Est. 1930 · Greenville County tuberculosis sanatorium circa 1930–1950s · Later psychiatric facility and prisoner release site · Fire 2001, demolition, sealed basement remains under playground · Historical marker on grounds
Greenville County established a tuberculosis hospital near Paris Mountain around 1930, during a period when TB remained a leading cause of death in the American South and purpose-built sanatoriums were the standard treatment model. The facility — sometimes referred to as Hopewell Sanatorium — treated hundreds of patients over roughly two decades before the advent of effective antibiotic treatment for tuberculosis in the early 1950s changed the calculus of institutional care.
In later years the building was repurposed. It served as a psychiatric facility and at one point housed a prisoner release program, extending the site's institutional history well past the TB era. The building was significantly damaged by fire in 2001. What remained was subsequently demolished rather than rehabilitated.
A historical marker on the grounds documents the site's tuberculosis-era history. The basement of the original structure was sealed rather than removed, and it remains in place beneath the current park footprint. Greenville County developed the cleared land as Herdklotz Park, a public recreational facility with playground equipment, a disc golf course, and walking paths. The sealed basement door is visible near the playground.
A 2025 news account by Lantern Media Group documented the site's condition and its reputation in the local community, noting that the park sees regular family use during the day alongside a separate category of after-dark visitor interest connected to its history.
Sources
- https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/experiences/south-carolina/haunted-herdklotz-park-playground-sc
- https://www.lanternmg.com/2025/07/04/are-the-grounds-of-this-old-tuberculosis-hospital-in-upstate-south-carolina-haunted/
FootstepsBanging soundsScreamingUnexplained bellsOrbsShadow figures
The paranormal accounts at Herdklotz Park focus almost entirely on the sealed basement entrance near the playground. Visitors describe hearing unexplained footsteps on what they characterize as a hollow surface, as well as banging sounds that appear to originate below ground. Screaming has been reported — described by some accounts as human, by others as ambiguous — along with what are characterized as bell sounds with no obvious source.
Orb sightings are among the most frequently cited phenomena in submitted accounts, appearing in photographs taken near the basement entrance, particularly after dark. Shadowy figures have been described moving near the door or at the edge of sight in the surrounding park.
Most accounts connect the reported activity to the layers of institutional use: the tuberculosis patients who died at the sanatorium in the pre-antibiotic era, the subsequent psychiatric facility population, and the prisoners who cycled through the release program. Whether the basement contains any human remains is not publicly documented.
Modern Mind Reader's paranormal account and the Only in Your State feature on the park both document these reports in the context of the site's documented history, presenting the phenomena alongside the architectural fact of the sealed basement rather than as isolated anecdote.
