For some reason, mental institutions are frequently rumored to be haunted, especially in the United States, and The Ridges is no exception. Horror movies frequently show these buildings as lumbering, hulking structures with cobwebs in the corners and ghosts lurking around every corner. Abandoned mental institutions are even worse for rumors of hauntings. Unfortunately for The Ridges, not only is this former mental institution no longer used, but it is also plagued with rumors of ghosts and hauntings.
When the Athens Medical Center first opened in 1874, it was known as the Athens Lunatic Asylum, and specialized in the treatment of the mentally and criminally insane. The process of building The Ridges was a long, and drawn out affair. Athens hoped to be the home of a mental institution on par with luxurious buildings in other cities across the Midwest. It took over six years to build the hospital, and only after the Ohio government worked with the US government to obtain enough money to buy 1,000 acres from the Coates, a prominent Athens family.
Many of those original patients were forcibly admitted by either the court system, or in some cases, their own families. There were even cases where mental institutions paid a set amount of money for every patient admitted when times were slow. The Ridges was one of the more popular mental institutions in Ohio, and typically did not need to rely on other means to bring in patients.
Despite the large amount of disturbed individuals residing inside The Ridges, it steadfastly maintained a calm, and relaxed living atmosphere. The hospital even offered fountains, and beautifully designed gardens for patients to enjoy. The area was so beautiful that locals often used the grounds for picnics. Patients were encouraged to safely walk the grounds, and take classes on how to handle life outside the gates. To keep patients safe from the criminally insane, the patients were separated based on their diagnosis. Dangerous patients were kept a safe distance away from the less violent ones, with the nurses and doctors placed in the middle.
Slowly The Ridges changed from a comfortable placed with a home like atmosphere, to an overcrowded institution with terrible treatments used on patients. Electroshock therapy, ice water baths, and lobotomies were coming into vogue across the country, and the doctors in Athens began using them as well. The type of mental patients began changing also, as more and more families began admitting their relatives. Children turned their elderly parents over to The Ridges, and parents sent their rebellious teenagers as well. A teenager who exhibited any signs of a personality change could willingly be admitted to the hospital.
It didn’t help that the area surrounding The Ridges was undergoing a tremendous change. Ohio University purchased part of the hospital’s land to build their Convocation Center in 1960, followed by an expansion of State Route 682. That destroyed a reservoir on site, as well as four of the carefully designed lakes. The Ridges was eventually closed in 1993 due to budget cuts. It was later purchased by Ohio University, who still owns it today.
Cruel and unusual treatments administered by doctors and other hospital workers were not the only strange thing to happen during the heyday of The Ridges. On December 1, 1978 a patient at The Ridges mysteriously disappeared. Margaret Schilling was an ordinary patient who simply wandered off that day. It was rumored by some that the woman was playing hide and seek with one of the nurses who got distracted, and forgot to look for her. Hospital workers immediately locked down the building, and began a full scale search of the hospital, but they could not find her. Over a month later, on January 12, 1979 her body was found.
A maintenance worker was on the 4th floor of an abandoned ward, working on a maintenance problem discovered her body. No one is quite sure how long she stayed there, but it must have been horrible for her. Ohio in the middle of winter isn’t the best conditions usually, and she was left alone with no food or water, in an unheated area and only her regular clothing for protection.
The oddest thing about the disappearance of Margaret Schilling was the mark her body left on the floor. Schilling’s body left an outline on the floor, with the imprint of her clothing and hair perfectly visible. Experts explain that as her body decomposed, it reacted with the sunlight coming in through one of the windows to form the outline. That doesn’t explain why the stain still appears, or why it comes back even after being cleaned away. Margaret is one of the many ghosts of former patients that are rumored to still haunt The Ridges.
Perhaps the oddest moment in the history of The Ridges was when Billy Milligan was admitted in 1977. Milligan was arrested on charges of kidnaping and raping three females Ohio State University students. Milligan claimed he didn’t remember the events as he suffered from multiple personality disorder, and became the first person in history to have prosecutors accept an insanity plea. The judge agreed to the terms, and sentenced the rapist to time at The Ridges. He would later take front and center in a best selling book about his condition called The Minds of Billy Milligan.
The Ridges/Athens Medical Center had a cemetery where those who died were buried, and most are rumored to be haunted. Many of those buried inside the cemetery are patients who were admitted by the court system. They either did not have anyone come forward to pay for their funeral expenses, or they did not have any remaining family. Each patient was given a number, and laid in a simple grave with only the number to mark their final resting place. The headstones run in linear shapes except for one small section where the headstones are placed in a circular design. Some claim that a coven of witches met on this sacred spot. Its probably more realistic to assume that vandals moved the headstones themselves.
The Ridges may be haunted, it may not be, but it does have a fascinating history. Ohio University currently owns the building, and provides tours of the building. Its easily worth a look.
