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Hey guys, Mark here. Before we start this episode, I just want to give a little update

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on Mountain State Mysteries. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our fur caster. He would

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always sit in the middle of the table between me and Courtney when we were recording. Rocket

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made sure everything was perfect when it came to Mountain State Mysteries. So Rocket, this

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episode is for you. Due to the honey nature of these haunted places, listener discretion

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is advised. I'm your host, Mark, and I'm Courtney, and this is Mountain State Mysteries State

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Haunts.

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Point Pleasant is known for winged, humanoid, known as mothman, that put Point Pleasant

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on the map in 1966 with multiple sightings of the dark red-eyed creature along with UFO

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and ET encounters, and a host of bizarre paranormal phenomena ever since the sleepy little city

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has been a magnet for the curious and paranormal researchers. Point Pleasant, the seat of Mason

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County, lies at the confluence of the Ohio and Canal rivers, and where the rivers meet,

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it seems that the paranormal is often magnified. Point Pleasant may be famous for mothman,

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but do you know its history of paranormal activity? The town has around 4,000 residents

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as of the 2020 census, and nearly all of them have a paranormal story or two. The first

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prominent European explorer to see the area was Robert D. LaSalle, who arrived in 1669.

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In 1749, the French explorer, Péris, Joseph, Celeron, D. Blainfield, gave the confluence

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of the rivers its name Point Pleasant. He buried a lead plaque there to stake the French claim

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over this part of the Ohio River Valley. In 1770, George Washington made a trip to the area

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to look after land grants that had been made by British proclamation in 1754. The local Indians

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favored the British over the French in the French L'Ostale in the French and Indian War

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of 1759 through 1763. Even the British had rocky relations with the Native Americans,

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however tensions build over in 1774 in the Battle of Point Pleasant. The battle was part of Lord

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Dunmore's War, a conflict between Virginia militia and the Shawnee and Mingo nations who

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objected to the insurgents of white settlers into the Ohio River Valley and beyond. The Shawnee

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under chief corn stock attacked the Virginians at the Point Pleasant River confluence on October 10,

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1774. They lost and retreated. The fighting was the bloodiest ever fought between Native Americans

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and white settlers in America. With the Virginians suffering 75 killed and 140 wounded, the Shawnee's

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losses were unknown as they carried away their wounded and threw the dead into the river. The

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Shawnee were forced to agree to a treaty ceding all their land to the south of the Ohio River.

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During the American Revolutionary War, corn stocks position was one of the neutrality. In 1777,

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he and his son and two other Shawnees made a diplomatic trip to Fort Randolph at Point Pleasant.

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There they were detained as prisoners by the commander who on his own had decided to take

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all Shawnee hostage. While the men were being held, an American soldier was killed by unknown

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Native Americans. Enraged soldiers at the fort shot all four Shawnee to death. An attempt was made

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to try the soldiers on charges murder, but they were all acquitted because none of their peers

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would testify against them. You're listening to State Haunts by Mountain State Mysteries.

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Corn stock was buried at Fort Randolph near the confluence in 1840. His remains were moved

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to the Mason County Courthouse grounds. When the courthouse was demolished in 1954,

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were reburied at the confluence in what is now known as Two Indy Wee State Park. Popular lore

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holds that he cursed the land before dying, but there is no historical basis to that legend.

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In reality, he could have died instantly after being shot at Point Pleasant Range. The alleged

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cursed surfaced as a plot device in a plate performed in Point Pleasant in the early part

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of the 20th century. After the Revolutionary War, the area grew slowly. Point Pleasant sits on a

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large bed of coal, but the exploitation of it remained modest. The town also benefited from

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the river's commerce during World War II. A TNT plant was constructed on State Route 62 just six

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miles north of town. For the manufacture of munitions, it was named the West Virginia Ordnance

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Works after the war. Sections of the land were deeded to the state sold off released and eventually

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the plant was torn down. As the 20th century moved on, the fortunes of Point Pleasant slowly declined.

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Few people outside of West Virginia even knew Point Pleasant was a town until 1966,

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when the Mothman Flap erupted and made headlines around the world. A strange,

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winged, dark humanoid with red eyes standing about nine feet tall was first seen in the old TNT area

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and then throughout the mid Ohio River Valley. No one knew what it was, where it came from,

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or why it has suddenly appeared in the area. People were terrified, although in the encounters

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being had with the humans, it never seemed to move to harm them. The area sky seemed to be filled with

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mysterious lights and unknown craft and people reported contacts with the aliens and NETs.

