Orphans in the Woods - The First Story
My wife, daughter and I visited Gore Orphange on October 26, 1999. Our experience is as follows: We went there not to really find anything, just for shits and giggles. Most people commonly believe that the bridge and the field on the right is the site. It is not. If you pass the field you will come to a wooded area. There you will find a 4 foot tall sandstone pillar that marked the entrance to the orphanage. We parked our car and got out and went about twenty feet from the road where the pillar stands. You might have to look hard, because it's easily missed. As soon as you step in the woods you have a feeling of being watched. And a sadness envelopes you. We went there in the middle of the day (4PM approximately). It was cool and crisp. No fogs or mists (at least not yet!).
Immediately upon entering the area we heard above our heads, in the trees above, a squeaking door open and heavy footsteps. This repeated itself three times. The door sounded like one of those really heavy oak ones and the footsteps sounded like heavy steps on hardwood floors. At this point we went back to our car and got our tape recorder and our camera. We placed the recorder on the sandstone pillar. We then took several pictures. As I took the pictures, mists began to come around. We heard the dull roar of a fire and crackles of the flames. I heard mumbling voices.
My wife became extremely uncomfortable and we went back to our car. As we drove off, I asked my wife to stop the car and I unrolled my window. There stood a young boy. He had blond hair and he was about seven years old. He was wearing ragged old clothes (a red sweater and dark pants). He sneezed. I asked him his name and he said, "Jacob." He appeared scared and looking for something. As we left he stood in the middle of the road and waved bye. As we passed the bridge, we taped again.
Later that day, we had our pictures developed. In the background you can see 4 childrens' faces and a man in the distance in the woods. I wonder if the man is the one that you speak of. He looked very ominous. The ominous man showed up in every shot. Later after reviewing the recordings, we heard the dull roar through the whole tape (and no it was not windy) about four minutes into the tape there is about three minutes of mumbling, somebody saying "Help me" and screams (about six). You can hear the door open in the beginning, "Jacob" saying his name and also Jacob's sneeze. There is no way that we could have made these noises. We were in complete due to the awe that we felt. While at the site we did not hear the screams or the voices. We are going to get the pictures enlarged to poster sizes to get a better view.
Later we found on our car tiny handprints. And on the drivers side window there was Richard written from the inside of the car.
Voices on the Radio
I live in Barberton Ohio. On the night of Febuary 28th, we decided to go to Gore Orphanage. We took a camcorder and a digital camera just in case. Unfortunately, we couldnt find the Orphanage. But we did expierence some really freaky events.
We first started by parking at a corner right by the bridge, because we didnt know how much farther to go. We started walking and we had walkie talkies with us that we had communicated with while we were driving there. We all had them off, and as we were walking, the walkie talkies came on and we heard some one say "No one will come to help you." It's very hard to believe, but we heard it. Knowing we are only teenagers, we ran. We were scared out of our wits. When we stopped to take a breather, (our walkie talkies still off) some one comes on the walkie talkies again and says "Hurry." The voice of both of these terrifying messages was a woman.
We got back in the cars and decided to drive further up the road. We stopped a little before the gate, though we didn't know where the gate was at first. We noticed something in the snow. They could have been deer tracks. But they were in the shape of a small shoe--a shoe about the size of my palm. We walked up farther, where we ran into the gate and a house to the right. We noticed movement up on the hill to the left--very quick movements. We could not hear them, so it couldnt have been deer...so we were freaked out more. We worked up our guts, and made our way into the woods. We never found the sandstone pillar, or the base of the burnt down area. But our radios kept coming on and making very loud, high-pitched ringing noises, and we kept hearing people walk around.
We made our way back to the car, ready to leave because we had given up. We wanted to get a few pictures on the bridge. And we did just that. Me and two other friends sat in the car and watched the pictures get taken. But the five others were acting weird. They said they kept hearing loud pounding and cracking noises, getting louder and closer. We didn't believe them, because we were scared to our wits' end as it was. So we figured they were trying to scare us.
As we looked off the bridge I heard somthing behind me. A really loud crack. I said "Shhh, be quiet," and in the silence, a really loud thud occured. We all quickly looked at eachother and ran back to the cars and left. This may seem a little farfetched, but I tell you it is more than the honest truth.
Paranormal Investigations
I visited your web page (very nicely done) and read the material on Gore Orphanage. While I enjoyed all of it, and do acknowledge most of it, there are a few other facts concerning the orphanage that you may find interesting and not have been told before.
First of all, I and members of our Paranormal Investigating Organization, known as [REMOVED], have been investigating the orphanage for nearly 17 years on and off now. While I have many tales to relate, all of which are interesting and quite true, there is not enough space here to relate them all. I would be very happy to meet you in person if you would like and pass on to you our experiences and what we have witnessed and learned. For now let me simply say this. Over the years, beginning with our first visit, my people and I have been threatened by both locals and local authorities, being warned to never return to the ruins again or else we would be joining those who had come before us. You can come to your own conclusions as to what this is supposed to indicate. We have been followed by numerous vehicles, chased by these vehicles, nearly run off the road on several occasions, and have even had weapons pointed in our direction. The worst of those who have threatened us and have led these attacks against us have been the so-called Park Ranger that lives in the house near the ruins. Ranger Thompson, as we still call him, is no longer a Park Ranger, even though he still does work for the Park Service. He is no doubt a part of a local occult that holds their get-togethers at the ruins, which have been spotted and watched by witnesses on several occasions. He has threatened me personally on at least three occassions, and attempted to run us off the road himself once. While we have spoken to the Park Service about him at least twice, even filing complaints with another Ranger named Washington, nothing has been done about him and he continues to work for them and oversee the ruins. He is not what he claims to be, nor is he simply what he appears to be--he is a nut, and a dangerous man.
