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Investigation
Photos
BACKGROUND
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jerika Bateman of Haunted and Historic Tours, for making an Overnight at the historic and haunted Mineral Springs Hotel possible! We felt very fortunate to be among the few who have explored all the nooks and crannies of this very special haunted locale. It has appeared multiple times on programs such as Sightings, Unexplained and Scariest Places, and has been of particular interest to two of our members who have had an experience of their own there some time ago. (Check out Sherry's account of that experience on the Stories page.
The hotel was originally built by the Luer family in 1909, who used it for a short period as a meat packing plant. The hooks used to hang the meat are still hanging from the ceiling of the sub-basement and can be viewed in one of the pictures found below. The high mineral content in the springs at the location prompted the owners to change their business strategy and they opened the luxurious Mineral Springs Hotel in 1914. Wealthy vacationers and others seeking "the mineral cure" frequented the hotel to bathe in the waters. The two swimming pools, one for the gentlemen and one for the ladies, were the focus of much advertising and nationwide attention up until World War II, when the economic climate caused business to slow. The doors of the hotel closed in 1971, but they were re-opened as an antique mall in the 1980's. The ghosts that are said to haunt the hotel originate from the Hotel's hey day in the 1920's and 1930's.
The three ghosts that have made an impression on the visiting public over the years include the drunken ghost, the man from the pool and the Jasmine Lady. The drunken ghost is said to have been an artist who couldn't afford to pay his hotel bill. In barter, he was to have painted a mural on the wall of the bar, near the lobby. He finished about half of it when he died at the hotel, and the mural was finished by another artist. The mural can be seen today in what is now the cafe on the main floor. The drunken ghost is noted to interface mostly with women by touching their hair or tugging on their clothing. His apparition has been seen from time to time, and the aroma of days old drink has been noticed on many occasions on the main floor.
The apparition of the man at the pool is said to be dressed in a tuxedo because his death occurred during a party held in the area of the men's pool. His wife became enraged at his excessive flirting and attacked him with the heel of her shoe. It is believed that he fell into the pool and drowned. His appearance is often associated with feelings of overwhelming anger and revenge. Not the type of person you'd care to meet in a dark room with a big hole in the floor which used to be a pool, be he alive or ghost!
The identity of the Jasmine Lady has remained a bit of a mystery over the years. One story has circulated that she was a married guest at the hotel who had an affair with a man during her stay, and met her death when she fell or was pushed down the stairwell near the lobby. Her pungent jasmine perfume is noted oftentimes around the stairwell and in the hallways on both the main floor and the second floor. Many employees have also seen her apparition as she walks down the hallway and peeks in on them while they work. Wayne Hensley works in the barber shop on the main floor and has many, many stories to share. Stop by for a haircut or sign up for one of Jerika's tours if you'd like to learn more about his eerie experiences in the hotel.
| Date and Time: | May 20, 2005 - 11:30 p.m. to May 21, 2005 - 7:00 a.m. |
| Weather: | Clear, 62 degrees |
| Solar Activity: | Oops! Forgot to record this item... |
| Moon Phase: | waxing gibbous with 88% of the moon's disk illuminated |
| Geomagnetic Field: | Not Recorded |
| Investigators: | Mike and Sherry Adams, and Brian Baker |
| Photo's Taken (Digital): | 272 |
| Photo's Taken (35mm): | 0 |
| Anomalous Photo's: | Under Review |
| Video: | 3+ hours |
| E.V.P.'s: | None |
| EMF Readings: | 0 (High iron content in the building infrastructure distorted readings.) |
Our group of three intrepid investigators arrived at Tony's Restaurant in Alton at 8:00 pm on Friday May 20th. It was a pleasant evening full of expectation. The rest of the group was unable to attend due to previous commitments. We met Jerika Bateman, owner/operator of Alton's Haunted and Historic Tours, who had arranged an evening full of great food, a psychic and personal tours of several of Alton's hotspots.
