Michigan’s First State Prison (Jackson Prison) – Haunted Prison in Jackson, Michigan

Michigan’s First State Prison, known as Jackson Prison or “Jacktown,” once held the grim distinction of being the world’s largest walled prison, a sprawling fortress of suffering where thousands of inmates lived, died, and met brutal ends within its imposing stone walls. Operating from 1839 to 1934 before relocating to a nearby facility, this original complex witnessed executions, riots, murders, tuberculosis outbreaks, and unspeakable violence, leaving behind layer upon layer of trapped souls, residual trauma, and malevolent entities that continue to terrorize anyone who dares enter its crumbling remains.

Historical Background

Year Built: 1839 (original cell blocks), with major expansions in 1842, 1857, and 1880s

Original Purpose: State penitentiary designed to house Michigan’s most dangerous criminals under harsh conditions meant to punish and reform through isolation and hard labor

Significant Events: Between 1845 and 1938, the prison executed 38 men by hanging in a gallows located in the yard, with witnesses reporting botched executions where condemned men slowly strangled rather than dying instantly from broken necks, their suffering prolonged for agonizing minutes. The deadly tuberculosis epidemic of 1881-1883 killed over 200 inmates who were left to die in overcrowded, poorly ventilated cells, their bodies stacked in the prison morgue for weeks before burial in unmarked graves. The catastrophic 1926 riot left 6 dead and 45 seriously injured when inmates took control of the cellblocks for 18 hours, committing acts of violence, rape, and murder against both guards and fellow prisoners before order was restored. The prison’s “hole” – solitary confinement cells in the basement – witnessed countless deaths from suicide, exposure, and violence, with inmates locked in complete darkness for months at a time, many emerging permanently insane or not emerging at all.

Paranormal Activity Summary

The most pervasive phenomena include disembodied screams, moaning, and pleading voices echoing through empty cellblocks, particularly the agonized cries of men begging for mercy or calling out in languages from various immigrant populations. Visitors report phantom footsteps on metal catwalks, cell doors slamming violently throughout the complex with no one present, and the overwhelming sound of hundreds of men’s voices talking, arguing, and shouting simultaneously creating a cacophony that suddenly stops, leaving oppressive silence.

Shadow figures appear throughout the facility, often watching visitors from cell doorways or the upper tiers of cellblocks, while aggressive entities physically attack trespassers through pushing, scratching, and violent sensations. The smell of death, human waste, and decay permeates certain areas despite the buildings being abandoned for decades, and electronic equipment experiences catastrophic failure with batteries draining in minutes and devices refusing to function in locations where the most violence occurred.

Ghost Stories & Reports

The Hanged Men of Gallows Square: The spirits of executed prisoners manifest in the area where the gallows once stood, appearing as shadowy figures with elongated necks and broken bodies swaying as if hanging from invisible ropes. Witnesses report hearing the trapdoor drop, the sickening crack of the rope going taut, and the horrible choking, gurgling sounds of men slowly strangling to death, followed by desperate gasping and the impact of bodies being cut down and dragged away.

Multiple investigators have captured EVPs near this location of men proclaiming their innocence, cursing their executioners, and begging for their lives in final pleas that echo through time. The most disturbing reports involve visitors feeling phantom nooses tightening around their own necks, experiencing the condemned men’s final moments of terror and suffocation, with several people requiring medical attention after panic attacks triggered by the overwhelming sensation of being hanged.

The Tuberculosis Ward Victims: The hospital wing where tuberculosis patients were isolated to die generates profound sadness and despair, with the spirits of over 200 men who suffered slow, agonizing deaths from the disease still coughing, wheezing, and crying out for help. Visitors report hearing wet, labored breathing from empty rooms, seeing emaciated figures lying on phantom beds reaching out weakly for assistance, and experiencing the physical sensation of drowning as fluid fills their lungs despite being able to breathe normally.

The overwhelming smell of disease, decay, and death concentrates in this area so intensely that many people vomit or flee immediately. One particularly tragic spirit is identified through EVPs as “Thomas” who repeatedly begs to see his children “one last time before I go,” his voice filled with such anguish that investigators have wept while recording him.

