| Ghosts & Haunts In Missouri Robert Koch Hospital Stories page 2 I have a lot of experience with the area of Koch Hospital and the grounds. I grew up in a subdivision at the top of the hill on Malone drive. ( SEE MAP) As a young kid, I would ride my bike with friends down a steep trench that we called "The Dip". When we first started to hang out there we had no idea what was to be found. Later we explored the grounds directly above the trench and discovered an old cemetery that dated back to the civil war that had iron fences around some of them and some were located next to trees.Upon further exploring we discovered an old foundation of some sort near the trench and there was also a large sink hole. We looked inside the hole and we saw human leg and arm bones protruding out from the sides of it! Me and Steve called the police and they came to scope it out. I remember that it was starting to get dark outside while the police were there. One policeman overturned what he though was a flat rock only to find out that it was the top of a scull with a bullet hole in it near the surface of the leaf covered ground! Myself and Steve wanted the remains of all the washed out graves be put back by St. Louis Co.. Later we found out that that entire area was quarantined back in the day. I do know the people that lived in the house next to the tall tower that stood next to the hospital. For the sake of privacy of the owners, we called it "The Berg House". My younger sister was friends with the girl that lived there for a couple years.There was an old dump behind the house and as kids we would always go down there to find old TV's, doors, windows, old magazines, etc. that I think came from the hospital back when it was still open. I think that it may have been the local dump for the hospital. After school, me and my friends would sneak into the hospital after it was closed for good. We were all scared so we all brought bee-bee guns and taped flashlights to them. We ventured up to the 5th floor I believe and got into an office. We found several keys to various parts of the hospital and we found the door to the morgue but never had the courage. Anyway, I remember that the day before we heard voices down the hallway as if two people were speaking to each other but we did not see anyone. When we were in the office someone bumped the siren button under the desk and we all ran like scared rabbits! At this time it was getting dark outside and all we had were our trusty bee-bee guns. As I climbed out of the broken window I almost puked from being so scared. I never went back inside after that day. My friends went back in and I went back home. About 6 months after the hospital was demolished a few of us wanted to revisit the grounds. It was dark and we had been drinking but by no means drunk. At the time the chain was not yet strung across the front entrance on the side that faced the Mississippi. As we drove up the long drive we saw someone walking. As we approached he turned around and looked at us as if he was lost. Even so, it scared the hell out of us because the headlights caused his eyes to look a certain way. We hurried up the hill only to find out the chain was locked on that end of the drive. We knew that we had to go back the other way. We must have been doing 50 down the drive because we were scared. We did not see the man anywhere. It would be impossible for him to hide because the grass on the grounds was just cut and there was nowhere to go because it was all open ground. That was the last time I ever stepped foot on the grounds. Myself and my friends knew that area like the back of my hand. It was a spooky place and I too felt as if someone was always around me, watching. I never went there at night by myself. But I always felt fascinated by the grounds and the old hospital site. If anyone knows of and old map of the original structures and grounds or any other info, please email me. Please see attached photos for the locations of the things I talked about and read the red print in the cemetery list. As a boy I used to frequent the woods off the end of Burncoate Drive in Oakville, which was very close to the hospital grounds. I remember once passing man in those woods on a trail near old Bussen Quarry and he ran away! I was not that scared since a had a good sized dog with me, so I just picked up a rock and kept on walking back home. But I had heard that in it's later years as a mental institution that sometimes people would escape. Maybe I saw a mental patient? (late 70's) In later years as a teenager I helped my brother one summer cut the grass of the entire grounds with a brush hog. Nothing much happened except a creepy feeling of driving my tractor by the building with all those windows. Like someone might be watching me from the by then abandoned building (circa 1985-86) By late 80's the hospttal was being torn down. it took a long time since I believe they were removing asbestos and scrap metal from the window frames. SO the more it was dismanteled, the easier it now became to look inside, as it had been boarded up for years prior. In one hall way there seemed to be evidence of some kind of cult activity (makeshift firepit in the hallway, some creepy spray paint faces, and even a couple small animal carcasses. Near one stairwell I saw a dead cat that looked like it had been tortured. I even went down into some sub corridor one night that seemed to be an underground hallway or utility corridor...but nothing wierd there. One part of the building even had an old hand-painted bio about the "town" Quarantine. Took my mom down also around this time and we rifled through some old file cabinets in what was a now partially demolished administration area. I was off work one day because of snow and decided to have another look at it. By now the hospital was really getting badly demolished. I went into a small theatre/auditorium through a wall that had been blown open by a headache ball. Near the stage was an old victrola that was in perfect shape. I thought I better carry it home but it was too heavy to walk home in the snow, and I forgot about it by the time the snow melted to get back there again. Wish now I would have got that as a souvenier. Never really experienced spiritual activity there though. JK If you have experienced paranormal activity at any of these haunted sites, please e-mail us with your photos or stories to add to the database. Page Back. |
