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INVESTIGATION #026
The Exchange Hotel
Gordonsville, Va.
Date Of Investigation: May 16, 2009
Time: 8:00pm - 10:30pm
Investigators on the Scene: Marty Seibel, Shea Willis, Kelley Davis, Randall Paugh, Mark
Higgins and Chris Stephens of Spirit Search Paranormal Investigations
Weather: Overcast, 75.2 degrees, 83% humidity, Wind: Calm
Moon Phase: waning gibbous with 56% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated
Background History
The Exchange Hotel was built in 1860 next to an important railroad junction, where it offered a welcome stopping place
for weary passengers on the Virginia Central Railway. During the civil war in 1862, because of its location, the Exchange
Hotel became part of the Gordonsville Receiving Hospital, admitting more than 23,000 sick and wounded in less than a year.
Although this was primarily a Confederate facility, the hospital treated the wounded from both sides. Twenty-six Union
soldiers died here. By the end of the war more than 70,000 men had been treated at the Gordonsville Receiving Hospital
and just over 700 would be buried on its grounds.
In the reconstruction period, the hospital served the newly freed slaves as a Freedman's Bureau Hospital. As the United
States healed and the railroads boomed, this building again became a hotel and enjoyed a fine reputation until the 1940s
when it went into decline.
Over the years, the staff and employees here at The Exchange Hotel have experienced a significant amount of paranormal
activity. Experiences have included voices heard, people have been touched, apparitions have been sighted, items misplaced
and shadows have been seen.
Investigation Objective
Our objective in conjunction with Mark Higgins and his team,
Spirit Search Paranormal Investigations is to record and
document any paranormal activity at The Exchange Hotel and its surrounding grounds, including the small building just
outside the hotel, called the summer kitchen which SSPI investigated.
We will also seek to rationally explain those occurrences which can
occur due to natural causes. Because our time is limited,
the need to stretch this investigation into a series of investigations is needed.
Investigation Data
Weather was rain and thunderstorms and approximately 77 degrees at time of the
investigation. SSPI investigated the Summer Kitchen next to the main building
while SVPS conducted their own investigation of the main building.
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Photographs
SSPI has done several small scale investigations of the Exchange Hotel and captured some most unusual photographs.
Submitted below are a sequence of photographs going up the staircase from the second floor to the third floor. The
photographs were taken by Dave Schwartz of SSPI.
Mark and his team (SSPI) have been able to catch some incredible photographs at the hotel. Just click
on a photograph to enlarge.
A sequence of photographs taken on the first floor in the parlor where SVPS investigator Shea Willis stated she felt as
if she was gently touched along her neck. Notice the dark shadow in the corner of the thrid photograph. Just click
on a photograph to enlarge.
Video
IR video cameras were set up on the second and third floors of the hotel for a total of two hours with a camcorder running
on the third floor for two hours as well. The camcorder focused on a checker board in one of the patient rooms where checkers
had been reported to move on their own. No such evidence was discovered to back up that claim. Video did reveal a 40 second
jump on the dvr system and cameras that could not be explained. Despite an electrical storm, we never lost power of the dvr, the
cameras or the monitor. Yet there is a period where clearly time jumps 40 seconds ahead.
An unexplained light in an upstairs bedroom appeared on video. Light appears for about 5 seconds by a oil lamp. No
one was on the floor at the time this video was captured. The room was that of Dr. B.M Lebby of South Carolina
who was the director of the hospital/hotel until October of 1865.
Audio
Audio work/evp sessions were done throughout both buildings, the main house as well as the Summer's Kitchen. SSPI
conducted evp sessions throughout the entire kitchen building as SVPS focused on all three floors of the main house,
paying particular attention to the second and third floors. Both the second and third floors have been reported to
be quite active.
| "North Carolina " Summer's Kitchen -- Recorded by Chris Stephens and Mark Higgins of SSPI 5/16/2009
| | "He will kill him" Summer's Kitchen -- Recorded by Chris Stephens and Mark Higgins of SSPI 5/16/2009
| | "You're not welcome " Summer's Kitchen -- Recorded by Chris Stephens and Mark Higgins of SSPI 5/16/2009
| | "Get out of here " Summer's Kitchen -- Recorded by Chris Stephens and Mark Higgins of SSPI 5/16/2009
| | "Knife sharpening sound " Summer's Kitchen -- Recorded by Chris Stephens and Mark Higgins of SSPI 5/16/2009
| | "whispering " 3rd Floor Exchange Hotel -- Recorded by Marty Seibel and Shea Willis of SVPS 5/16/2009
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Personal Experiences
SSPI Experiences
At one point, we both heard what sounded like a trunk dropping and dragging on the floor above us. We went upstairs and
nothing was there or appeared to have fallen.
We heard multiple voices that sounded like people right outside the door, but
when we went outside, no one was there.
We heard a voice in the second bedroom upstairs that responded 7 when we asked
how many spirits were with us. This was also caught on digital audio. There was a cold chill that blew across us when we
were asking if anyone was with us. The room temperature was approximately 85 degrees at the time.
There were black
shadows darting across the rooms upstairs. We couldn’t find a natural explanation for them.
SVPS Experiences
We encountered two personal experiences during our investigation of the hotel. The first occured during set-up of equipment
between the time of 7:30 and 8:00 pm. Of our four member group, three of us were up on the third floor setting up video cameras
and our fourth, Kelley Davis was setting up our dvr system on the second floor. While Kelley was working with the dvr, she
heard a psst... sound from just around the corner in the hallway. It was certainly loud enough to get Kelley's attention and she
went to see if another member of the group had wanted her for something. There was no one else of the second floor so she walked
upstairs to ask if anyone had tried to get her attention. We told her we had not and had been busy adjusting the video cameras.
It should be noted that Kelley is one of our tougher skeptics within the SVPS group and a very credible source. Also, afterwards
as we wrapped up the investigation and was packing up equipment, we had asked the staff if this situation had happened before. We were told it has on more than one occassion.
Our second experience occurred on the first floor in the library and map room while doing audio/evp work, Shea Willis felt
something or someone touch the side on her face and neck. A photograph revealed a dark shadow in the room as
this was happening.
Final Conclusion: Haunted
The Exchange Hotel is simply an incredible piece of history and was a wonderful experience to investigate. There appears to
be so much energy left behind from previous events, it would be very hard for it not to be haunted. The data (audio, photographs
& video) along with our own personal experiences certainly make us believe the Exchange Hotel is indeed haunted. Based on all
of the data collected, we believe it could be both, a residual haunt and certainly an intelligent haunt as well.
Copyright © Marty Seibel
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Light in Dr. Lebby's Room -- third floor of the Exchange Hotel (05/16/2009)