Est. 1892 · Psychiatric Hospital History · Preparatory School History · Virginia Historic Register
George W. Miles established the St Albans institution in 1892 as a preparatory school for up to 50 boys. The school sat on a 56-acre tract in rural Pulaski County, served by the Radford post office. Miles, a University of Virginia graduate and former Emory and Henry College professor, ran it as a classical preparatory school.
The school years were not without incident — accounts describe a culture of significant bullying among students in the years after Miles sold his interest in 1902, and the property developed a difficult early reputation despite its educational mission. The school eventually closed, and in 1916, the facility transitioned to a new purpose: psychiatric hospital.
St Albans operated as a psychiatric hospital for most of the 20th century. It was incorporated as St. Albans Psychiatric Hospital in 1948 and accredited in 1960, and in 1980 it moved into a new building beside the original ones. By the 1990s it had merged with the Carilion Health System, the regional healthcare network based in Roanoke. The original buildings were vacant by 1994, and in 2004 Carilion gave the property to the Radford University Real Estate Foundation.
The building's current operators have maintained and partially restored the structure while opening it to guided tours and paranormal investigation events. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has documented the property. Preservation groups continue work on the building.
Events include flashlight tours, public and private paranormal investigations, and a fall haunted attraction, House of Shadows; the venue's website lists current dates. The property has been featured by SyFy's Haunted Collector, Travel Channel's The Dead Files, and Destination America's Ghost Asylum with the Tennessee Wraith Chasers.
Sources
- https://www.stalbansvirginia.com/
- https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/saint-albans-sanatorium
- https://colonialghosts.com/st-albans-sanatorium/
- https://www.virginia.org/listing/st-albans-sanatorium-a-paranormal-investigation-site/4458/
- https://www.paraholics.com/p/st-albans-sanatorium-ghost-hunting
- https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/077-0046/
Shadow figuresApparitionsEVPObject movementDoors opening/closingPoltergeist activityDisembodied voicesPhantom sounds
Multiple investigation teams, working across different years and circumstances, describe similar phenomena at St Albans. Shadow figures crossing the hallways appear in reports from separate groups without prior coordination. Investigators report objects moving without identifiable physical cause during sessions.
Disembodied voices captured on recording equipment — EVP — are described as particularly clear at St Albans compared to other investigated sites, according to accounts from investigation groups. The voice quality and apparent responsiveness to investigator questions are cited in multiple reports.
Poltergeist-type activity — doors slamming, objects thrown, lights responding to apparent intent — has been reported during several public and private investigation events. The upper floors of the building are described as particularly active in these accounts.
TV production teams that have investigated include SyFy's Haunted Collector, Travel Channel's The Dead Files, and Destination America's Ghost Asylum, in which the Tennessee Wraith Chasers conducted their investigation. Virginia ghost tour operators, including Colonial Ghosts, regularly include St Albans in educational content about the region's paranormal sites.
Media Appearances
- Ghost Asylum (Destination America)
- The Dead Files (Travel Channel)
- Haunted Collector (SyFy)
- Destination Fear: St. Albans Sanatorium (S1E4) (2019)
- Haunted Road: The Most Haunted Location in Virginia (2025)
