Ghosts of Georgia Investigation report
On July 19, 2014, GOGPI investigated claims of paranormal activity in the old jail and Eagle’s Tavern museum across the street in Watkinsville, GA. The activity reported at the two locations are as follows: Shadows, disembodied voices, someone being attacked in the basement, and footsteps.
Investigators & people present at investigation: Investigators – Beth Peters, Ed Laughlin, Larry Laughlin, Gretchen Mann, Christie & Chris Bradley, our guide Jeff Clarke.
Weather conditions:
Meridian Passing
Date
July 19, 2014 Moonrise
1:07 AM (78)
Moonset
2:35 PM (285) Time
7:48 AM (66.7) Altitude
Distance Illuminated
45.8% Phase
(mi)
237,435
Past Weather Conditions for KAHN
Observations prior to selected time: July 19, 2014 – 09:00 EDT
Weather Conditions at July 19, 2014 – 8:58 EDT
8:58 24 Hour Max 24 Hour Min
Temperature 68.0° F 82.9 at 14:51 66.2 at 7:23
Dew Point 66.2° F 71.6 at 18:46 64.0 at 15:51
Relative Humidity 94% 100 at 8:13 57 at 14:51
Wind Speed 7 mph from E 12 at 8:36 0 at 10:51
Wind Gust – 18 at 8:36 18 at 8:36
Pressure 29.22 in 29.28 at 9:22 29.21 at 3:51
Sea level pressure – 30.13 at 10:51 30.06 at 3:51
Altimeter 30.09 in 30.15 at 9:22 30.08 at 3:51
Weather conditions lt rain, fog – –
Visibility 3.00 miles 10.00 at 9:22 1.25 at 8:23
Ceiling 2900 feet 12000 at 20:48 600 at 23:01
Equipment used by Investigators:
Cameras: Two Canon Rebel digital cameras and Four IR Video Cameras connected to a J2000 DVR.
EMF Meters: Electro Sensor EMF Meter, Cell Sensor, Digital EMF Detectors, Mel-8704R-KII and K-II Meter.
Audio Recorders: Sony P210 digital voice recorder and an Olympus D-10 digital voice recorder and Olympus VN-4100PC.
Thermometers: Cen-Tech mini non-contact infrared digital thermometer and an Omega HH68K ambient thermometer.
History:
The Eagle Tavern is one of the earliest surviving structures in Watkinsville, Oconee County, Georgia, United States. The Eagle Tavern was built circa 1801 but possibly as early as 1794. In the early part of the 19th century, the city of Watkinsville, Georgia was on the frontier of Creek and Cherokee Indian Territories. The site of the tavern may also have been the site of Fort Edwards, a gathering place for settlers seeking protection from attack by the Creek and Cherokee. The tavern was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 13 May 1970. It was a stagecoach-style trading post. People from all over the South visited the tavern for lodging, food and drink.
If you want to step back in time, find out more history, or take a tour of the Eagle Tavern Museum contact the wonderful people at the Oconee County Visitors Center, http://visitoconee.com/.
The jail was built circa 1905 and was used up to the 1980’s. The jail has a dark history that back in 1905 shortly after the jail was opened a mob of 75 men from outside of Watkinsville came to the jail and took 8 prisoners out of the jail and lynched them. There is also a gallows in the jail. For more information about the jail please contact the wonderful people at the Oconee County Visitors Center, http://visitoconee.com/.
Condition of the Tavern and the Old Jail:
The Old jail is in good shape and part of the building is used today by a private business on the first floor and part of the Old Jail is connected to the courthouse with an office occupying part of the second floor of the jail. All utilities have been upgraded and are working good. The windows and doors are in good shape with little sound coming in from the outside or from the hallway of the new courthouse or office.
Over the years additions were built onto the Eagle Tavern including an additional sixteen bedrooms. After the Tavern closed most of the addition was in disrepair. The Eagle Tavern’s original building was restore while the addition were torn down. The building is structurally sound, the utilities have been upgraded to today’s standards and are in working order. The outside doors are in good shape and when closed make a tight seal allowing very little draft or nose to come in from the outside. Most of the windows are very old and allow sound to travel through them. With the building close to the road and the windows we were able to hear people’s voices, cars passing by, and other noises come from outside. Since there was no wind the night of the investigation we are unable to determine if there would be drafts coming from the outside.
