When it was built in 1903, the Claypool Hotel was designed to be the best and brightest of Indianapolis’ hotels. And, for forty years, it was. Then, starting in 1943, a serious of tragic events that included two murders and a fire led to the Claypool’s dramatic destruction in the 1960’s. But does something of […]
Episode 110: Fire, Murder, and Spirits: The Last Days of the Claypool Hotel Read More »
Bates House had to go. It was beautiful and famous, but it had faded. There were modern amenities that it couldn’t offer, not to mention the fact that it just wasn’t big enough to accommodate the growing number of people that were coming into the city. The owner, Edward Claypool, knew that. When he
Fire, Murder, and Spirits: The Last Days of the Claypool Hotel Read More »
Fall had settled into the rolling hills of Adams County in southwest Iowa. Harvest had begun in the largely rural region, and farmers and their families toiled in the fields as the temperatures began to drop and the leaves slowly changed their color. In the city of Corning, the county seat, and the largest city
What caused the Great Corning, Iowa Fire of 1896? Read More »
The fire had started at around 2 a.m. in the early morning hours of January 7, 1950. Half an hour later, St. Elizabeth’s Mental Hospital would be engulfed in flames. Firemen and other rescuers hacked at the iron bars covering the windows to the patient’s rooms. Many of the patients screamed desperately into the
Beyond Recognition: What Started the St. Elizabeth’s Fire? Read More »
In this, the second part of the tragic story of the St. Elizabeth’s Mental Hospital Fire of 1950, people across America were shocked by the disaster that had claimed the lives of 41 people. Fire and police investigators were eager to find out what had caused the blaze. When they did, the truth was almost
Episode 100: Beyond Recognition: What Started the St. Elizabeth’s Fire? Read More »
In the early hours of January 7, 1950, flames illuminated the night sky around Mercy Hospital. An orderly was one of the first to see a mental hospital on the grounds engulfed in fire, but he would be far from the last. By the next morning, it would be one of the worst hospital fires
Episode 99: Plain Hell: The St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Fire of 1950 Read More »
Lucille Kalloway checked the clock. It was just before 11 p.m. The patients had been safely in their rooms since about 9 p.m., which was the normal time for them to turn in. Mentally, she ticked off her responsibilities for the end of shift. Lucille had started working at the facility in the summer
Plain Hell: The St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Fire of 1950 Read More »
The first time that I remember hearing about a place called “dead man’s” anything was when I was over at a friend’s house in Rock Island, Illinois. We were out riding bikes and one of them made mention that we were coming up on ‘dead man’s hill.’ Clueless, I asked what that meant. One of
Death Curve: The Legend of Julia Markham Read More »
The Death Curve of Cambridge, Illinois, will forever be linked to the story of a woman who committed a horrible crime nearby. What really happened there, and does her ghost still haunt the area? Sources Slayer of Her 7 Children Had Been Insane for Years. Chicago Tribune, 10/2/1905 Family of Nine is Wiped Out
Episode 56: Death Curve: The Legend of Julia Markham Read More »
The wind howled, and the dog howled, too. The air was cold, turning the Nebraska plains into a frigid tundra where no man wanted to stay for long. This was especially true for the dog’s owner, a Cass County, Nebraska farmer named P.M. Nord. Nord stood in the backyard, yelling for the dog to come
The Strange Death of Carl Albright Read More »
