Ashmore Estates

Illinois · United States · Hospital

Ashmore Estates — Illinois · United States · Hospital

The legend says the funding stopped, the staff walked out, and the patients were left to die. That is not what happened here.

Ashmore Estates west of Ashmore, Illinois was built as a county poor farm infirmary and later served as a private care facility. It closed in the 1980s and stood derelict for years.

The legend told by everyone who goes there is that government funding was withdrawn, the staff left, and the patients, unable to help themselves, died of starvation and thirst.

That did not happen. The facility closed through ordinary regulatory and financial process, and the residents were moved. No mass death occurred here.

What did happen is grim enough without invention. The county poor farm that preceded it took in the destitute, the elderly and the mentally ill for a century, and many who died there were buried on the grounds in unmarked graves.

The building has since been bought, repaired and opened commercially for tours and investigations.

It is private property and entry is by arrangement only.

FAQ

Where is Ashmore Estates located?

Ashmore Estates is in Illinois, United States.

More haunted places in Illinois

Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: Mikefall2 (Michael Kleen) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons