<i>Bridge To The Paranormal</i>

Author	Topic: Swingle Hospital
Jason	posted 11/8/04 9:43 PM This past weekend, I went to a place called Swingle Hospital. According to legend it is suppose to be haunted by patients that were killed by Dr. Swingle in the early 1900's. The place is all boarded up and roped off. However, I snooped around a little and took some pictures. I used a digital camera and didn't really find anything interesting...until I got home. I started looking closer at some of the pictures and found what appears to be clearly an orb floating around. There was an abandoned car behind the hospital that I took two pictures of. In the first picture you can see an orb emerging from the top right and in the next photo, the orb has made its way down to a pile of brush beside the car. I thought it was really interesting and would share my findings with you. If I can download them to my computer, I'll post them so you can see.
Carrie Bailey	posted 1/14/05 3:07 PM Jason, Hi my name is Carrie Bailey. I am 17 years old and I attend Unicoi County High School. I went to the Swingle Hospital for the past two nights. I haven't really found anything yet, but I have heard banging sounds coming from the inside. At the cellar door, there is a hole where someone has tried to get in already. The hole is just barely big enough for me to put my hand in and grasp the other side. Do you think there is a possible way to get in? All of my life I haven't been a believer in ghosts and such, but I think that this place if or real. If you can, could you please post your pictures, or email if you get time. I'm just curious about what is really there. Thanks.
Jason	posted 1/14/05 3:50 PM Hey Carrie! I never posted the pics because the more I looked over them, it may have just been a glare shooting from the side mirror. I'm not really 100% sure. I've never really been a believer in this type of thing either but I am always looking for something to freak me out. However, the banging sounds, I may have to go back and check that out. Thats the kind of stuff I'm looking for. You know, its a little more credible than an orb. As for getting in, short of using a crowbar or something, you've got me stumped. Who knows, maybe I'll go check it out again in the next week or so and come back with some more info. Be safe!
Carrie	posted 1/19/05 2:59 PM Thanks Jason for your reply. I went back again with a video camera and still couldn't find anything. That doesn't mean that I don't believe there is anything there though. The banging sounds are enough to keep me wondering. If you go back email or post anything that you find. Thanks a bunch!!
Matt	posted 1/20/05 7:48 PM I would be very interested in seeing the photos and videos either one of you have.
Johnboy	posted 2/8/05 9:31 PM Where exactly is this place?
UHDude	posted 2/16/05 2:10 AM me and my friends just went to the hospital a few days ago. i have never been a big believer of hauntings or ghosts but this place gives me the chills bigtime man. when we went, im not bsin but we saw a dead body/corpse/or something shaped exactly like it in the highest nook of the big tree above the cars. then we jumped over the bushes the streetlights went out exactly at that moment. that mite just be coincidence but the body????? we went back again yesterday to examine and the thing was gone!!!! i kno nobody could have put it on there by just climbing because it was way too high and just dangling above there. now some1 explain this to me: is it group paranoia a dirty trick ghosts or wut? all 6 of us saw the same thing and felt the same way when we went. i dunno but that place just doesnt feel rite. theres sumthin really weird bout it even in the daytime but i cant really put my hands on it. can some1 give me some helpful input or explain anythin thats goin on? the place scares me but at the same time it kinda draws me in so im fairly certain that im gonna go back in a week or so. has anyone attempted to or succeeded in gettin in and seein wut is in the house? i really wanna go see wut happens and wut it holds but at the same time i dont want to either simply cuz i dont kno wut to expect or wut mite happen. well i kinda have a far fetchd guess of wut mite happen but it isnt anythin too positive. if i suceed in gettin in ill post another reply in a few days. can everyone do me a favor and give me any type of info or input at all?
Johnboy	posted 3/2/05 3:52 AM Found it! Corner of N. Roan and Barberry. The medical equipment is still inside and it looks like other people have been inside over the years.
uhboy	posted 3/8/05 11:28 PM hey johnboy how did u get in?
johnboy94	posted 3/9/05 10:12 PM uhboy shoot me a email address and I will tell you. Dont want to post on a public forum. It actually looks alot more like a sanitorium due to some mask in there and what I believe is an old nebulizer?. I wonder why they would leave the equipment? It looks as if the place was suddenly abandoned. If anyone else does enter please do not disturb anything.
