Castle on the Cumberland Considered One of the Most Haunted Places in Kentucky

by Joe
(Texas)

Castle on the Cumberland Considered One of the Most Haunted Places in Kentucky

According to many, the Castle on the Cumberland – also known as the “Kentucky State Penitentiary (KSP)” and “The Pen in Eddyville” – is considered to be one of the most haunted places in Kentucky. In previous years, I worked as an employee of the Kentucky Department of Corrections in Eddyville, Kentucky at the Castle of the Cumberland – or, simply stated, “The Kentucky State Prison”. The stories that I have been privy to and the experiences that I have had make me believe that this immense structure is – in fact – one of the most haunted places in Kentucky.

Before telling my story, I would like to share a little bit of information about this prison. It was built in the mid-1800s. It is considered to be both “maximum security” and as a “supermax prison”. At any given time, there are 800 or more people serving time in this facility. Not only is the prison exceptionally large, but it is considered to be the second oldest prison in the State of Kentucky, as the Kentucky State Reformatory located in Frankfort is the oldest, which opened in the year of 1798. This haunted prison was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the year of 1981 as a direct part of the Old Eddyville Historic District.

Now that you have an idea of how old this prison is, the number of inmates housed in it and throughout its history, and know about it being maximum security, I am sure you have an idea of just how much sickness, violence, and sadness has found its way in and around the building. Due to that, you can probably imagine just how many stories about ghosts, spirits, demons, and other types of entities has been shared throughout all of its years of operation. Now, in most instances, I would just write these off as tall tales, rumors, or hearsay; however, experience goes a long way with me. It is from my experience that, yes, this prison probably IS one of the most haunted places in Kentucky.

As a correctional officer, I have spent a lot of time within the gun towers. This is where most of my experiences took place. First, gun cabinets would open randomly. I tried to uncover the underlying cause of this unexplained phenomenon, but was not successful. Next, I have personally witnessed apparitions within the towers. While doing my security checks of the pipe chases of the prison, I have observed – on many, many different occasions – shadows that seemed to be following me. For all, I tried to discover the “why?”, but – eventually – I started questioning the “what?” of all of these experiences.

One time – and, I will never, ever forget it – I was working the yard. There was an unmanned guard tower completely empty; however, it is the one that houses all of the controls for the gate to Prison Industries. There are only employees in that tower from the times of 4am to 6pm. At this point, it was just after 12am – the time when I handled one of my rounds. Each time I walked by this unmanned tower, the gate would open. There was no explanation for this. It got to the point where myself and the sergeant overseeing the yard had to actually put a chain lock on the gates to keep them closed.

If you look up haunted stories about this prison, you will discover that a lot of people have had similar experiences – be it inmates or those like me, that actually worked there. Is it truly one of the most haunted places in Kentucky? I would have to agree that it probably is. If not, it is truly a place of mystery and intrigue with a massive amount of unexplained phenomenon and various situations going on in and around the building.