Special Thanks:
We would like to extend special thanks to Alex, Peggy, and Jeff from the Oconee County Visitors Center. They are a wonderful group of people that are very knowledgeable of the history of the county and were a tremendous help in assisting us with the investigation.
Start Investigation 8:30 pm – End Investigation 2:40 am
Base Readings – Arrival & Setup 8:00 pm
Mercantile Rm in Tavern – 74.5 temp, 0.1 EMF
Main Tavern Rm – 75 temp, 0.2 EMF
Stairway in Tavern – 74.8 temp, 0.2 EMF
Loom Room in Tavern – 76 temp, 0.0 EMF
Bedroom in Tavern – 75 temp, 0.1 EMF
Jail – 72.2 temp, 0.1 EMF
Investigation – 1 Team in the Tavern – Chris and Beth
1. 9:04 pm – Basement of Tavern 0.3 EMF
a. 9:11 – Start EVP w/Flashlight – 2:18 am End EVP
2. 9:21 pm – Bedroom – 75.5 temp, 0.0 EMF
a. 9:27 pm – Start EVP w/Bear – 9:38 pm End EVP
3. 9:43 pm – Loom Room
a. 9:44 pm – Start EVP – 9:48 pm End EVP
4. 9:50 pm – Mercantile Rm – walking investigation
5. 9:55 pm – Tavern Rm
a. 9:56 pm – Start EVP – 10:19 pm End EVP
Investigation – 1 Team in the Jail – Chris and Beth
6. 10:30 pm – Jail
a. 10:40 pm – Start EVP in Men’s Cell
b. Continued EVP through Women’s Cell
7. 11:36 pm – End EVP and sweep in Jail
Investigation – 2 Team in the Jail– Larry and Christie
8. 9:04 pm – Jail
a. 9:10 pm – Start EVP in Men’s Cell – 9:38 pm End EVP
b. 9:39 pm – Start EVP in Women’s Cell – 10:15 pm End EVP and sweep in Jail
Investigation – 2 Team in the Tavern– Larry and Christie
9. 11:55 pm – Bedroom of Tavern
a. 11:55 pm – Start EVP w/Spirit Box – 12:14 am – End EVP
10. 12:16 am – Loom Room
a. 12:16 am – Start EVP- 12:23 am – End EVP
11. 12:26 am – Tavern Rm
a. 12:26 am – Start Flashlight Session – 12:40 am – End Flashlight Session
12. 12:40 am – Basement – 12:49 am – End Sweep
Investigation – 3 Team in the Tavern– Ed and Gretchen
13. 10:36 pm – Bedroom of Tavern
a. 10:41 pm – Start EVP – 10:52 pm – End EVP
14. 10:53 pm – Loom Room – walking investigation
15. 11:01 pm – Tavern Rm
a. 11:08 pm – Start EVP w/Faraday Box – 11:26 pm – End EVP
16. 11:26 pm – Mercantile Rm
a. 11:29 pm – Start Conversational EVP – 11:36 pm – End EVP
Investigation – 3 Team in the Jail– Ed and Gretchen
17. 11:51 pm – Jail
a. 12:10 am – Start EVP on Men’s side – 12:30 am – End EVP
b. 12:38 am – Start EVP on Women’s side – 12:47 am – End EVP
Investigation – 4 Team in the Jail– Chris, Larry and Christie
18. 1:30 am –Jail
a. 1:30 am – Walking EVP – 2:30 am –End EVP and Sweep
Investigation – 5 Team in the Tavern– Beth, Ed and Gretchen
19. 1:25 am –Basement of Tavern
a. 1:35 am – Start EVP w/Faraday Box – 1:50 am –End EVP
20. 1:55 am – Bedroom of Tavern
a. 2:00 am – Start EVP w/Faraday Box – 2:30 am – End EVP and Investigation
Findings:
GOGPI went in to investigate the above claims of activity. Base reading in the Tavern and Jail were within normal limits, temperature normal for conditions, EMF were within normal reading.