Clint	posted 3/12/05 3:34 PM Hi I recently found this site. I love it. I did some research on that hospital cause it did not say where it was its in TN. It seem very intresting. I live in Indianapolis IN . I would like to know more about this place E-Mail me please
uhboy	posted 3/31/05 3:16 PM hey my email address is dchenwebdesign@yahoo.com thanks alot man i appreciate it. ive really been wantin to get in. o yea hey dude from indiana, shoot me an email and ill get u some info. i live like 15 mins from the place
knox	posted 4/24/05 0:08 AM i know someone who has entered the hospital. in the mid 70's he entered in through the bottom and said it leads up to the kitchen. he said the interior seems as if people just locked it up as is. inside, beds are made, magazines still available in the waiting room, and a few lights were still on. in the nurses' room there are a group of numbers that would light up if a patient requested assistance, he said that the light for room 13 was on. he and 2 other people that he went with have told me the story, kind of freaky. i've lived in johnson city for all my life and never heard this story till recently. i'm 23 by the way.
pitchblack	posted 4/25/05 5:53 AM johnboy,,,,,sent you an email on how to get in to the hospital,,,,,,,please reply,,,,,thanks,,,,,,went by last night my friend got really dizzy when he touched the building but when he let go he was fine,,,,,,,we want in,,,,,,
Rachael	posted 4/26/05 3:09 PM Hey ya'all...my dad actually made a documentary about the Swingle Hospital in the 80s. He was a film major at ETSU, and I still have the film. PBS actually bought the film and aired it as a special. The movie is so creepy...my dad just filmed all the rooms in the house, and the background noise is enough to scare the crap out of you. There was still blood spatter in some of the sinks, and even in some of the cribs in one of the rooms. The house looks like a tornado went through it, but it's really just the aftermath of Dr. Swingle. There are still dirty sheets and dirty surgical tools all over, and some of his documents are still laying around. You really need to check out this documentary. That house is so creepy even now.
Hellcat	posted 4/27/05 6:23 AM Hey, where could I get ahold of that documentary? I live in Johnson City and I went snooping around that property a few weeks ago-- i thought it was an old residence until I walked around the back and saw the rear addition. Please let me know!
Wendy	posted 5/1/05 0:28 AM the followign was written by Lou Long, after reading this i have to wonder what more happened to Swingle after he left the Swingle hospital in Johnson city In the early 1940s Dr. Edward Thurston Brading came back to Johnson City after tiring of the work in the far west. He established his practice in Johnson City, as the only internist in East Tennessee, and began to solicit cooperation from other physicians who might be interested in a Mayo Clinic-style clinical operation in this area. Dr. Carroll H. Long, Dr. Hugh F. Swingle, and Dr. Jack Gordon associated themselves with Dr. Brading in establishing such a clinic. Great help was lent to the organization of physicians by Mr. L. E. Gordon, Dr. Gordon's father, who at that time was the principal owner of the Empire Chair Company in Johnson City. With Mr. Gordon's help, the group purchased the Adam Crouch property on North Roan Street and established there a clinic and began to plan a hospital on the same ground The group practice existed for a period of approximately two years and at one time was enhanced by the addition of Dr. Owen Ravenel of Charleston, South Carolina, who was also a pediatrician. After two years, however, the group arrangement came apart, the immediate cause being the necessity of Dr. Long's going to Bowman Gray School of Medicine to complete preparation for his board certification. Dr. Owen Ravenel left and Dr. Brading and Dr. Swingle, after a brief attempt to go it alone, gave up and dissolved their partnership. Dr. Swingle continued the clinic under the name of "Swingle Hospital" for a few years. He did not attract another partnership and finally dissolved his business in order to join the Veterans Association, working in a number of institutions both in North Carolina and at Mountain Home, Tennessee. Dr. Swingle died prematurely of colon cancer.
scott	posted 5/19/05 7:20 PM
April	posted 5/23/05 11:46 PM Hey everyone. Me and my friends went to the hospital a few times. It is awsome there. If anyone wants pics just e-mail me. I only have ones from the outside because i havent been inside yet. The pics are pretty wierd or some of the are.
