HGB Ep. 205 - Old South Pittsburg Hospital

 
Moment in Oddity - Sandra West Buried in Her Ferrari
Suggested by: Jill Phenix

Forty years ago, a Texas socialite named Sandra West was buried in a very unique way after overdosing on prescription pills. We've visited a cemetery where a man was buried sitting up in his chair and we've shared the story of another man buried sitting on his motorcycle. West had a love of cars. She was the wealthy widow of Texas oil tycoon Ike West, so she had money to splurge on cars. Her favorite was a 1964 powder blue Ferrari. One of her final requests in a will she wrote in 1972 was to be buried sitting in that Ferrari in her lingerie. A grave measuring 19 feet long, 10 feet wide and 9 feet deep was dug at the Alamo Masonic Cemetery. Concrete was poured around the sides, forming a box. On May 19, 1977, around 300 spectators and reporters gathered to witness the burial. A concrete slab was laid over the top to thwart vandals. Being buried in your lingerie in your Ferrari is a tad eccentric and certainly is odd!

This Month in History - First Mint in America Opens

In the month of June, on the 10th, in 1652, Silversmith John Hull opened the first mint in America in the state of Massachusetts. Hull was born in Market Harborough, Leicestershire in England. His family immigrated to Boston Harbor in 1635. The Hull Homestead would become the location of the mint, although records are not clear where exactly on the property it was located. Most historians assume that the silversmith shop was also the mint because records indicate that silver for coining was sent to the shop. Hull was twenty-seven when he began coining and this was in defiance of English colonial law. He designed the first coin himself and named it the Pine Tree Shilling. This act of rebellion led Hull to become the mintmaster of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Hull Street in Boston is named for him.

Old South Pittsburg Hospital (Suggested by listener Christopher Justice)

The Old South Pittsburg Hospital was built in 1959 and is located near South Pittsburg Mountain, in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. This was a hospital for the care of the sick, but there are rumors of mistreatment. It was shut down after it was deemed unworthy of providing the quality and amount of care needed in the region. The dilapidated building has stood abandoned ever since. There is a dark history connected to murders and suicide. And that history seems to have led to hauntings. There are those who claim that this location is one of the most haunted in Tennessee. We are joined by Mellanie Ramsey, founder of Military Veterans Paranormal, to discuss the history and hauntings of the Old South Pittsburg Hospital!

South Pittsburg, Tennessee was named for a city that it envisioned becoming like, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The city in Pennsylvania was a huge iron manufacturing center and South Pittsburg was running towards that goal. The city was originally named Battle Creek Mines when its post office was established in 1869. Before this time, settlers were spread out and disorganized, but after the Civil War, more order was brought to the future townsite. The only event related to the Civil War that took place here was an attack on Fort McCook, which was held by the Union at the time. The area was ravaged by soldiers marching through and taking livestock and property. Battle Creek Mines became the iron production center for the Southern States Coal, Iron and Land Company, a company headed by British investors, in 1873. In 1876, the city's name was officially changed to South Pittsburg. In 1882, the company was purchased by The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company and four years later, the area was purchased by Nashville banker William Duncan. The town was platted and then incorporated in 1887. The city thrived until Tennessee Coal relocated. The production of concrete and other goods would breathe new life into the city in the early 1900s. Today, South Pittsburg is known as the "Tidiest Town in Tennessee" and has a population of around 3300.

Is Old South Pittsburg Hospital haunted? That is for you to decide!

Show Notes:
To find out more about this group and their investigations: http://www.militaryveteransparanormal.com/