| LIBRARY IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY |
Date(s)- March 24, 2002
Times- Start @ 7 PM- End @ 9 PM
Those Present- Kenny, Bob, Patty, Steve and Dan
Equipment Used- All but video.
History- The library was actually housed in another building approx. two blocks away. The original building was built in the 1700's by a man named James Houldin. Later, a Butcher shop and grocery store were added onto the Central Ave. side of the house. In 1866 the first area post office was set up in the house, with the owner, Albert Myers, as post-master. Two suicides reportedly took place in the original building. According to an article in The Evening Bulletin on august 1, 1978, there was a hanging in the original library. Original library opened October 5, 1957.
The new building was opened in September 1978. An open house was held in October. The original building was closed in August of 1978 to make the move to the new location.
Paranormal Activity- All activity that has been documented in newspapers and by the library staff, was experienced in the original building. There is speculation that some of the similar activity has begun to be experienced in the new building. Because of this, the activity in the original building is noted below.
Described in a January 29th, 1970 article as a " quite, coffee brewing, dinner cooking spook." - a Mrs. John Bockman, was interviewed for this article. Mrs. Bockman described an odor of coffee at about 4:30 every afternoon. And at closing time, her and the staff would smell "cooking smells." All windows had been hermetically sealed prior to this and there were no houses on the block. The only building was the barn on the property. They blamed a Mrs. Holden for the smells.
On Thursday June 24, 1971- a group of "ghost hunters" went into the old building and tried to find some ghosts. The group included John Demming (24 yr. at the time the article was written) who taught Parapsychology at Upper Moreland Evening school, some of his students and other curious people. ParaStudy, a group from Media, was also in attendance, apparently led by a man named Bill. This ghost hunt was a very primitive event, which was only highlighted by a séance. There were no detection devices, nor documentation devices used-as per the article. Those in attendence simply walked through the building, reporting impressions. No written account could be found.
Report of Investigation- We started the investigation by getting measurements and base readings of the library. Kenny took reference photos of the entire library. Bob took EMF readings. Steve and Patty took the area measurements and temperature readings. Dan drew a map of the area.
When we were finished, we split into two teams. Team 1 consisted of Kenny, Steve and Dan. Team 2 was Bob and Patty. Team 1 went to one side of the library while Team 2 headed in the opposite direction.
First session, Team 1- Kenny, Steve and Dan sat in the children's section at first. They sat for about 5 minutes just relaxing. Then they began an EVP session, with Steve asking the questions. Kenny believed he heard a few footsteps behind Steve, so Kenny snapped two photos. Both show an orb floating across the room. No temperature changes were noted, nor was there any EMF fluctuations. Half way through the EVP session, Kenny took over asking the questions. During one question, "Can you touch one of us?" Kenny felt a presence "walk" up and stand behind him. The experience only lasted a few moments, then it was gone.
After the session was over, we spread out. Steve was taking photos between the isles when he experienced a cold spot down the middle of the center isle. A photo taken at this time showed an orb next to him.
First Session, Team 2- Bob and Patty went to the adult section of the library to take sound recordings. During the recording session, Patty thought she smelled something sweet cooking. It later turned out to be firewood burning from the surrounding area. She also thought she heard something coming from the right side of her, but this also was explained. At one point Patty thought she heard footsteps coming from the second aisle. Patty asked the first set of questions, about 40 or so. Patty and Bob listened to the recordings without any positive result. So far the night was pretty uneventful.
We met the other part of the group and switched sides of the room.
Second Session, Team 1- Kenny, Steve and Dan set up on the window ledge of the adult section. *It should be noted that Bob had set up two motion sensors focused on isle 2. The three team members walked down isle 3 (next to isle 2). Their presence at the window ledge had not set off the sensors.
With the equipment ready, they set up in the center of isle 3. Kenny started off an EVP session. There was a need to grab more equipment from our bags, so Kenny went to get it. The bags were on a table in the center of the library. When Kenny reached the table, he started going through several items when the motion sensor set up on the front desk went off. After it reset, Kenny attempted to "set off" the sensor himself by moving about and getting closer to the sensor itself- no alarm sounded. This was judged as a legitimate alarm. Photos of the area produces no positive results.
Later on, during the continuation of the EVP session, the three members heard what sounded like footsteps-Kenny heard it at the window end of isle 2, Steve and Dan heard it by isle 5(Back of library, windows). Steve was sent to the end of the isle we were set up in (isle 3). As he neared the end of the center isle, the motion sensor Bob had set up on the window sill went off. After testing more, it was determined that Steve had caused the alarm. The thing to note here is that we had walked closer to this sensor prior, without sounding an alarm. We can only conclude that the sensor position had been changed. This is unconfirmed at this time.
Second Session, Team 2- Bob was asking the questions on this side of the room. He had asked a few questions, then we heard one of the motion sensors go off. Bob asked Kenny if it was a false alarm. Kenny went back from where he was walking for about 5 minutes moving around to see if he could set the alarm off again. Nothing he did made the motion sensor go off again.
Bob started asking questions again. He asked "if that was you could you touch one of us." Just then, Patty felt a cold breeze go across her back from right to left. (Note: to the right of Patty was where the motion sensor was placed when it went off.) But it didn't leave her; it just lingered on her back. Bob asked if it could touch one of us again. Then Patty felt a hard push against her upper back. Patty actually had to stand up. She then felt heat on her back and couldn't breathe. Bob asked it to leave her alone and go to him. Patty then felt the pressure leave her. Patty's back and neck were very hot, while the rest of her felt normal. Bob continued with some questions. Then Patty and Bob listened to the recordings, again without a positive result.
Other then the one incident and the footsteps (which was neither proven nor disproved to be paranormal) Patty had no other feelings about the library. It is interesting to note that the experience Patty had was in the same area where Kenny had experienced the presence standing behind him.
Conclusion and Impressions;
KennyB.- Although this was a rather quiet evening, it did give us something to think about. We have some experiences to discuss and attempt to duplicate. We know that some of the library furniture was brought over from the original building, thus giving cause for any activity that may be present at this location. Even if this is the case, I do not believe that this is a strong entity. Why? There is little activity reported from staff and patrons. What is reported can be easily attributed to the houses that are on three sides of the building.
Account compiled from written accounts from members of PIRA
March 29, 2002