For more than 20 years, the Ashmore Estate has been off limits to the public. Unbelievers will tell you that the Ashmore Estate has been uninhabited since it was closed in 1987. Well, it’s true that no HUMANS lived at the Ashmore Estate after 1987; but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was uninhabited, does it?
The building was constructed in 1916. It has three floors, and it was used as a poor house for Coles County (Illinois) residents who had little or nothing. In 1956 the Ashmore Estate was converted into a home for the mentally challenged and operated until it was closed in 1987.
Since then, the stories of the paranormal about the Ashmore Estate have abounded. It’s said that residents of the home who have died simply refuse to leave. There are those who say that these apparitions have been walking through the building for years and that their likenesses have even been captured on tape. They say the walls of the Ashmore Estate can talk and have stories to tell.
For many years ghost hunters visited the Ashmore Estate illegally and say that they experienced the haunting firsthand.
In 2004 the Ashmore Estate acquired new owners. These new owners have made the Ashmore Estate available to the public in several ways. Flashlight tours are offered year-round and there are often special events as well as opportunities to spend the night at the Ashmore Estate (at your own risk).
Over the years there have been several paranormal investigations at the Ashmore Estate. Internationally renowned paranormal investigator “Christopher Moon” and the International Society for Paranormal Investigations was one.
Several videos are available on YouTube about the Ashmore Estate. One was filmed by Robert Reese, the weatherman for WCIA-TV in Champaign, Illinois, who reports on local Halloween events.
