The presence of spirits at Freestone County Museum has boosted its number of visitors and gotten the interest of ghost hunters across the country, several of whom plan to film television segments here.

“Our attendance has shot up over 100 percent,” curator Sandy Bell says. “It gave a new life to the museum.”

Members of Texas Paranormal Advanced Research Team spent a weekend at the museum, part of which is a former county jail, in January. After audio and video recordings made during the visit, TEXPART lead investigator Jimmy Kelly Bilman gave his opinion that the facility is haunted.

Since then, visitors have been flocking to the museum to watch and listen to the recordings, and to see if they can have a paranormal experience.

Things are getting interesting.

Ms. Bell reports that a woman from Korea, who is a medium, dropped by the museum for a tour of its grounds, which include the old jail, two log cabins, a church and an exhibits building.

On the second floor of the jail, the woman placed her hands on the floor and declared that something “terrible” had happened on the spot—-specifically, a murder in 1888.

A little research turned up a newspaper article from the July 13, 1888, edition of The Fairfield Recorder that documented a killing in the jail. An inmate had beaten and stabbed another inmate.

The article is included in the third volume of History of Freestone County recently published by Freestone County Genealogical Society.

“I was just floored,” Ms. Bell says.

The jail served the county from 1879-1913 and was a private residence from 1913-1966 when it was acquired to house the museum.

Ms. Bell had documented four hangings on the jail grounds, one of them inside the building, but knew nothing of the killing before the visit by the medium.

The visitor also has a vision of a tall woman standing in a window of the building and the curator has found a picture of former residents, specifically five tall women.

The curator recently attended a Texas Ghost Show conference in Beaumont, taking with her recordings and pictures made by TEXPART during its investigation and a picture of Fairfield’s first firetruck that is on display. The firetruck picture appears to show a man sitting behind the steering wheel.

“Everybody tried to debunk it and couldn’t come up with an answer,” Ms. Bell says. “It became the hit of the conference.”

Attendance at the conference put the museum curator in contact with a number of leading paranormal investigators.

“They are all interested,” Ms. Bell reports.

One of the conference speakers, Research: Paranormal founder Mike Roberts of North Carolina spent the night at the museum after the Beaumont conference ended, bringing with him more sophisticated equipment than was used in the investigation earlier this year. He picked up more readings of paranormal activity.

Roberts is reviewing the information he gathered prior to setting up a time to file a television segment.

Also at the conference were Brad Klinge, star of Ghost Lab which airs on the Discovery Channel, and Brian Harnois, investigator for the Ghost Hunters television show.

If the museum is the site for television show segments, the producers will pay a location fee to the museum.

The bottom line for interest in paranormal investigations at the facility is publicity and another stream of revenue.

Tourists will pay to attend events at locations that are believed to be haunted. For example, tickets for a weekend event in Waxahachie are $199 per person.

The Waxahachie event

ing an additional $50,000

includes music, food,

to restore the Carter cabin,

paranormal lecture, bus

and that repairs are also

tours and investigation of

needed on the Watson

sites. Hotel rooms are

cabin and the old jail.

extra.

She notes, though, that

Well known paranormal

when visitors come to

researchers such as

check the otherworldly

Roberts will put together

activity at the museum,

an event, which would be a

she also provides them

financial benefit to the

with a history lesson of

museum.

Freestone county.

“The economy is being

She also reports that

boosted. We are putting

school age visitors are now

heads in beds,” the curator

coming to the museum,

says.

drawn by the paranormal

Ms. Bell reports that the

reports, and are learning a

museum currently is need-

little history as a bonus.