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Journalists and paranormal author John A. Kiel investigated and wrote his now classic account,

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The Mothman Prophecies, later made into the 2002 film starring Richard Gere. On December 17, 1967,

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the Mothman wave ended when the Silver Bridge, spanning the Ohio River collapsed,

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sending 47 people to their death. The traffic has stalled on the bridge. Many of the occupants of

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the vehicles have been Christmas shopping on the Ohio side of the river. There was not a family in

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Point Pleasant untouched by this tragedy. Whether through blood relations, business, or friendships,

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the bridge has structural faults that weaken, but many blame the collapse on Mothman who vanishes

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from the scene afterwards. 2002, an annual Mothman Festival was launched by Jeff Wamslee

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and Caroline Harris to showcase the original Mothman wave, celebrate the film and bring tourism

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to the area. Wamslee operates the Mothman Museum in town and has authored two books on Mothman.

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Harris owns the Harris Steakhouse on Main Street, a gathering place for Mothman lovers. The festival

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has grown over the years featuring new things each and every year.

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The Low Hotel is the biggest landmark and the only hotel in downtown Point Pleasant

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has a number of invisible residents who sometimes like to get the attention of the living. Guests

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often share their ghostly experiences with the owners Ruth and Rush Finley and their daughter

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and they send in their photos and videos showing the mysterious phenomena. The Low Hotel opened

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in 1901 at the corner of 4th and Main. Near the site, a Point Pleasant fought on October 10th,

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1774. The land had been given to the Anjou Louis as part of his payment for military service

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during the French Indian War. The hotel was first called the Spencer Hotel named after a local judge

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the honorable J. S. Spencer. Two brothers Homer and Griff Smith owned and operated in. A green

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structure the hotels cost 65,000 to build and boasted all of the modern conveniences.

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It had 45 rooms on four floors. The lobby featured a 16-feet high ceiling and a stupendous fireplace.

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The ground floor house, the bank, barbershop, saloon and a wholesale liquor house. And the Spencer

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was the center of the high society and lavish entertaining. In the 1920s it was renowned as an

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elegant dance hall. When the stock market crashed in 1929 ended the Smith brothers were forced to

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sell. The Homer Low Senior family bought the hotel that same year and changed its name to theirs.

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The families acquired the Low in 1990 and began a restoration project that is ongoing.

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The ground level shops and services are long gone but the lobby with its grand fireplace

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and impressive griffins is still a gathering place for guests. Today 32 of the original rooms

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are in use. Then baths have been added and some rooms have been joined into two room suites.

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You're listening to State Haunts by Mountain State Mysteries.

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All floors at the Low have haunting activity. One of the most commonly reported experiences

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is an eerie feeling of an unseen presence in halls and rooms. Guests say that they feel a

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presence when they turn a corner and the hallway would come up on the grand staircase to the second

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floor. Right outside of room 202 is a parlor where people report feeling a presence of a woman. Some

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have seen her filmy white apparition. Miss Low lived in room 206. Perhaps she has decided to stay

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in her hotel. Guests who stay on the second floor reported hearing phantom music playing

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late at night and the sound of a heavy ball rolling around on the floor above when there was no one.

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In room 210 a man was alone in the room taking a shower one evening when he heard someone coming

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to the room and a female voice called his name. He thought that it could be one of his friends

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in his traveling party. What? He called back. The voice called his name again. What? He asked

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for the second time. The voice said his name for the third time. He came out of the bathroom

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but no one was in the room. In another room on the second floor a woman retired for the night

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and had an odd sensation of something soft like a cloth fluttering down from the ceiling

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down to her face. She put her hands up to see what it was but there was nothing tangible there.

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On the third floor room 314 has been deemed the most haunted in the hotel. It is occupied by a tall

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thin man in a 1930 suit with a long beard who has appeared in a mirror. This is believed to be

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Sid Hatfield of the famous feuding Hatfield and McCoy family. Sid was a minor and then police chief

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to the town of Mate 1 in Mingo County and often stayed at the hotel when it was a Spencer. Room

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314 was his favorite. In 1920 unrest among minors in Mingo County led to a famous shootout called

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the Battle of Mate 1 in which Hatfield was shot to death on the steps of the courthouse. His ghost

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at the low was photographed by two women who stayed in the room and captured an image of an unknown

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man. They showed the photo to Ruth Finley who recognized Hatfield from one of the old photographs.

