E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park
Louisville, Kentucky

The land this beautiful 550-acre park sits on has quite an interesting history.  In the late 1700's Isaac Hite was granted the land for his participation in the French Indian war calling it Cave Springs Plantation. Isaac Hite would later die from his wounds from an Indian attack, but his family owned the property until they sold it to the state to build a home for juvenile delinquents in 1869.  Four years later, it became Kentucky's Fourth Lunatic Asylum & later named Central Kentucky Asylum for the Insane. The area was also known as Lakeland and people would often refer to it as Lakeland Asylum.  The asylum quickly grew into a massive operation in which many of the patients had a part.  Multiple buildings with water and drainage systems were needed as the population grew.  Farming and canning was a necessity to feed the hundreds of people that lived at the asylum.


In an era that you could be admitted for life to an insane asylum for almost any reason, it was often the mentally or physically handicapped, the poor and the elderly.  But men could also commit their daughters or wives for being unruly or having strong opinions. They could be dropped off and forgotten about forever. 


In the early 1900's, mental illness was sadly misunderstood. Because there were no known treatments, extreme & barbaric experiments were tried including lobotomies, electroshock therapy, insulin & cold & hot water therapies. In the 1940's & 50's there were allegations of abuse & neglect and it was deemed an overcrowded fire hazard with an intolerable stench. The asylum was almost 1000 patients over capacity and they continued to admit people that were not insane.  Only 800 death certificates exist in the over 100 years of operation. It is thought there could be up to 5000 lives lost on the property. Deaths went mostly unreported & causes of death kept secret. The cemeteries that are known have no markers or headstones or an accurate list of those buried there. 


Upon completion of newer facilities in the 70's and 80's and the length of stay shortening for most patients, the older buildings were vacated and fell into disrepair.  Almost all of the buildings were eventually demolished. The main building was finally razed with its crumbling remnants buried where it once majestically stood in 1996.


If you would like to learn more history, please visit Kentucky Historic Institutions' website:

https://kyhi.org/asylums/central-state-hospital/


If you would like to visit the park or learn more about our upcoming Spirits of Sawyer:

https://parks.ky.gov/parks/recreationparks/tom-sawyer/


The park can be quite paranormally active. We have captured EVP's, heard disembodied voices, received responses through the spirit box, had communication sessions using the K2 meter and REM Pod, seen an apparition, saw a shadow figure in the laser grid, captured apparitions on camera and two of our investigators were chased out of the woods by an unseen, but loud force.


We have had the pleasure of leading the investigations for the annual Spirits of Sawyer event hosted by the park for the past six years. It gives us the opportunity to share our experiences and evidence captured and gives participants the opportunity to investigate the park after hours and learn about the equipment we use to document activity.


There are four areas of the park we concentrate on because of the activity we have documented at these locations. The cave, the barn, the root cellar and the cemetery seem to be the most active areas, but it is possible to get activity anywhere on the premises. The cave is now closed to the public and no trespassing is strictly enforced. The barn area has been closed off from the public for a while. Unfortunately, people have been disrespectful by spray painting and vandalizing these areas and because of this, the rest of us can no longer visit. 


We have collected a lot of evidence over the seven years we have been investigating the park. Our favorite photographs are below. You can also watch our videos on YouTube , but to see the latest and best evidence, you will want to attend  Spirits of Sawyer in October.



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