Chris	posted 5/24/05 8:37 PM Hey guys. I have just recently visited the swingle hospital and I took a bunch of pictures and I have only found two of them that I find really disturbing. If anyone would like to see them just email me and I will send them to you........... I have an orb in one of them and I found a face in another one that looks like the guy rom the movie leprachuan.............. But if anyone is interested in seeing any of the pics just email me.....
Cindy	posted 5/29/05 9:08 PM Hi everyone, My daughter and I have visited the hospital a couple times, never at night though. The last time a very rude man who said his family owned the property asked us to leave. I tried to ask him some questions about the documentary and such but he knew nothing about it so I figured they didn't own it at that time but he said his mother has owned it since the 40's. He wouldn't give any information about the place except it is not for sale and they don't want people snooping around because of the danger of getting hurt. I asked how I could contact his mother to see about getting in to look around and he wouldn't tell me that either. My husband has been in there many times when he was a teenager but he never heard or seen anything out of the ordinary. He did say it looked like a tornado had been thru there. I'm sure it is where people had broke in and vandalized the place. Otherwise, he said it looked like the people just locked up and left. Still magazines on the tables, pills laying around on the floor, files in the basement, etc. I would still love to get in and look around. The man I spoke to live right behind the hospital so anyone trying to look around beware he keeps a close eye on the place. I would still like to get in and look around. Anyone with info on how to obtain entry please email us. Thank you.
Cindy	posted 6/3/05 5:13 AM April, Cant get thru on your email address but would love to see your pics. When you get a chance send them to us please. Thanks.
Jordan	posted 6/9/05 4:08 AM Thanks for the stories people... I live in Bristol and am quite familiar with Unicoi, but I have never been to the Swingle Hospital. Could you guys/gals with pictures please send me them via e-mail? theblindsniper@yahoo.com
twiz	posted 6/16/05 0:40 AM me and my friend want to get in so bad we both just moved to johnson city and are determined to get in
Lemlu	posted 6/16/05 6:39 AM Me and a couple of friends went to the hospital tonight and we entered through the back. We saw this big circular cemented thing and one of our friends whose been there before said thats where Dr. Swingle burried his patients they said last time they when it reaked of dead bodies. More interesting though they went a while back and saw a boat in one piece it looked like bloody water and she stuck her hand in it but it was so dark went back for the second time and the boat was then in pieces and when i came for the first time tonight she looked for the boat that is near the car.......and nothing was there maybe its the guy who owns the property but....i dont think so I live in Johnson City and i didnt see anything or hear anything but trust me i didnt stick around to hear anything or see anything bc this crap (cant say foul language or u wont put it in i had to erase alot especially the kind of things i was saying when i was there) was freaky and also i know of someone who did go in there and when she got back to her car there were huge spiders in her car and she could never get rid of them i do want to go back not at night thoughand i really want to see what its like inside.
Gretchenfan	posted 6/27/05 0:31 AM [This message has been edited on 07/23/2005]
Gretchenfan	posted 6/27/05 0:34 AM If anyone is interested there is another famous haunted place called Millenium manor near Knoxville. A band called Gretchen shot there music video there. Here is a link if you want to see it http://www.gretchenland.com/fading.htm
OCKC	posted 7/21/05 2:18 AM [This message has been edited on 07/23/2005]
sumdumgai	posted 7/31/05 8:30 PM Hey guys, I've recently visited the Swingle Hospital. My friends and I brought along a video camera and walked around the place. We didn't know how to get in, but the grounds were pretty creepy alone. We found several emotional hot-spots and unnatural cold spots. The only really compelling thing we had happen was a child-like hum from a bush at the left corner of the building. The bush was only a few yards away and there is no other cover around the bush so we new it couldn't have been somebody messing with us. We'd have seen them. The back left corner of the building has some really powerful emotions attached to it for some reason. We were hit by a wave of emotion just as we walked around that corner from the back. I want to get more info on swingle, both hospital and man. I can't find his death certificate, but I know he can't still be alive. If anybody has more information, please email me. I especially want to know how to get inside.
