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The Old Globe Jail. Is it haunted? Some say yes.
There is nothing creepier than a good haunted venue and this year’s newest Arizona Halloween event takes place in Globe, Ariz., The Haunted Jail opens Sept. 28 through Oct. 31, 2017 from 6-10 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays and on Halloween night. The fun takes place at the historic Gila County Jail, adjacent to the former Gila County Courthouse, which is located at 149 E. Oak St. in Globe.
According to George Nelson, founder of the 16-day event, participants will experience scary moments inside the jail’s original cells then extend the experience into the jail’s courtyard and alleyway where the excitement continues. The cost is $16 per person.
You can clearly see the walkway between the Old Globe Jail and the historic Gila County Courthouse.
“Guests begin their adventure in front of the 1910 Gila jail and creep around the ground floor jail cells as they scarily peer into the metal cells, beds and walls where haunted characters appear from within,” says Nelson. “Guests then depart The Haunted Jail and continue outside in a very dark and spooky alley, located under the bridge that connects the jail to the old courthouse. Prisoners walked this bridge during their sentencing trials. Rumor has it, one prisoner jumped from the bridge and died in the alley below. And, if the jail isn’t scary enough by itself, there will be zombie prisoners and jail guards, ghosts of past prisoners, an electric chair and many scary and disorienting mazes that will heighten the experience and raise a lot of goose bumps,” adds Nelson.
The 1910 Jail’s Haunted History
Part of the Haunted Registry, the Gila County Jail originally opened in the Arizona Territory in 1910, two years before Arizona became a state.
The Gila County Courthouse and Jail houses male and female spirits, adult and children spirits, sounds, voices, cold spots, footsteps, orbs, moving objects, full bodied apparitions and physical touching of living persons.
In the jail there are a number of haunts. One is that of Kingsley Olds, who was accused of drowning his employer’s two daughters in 1911. While Olds awaited trial in isolation, he was mysteriously shot and killed. Shortly before his death, Kingsley Olds claimed he had a visit from ghosts and that he saw visions of the girls motioning him to follow them into death. Ghosts of the two girls are reported to be wandering there. Full -bodied apparitions also have been seen on the catwalk joining the courthouse and jail, among other paranormal activities.
Paranormal Fun
Several years ago, the Arizona Paranormal Research Society thoroughly investigated the Gila County Courthouse and Jail and concluded:
“From the evidence we obtained from the investigation, we believe that The Old Gila County Jail and Old Gila Courthouse indeed has paranormal activity. They are a wonder to visit and it is recommended that the public should make its way to Globe, Ariz., to see and experience these historical sites for themselves.
An excerpt from the report follows:
“What was experienced here was incredible. There were unexplained sounds of voices male and female, noises in the jail cells when we were outside on break, interactions with spirits via our equipment, physical touching, audible disembodied voices, responses to questions asked, temperature drops when asked to do so (we witnessed a 20-plus degree drop in the temperature in one of the cell blocks), unexplained footsteps, cold and hot spots and extremely wild EMF occurrences, which is strange considering that the some of the areas did not have electricity.”
For more information about The Haunted Jail at Globe, please email hutch@globehauntedjail.com, visit www.globehauntedjail.com or learn more on Facebook at Haunted Jail at Globe AZ, Instagram at hauntedjail and on Twitter at gilahauntedjail.
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