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The Booth House in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, which locals also know as the “Haunted Cottage of Harpers Ferry,” is about to get a new moniker when it’s opened to the public as the Paranormal History Museum and Paranormal Studies Training Center.
Yep, it’s finally happened. A place dedicated to paranormal investigations. How long have I been saying there needed to be a place like this? (Okay, so technically not that long. Only as long as Haunt Jaunts has been live, which is coming up on a year soon. But I’ve been saying it ever since then…)
Still, I’m glad to see it. Rather than reinventing the wheel, I’m going to post the press release I read about it in its entirety below. (It’s short.)
However, some info not in the press release was that The Haunted Cottage will have a soft opening on February 2, 2010. The Grand Opening is set for March 6, 2010.
It’s available for 3-hour tours, 12-hour overnight investigations, weekend investigations, as well as whatever other event needs you may have, such as wedding or corporate functions. (And surprisingly rates are fairly reasonable. Tours start at $20 and go up to $150 for a weekend. Their Reservations page details more.)
Sounds like a pretty neat place to make a Haunt Jaunt to me! What about you?
Or do you feel like @redletterrachel who Tweeted me “@whoforted @HauntJaunts what next-a tactical ops green beret training grounds? Please…” (@whoforted re-Tweeted my Tweet, that’s why she included them.)
BriefingWire.com, 1/24/2010 – Do you like those “ghost hunting shows” on TV? Have you ever watched them and thought, “I could do that?” Well, stop thinking like that! According to Vince Wilson and the Paranormal Investigators Coalition (www.paranormalcoalition.com) you are going about things the wrong way.
“Contrary to current popular belief,” says Wilson, “Paranormal investigations of psychic and ghostly phenomena have been going on for centuries.”
Wilson, an author, writer and paranormal researcher, and his colleagues contend that modern paranormal investigators are not getting the proper training. That is why they have created a paranormal research facility Harpers Ferry, WV to train and assist the next generation of would-be ghost hunters and paranormal investigators. It is the Booth House, the so-called “Haunted Cottage of Harpers Ferry”.
THE BOOTH HOUSE
According to information recently uncovered, this home belonged to relatives of John Wilkes Booth and he stayed here when visiting Harpers Ferry. In fact, he stayed here when he came to see the 1859 execution of John Brown in nearby Charles Town. After he committed the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, he planned on making his way back to Harpers Ferry to his fiance’. Those plans were cut short by a broken ankle, a fire and a bullet.
According to Wilson, over the years, locals have reported many strange things at the Booth House (also called the haunted cottage). Glowing lights from the slave quarters and apparitions passing by the windows when no one is home. “Although we know that at least 12 persons past away there,” adds Mr. Wilson enthusiastically, “research has yet to uncover how or why. We do know that slaves we kept on the property and were, more than likely, treated very poorly. The cellar gives off a sense of foreboding that makes even me uncomfortable, and I have been to many, many haunted places!”
The Paranormal Investigators Coalition will turn the Booth House into a Paranormal History Museum and a Paranormal Studies Training Center. There will be a library of over 500+ books for researchers and interactive displays. Ghost hunters will also be able to rent the property, which is nearly a ¼ acre in size with the fairly large five bedroom house at the front, for 3 hour, overnight and weekend investigations.
In addition to everything else, there will also be what Wilson believes is the 1st physical National History Museum. “For those that think those guys on TV created ghost hunting, there will be a chronological display of the history of paranormal research.”
For more information on the Booth House, aka The Haunted Cottage, go to www.thehauntedcottage.com.
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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Harper’s Ferry, as West Virginia and its proximity to major cities goes, isn’t too bad, but it will still be a struggle. You know, I heard years ago about a team buying a huge mansion/castle in WV and planning to convert it into a 24-hour ghost study place where rooms would be rented to people and they could join the continuous hunt. I thought it was a brilliant idea. Don’t know if they ever made the financing for it, but jeez–with the market the way it is now, seems folks could buy old places they never would have thought of. In fact, I believe Vulture Mines is for sale for 3M from what I heard. Considering you get a ghost town that is one of the favorite hunting sites in the west and gold mines… sounds like a sweet deal. Thanks for letting me know about this place. I’ll be letting the people I know in the east in on it.
I thought of you right away since I know you hail from that region and still have family there too I do believe. Vince Wilson (Ghost Tech) is behind it all. We’ll see what he does with it. So far he’s making a stab at it. I keep hoping you’ll win the lottery so you can buy that Vulture Mines. You bring it up a lot and I think your mind already knows how to make that a neat investigation place for people to hunt in. So here’s to hoping you get some winning numbers! (Or, even better, a sweet publishing deal! 😉