HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Built on the site of the 1828 Mount Vernon Arsenal where Apache prisoners including Geronimo were held, Searcy operated as a segregated psychiatric hospital for Black patients from 1902 to 2012 — periodic 'Behind the Walls' tours are offered by the preservation society.
4010 Randlett Road, Mount Vernon, AL 36560
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
The Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Society conducts periodic 'Behind the Walls' public tours. Check the society for current tour schedule and any admission fee.
Access
Limited Access
Historic campus with 19th-century structures in various states of deterioration. Tours are led by the preservation society; terrain varies.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1828 · Mount Vernon Arsenal — Established 1828 · Apache Prisoner-of-War Detention Site 1887–1894 (Including Geronimo) · Segregated Psychiatric Hospital for Black Patients 1902–1969 · Civil Rights Desegregation History
The Mount Vernon Arsenal was established by the U.S. Army in 1828 in Mobile County, Alabama, as a military installation to supply the southern frontier. The site takes on darker significance in 1887, when the Army used it to detain Apache prisoners of war following Geronimo's surrender in Arizona. Geronimo and approximately 500 Apache men, women, and children were held at Mount Vernon Barracks from 1887 to 1894 under conditions that led to significant loss of life from tuberculosis and other diseases. The Apache were then transferred to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The 19th-century structures still standing on the campus include buildings from this period.
In 1902 the state of Alabama converted the former military installation to a psychiatric hospital operating exclusively for African-American patients. The decision reflected the legal segregation of the era: Alabama's other state psychiatric facilities served white patients only, and Black patients requiring institutionalization were routed to Searcy. The facility operated under this segregated arrangement for its first 67 years.
Like other segregated state hospitals of the period, Searcy operated with fewer resources than comparable white institutions. It treated patients through the mid-20th century era of electroconvulsive therapy, insulin shock treatment, and other procedures. The Civil Rights Act and subsequent federal enforcement mandated desegregation of state facilities; Searcy was integrated in 1969.
The hospital continued operating until 2012, when it was closed as part of Alabama's consolidation of psychiatric services. The campus was left with its historic structures — some dating to the 1828 arsenal — deteriorating in place. The Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Society has worked to document and preserve the site and conducts periodic 'Behind the Walls' tours for the public.
Sources
Searcy Hospital's paranormal reputation has been covered by WKRG News as part of its haunted-history reporting. Accounts describe apparitions seen in the empty historic structures and sounds — characterized as screams or cries — heard in buildings that have been unoccupied since the 2012 closure.
The site's physical and historical character supports a sustained local reputation. The structures standing on the campus date in part to the 1828 arsenal period, giving the oldest buildings nearly two centuries of documented use. The Apache detention years — in which hundreds of prisoners died — are the period that generates the most specific claims in oral accounts preserved by the preservation society and in local tradition. The segregated psychiatric hospital period added 110 years of institutional deaths to the site's history.
No formal paranormal investigations with published methodology and results appear in our sourcing. The preservation society's 'Behind the Walls' tours are focused on historical and architectural documentation rather than paranormal investigation.
The Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Society conducts periodic public tours of the Searcy Hospital campus. The 'Behind the Walls' tours bring visitors through the 19th-century structures that remain on the grounds, covering the site's history as the Mount Vernon Arsenal, as a holding site for Apache prisoners after the Indian Wars, and as a segregated psychiatric hospital for Black patients from 1902 to 2012.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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