LakeShore Mental Asylum

LakeShore Mental Asylum

Lakeshore Mental Asylum, located in Knoxville, Tennessee, opened its doors in 1886 as one of Tennessee's first state-funded insane asylums. In its 100+ years in service, the facility housed and treated thousands of patients, from the depressed to the criminally insane. Rumors abound about patients being tortured near the river and many never returning from their day of work on the farms. It's also documented that Lobotomies were performed there, as well as various of experimental, inhumane, methods of treatment. As a result of a state directive, Lakeshore Insane Asylum closed its doors for good in June, 2012. Many local residents claim the facility was closed unjustly and that the state gave no valid reason for their decision.

Alleged Paranormal Activity

There are tales of sadistic workers beating and abusing patients from its inception through the 60’s. Sounds of screams, shadow people, apparitions, disembodied voices, strange odors, and odd light anomalies have all been reported. It is said that these paranormal occurrences happen in both the old asylum and the new mental facility. Ghost hunters have reported being attacked by unknown forces and having the feelings of oppression taking over them. One investigator claimed to have been physically attacked for days after her visit to the asylum. From a former employee: I am a former employee of the state there at Lakeshore. I can tell you that in the seven years I worked there, I had many experiences. All staff does. Many people I worked with had been there for 25 years or more. There is a museum in the old Gothic looking building on the top of the hill. It is also offices, but a lot of information is contained in there. Also, there are tunnels running from that building throughout the campus. The other location off Tools Bend, was where back in the 1920′s and 30′s, patients were sent by ferry to work the chicken farm. It was documented that some patients would go and never return. They were being tortured and some may have been murdered. These locations, because they sit on the Tennessee River, are more actively haunted. Lots of torture occurred in the 165 years that Lakeshore has operated.