THE HAIR-RAISING STORY OF THE ROLLING HILLS ASYLUM

So…what comes to mind when you hear the words “Abandoned places”. Well, for me, it’s “Let’s grab a friend and go there”. 

But…I don’t know if I have such friends in my life. So, I guess let’s just settle for reading this “spine chilling “, “terrifying”, and “other scary words” article!

THE HISTORY OF THE ROLLING HILLS ASYLUM

Today let us look at one such abandoned old place called The Rolling Hills Asylum, called initially…”The Genesee County poor farm”. On the 4th of December in the year 1826, the Genesee County Board of Supervisions met in Bethany to have some tea (I guess) and discuss the topic “setting up a poorhouse in the locality”. In the year 1827, the poorhouse was established. Near the corners of Bethany Road and Raymond Road, right at the centre of the county, is a house of about 200 acres to shelter the widows, orphans and elderly. 

Oh! And don’t forget the insane lunatics. Lunatics right at the centre of the county…seriously? In 1828 a thick stone wall was added to confine the lunatics. Now that’s an intelligent guy’s decision. And these insane ones were sheltered here till 1887. After that, they were sent somewhere else. Intelligent ones joined the committee at this time (again, just a guess).

 The poorhouse, affectionately called “The old County home”, was self-sufficient. Those who could work on the farm. Some of the places within the property were built by the residents or also referred to as inmates. Some would even make small artifacts that were later sold out. According to Conklin, the budget for the inmates was pretty small. About $1.08 per week for each person was sufficient. 

But in 1974, the asylum had to close down due to some code issues, and all the inmates were relocated to Bavaria’s new facilities. “Widows and orphans mingled with mentally ill and unclaimed dead were buried on property” -Haunted History trails of New York THE OTHER SIDE, Those with no families, were buried within the walls of the asylum but…till today no grave has been found yet. About 1700 deaths were documented, but the current owner, Sharon Coyle, believes there might be 3 times more deaths as the old documents are shady. 

CURRENT INHABITANTS OF THE ASYLUM

Well, it’s safe to say no one really lives here, no one living that is, but we’re not SO SURE about the otherworldy facet of this.

Visitors have heard disembodied voices, doors slamming shut, footsteps. They have also seen shadow people in the hallways. But most of the spirits in here are friendly and will appear if you call for help. 

One of the most well-known sounds is of a woman screaming loudly. Theories are that the voice is of Sharon White, who was the first resident of the poor house, then a little girl. 

She lived there for 56 years. She is trying to communicate, but she is frustrated hence the screams. 

ROY CROUSE

The most well-known one is Roy Crouse. He is your friendly giant during your visit there. He is about 7½ feet tall. If you go to his room, the high ceilings and huge bed are still there. When he was alive, he was very much loved by the inmates. Sharon shared a story on one of the episodes of Buzzfeed unsolved series( which you should totally binge-watch this Halloween!). 

When she first entered the asylum, she had a feeling she was holding a cat but then realised that it was a rat. Then she freaked out. And later on, when she went up on the first floor, there was a dead rat, splattered blood, a footprint on the wall as if someone kicked really hard out of anger, and a bloody handprint still present on the wall. 

This might have been done by Roy, who saw her or heard her getting scared from the rat. 

In the basement is a Christmas room where the children would go there to meet Santa. And to date, the decorations, toys and gift boxes are still present down there. A lot of visitors have complained that they have seen the toys moving around. 

THE PORTAL

The most active part of the whole building is the “Shadow Hallway”, which leads to the infirmary. Sharon believes that one of the rooms in this Hallway has a portal that opens to the “other” side. Many people have seen shadows moving around. These shadows can look like you, me, or anyone you would know. They can be grey or batch black. They can look like a human silhouette or any shape. So, maybe get a second look inside your closet, just to check for some portals and sh*t!

Many questions still remain unanswered. How many died within these walls? Why are these spirits still haunting the old County home? Is there really a portal within one of the rooms.

I guess we’ll never know, but I do wish you a happy Halloween week! And may you have Shane Madej’s courage to face the scary gouls!