My Mom LIVED at a Haunted School
It is the beginning of Spooky season! I don’t know about you, but I am so ready for cooler weather, changing leaves, and watching Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown on repeat. To kick off Halloween season 2021 I’ve got a fun story for all of you! Whereas folklore and urban legends are always fun, my favorite stories are the ones where there is a personal connection.
So you already know from reading the title, this is the story of my mom living at a haunted school when she was a kid. Now I do have to admit, the things that were attributed to the hauntings happened mostly in the years after she lived there, but not all. Even if she doesn’t have her own personal paranormal experiences there, I still think that this is a really interesting story.
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| Miller Hall |
In Albion, Idaho, there was a school that had a couple of different names and types of education over the years: Albion Normal School, or as it was named when my mother lived there, Magic Valley Christian College. You may recognize the name if you watch Ghost Adventures. This location was featured in season 19 episode 9. Zak and the GA team did a lockdown on campus and found some crazy evidence.
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| The Ghost Adventures crew with the owners: Heather and Troy Mortensen |
Before we get into the school’s history, here is a picture that used to come up when you searched Magic Valley Christian College. I know it’s blurry, but that is my Nana with my mom and uncle inside their living room in Miller Hall. I recently searched that again, and the picture no longer shows up - but I thought that was pretty cool.
Albion Normal School was built in 1893 on 5 acres that was gifted by Senator J.E. Miller. This school was to train people to be teachers. In 1947 the school changed its name to Southern Idaho College of Education, and expanded it’s studies to give bachelors degrees. The school closed in 1951 due to lack of enrollment.
From 1958-1969 the campus was Magic Valley Christian College. This is when my mom lived there. At the time, my granddad worked there as the Business Manager and taught a few classes in accounting. When it closed in 1969 it was left for years without any official business. The deed of the land was given to the city of Albion, to which they kept it until 2007, when it was put up for auction and sold to the Mortensen family. They have turned the grounds as a retreat and Haunted House attraction in the fall.
Just because the school was closed, doesn’t mean that the campus sat unoccupied. Even if you don’t watch Ghost Adventures, you can probably tell that the campus is known to be haunted as the name of their show and that they did an episode there. There has been both deaths and satanic activity within the grounds, with an emphasis on Comish Hall.
While it was Albion Normal School, two 19 year old boys unexpectedly passed away in 1936. They were found in their trailer that they lived in on campus after neither of the boys had attended class that morning. They were slightly frozen in their beds and rigor mortis had set in. After their autopsies, the coroner found no evidence of a struggle or foul play. The inside of the trailer was in order and stocked with food, further saying there had been no struggle. Their cause of death is unknown. Suffocation from a fire is suspected, but was never proved. There was also no indication of a fire within the trailer.
Based on my research, there might have been a girl, most likely under the age of 18 years old, that died of typhoid fever on campus. The wording is a bit vague, so it is also possible that she died elsewhere.
Although it cannot be proven, the owner Mortensen has heard rumors' that a girl hung herself while it was the Christian college. There have been reports of a girl in school clothes, looking out the upstairs window of Comish Hall and roaming the halls.
Another lore that I cannot find any evidence for is that a boy hung himself in the attic of the boy’s dorm. He had been having an affair with a professor and they were caught. The haunted attraction that is there now has a skeleton with a noose around his neck in the same place.
Starting when Magic Valley Christian College closed in 1969, it no longer had any official uses of the buildings and the campus became vacant. This led to satanic groups breaking into the buildings to perform rituals. They have painted satanic symbols on the walls, and evidence of animal remains have been found.
Paranormal investigators believe that these rituals have opened a portal, letting demons in to haunt the grounds. The Ghost Adventures crew found a hole a fire place of Comish Hall that had animal remains which they picked up activity with their equipment. They believe that spot to be at least one of the portals on campus. They received evidence such as: an orb on video, contact from something unseen resulting in a burning feeling on Aaron’s hand, an EVP saying, “Go back. It’s not safe. Devil.”, and intense feelings of depression and negative thoughts.
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| Fireplace on far left |
When the Mortensen’s bought the property in 2007, they started refurbishing things to become haunted house attractions. This caused the paranormal experiences to increase.
Here are some of the experiences people have reported:
Unexplainable giggles, footsteps, and knocking have been heard by many;
Red eyes are seen within the trees at night staring at you;
Full sized shadow figures have been seen: One account was that the shadow figure was holding up a flashlight, as if to stare back at you. They think this could have been a house mom making sure that everyone was in bed.
A little boy in a suit has been seen weaving through the seats in the auditorium;
Before electricity had been restored in the campus, lights have been seen on when outside looking at the buildings;
According to the former caretaker, John Kay Powell, thing had been known to move on their own;
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| John Kay Powell |
A girl has been seen looking out the windows and walking the campus in school attire.
In Comish Hall, a pale woman with dark eyes has been seen working in the kitchen and she fits the description of the woman who was the cook for 40 years.
Now during the haunted house that has been put on, there are places that the actors refuse to go. They have seen and heard things enough to not care to go back to certain areas.
A voice has been heard in Comish Hall yelling “Don’t go!”
This is about all of the information that I could find online. I do want to note that a medium, Amy, from another Travel Channel show, Dead Files, has said more than once that spirits don’t like it when their space is turned into a haunted attraction. This can enhance paranormal experiences in that area.
I hope that you enjoyed reading as much as I did putting it together. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
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