Once a sight of hope for the sick, the now abandoned and dilapidated Kuhn Memorial State Hospital has become synonymous with something much more sinister.

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Mississippi Dept. of Archives and History The hospital was first opened in 1832 in order to combat a smallpox outbreak. Originally named Vicksburg’s City Hospital, the facility was later used during the Civil War to treat injured soldiers, and in 1878, played a major role during the Yellow Fever Epidemic, which claimed the lives of 16 doctors and six Catholic Sisters of Mercy.

ELMalvaney, misspreservation.com By 1871, the state had taken over the hospital and renamed it the State Charity Hospital at Vicksburg. After the state took ownership, the facility assumed a number of different roles, including housing Confederate Veterans in a specially built annex - that is, until the annex "mysteriously" burned down.

Sarah Hamilton/Flickr From 1910-1911, the University of Mississippi held its medical classes at the hospital. And at one point, the fourth floor served as a minimum security prison. Those incarcerated were responsible for menial tasks, such as cleaning.

Sarah Hamilton/Flickr The hospital also included a mental ward as well as the “Pest House,” a separate building used to house those with infectious diseases.

Sarah Hamilton/Flickr In 1954, a former Vicksburg resident by the name of Lee Kuhn passed away, leaving behind $400,000 and somewhat of an unusual request. In addition to leaving his estate to the hospital, Kuhn’s will instructed that a seven-person committee, consisting of three Jews, two Catholics, and two Protestants, be formed and, in turn, decide the best way to use the funds.

Sarah Hamilton/Flickr The committee chose to use the funds to construct a larger facility. The new building, which was located to the rear of the original buildings, was completed in 1959 and re-named Kuhn Memorial State Hospital.

Sarah Hamilton/Flickr By 1989, due to political and financial issues, Kuhn Memorial State Hospital closed its doors for good, leaving it vacant for decades...well, somewhat vacant.



In the years since its closing, the hospital has attracted numerous paranormal investigators and was even featured on the television series “Ghost Asylum.”



Sarah Hamilton/Flickr In September of 2014, members of the Mississippi Paranormal Research Institute paid a visit to the abandoned hospital. The investigative team noted several strange happenings, including the recording of the disembodied voice of a little girl saying, “Want to come play with me?”

Sarah Hamilton/Flickr The weird occurrences didn’t end there. The K-2 meter, which lights up when spirits are present, went off several times, a pendulum was used to successfully communicate with the undead, and perhaps the most strange, the word “help” suddenly appeared written backwards in a pile of dust on the floor of the embalming room.