Beyond these kind of experiences we have had people who have also recorded sounds not heard with the human ear while at the ruins, like a girl's voice asking for help, low mumbling sounds and screams, and sounds I can't even begin to describe. We have several photos that clearly show unexplained things, such as faces, human shapes, and glowing balls of light. Your photo of the unexplained white shaped smudge shows more than that, you have to look closely. My people while examining it discovered several strange faces in the photo, actually they are not hard to see you just have to look at the whole shot and not just at the obvious items. You indeed captured more than you know in that picture.
I also want to mention while it is true about the Swift Mansion and the the related facts, which does include the facts Ellis's article, there are several items which are not mentioned but have been confirmed over the years by those who had first knowledge, including someone whose mother had worked at the Orphanage. You should also know that the Gore Orphanage did use the location for the Boy's Dormitory at one point. The actual orphanage was above the Swift ruins where a now large white home stands--follow the road up past Thompson's place and the guard rail and the house above is the sight of the original Gore Orphanage. The house is built on the orphanage's foundation. The man in this house is also part of those who threaten and chase those who visit the ruins, usually in his red sports car, or he will release his two dogs on those down the hill at the ruins. By the way, while it is true about Jacob, one of the most encountered ghosts is that of "Mary." While it isn't known as yet 100% who she is, it is suspected that she is may be the daughter of the Swifts. She has been seen and recorded several times, as well as the white ghostly head of a woman in the woods across from the ruins and over the side of the bridge down the road. At least three of my people have seen this themselves. I have heard Mary's voice, both on the tape and at least twice late at night in the woods of the ruins, have seen what appeared to be shadows of human figures moving in the woods and across the field towards where a white gate once stood and near the river where it is said the graves of children are to be found, and seen what appeared to be an old man carrying an axe one night down near the river behind the ruins. I'm not saying that I believe all that we have heard over the years, I believe what I see and hear myself, and then still question what caused it at least a hundred times over. But, there is no doubt that something strange is surrounding those ruins and the area near it, and that the local members of this cult are trying to keep people away and are hiding something.
A couple last facts for you. Not long ago we discovered that someone was digging under the ruins, several areas were discovered, and that they were searching for something beyond just the obvious. We believe that there is a cellar to be found still perhaps under them, but haven't been able to obtain permission to test our theory. Anyhow, about two months later, on a return visit, we discovered all the diggings were refilled, and a small stone altar was built in the center of the ruins. We knocked down and destroyed the altar the best we could that night. After this visit we began to notice that things had changed: no longer were the threats as common, nor the vehicles chasing visitors and attempting to run them off the road. It was if they were no longer trying to keep others away as much, as if whatever they were looking for had been found. What does it all mean, your guess is as good as ours, although we have several theories. We know that less sightings and experiences are now taking place, although a large stone fire ring has been built and there are present signs of the cult still practicing there since candles, torn robes, and other discarded items have been found by us and others.
I believe this has given you enough material to at least pique your interest and inform you of a few facts you may have not heard before. I leave them to your own conclusions, but will say that I and my people over the last nearly 17 years have experienced all of what I have told you. I do ask that you keep my name out of anything you wish to pass along, as well as my organization at this time since we are still involved in present investigations of Gore and do not wish to reveal ourselves and our sources until we are done and prepared to do so. I also ask this because of the danger to my family and the families of those in the group. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or wish to visit the ruins with us in the future. I have sent you a couple of our photos as well. Feel free to use them if you'd like.
The Woman on the Bridge
One night a carload of us headed out to see what we could find. We traveled slowly down the road, locking the doors and rolling up the windows. We rolled over the bridge, stopped, and looked around. We continued on around the curves only to see a car parked in the turnaround. The car, filled with kids, was courteous enough to leave.
We parked, turned off the lights, and listened. We heard nothing so we left. We turned the corners again to see the car full of kids on the bridge, so we pulled off to the side where a woman supposedly got raped and murdered. In my headlights we watched a woman walk behind the car that was on the bridge. She appeared to be in a long white dress/nightgown. Quickly the car pulled away.
I started to say, "They left her!" Everyone in the car saw this woman too. I thought to myself, "We can't let this woman be stranded down here by herself just because her friends want to be funny!" We watched the car leave--they didn't come back. We decided to appraoch the woman to see if she needed a ride. We appraoched the bridge in the car and she was walking with her back towards us. As we got nearer, she was not there anymore--she had disappeared. It set in that what we had seen was a ghost. She had been emotionless--she didn't even turn around as we approached. She just disappeared. I don't know if the car in front of us had seen her but we did and it was something that none of us will ever forget.
(A/N I DIDN'T write this I found it online)