The Haunted History of the Fairfield County Infirmary

In mid-January, the Spectral Research and Investigation team will once again head to Lancaster, Ohio to investigate the Fairfield County Infirmary. Although this is the second trip for most of us, and a third trip for some, we’re really looking forward to once again visiting this magnificent old building filled with the haunted memories of its unfortunate past. Although historical research was conducted for previous investigations, as part of my newly appointed role of Lead Historian for SRI, I wanted to take a deep, DEEP dive into some of the stories that make up the lore of FCI. I’ll be sharing those throughout the next few days, but first, a brief overview…

The best way to describe the Fairfield County Infirmary is as a place for the unwanted. After the state of Ohio decided that each county should have a centralized home for its poor and indigent, county poor farms or ‘infirmaries’ were set up, taking these poor, unfortunate souls out of private homes and into a group setting. Before 1828 when the Fairfield County Infirmary was built, ‘overseers of the poor’ set up those less fortunate in private homes, awarding a ‘contract’ of sorts to the lowest bidder. The caretaker offered space and their supposed ‘love and care’ for a small stipend to cover the pauper’s food, medical care, and other necessities. As you can imagine, there was probably plenty of room for abuse of the system. 

Unfortunately, the solution was not perfect. The original infirmary building was quickly found to be too small, so additions were made in the 1840′s, and again right after the Civil War. During those years of expansion, a multitude of outbuildings were constructed and the property boundaries were extended to accommodate a pretty self-sufficient county farm. But, as beautiful as the brick building appeared, and as productive as the farm seemed, things inside weren’t great by any means, especially in the early days.

Throughout much of the infirmary’s history, it truly was a place where the unwanted could be unceremoniously dumped for a variety of reasons. If you could not take care of yourself for any reason, whether it be due to poverty, sickness/injury, old age, mental illness and/or deficiency, being widowed, or simply being a transient coming through town with little to nothing in your pockets, you could easily find yourself taken to the infirmary and remaining there for the rest of your life (and possibly beyond).

Although attempts were made at some segregation (women and men had separate wings and up until a separate orphanage was built in 1886 children were kept on the fourth floor) the sick, the crippled, the mentally ill, everyone…was just housed together. Those who could work were forced to do so, either out on the farm or taking care of domestic tasks around the home, including caring for the more severe patients, or inmates, as they were all called, regardless of status. Children were born to mothers staying there, many of whom were not of sound mind to consent. Many of those children were either taken away and given up for adoption, but many others would never know life outside the infirmary walls. 

Beginning at the turn of the century, and as more and more social programs began to help those less fortunate, improvements did seem to be happening. Those who were suffering from extreme mental illness were petitioned to be transferred to the asylum at Athens. Civic groups raised money for Christmas gifts, ice cream socials became the norm, and groups would come in and sing and/or play music for the ‘inmates.’ But, even those improvements could not take away from the suffering and tragedy…and death. 

Reports of abusive and/or negligent superintendents, ranging from nearly the beginning of the institution’s operation (more on that in another blog!) are told, as well as probable inmate-on-inmate abuse. Death was a common occurrence, especially since most of the inmates were elderly and/or infirm, but reports of fatal accidents, suicide, and even violence were not unheard of. 

The Fairfield County Infirmary was in operation until 1985, when the remaining patients were finally put into nursing care facilities or placed with foster families. The following year, the county took over the building as headquarters for its various health department offices, renamed it the Clarence E. Miller Building,  and made some structural changes to meet fire codes. The most notable of these is the enclosure of several staircases, giving the building some interesting architectural features! It was during the building’s tenure as the health department offices that its haunted reputation began. Workers began noticing strange sounds, like footsteps and voices coming from unoccupied areas of the buildings. Objects would be moved around. Phones from empty offices would ring into other offices. Apparitions were even seen…

By 2011, it was pretty apparent that the old building needed some major upgrades, and by 2013, the county health department had moved out. With the old farm area across the road being sold decades before to a local university, the much smaller property with a dilapidated brick structure sat vacant for some time, looking for a buyer. The site was considered by a local real estate investment firm as potential apartments, but that fell through, especially after it was discovered that the on-site cemetery far exceeded its distinguished boundaries, and that there were probably bodies buried across the entirety of the property. For one season, Habitat for Humanity ran a haunted house attraction, but when it came up on the auction block, Adam Kimmel was the lucky bidder. There’s an interesting story that Kimmel was told there was another investor vying for the property and was tempted to put in quite a high bid. However, a ghostly little child from the property told him that there were no other bidders, and thus, he won the FCI with a low-ball offer. It is now ran as a year-round mecca for paranormal researchers and ghost hunters, by Kimmel and his partner, who own several more properties around the midwest for the same purpose. 

With literally hundreds of investigation teams pouring into Fairfield since 2020, the activity experienced does tend to fluctuate a bit, but there are some hauntings that are told as canon. In addition to the general activity of footsteps and disembodied voices, there have been reports of apparitions of a doctor figure, and several of an older woman wearing white. Children are heard laughing and running in an area now set up as the boys’ playroom. Shadow figures are a constant, with shadowy beings darting in and out of rooms down dark halls, and even a seven foot tall shadow seen in the attic area. People have been scratched or bruised, and some have felt extremely ill, especially after visiting the morgue area. A little ghost girl named Susie is often reported, as is a male ghost who calls himself Willie. Some believe the apparition of the woman (or ONE of the female apparitions) is none other than Jane Householder, an elderly lady who burned to death in the 1920′s. 

From my own personal research, I’ve also noticed that many investigative teams have had great success with the Estes Method of communication, where the ‘sitter’ is listening to a spirit box, while other investigators ask questions, hoping for a response. The sitter cannot hear what the other investigators are asking, hopefully eliminating some of the audio pareidolia of looking for answers that ‘fit.’ Through this method, not only have they received intelligent responses, but will often get the names of owners and staff at FCI, along with their own names and names of fellow investigators on site. 

The most active areas of the old infirmary tend to be the attic, which was used both as an orphanage and as a ‘dungeon,’ where the most incorrigible inmates were kept, the third floor ‘women’s cell,’ where those committing minor offenses were held for up to 24 hours, and the morgue/autopsy area. However, there doesn’t seem to be any location within the four floors that isn’t active, a fact that is attributed to both the amount of tragedy and death that took place there, a spring that runs directly under the building, giving an unending supply of energy, and an odd fact about the cemetery out back that may contribute to those buried there being unable to rest in peace.  We’ll explore some of these topics and stories in further blogs, which I’ll link to below as they are published. Also, if you’re interested in the investigative side of Fairfield County Infirmary, please check out the YouTube playlist I compiled, highlighting some of teams that have filmed here. 

Fairfield County Infirmary YouTube Playlist

Fairfield County Infirmary Collection

 An FCI Christmas Story

The Story of Jane Householder

Seven Foot Tall Shadow Man

Body Snatching at FCI

A Defense of Superintendent Hummel

An (Un)Happy Reunion at FCI

The Growling Man of Fairfield County Infirmary

The Fairfield County Infirmary Cemetery