The Hole’s Torture Victims: The solitary confinement cells in the basement harbor the most violent and disturbed entities in the entire complex – spirits of men who were driven insane by months or years in complete darkness, many dying from exposure, suicide, or simply giving up on life. These entities are aggressive and hostile, attacking visitors with scratches, pushes, and overwhelming psychological assault that produces instant terror and paranoia.

Investigators report feeling hands grabbing at them in the darkness, hearing men screaming in madness and rage, and experiencing vivid hallucinations and time distortion as if the isolation cells’ psychological torture extends to the living. Several paranormal researchers have emerged from the hole with unexplained bruises, scratches, and one reported having a complete mental breakdown requiring psychiatric hospitalization after spending just 30 minutes alone in one of these cells.

The 1926 Riot Victims: The spirits of guards and inmates murdered during the catastrophic riot replay their violent deaths in residual hauntings throughout the cellblocks. Witnesses report seeing shadowy figures being beaten with makeshift weapons, hearing men screaming as they’re stabbed or bludgeoned to death, and phantom blood appearing on floors and walls before fading away.

The most disturbing manifestations occur in the administrative wing where guards were tortured and killed by rioting inmates – investigators capture EVPs of men begging for their lives, the sounds of brutal violence, and victory shouts from the rioters. One guard’s spirit, identified as “Captain Morrison,” appears as a full-bodied apparition in his uniform, severely beaten and bloodied, stumbling through the halls as if still trying to escape his attackers.

The Electric Chair Phantom: Though Michigan abolished capital punishment and never used the electric chair for executions, a chair brought to the prison for evaluation in the 1890s allegedly became cursed when several inmates were tortured by guards threatening to electrocute them for discipline. The chair, kept in the prison museum before the facility closed, generated reports of electrical sensations, burn marks appearing on people who touched it, and the apparition of a man strapped to the chair, convulsing violently and screaming as phantom electricity courses through him.

The Warden’s Ghost: Warden Cyrus Wight, who served from 1869 to 1871 and allegedly took his own life after the stress of managing the increasingly violent facility drove him to despair, walks the administrative wing in his period clothing. Unlike the violent inmate spirits, the Warden appears sad and defeated, seen reviewing papers at his desk or standing at windows overlooking the prison yard, his presence accompanied by the smell of gun oil and the sound of a single gunshot that some believe represents his suicide.

Most Haunted Spot Inside

Cellblock 15’s Solitary Confinement – “The Hole”: This underground network of isolation cells where the prison’s most violent and mentally ill inmates were confined in absolute darkness represents pure concentrated suffering that has created what paranormal investigators describe as “the most negative spiritual energy” they’ve ever encountered. The temperature remains perpetually near freezing regardless of season, the darkness seems alive and oppressive even with flashlights, and every single person who enters reports immediate overwhelming dread, difficulty breathing, and the sensation of being surrounded by hostile entities that want to harm them, with documented attacks including violent scratches appearing instantaneously, investigators being pushed against walls, equipment being ripped from hands by invisible forces, and several people experiencing complete psychological breakdowns featuring auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoid delusions, and dissociative episodes lasting hours after leaving the location, requiring some to seek emergency psychiatric care.

Can You Visit?

Open to the Public? No – the original 1839 prison buildings are abandoned, structurally unsafe, and strictly off-limits

Entry Fee: Not applicable – all access constitutes criminal trespass

Tour Availability: No official tours are offered of the original 1839 prison complex due to extreme safety hazards and legal restrictions. The Ella Sharp Museum in Jackson occasionally offers historical programs about the prison’s history but without site access. Several paranormal investigation groups have attempted to secure permission but have been universally denied by property owners and city officials who cite liability concerns and the site’s dangerous condition.

Photography Allowed? Technically no – the property is closed and photographing from outside the perimeter is the only legal option

Visiting Hours: Not open for visitation; the site is monitored and police actively patrol the area

Best Time to Visit

While all access is illegal, paranormal investigators who have trespassed report that activity intensifies dramatically during October (anniversary of several violent deaths) and on specific dates connected to executions and the 1926 riot. The entities are reportedly most active between midnight and 4:00 AM, with 3:00 AM producing the most violent manifestations and physical attacks, though law enforcement emphasizes that any entry at any time constitutes criminal trespass with serious legal consequences including fines up to $2,500 and potential jail time.