At about 10:30 pm, we boarded the trolley for our first group tour. Our first stop was the ruins of the old Confederate prison. Our tour guide, Wayne Hensley, shared with us his knowledge of the history of the prison and its unfortunate inhabitants. We also made a stop at the Unitarian Church, also full of very rich historical information. We took some photos here that you can see at the bottom of this page. The Unitarian Church needs to be an investigation unto itself. Next on the list was the Ennis house which was once a stop on the underground railroad.
Lastly we stopped at the Mineral Springs Hotel where Wayne was kind enough to tell us some of the history of the location. We entered the building from the lower street entrance and entered the main lobby from the side entrance. We were standing by the stairwell near the barber shop when Brian had a strange thing happen to him. The following is in Brian's own words...
"Let me define in words as best I can, what I experienced at the bottom of the steps next to Wayne's shop. As we topped the step from the side entrance of the building, Wayne was just opening his door and talking about what others have experienced there and I stopped at the foot of the steps, when it felt as though an electrical charge was passing through the lower half of my right arm, between the bones leading to the wrist. I lost most of the feeling and strength and my lower arm and hand was trembling as if someone had jumped behind be and shouted "BOOO!" As soon as I moved away from the steps and toward where Mike was standing, that feeling went away as suddenly as it had come. The event only lasted a few seconds. I tried a couple of times after the trolley tour was over... to reproduce that effect by walking past and stopping at the same steps, but could not get the event to repeat."
It has been noted in other investigations that if you want things to stop happening, go stand next to Mike "the cooler" Adams!
But, this time even Mike had an unusual experience. The first instance happened after 1:00 am on Saturday morning when the hair on his left leg from the knee to the toes stood on end while he was standing near the men's pool. On one other occasion, in the men's pool about 2:30 am, Mike informed the team that the hair on his right arm stood on end, for no obvious reason, from his elbow to his knuckles. Mike's hair isn't known for doing anything out of the ordinary and doesn't stand up without electrical intervention. According to Mike, "It's as if something scared only bits and pieces of me."
The most interesting shared experience happened on the staircase where the Jasmine Lady is said to have perished from a fall. During the initial tour of the building, all three members of MPRS smelled a foul aroma in the area at the base of the stairs. It was the distinct aroma of days old alcohol and it was very strong. The odor faded shortly thereafter and was not noticed at any other time or any other place in the building that night. At the time, we were so busy trying to identify the smell and it's source that we didn't take any photos of the area and had not unpacked any of our other detection gear.
After the tour, we returned to the Hotel for the remainder of the night. We set up our camcorders and took numberous photos. We were amazed at the amount of dust in the air and we believe that explains many of the orbs captured that night. We set up our equipment at about 12:30 am, when the other guests had settled down for the night. There are five levels and reports of activity on all levels, so choosing where to set up the equipment was a challenge. It is much like scuba diving where you have only so much air and the whole ocean to explore in a short time.
About 2:00 AM, Mike's camcorder was left alone in the sub-basement for a period of 45 minutes. Upon review of the video, the camcorder was "lightly jolted" from its original position twice, as though something had bumped into it. This video is still under analysis for possible mechanical explanations.
About 3:00 AM, Sherry stumbled across two other guests who heard the faint sound of singing. The three of them followed the source of the music to a lower area of the hotel that was closed off to the guests and investigators. A radio was turned on and big band music from the '30's and '40's was playing. The radio had definately not been on earlier in the night. No one admitted to having been in the area and turning the radio on, but since it occurred in such uncontrolled circumstances, we find it difficult to chalk this event down to anything out of the ordinary. It is interesting to note, however, that this radio has turned itself on when Jerika has been alone in the vicinity before.
In the end, we felt that we had enjoyed a very successful night and that the Mineral Springs Hotel did not let us down. We look forward to returning sometime in the fall when the activity level is supposed to be at its peak. The Mineral Springs Hotel definately warrants more investigation.
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