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In room 309 the bathroom light turns on by itself. Also on the third floor there is a

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three-room suite that overlooks the Ohio River where guests have reported the ghost of Captain Jim

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or Jimbo as he is also known. Jimbo tells guests that he is waiting for the boat to arrive. In

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September 2005 Jimbo drove guests away from the room. According to Ruth Finley river boat captains

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likely stayed at the log. The four floor features a large ballroom where elegantly dressed guests

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once did the night away. Current guests experience spooky sensations in the ballroom including cold

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spots and cold breezes. Some of the strangest hauntings is an unfinished section of the floor floor

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that is used for storage. One of the items stored away is an old ratten rocking chair

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that once belonged to Mrs. Lowe who was blind. The chair was on display in the lobby when the

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Finley's bought the hotel. Ruth had it moved to a locked storage room on the fourth floor.

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Only her husband Rush has a key to the padlock.

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You're listening to State Haunts by Mountain State Mysteries.

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The rocking chair sat undisturbed for some time and then mysteriously disappeared. It was no better

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to be found in the entire hotel. Several years later every period in the same spot in the locked

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room. Guests at the Lowe had taken numerous photographs to show an anomalies of unusual

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lights patterns and orbs. Ruth Finley gives tours of the hotel that included ghost stories told by

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her guest. Up Main Street from the Lowe Hotel is a historic state theater. A worn but comfortable

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theater where talks and stage presentations are offered. The theater designed an art modern style

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opened in 1942 with seating for 700. It operated until 1980 then it closed and set vacant until

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1993. The theater reopened early in 1994 but closed as a movie house in 2003. It presently is used

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for stage performances and served as the venue for lectures during the annual Mothman Festival.

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During the festival it also features screenings of Mothman films and documentaries. When the

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Silver Bridge collapsed in 1969 the basement of the building next to the theater which was a

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hardware store served as a temporary morgue where some of the bodies pulled out of the river. A

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shadowy form is sometimes seen heading into the ladies room on the main level. Other presences

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are felt throughout the building. In addition the spirit of the state's first owner, Rals

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Fielsen is said to walk up and down the aisles every night around 8.45 p.m. as though he's just

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checking things out. Other phenomena includes objects being moved around and a light in the

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projector room going on and off by itself. The OS Virginia ordinance works known as the TNT

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grounds is another mess for Mothman enthusiasts and paranormal lovers. There have been no

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sightings of the Mothman depicting the original 1966 1967 wave. There are some who have proud

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that area after dark so they have seen shadowy forms that might be Mothman. Plenty of other

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haunting activities occur on the grounds. However in its world war two days the ordinance works

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covered 8,320 acres. The TNT and other wartime products and other munitions manufactured in

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the plant were stored in about a hundred above ground concrete iglies whose massive cell doors

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had withstand at bomb blasts. The iglies were camouflaged with dirt and grass. The Department

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of Defense and the plant and the US Army ever saw all of the productions of the TNT from 1942 to 1945.

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After the end of the war the TNT plant was closed. The soil was heavenly contaminated with waste,

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TNT byproducts and asbestos. The area was decontaminated and the surplus munitions were

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sold. The plant was torn down in 1945. You can actually still see some of the ruins today.

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The army deeded 2,785 acres to the state to be used as a wildlife preserve. In the

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McClintic State Wildlife Management Area was created and is used for public recreation.

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Other portions of the land are owned by Mason County and private citizens. There have been

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ongoing cleanup throughout the years including a major project launched in 1991. The iglies have

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been the favorite sports of researchers and investigators. Most are closed and sealed but

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if you are open and are access via footpaths of the networks of roads through the area

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investigators had captured photographic anomalies of orbs, streaks and unexplained

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shadows and misty shapes as well as EVPs of mysterious voices. Some believe to be Native

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Americans. Some visitors often feel uneasy in the iglies as though they are being watched

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or many presence are crowded around them. In 2010 a freak explosion occurred in one of the bunkers

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that still contained some live munitions. Luckily it happened during the day so no one was in the

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vicinity. The area was completely sealed off until inspections of the bunkers were completed.

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Other hauntings have been reported in the area as well. Dark forms known as shadow people have

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been seen on the footpath gliding up and down at night. It seems to peek into the igloos as if

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they want to see what people are doing. State Route 62 is haunted in the vicinity of the TNT

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ground. Dark figures have been seen leaping across the highway.

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Dark figures have been seen leaping across the highway.

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Thank you so much for listening to the second episode of Mountain State Mysteries State

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Hots.

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Stay tuned for the season 2 premiere coming very soon.

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Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and wherever you listen to

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podcasts.

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Igorอ nope, I've grown so much closer.