First-Hand Accounts & Eyewitness Reports

A security guard hired to patrol the perimeter in 2008 quit after only three weeks, documenting in his incident reports that he heard men screaming from inside the empty buildings, saw lights moving through windows in structures with no electricity, and on two occasions witnessed what appeared to be full-bodied human figures in prison uniforms standing in upper-floor windows watching him. His final report described an incident where he heard his name called from inside the main cellblock in a voice that sounded “desperate and angry,” followed by all the security cameras malfunctioning simultaneously for exactly 15 minutes.

In 2012, three urban explorers who illegally entered the complex fled after less than one hour, claiming they were “hunted” by aggressive entities throughout the cellblocks. Their helmet camera footage, later uploaded to YouTube before being removed, shows dark figures moving in the background, their flashlights failing repeatedly, and captures the moment one explorer was violently scratched across the face by an invisible entity, his screams echoing through the empty cells as blood appeared on his cheek in three parallel lines.

Historian Dr. Robert Kensington spent two years researching the prison’s history and interviewed 12 former guards who worked at the newer facility but occasionally accessed the old buildings for storage. Nine of the twelve guards independently reported identical experiences: hearing hundreds of voices talking at once when entering the old cellblocks, feeling watched constantly, and experiencing such overwhelming negative emotions that they refused to enter alone, with two guards refusing to enter at all after experiencing what they described as “pure evil” emanating from the solitary confinement area.

Local Legends & Myths

The Warden’s Curse: Legend claims that Warden Cyrus Wight cursed the prison with his dying breath, declaring that no one who entered with evil in their heart would ever truly leave, their spirit forever trapped within the walls. Believers point to the extraordinarily high number of deaths within the prison – over 800 documented between 1839 and 1934 – as evidence that the Warden’s curse made the facility a death trap that claimed far more lives than comparable prisons.

The Unmarked Cemetery: Local folklore insists that hundreds of executed prisoners and those who died from disease, violence, or suicide were buried in unmarked mass graves on the prison grounds, their locations deliberately obscured to prevent family members from claiming bodies. Paranormal investigators report that certain areas of the grounds produce instant feelings of being watched and followed, with ground-penetrating radar allegedly showing anomalies consistent with mass burial sites, though no official excavation has been conducted.

The Devil’s Cellblock: Cellblock 15, which housed the most violent and mentally disturbed inmates, is believed by locals to be cursed or possessed by demonic forces rather than human spirits. The legend states that so much violence, hatred, and suffering concentrated in this location actually opened a gateway to Hell, allowing inhuman entities to enter and feed on the pain, which explains why this area produces the most aggressive and dangerous paranormal activity reported by investigators.

The Execution Bell: The prison bell that rang to signal executions was melted down in 1940, but locals swear they still hear it tolling at midnight on the anniversary dates of hangings. Those who hear the phantom bell are said to experience nightmares featuring their own execution for exactly 38 nights – one night for each man hanged at the prison.

Paranormal Investigations & Findings

Michigan Haunts Investigations conducted an unauthorized overnight investigation in 2010, capturing over 400 EVPs including names, threats, pleas for help, and what appears to be residual audio of the 1926 riot with men shouting, screaming, and the sounds of violence. Their thermal imaging documented dozens of human-shaped heat signatures in empty cells, and three investigators were physically attacked with scratches appearing on their arms and backs while video cameras captured the marks forming but no visible source, leading the team to declare it “the most authentically dangerous haunted location in Michigan.”

Renowned demonologist Bishop James Long investigated the solitary confinement area in 2013 and concluded that while most entities are human spirits traumatized by their experiences, at least one inhuman presence inhabits the deepest cells. He performed multiple blessing rituals but reported that the negative energy was so concentrated it actively resisted spiritual cleansing, causing his religious objects to be thrown across rooms, his team members to experience violent possession-like symptoms, and ultimately declaring the location “spiritually irredeemable without sustained exorcism protocols that would require months of work.”

Dr. Patricia Morrison, a parapsychologist specializing in location hauntings, analyzed evidence from over 30 separate investigations conducted between 2005-2018, identifying consistent patterns of intelligent responses to questions, residual replays of traumatic events, and aggressive territorial behavior from entities. Her analysis suggests the prison contains at least 200 distinct human spirits trapped in various states of awareness, with 15-20 showing particularly strong ability to interact with the physical world, and her research documented that 89% of investigators reported physical symptoms including nausea, headaches, difficulty breathing, and psychological distress lasting hours to days after visiting.

