About This Location
The Athens Lunatic Asylum, now known as The Ridges, was a Kirkbride Plan psychiatric hospital that operated from 1874 to 1993. At its peak in the 1950s, the facility housed 1,800 patients on a 1,019-acre campus with 78 buildings. The hospital was notorious for performing lobotomies and other experimental treatments. Today, the property is owned by Ohio University and houses the Kennedy Museum of Art, offices, and classrooms, though many buildings remain abandoned.
The Ghost Story
The Ridges is considered one of the most haunted places in the world. The most chilling evidence is a permanent human stain on the floor of Ward N. 20, marking where patient Margaret Schilling's body lay undiscovered for over a month after her death in 1978. Despite attempts to remove it, her outline remains visible. Visitors report strange figures in empty wings, disembodied voices, squeaking gurneys, mysterious lights, and screams echoing through walls. The basement allegedly holds the spirits of patients who remain shackled even in death. Three cemeteries on the grounds hold 1,930 patients buried with only numbers on their graves. One circular arrangement of graves is said to be a witches' meeting point. Athens itself has been called one of the world's most haunted cities, with the university's Wilson Hall reportedly sitting at the center of a pentagram formed by area cemeteries.
