Kenton and I had to leave at 11pm, we discovered the Pioneer Living History Museum comes alive soon after dark. There seems to be a heavy amount of energy within the historical buildings and the antiques decorating the structures. The complex is a wonderful training facility for budding paranormal teams and their members.