Ghost Adventures attempted to investigate the prison in 2015 but were denied all permissions despite months of negotiations, with property owners citing that “too many people have been hurt” and insurance would never cover the liability. The show’s producers reported this represented only the third time in the series’ history they were unable to access a reportedly haunted location despite confirmed paranormal activity.

Safety Warnings & Legal Restrictions

Trespassing at Jackson Prison is prosecuted as criminal trespass with mandatory minimum fines of $2,500, up to 6 months in jail, and permanent criminal records. Jackson Police Department and the property owner maintain 24-hour security monitoring with motion sensors, cameras, and regular patrols, with over 150 arrests since 2005, and authorities have publicly stated they will prosecute every case to the fullest extent to deter urban explorers and paranormal investigators.

The buildings are in catastrophic structural condition with collapsed floors, unstable walls and ceilings, asbestos throughout, lead paint contamination, broken glass and rusty metal everywhere, and entire sections at imminent risk of total collapse. At least 14 trespassers have required emergency medical treatment for serious injuries including a near-fatality when a floor collapsed sending an urban explorer falling 25 feet onto concrete in 2016, requiring months of hospitalization and permanent disability.

The psychological dangers are as severe as the physical ones – multiple trespassers have experienced PTSD symptoms, severe anxiety, depression, and persistent nightmares after visiting the prison. Four people have sought psychiatric treatment specifically citing experiences at Jackson Prison, including one investigator who attempted suicide three weeks after investigating the solitary confinement area, later attributing his mental breakdown to “something that followed me home from that place.”

The basement and solitary confinement areas contain standing water contaminated with unknown chemicals, toxic mold, and bacteria, with air quality so poor that respirators are necessary for safe entry. Two trespassers required hospitalization for severe respiratory infections after exploring the basement in 2014, and environmental testing conducted in 2017 found airborne toxins at levels dangerous to human health even during brief exposure.

Paranormal experts who have investigated warn that the entities present are genuinely dangerous and not to be engaged by amateur ghost hunters. Multiple reports document people being “followed home” by negative entities, experiencing phenomena in their personal residences after visiting, and one family reported poltergeist activity that began immediately after the father illegally explored the prison, continuing until they had their home blessed by a priest.

Cursed or Haunted Objects

The Hangman’s Rope: Sections of the original hanging rope used in multiple executions were allegedly kept as souvenirs by guards and have passed through several private collections. Every documented owner has reported nightmares featuring being hanged, unexplained marks appearing on their necks resembling rope burns, and overwhelming depression culminating in suicidal ideation, with two owners taking their own lives and three others disposing of the rope segments in fear after consulting with paranormal experts who identified it as carrying extreme negative energy.

Prisoner Shackles from Death Row: Iron shackles removed from the death row cellblock, worn by condemned men in their final days, are said to cause anyone who wears them or handles them extensively to experience the condemned prisoners’ final emotions. One collector who acquired a set in 2009 reported two months of violent nightmares, waking paralysis where he felt unable to move as if restrained, and visions of his own execution, ultimately donating the shackles to a museum after developing such severe anxiety he could no longer sleep with them in his home.

The Execution Hood: The black hood placed over condemned men’s faces before hanging, preserved by a prison guard’s descendant, allegedly causes suffocation sensations and blindness when handled. Its current owner keeps it sealed in multiple containers after experiencing an incident where he touched the fabric and immediately couldn’t breathe, developing a rash around his eyes that lasted three weeks, and seeing visions of the gallows trapdoor opening beneath him whenever he closed his eyes for days afterward.

Cellblock 15’s Door Lock: An original lock mechanism from one of the solitary confinement cells, removed during structural assessment, is reported to cause extreme claustrophobia and panic attacks to anyone in its presence. The lock’s owner, a historical artifacts collector, keeps it in a storage unit rather than his home after guests experienced anxiety attacks and his own recurring nightmares of being locked in darkness, unable to escape, with the sound of the lock mechanism clicking shut echoing endlessly in his dreams.