Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Tops National List (w/vi...

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Tops National List (w/video)

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Tops National List (w/video)
August 16, 2010
By Stacy Jacobson
WBOV

WESTON -- A local landmark has received national recognition. Try not to get spooked.
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is one of the 10 great haunted American sites, according to USA Today.

Several reasons play into the ranking. For one, the building boasts several seclusion rooms, in which patients were placed for up to days at a time. The most dangerous of such patients was restricted by harnesses around their limbs.

Funds meant for the Asylum were later used to found the state of West Virginia.

"The facility is absolutely amazing and people are in awe of it and it doesn't matter if you're eight or 80," said operations director, Rebecca Jordan Gleason. "There's something for everybody here at the asylum."

The Asylum appeals to history buffs, architecture enthusiasts and those seeking paranormal activity. The building was completed in 1881, but originally opened to patients in 1864.

"I've talked to to a lot of ghost hunters and a lot of paranormal groups," said paranormal tours manager Bethany Cutright. "It's kind of a hit or miss whether you get any paranormal activity and I've never had a night here and not had something happen."

To Jordan Gleason, the spookiest part of the building is the fourth floor.

"I've actually been up there when every door in the ward has closed on me," she said. "I get the worst feeling every time I enter that ward."

Asylum staff also claims the building is one of the largest hand cut stone structures in the world, second only to the Kremlin in Russia. All the publicity has brought much attention to the area.

"We're filling up Lewis County hotels, people are going out and eating in the restaurants and they're hitting the stores downtown," Jordan Gleason said. "So I think it's just a wonderful economic impact that this is going to be, not only this summer so far, but also going into the months of September and October."

Because of the USA Today article, the landmark could reach a milestone, Jordan Gleason said.

"Historic tours have been coming in at a phenomenal rate the last six weeks," she said. "It's record-breaking. Each week beats the last. So it's been a fantastic summer already. We think this will give us the absolute push we need to finish off the year with a bang."

The Asylum offers tours Tuesday through Sunday and there will be a celebrity ghost hunting weekend at the end of August. See the website below for more information.