Perhaps the most well known story surrounding the Old Jail is its association with the Molly Maguires.   The story of the Mollies is well known and has been portrayed in print as well as film – in fact, the movie The Molly Maguires was actually filmed in Jim Thorpe and starred Sean Connery!  Pennsylvania is known for its coal mining history, and anthracite coal mining was a dangerous occupation for many in this area in the 1800’s.  Long hours, poor pay, unsafe working conditions and work-related health problems translated to high death rates for miners (mainly Irish Catholics) struggling to support their families in an unsympathetic workplace.   To add insult to injury, mine owners (mainly English and Welsh Protestants) in the Jim Thorpe area (then known as Mauch Chunk) maximized their own profits by paying the miners in such a manner that they could redeem their “earnings” only through the marked up merchandise found in the company store.

In the mid 1800’s attempts were made to unionize the miners that were met with hostility and opposition.  As a result a secret society
known as the Molly Maguires was formed to fight against exploitation by the mine owners.   The fighting was violent and oft times ended in murder.  Men convicted of murder were hung, and the Old Jail was a site for these hangings.  To the rear of the main cell block on the first floor stood a gallows, a site that now hosts a recreation of the famed 4 person gallows from which 4 miners,  accused Molly Maguires Alexander Campbell, Edward Kelly, Michael Doyle, and John Donahue were simultaneously hung on June 21, 1877 for the alleged crime of murder.  Subsequent years were characterized by more hangings and March 28, 1878 was the date Thomas Fisher lost his life. 

Following is a picture of Tom and Betty Lou McBride, the owners of The Old Jail Museum and our wonderful hosts for our investigation.

The CPPRA has had the distinct pleasure and privilege to investigate the Old Jail on three separate occasions.  Each investigation was marked by unique personal experiences as well as a variety of evidence. 

During our second investigation at the Jail investigator Lana Reiner was seated in the doorway to the first cell to the left of the stairs on the second floor of the jail when she began to feel nauseous and had to lean back against the wall and close her eyes.  As she did this she experienced a vision of a young man's face that appeared to be covered with dirt.  All of a sudden she saw that he was hit in the back of the head with an old lantern.  She sensed that his name was Peter...  That quickly the experience was over.  Another investigator, noting that Lana had sat down, came over to her and suggested she move across the jail.  That small distance resulted in immediate relief from the nauseous feeling.  The picture that follows shows the area of the jail where Lana had this experience.  The cell area referenced is to the right of the picture.

 At this time one of CPPRA's psychic investigators came to that floor and he went over to the cell where Lana had her experience.  Upon doing so he was immediately met with the sense of a hand coming through the cell door as if to choke him. 

This area of the jail has proven to be a site for personal experiences on each of our investigations, with sensations ranging from that of being watched, to pressure and heaviness, to nausea and headaches.  In every instance the sensations ended when the investigator was removed from the area.  Perhaps these cells held some of the more hardened, dangerous criminals???  Do the orbs pictured offer evidence of a gathering of spirit energy around our investigators?  What do you think?

Investigator Larry Hess reported that most of the activity he captured at the Jail was centered around the areas of the gallows and the dungeon isolation cells.  During his rotation investigating the dungeon his team picked up a lot of orbs around investigator Amy at the same time that one of our psychic investigators sent a radio message forward that there was spirit activity around her.  Amy had the personal experience of being touched on the arms and legs at this same time. 

Following are pictures taken around the gallows on the first floor of the Old Jail.  The first was taken when I toured the Old Jail in preparation for our first investigation.  Of note, the tour is a great experience, very informative, and highly recommended!

This next shot was taken using Sony Night Shot infrared technology and no flash.

Investigator Rich Rozell had his personal experience at the Old Jail while in the Women's Cell area of the second floor.  It occured during our first rotation during that September 2009 investigation at around 8:40 PM.  Rich's own description of that experience follows:

"I was sitting in the open cell for about 10 minutes when I began to feel unwanted in that cell....The best I can explain it is like being in a room when no one knows you and you don't know them but they do NOT want you there.  it is a very uneasy and uncomfotable feeling.  I got up to leave the cell and felt as if there was something right at the door of the cell preventing me from leaving for a second or 2 and at the same time it appeared to me that the grate door was closed but in the same second or two that appearance was no longer there."

Following are pictures that have been captured in the jail cells that were used to hold women and children.

Perhaps some of the most interesting personal experiences from the Old Jail are those taking place with the use of a K-II EMF device.  On two consecutive investigations what appeared to be intelligent responses from entities at the Old Jail were witnessed by multiple CPPRA investigators.  In each instance our lead psychic investigator was trying to communicate with entities in the jail and had picked up on a sense of loneliness and longing for a relationship.  When questions were posed asking about the desire for a relationship, about the experience of having women in the jail, etc the K-II meter recorded responses that were appropriate to, and limited to, the questions asked.

This is just a short recounting of some of the personal experiences from the Old Jail investigations.  Members of the CPPRA witnessed shadows, were touched, heard disembodied sounds, and had unexplained emotional and physical reactions to their surroundings.  Our evidence shows many pictures containing orbs however their value as evidence in the paranormal remains controversial.  Of note, many of these orb photos were shot at the same time that other potential evidence was collected such as EMF spikes, temperature changes, or EVP recordings.

Does the CPPRA feel that it is valid to say that the Old Jail at Jim Thorpe is haunted?  The answer is a resounding YES!  The CPPRA wishes to offer its thanks to Tom and Betty Lou McBride for  their efforts to make our investigations possible.  Their willingness to allow the CPPRA to spend hours of time in investigation and to provide information on the history of the jail has been invaluable to the documentation of this haunting.