Take into consideration going to the Jemison Center in Northport, Alabama, if you’re interested in learning more about paranormal activity. Once known as the Old Bryce Hospital, this abandoned mental hospital has a terrifying past that makes it one of Alabama’s most haunted places.
The History of the Jemison Center
Built in 1919 and originally named for Dr. Peter Bryce, the Jemison Center was designed as a segregated clinic for African Americans suffering from mental diseases. When Dr. Bryce, a supporter of compassionate mental health care, died in 1892, the hospital started to deteriorate into a place where abuse and neglect were commonplace.
Strict living circumstances were experienced by the patients, including forced work, inadequate cleanliness, starvation, and congestion. Certain people were subjected to unethical procedures like sterilization, lobotomies, and electroshock therapy. Numerous patients passed away from illnesses, assaults, or suicide; their final resting places were unmarked graves on the hospital property.
The hospital closed in 1979 as a result of a lawsuit that made the horrible conditions there public. Up to 2003, when it was abandoned, it was used as a nursing home. The building has seen weather-related damage, looting, and vandalism over the years.
The Jemison Center’s Hauntings
The Jemison Center is said to be haunted by the troubled ghosts of its former patients. Voices, cries, moans, and footsteps are among the unsettling occurrences that many guests have encountered. Some have reported feeling touches, cold places, and pushes that seem out of the ordinary. Others have seen shadows, orbs, and appearances. There have even been reports of people being bitten, scratched, or choked by invisible forces.
Some particularly eerie locations are the basement, which houses the crematorium and morgue; the third floor, which is suspected of harboring the most unstable patients; and the chapel, where a few people found comfort. Many people swear to have seen Dr. Bryce’s ghost, which is said to be strolling the hallways and visiting with former patients.
It’s not a place for the weak of heart, the Jemison Center. You can have an experience there that lasts a lifetime—a location where the past seems to linger and the voices of the dead continue to scream for justice. It is without a doubt one of the most eerie places in Alabama.
