"I ain't afraid of no ghost."
Ladd School: not just for lads...
The Joseph P. Ladd Center...our suspicions arose in this place after hearing stories from several of our friends. "You guys haven't been to the Ladd School?!" they would ask, surprised. Katie and I looked at each other sheepishly but began asking questions about it. Many of our friends claimed to have had experiences there so we immediately wanted to go check it out.
Being a student at URI made for a convenient travel distance to this supposedly haunted place. It was only about 20 minutes or so down the road. I remember feeling very eager to see what it was all about! Katie and I had researched it a bit before we went and discovered that it was a hospital for mentally challenged male and female children. However, these children were tortured by doctors and nurses, as the story goes. It only closed for good in 1982 when others got wind of what was going on there. It is in a very secluded and sketchy area, it is no wonder no one found out about this place for years.
Anyways, Katie and I brought along two of our friends to investigate because we were also warned of human intruders, not just ghosts. We finally arrived to find a bunch of buildings scattered distantly from one another. I kept thinking to myself, "Why aren't these buildings torn down? What is the use of them?" The answer was, quite frankly, that they were not currently used for anything- the town simply thinks it costs too much to tear down.
We finally parked in a spot in front of a rectangular building full of graffitti and boarded up windows and doors. Luckily, we found a spot in which a door was kicked in! We made our way over there but suddenly felt a sense of nervousness. The building was pitch black and we hadn't brough flashlights...smart move, huh? The only light flooding in was the dusk sunlight, which wouldn't be lasting for very much longer. After debating for a couple of minutes of what to do, we decided that we were here now and might as well take a look!
One by one, we stepped into the opening and looked down the long hallways. There were rooms still full of furniture, such as chairs, beds, etc. It was VERY creepy and I did NOT enjoy being in there! All I could picture was children being tortured and their spirits still lingering around these hallways. We could only bare the darkness for so long before stepping outside again and we all gave a sigh of relief. What were we thinking going in there without any flashlights?! Despite the creaking and groaning of the walls, there wasn't much to document except for eerie feelings. Was it the history that filled my mind and gave me uneasy feelings? Or was the Ladd School really full of unsettled souls?
Maybe on my next visit, I will find out...
Being a student at URI made for a convenient travel distance to this supposedly haunted place. It was only about 20 minutes or so down the road. I remember feeling very eager to see what it was all about! Katie and I had researched it a bit before we went and discovered that it was a hospital for mentally challenged male and female children. However, these children were tortured by doctors and nurses, as the story goes. It only closed for good in 1982 when others got wind of what was going on there. It is in a very secluded and sketchy area, it is no wonder no one found out about this place for years.
Anyways, Katie and I brought along two of our friends to investigate because we were also warned of human intruders, not just ghosts. We finally arrived to find a bunch of buildings scattered distantly from one another. I kept thinking to myself, "Why aren't these buildings torn down? What is the use of them?" The answer was, quite frankly, that they were not currently used for anything- the town simply thinks it costs too much to tear down.
We finally parked in a spot in front of a rectangular building full of graffitti and boarded up windows and doors. Luckily, we found a spot in which a door was kicked in! We made our way over there but suddenly felt a sense of nervousness. The building was pitch black and we hadn't brough flashlights...smart move, huh? The only light flooding in was the dusk sunlight, which wouldn't be lasting for very much longer. After debating for a couple of minutes of what to do, we decided that we were here now and might as well take a look!
One by one, we stepped into the opening and looked down the long hallways. There were rooms still full of furniture, such as chairs, beds, etc. It was VERY creepy and I did NOT enjoy being in there! All I could picture was children being tortured and their spirits still lingering around these hallways. We could only bare the darkness for so long before stepping outside again and we all gave a sigh of relief. What were we thinking going in there without any flashlights?! Despite the creaking and groaning of the walls, there wasn't much to document except for eerie feelings. Was it the history that filled my mind and gave me uneasy feelings? Or was the Ladd School really full of unsettled souls?
Maybe on my next visit, I will find out...
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