We did not get anything in our pictures. We did have one interesting spot on the video where it appeared a feather dropped from the ceiling to the floor in the store area. Two investigators were sitting in the store conducting an EVP session and neither investigator saw any feather or anything resembling something that looked a feather falling, no feather or feather like object was ever seen on the floor by any investigator, not sure what it was. We did record numerous EVP’s at both locations. The investigators had some personal experiences, see below. While team 3 was in the jail they did high EMF readings ranging from 0.9 to 4.5 at different locations in the jail. They were unable to debunk why these readings were high compared to base readings and other teams readings.
With the claims of activity, personal experiences by the investigators, the EVP’s that were recorded we feel like there is paranormal activity in the Tavern as well as the Jail. We cannot say they are haunted without a follow up investigation to see if we can reproduce the claims of activity, personal experiences, and to gather more evidence of paranormal activity.
Ed Laughlin
Ghosts of Georgia Paranormal Investigations
Personal Experience summaries from investigators on the investigation:
Ed – While in the jail, I heard what sounded like a disembodied male voice, Gretchen heard it too. While in the basement heard the floor boards above us creak a couple times like someone had shifted their weight, no one was in the building at the time. In the bedroom I saw a shadow, just head and shoulders, move a cross the rear window. There was an outside flood light pointing at the back of the building and we tried to debunk the shadow by walking in front of the flood light but our shadows did not reach the top floor where the bedroom was.
Beth – Personal: While in the Tavern I heard what I thought was either walking or weight shifting above me on the floor. Nobody was upstairs.
Sensitive: I had a vision of a lady in a red dress with dark hair being in charge of her “girls”. I felt like the girls (3), were upstairs, and it was a type of brothel. I had not heard about the claims of people seeing the spirit of a lady in a red dress before the investigation. I also had a Medium experience with a salesman who would pass through in his travels to eat at the Tavern. He had a buggy that he sold his goods from. He shared lots of experiences with me. He had a wife at home who was taking care of their children and his sister’s children. He said his sister had passed away, and his wife raised them. He worked on the road for 4 months at a time to bring home money. His wife passed away about 10 years after his sister. The salesman outlived both of them. He was an honest and sweet man. He believed in his products. He sold herbal medicines and tinctures.
Larry – My personal experiences were in the old jail. On the first sweep with Christy. In the stairwell leading to processing I thought I heard music. On the last sweep with Chris and Christy, while Christy and I were locked in the cells I thought I heard a lady moan. Christy heard it also.
Chris – My personal experience was in the jail during the first sweep with Beth. Before starting our investigation we put new batteries in the camera and after getting to the jail, on the men’s side, the camera stopped working and would not come on. I took the batteries out and put them back in and it still wouldn’t come on. So we went on investigating and before we went over to the women’s side I tried once more and the camera came on and worked the rest of the night without any problems.
Christie – During the first sweep of the jail with Larry I felt something push the attic ladder while I was on it looking in the attic. During the second sweep in the jail in the women’s section the hair on my hand stood up. The Mel meter was also fluctuating at the same time. I heard a woman moan in the men’s section while Larry and I were locked in the cell. Larry also heard it.
Gretchen – Personal: Saw the lights flicker in the bedroom twice after commenting on what a great place this was and then again after acknowledging the flickering. I heard a female voice twice while Ed and I were in the loom room, and it seemed to be coming from the bedroom. I heard the boards on the first floor “shift” when I was with Ed and Beth in the basement, and no one was upstairs. I also saw the lights flicker in the tavern as we were breaking down. I heard a disembodied voice in the jail that Ed heard as well. The EMF was high in the jail and all other readings including those when we left were flat. There was also the incident where the camera in the jail was unplugged from its power and the power cord door shut and latched. When Ed and I left it …it was plugged in and working. That camera power door doesn’t shut on its own.
Sensitive: In the Tavern, as I walked up, I got that the front room was a store. I got the name “AMANDA” and got the impression of a pretty and young woman in a pink dress and a sky blue ribbon…she was dancing almost waltz like spinning around. I got the words Cherokee and Creek. Upon pulling up and first getting out of the truck…I felt like the basement was sad. I also felt a static tingling in the bedroom upstairs but only on my right side I was in front of the bed at the front of the building. The tavern room seemed to be the room with the most energy, and the bedroom. I got the impression that there might have been some brothel type activities that took place there.