The Ladd School in Haunted Rhode Island

Founded by Dr. Joseph H. Ladd in 1908, the Ladd School was originally conceived with the intention of being an asylum for children with disabilities. However, this message soon became unclear, as the school seemed to combine as a detention center, a hospital, and a boarding school for the ‘feeble-minded’. Soon, the place became home to many criminals. It started off as a farm colony, where young people would go to live, work, and be educated, with the hopes of rejoining their original communities. Unfortunately, an abundance of abuse took place in the establishment. The Ladd School began with 8 residents, and soon turned into thousands. There were not nearly enough supplies or staff to host these numbers. The asylum had one doctor for all, no morgue, no dental care, and no recreational facilities. To name some of the immoral acts that took place; ‘promiscuous’ women would be sterilized – children would receive frequent beatings – vermin covered the building – prescriptions were given by untrained staff which resulted in patients receiving the wrong medication – and due to overcrowding, children were forced to sleep head to toe on small beds, only 9 inches away from the next bed. After hearing this information, it’s no surprise that deaths started to occur. 

Things reached breaking point in 1955 when a 20-year-old delinquent inmate was convicted of the murder of a 9-year-old severely disabled child. He suffocated the boy inside a laundry bag that he hung from a showerhead. But it didn’t stop here, an elderly man was killed after being pushed down the stairs by a separate inmate. Eventually, in 1986, the Ladd School closed forever. The now-abandoned building has several paranormal reports, such as disembodied moaning, crying, murmuring, or phantom footsteps. Doors have been seen opening and closing without explanation, and locking themselves despite not having an actual lock. People have reported hearing growling when no animals are present, being pushed or shoved, or having items knocked out of their hands. Outside of the building, ghostly human figures are seen walking into the nearby woods. Many have photographed strange orbs, and car radios tend to stop working when near the building.