Chico	posted 8/1/05 7:47 AM could any1 e-mail sum pics r videos thnx!!! dirtysouth423@yahoo.com
mrinow	posted 8/4/05 9:10 PM Do any of you actually have pictures or video of inside of the Swingle hospital? I would love to see them. I've lived here all my life and the place has been boarded up as long as I can remember. I didn't know it used to be a hospital until just recently. Also, I can't find anything about a PBS program. Does anyone have good resources and can you tell me where to find them? Thanks. Email julie-stuff@rhees.com
Denise	posted 8/11/05 3:30 PM http://www.theshadowlands.net/places/tennessee.htm If you want to learn more about Swingle Hospital, you might want to start here...scroll down to Johnson City; you'll find it. Also, the good doctor is dead. (follow the link at the end of paragraph) I live in Eliz. and I'm writing a book about all the "haints" and urban legends of NE Tennessee...making plans to visit Swingle Hospital very soon. What is the security like there? I've heard that it's regularly patrolled and you will be charged if caught...true? I'm not surprised that many of you found cold spots and orbs there...Dr. Swingle buried many botched patients in the backyard. Those folks who are sensitive will unquestionably feel it. Can't wait to go...
mrinow	posted 8/12/05 2:00 AM When and how do you plan to go there? And who owns it now? What I can't understand is why the city has let this structure (obviously should be condemned) stay erect all these years. How long has it been boarded up now? 50 years?
Denise	posted 8/12/05 3:24 AM We're going as soon as we, "get our ducks in a row". g I'm not sure who owns the property now but a simple deed check at the court house may be in order. I highly doubt, tho, that the owners of the place will allow folks to wander thru it...it's probably owned/turned over to the City. I was just speaking to a few older locals and they didn't recognize the name, Swingle Hospital...seems the all know it as, "the old abortion clinic". I don't believe this...but, who knows?
mrinow	posted 8/13/05 4:18 AM My grandmother, who is 90, remembers the Swingle Hospital. Her older sister had two surgeries there. The sister did die later but it was from uterine cancer. My grandmother says that Dr. Swingle was a "good doctor and would cry with the families". I've also talked someone else who remembers him as being a little strange. So, yes it was called the Swingle Hospital. When you get your "ducks in a row", let me know if I can help. I am very interested in why this place is still standing and boarded up.
Denise	posted 8/13/05 5:13 AM Whatever I find, I'll post...I promise. I will soon be going to the courthouse to get the low-down on who the current property belongs to. I have visions of Swingle being some mad doctor...meglomanic, experimental...maybe this is deluded but I'm going to find out more.
alec	posted 8/18/05 8:52 PM hey guys, ive been doing this kind of stuff for a good while now.ETSU is a goldmine for this kind of stuff. just the history of the city is amazing. i have been to swingle twice (but with large numbers of people) and not seen, heard, or felt anything. but we are going with a small group soon. i would love to get any photos or video you guys have got. just send it to zads37@imail.etsu.edu i am going to try to snap some myself. also, has anyone heard of the speakeasy they found in jc recently? thats pretty interesting. underground tunnels, mobties, and moonshine.
Denise	posted 8/19/05 3:20 AM Nope, never heard of a "speak-easy" in JC. Why not, right? Carter is a dry county so they'd have to do it elsewhere. Lord knows that there are no "distilleries" in Carter, right! ;) Been sick all week so plans are being hatched for next week. I will take photos and will have them downloaded onto a floppy...if I find anything of interest, I'll send you off a couple. ETSU...going there, too. Gotta check out Lucille Clement Hall for "the marble boy" and want to get a feel of the Old Library. I'll post findings here and plan to acknowledge this message board in my book. I didn't figure that I'd have to dig very hard to get interesting "ghost stories" from this area. One more thing...has anyone heard about the old brick house on Blue Springs Road; heading towards the Iron Bridge, take a left at the Y...will be about 2 miles up on your left? It's currently for sale and, whenever I pass it, I get visions of a little girl in a white dress, looking out an upstairs window. It's for real and I'm just interested to know if anyone knows a history on the home.
