Hill View Manor

A former nursing home and poor farm built in 1926 that housed Lawrence County's mentally ill, severely destitute, and elderly residents. Spanning over 80,000 square feet, residents were called "inmates" and had to work the farm to stay. The facility closed in 2004 after housing up to 110 people at a time.

Hill View Manor is a massive 80,000-square-foot former nursing home and poor farm in New Castle, Pennsylvania, built in 1926 and originally known as The Lawrence Home for the Aged. For 100 years, the institution evolved from a county home where the destitute and elderly were sent, often to live out their final days in grim conditions. The facility was shuttered in 2004, leaving behind a complex history of suffering that has made it one of the most actively haunted locations in America.

Several residents committed suicide at Hill View Manor over the decades. Those who died this way—and many who died of natural causes—are said to still roam the abandoned building. The paranormal activity here is so consistent that the property has been featured on Ghost Adventures (2010), Ghost Hunters (2011), Ghost Lab, and Ghost Asylum. During their investigation, Ghost Adventures' Zak Bagans, Aaron Goodwin, and Nick Groff reported physical contact with entities, including spirits grabbing Zak's arm and rubbing his back.

The most frequently encountered ghost is Jeffrey, a little boy roughly six or seven years old. Urban legend warns that if you see him, you will perish. Another spirit haunts the boiler room—an older man who does not like anyone in his space and will order intruders to leave. Mary Virginia, a former patient, inhabits Room 105, where visitors report her presence strongly.

Pretty much every type of paranormal phenomenon occurs here: full-bodied apparitions, phantom voices, shadow people, EVPs, physical grabbing, and unexplained noises. Staff report slamming doors and sudden gusts of cold air, sometimes accompanied by visible mist figures. Footsteps sprint through the darkness toward terrified visitors, only for no one to appear when they turn to look.

Today, Hill View Manor hosts public investigations, private ghost hunts, and 90-minute tours that take visitors through almost every room in the building. Overnight investigations stretch until the early morning hours, giving serious paranormal enthusiasts eight hours to explore the darkness.