Many of us have been hospitalized for one reason or another. Many people end up hospitalized and unfortunately don't leave, passing away in the hospital. After that happens, it seems that some souls chose not to leave that hospital and some make their presence known.
One example is the story of the Nazareth Hospital in Mineral Wells, Texas. According to some sources, the Nazareth Hospital was open from 1931-1956. At first, it was a clinic that opened up shortly after the Crazy Hotel opened up in 1927...interesting name for a hotel. Moving on...
The original building area was a four block bordello and bootleg hotel. That building was torn down and the Coca Cola Water Company built a new building that would then be used as the hospital. The building was then sold to the Archdioceses of Dallas. The Holy Sisters of Nazareth purchased the building for $135,000 (over two million dollars today). They moved into the top floor of the 46-room building to serve the patients. The Nazareth left in the 1960s and was temporarily housed in the Crazy Hotel until 2009. Then it was moved to its new building.
During the 1940s and 1950s there was a working crematorium. The bodies of the poor and diseased were cremated there. If the crematorium was not a thing until the 1950s, it makes me wonder what happened to the deceased before then. Makes me think that whatever they did with the deceased beforehand, it may be explanation as to why the place is haunted. How many souls are unhappy with how their bodies were handled?
During the 1950s and 1970s, the building also had a school for licensed vocational nurses. Some of the women going to the LVN school were nuns, others were not.
The building has been through two fires and was listed as a bomb shelter in the 1960s.
In the late 1980s through the most of the 1990s the Nazareth housed the Palo Pinto County Service Corporation that included Head Start, JTPA, Emergency Food Program, Civil Service, Social Security, and the Family Planning Center. There's not a lot about the history of the building itself to be found. Not sure if these places were all running at the same time or different times. No idea...
From 1985 to 2001 the ER, L&D, GP offices, and Planned Parenthood were located in the building. In addition to those businesses, Manpower, health and human services, United Way, Red Cross, a state funded for pre-k had their offices on the different floors.
The original staff of the Nazareth Hospital consisted of six Sisters, one RN, a janitor, and twelve doctors. All equipment and linens were used for longer periods of time than they were supposed to be used, to help save on expenses. That's a big uh-oh right there!
The first floor and basement are said to have been used as the sanitarium, TB ward, polio ward, ER and morgue. Those floors also held people with severe mental disabilities and physical defects. I'm guessing these people were not well taken care of, which sadly is a sign of those times. With all of those "specialties" being on the same two floors along with the mentally disabled and people with physical defects, my guess is that overcrowding took over pretty quickly.
The second floor was the entrance and lobby, administration, planned parenthood with procedure rooms, and patient recovery rooms.
The third floor held the chapel, dinning hall, and doctor's offices.
Labor, delivery, and nursery rooms were on the fourth floor.
Surgical ICU and x-ray rooms were on the fifth floor.
The sixth floor held the nun's quarters and the top floor was the Priest quarters until the elevator was installed. When the elevator was installed in the 1920s, the priest quarters moved into the house behind the incinerator. *insert your own Hell pun here*
The incinerator was in a small building off to the side of the main building. Half of the building was the crematorium prep and the other half was the oven. The middle of the building held small storage rooms.
From 2008 to 2010, the building was used as a nursing home. Correct me if I'm wrong, but thinking that some of those folks passed away and could be sticking around in the afterlife as well.
According to hauntedjourneys.com, one haunting story is of a man who died after jumping into the elevator to avoid being discovered fraternizing with the laundry women. Fraternizing...does anyone still use that word? I think we should bring that word back. Fraternizing... He was caught in between the closing doors and died. People report seeing him by the elevators at night. I wonder if he's still looking for the laundry women. Does he know they are no longer there? I have so many questions for him.
There are many claims of strange ghostly figures, sounds, and smells. I have no idea what smells are reported, but I wonder if it's a lot of bleach because of the hospital or could it be the smell of baby powder because of all the babies born there? Not sure what the smell of the nursing home would be. Unfortunately, musty comes to mind. Of course, I have to wonder if there is an overall "death" smell. I wouldn't be surprised if people catch a whiff of cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoke as back in the day smoking was allowed in hospitals. Imagine that happening today...super weird!!!
The asylum that was in the basement was said to perform questionable medical procedures during the early 1900s, which allegedly lead to the deaths of a couple of patients. Legend has it that the spirits of those very patients still haunt the building. Not surprising at all. Questionable procedures? Definitely! Leading to unrested souls...absolutely!
Other sightings include a woman in white (what haunted place does not have a woman in white) roaming the exterior of the building and a group of men playing cards. I kind of wonder what game they are playing. Texas Hold'em? Euchre? Maybe Crazy Eights?
According to hauntedrooms.com, there are many manifestations reported around the building, including wheelchairs squeaking, cries of pain (no thank you), the smell of blood and the spirits of nuns and people in white gowns. Most often seen is what many describe as a “ghostly blue nun,” in parts of the hospital. I wonder what makes her blue? Lights are seen going on and off across the building, even on floors that no longer have power. That would freak me out.
Be careful when climbing the stairs, a spirit who has identified himself simply as “Vern,” likes to trip visitors on the stairs. Excuse me, sir? Rude!!! Everyone is encouraged to always hold the handrail tightly and watch out for Vern.
Bring some warm clothing. Even in the Texas heat the Nazareth Hospital is very cold, always registering 20 to 40 degrees cooler than outside. Brrrrrrrrr..........
So, on your next trip to Texas, take a ride past the Old Nazareth Hospital. I believe the current owners are doing tours, so maybe you can check for a ghost yourself.
vanishingtexas.net
Sources:
hauntedrooms.com
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