Lisa	posted 8/21/05 0:15 AM Finally I came across a website on the 'hospital'. I walked around the place a few years ago and saw the car in the back. I'd love to get inside there! I'll be checking out this website often to see 'what's up'. I had heard that the owner lives behind it..on the dead end street.
Heidi the Medium	posted 8/24/05 6:12 PM Hey Nec, I found another message board. A person( she's a historian) on the board said the hospital closed up in 1952. She also said that when the hospital was closed down they sold off all the equipment...then there was a fire and there is tons of water damage from them trying to put the fire out. That is why it is now boarded up. The property is not sold off because it is privately owned and the owners want to keep it in the family. You can find it at the bottom of this page http://discuss.downtownjc.org/read.php?f=1&i=7565&t=7565 .
Denise	posted 8/25/05 3:37 AM squee! Do you believe the historian? What about the mags from '63? Hmmm...don't know but I'm still hot for the place. You know that we still have to go, right? grin
Denise	posted 8/25/05 8:54 PM I read the threads...all hearsay! digging for D batteries for the flashlight and looking for my black outfit
Templar	posted 8/27/05 7:31 PM I don't know how accurate the "historian" is on some details. I can assure you that the Hospital was in perfect condition in 1971, down to the still working lights and equipment at the nurses station (the call light for room #13 was lit up). Plus, magazines and newspapers in the lobby area were dated 1963,so theres no way it would have closed in the '50's.
Denise	posted 8/27/05 7:49 PM I agree with you! Do you know the lay-out of the place? If you remember, email me, 'kay?
Anye	posted 9/6/05 12:49 AM I have lived in JC for over 15 years. I even attended Science Hill were you would think this kind thing would be well known. I also drive by this place once a week and have always been interested by it. It is kept so beautifully but I always knew there was something about it that just wasn't quite right. Anyway, I have tried to e-mail a few of you for pics and not gotten through. I would love to see some pics!!! If anyone has some no matter how good or bad or whatever, PLEASE send me some. I'm a woos and chicken to go in there myself. lol
Anye	posted 9/6/05 4:31 PM For anyone interested, I looked us on the State of Tn website The property assesment for The Swingle Hospital. It also tells the owner is a Hugh Swingl, who also owns a house Barberry Street that looks like it is right behind the hospital property, from a map anyway. I can't remember who said the man who lived behind it claimed to be the owner, but looks like that is true. Looks like the Hospital last changed hands in 1948. I would assume if the man was a older man, it would be him possably.
Denise	posted 9/7/05 2:37 AM hugs Scoped the place out and I know the house that you're speaking of; the one behind it. Thanks for the info! hugs again!
JC Doc	posted 9/11/05 2:18 AM I strongly discourage anyone from trespassing on this private property. The place is dangerous, but not because of any mythical ghosts. It is an old building with considerable structural damage. You should all be ashamed for saying some of the things you said about Dr. Swingle. He was a kind man by all accounts. The stupid "botched surgery victims" and dead body BS are just foolish urban legends and ghost stories. Most of us outgrow those by 11 or 12.
PaulaV	posted 9/12/05 2:05 PM Attention Heidi & Denise If you had read the post correctly: "Just wanted to let you know I was one of the last babies born at Swingle Hospital. (in 1952) I was told it was a private hospital. My husband and I talked with Dr Swingle's granddaughter-in-law a couple of years ago and she said when they closed the hospital down they sold off most all of the equipment and somehow there was a fire in there and with all the water damage from putting the fire out along with vandalism it was been boarded up. Along with the fact they want to keep the property in the family." The lady did not claim to be a historian and was only trying to help.
Anye	posted 9/14/05 7:52 PM It seems a shame to me that the hospital go to waist. It would be nice to have it as a historical site or even a family owned museum or something. I mean it is part of JC history. Plus, this would curb 90% of the breaking and entering issue. Most people, like myself would love to see it simply for the historical and interesting aspect. There may or may not be old hospital items inside but so what. It is a very interesting place and people are drawn to it.
Heidi	posted 9/23/05 5:10 PM Attention PaulaV!! I'm sorry that I posted a piece of misinformation when I said that one of the women on the site was a historian. You people sure are nit-picky.