HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
+ 2 further entries on record
A 1926 private asylum off California Street in Wichita Falls where a 2008 investigation captured children's EVP and a vintage bicycle horn — now converted to private apartments.
California Ave at Olen St, Wichita Falls, TX 76301
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Private property — exterior drive-by only; no public access.
Access
Limited Access
Private residential property; exterior sidewalk only
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1926 · Private Psychiatric History · Progressive Mental Health Approach 1920s · West Texas Medical History
Dr. Frank S. White opened the sanitarium in 1926 after leaving his post as superintendent at the Austin State Hospital. His stated goal was to provide private mental health patients with residential-style care — communal living rooms, library access, card games — rather than the institutional confinement typical of state facilities at the time. White's tenure ended in 1931 after five years due to illness.
Despite the progressive framing, the facility employed electroshock therapy and lobotomies, procedures that were standard in private psychiatric practice of that era. The building itself, a Spanish-style cream stucco structure with red tile roofing, occupied a corner lot on California Street in a residential neighborhood.
A catastrophic flood in the 1950s severely damaged the facility and accelerated its closure. The building sat largely vacant for more than fifty years, falling into disrepair. Doy Terry owned the property for many years and sold it to Aubrey Jollotta, who undertook a conversion of the main structure into private apartments. Terry died in November 2020.
Sources
In 2008, a team of paranormal investigators brought a local television reporter into the sanitarium and documented a series of equipment anomalies. Electronic devices malfunctioned on entry. EVP recordings captured what investigators described as childlike voices and a vintage bicycle horn sounding from empty rooms. The reporter accompanied the team and the investigation was documented in local media coverage.
A separate account cited in Docia W. Williams' book Phantom of the Plains describes two visitors who spent the night in the lower level and were awakened near midnight by footsteps shuffling across cement and sloshing sounds from roughly six inches of standing water in the basement — followed by a woman's voice calling a name, Susan, repeatedly, from outside the building. A thorough search found no source.
Other reported phenomena include lights appearing at night despite no functioning electricity, a woman in white seen walking the grounds or visible in windows, and groups of men seen playing cards at night. Investigators on other occasions reported recording devices losing power and hearing children's voices on upper floors with no physical source.
The 1926 Spanish-style cream stucco and red tile building is visible from the street at California Avenue and Olen Street. The building has been converted to private apartments and no interior access is available.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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