San Jose Ghost Hunters
Preston Castle
Investigation Report
Location: Preston Castle
Date: 09/18/10
Weather Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Humidity: 49%
Temperature: Hi:82°Lo:53°
Number of Photos taken: 96
Number with possible targets: 7
Olfactory Phenomena:
Visual Phenomena: 1
Type of Investigation: Photos Only
Location Description and History
In 1890, the 230 acre parcel of land where the Preston Castle stands was purchased from the Ione Coal & Iron Company for $30 per acre with 100 acres donated. The land was purchased to house the Preston School of Industry, established by the State Legislature as a progressive action toward rehabilitating, rather than simply imprisoning, juvenile offenders. Building of the Preston School of Industry started right away. The bricks for the building were made at San Quentin and Folsom prisons using sandstone that was quarried six miles from Ione. The bricks were then delivered by rail at 6,000 bricks per car. The cornerstone was laid on December 23, 1890 with 2,500 people in attendance. The plans for the school were ambitious with the original plans showing 77 rooms on five floors. The building would be the most significant example of Romanesque Revival architecture in the Mother Lode. The first floor would house a reception and Director’s room, general office with a walk in vault, reception room, sitting room, a butler's pantry, a dining room, employee lavatory, physician office, pharmacy, clerk’s office plus three additional offices. The first floor annex would include a dining room. The second floor would include a reading room, library, twelve chambers, a school room, coat and hat room, men's water closet and women's lavatory. The second floor annex would hold a dormitory, a locker room, and a linen room. A mezzanine level was to provide two bathrooms with three bathtubs. The third and fourth floors would remain unfinished. The third floor would contain twelve rooms and the fourth floor was designed to have six rooms. The basement would include a play room, water closet (long urinal and nine toilets), laundry, lavatory with foot bath, shower room and plunge bath, hall, kitchen, pantry, furnace room, fuel storage room, and a water closet with two toilets. The basement annex would hold a bakery, fuel storage room, kitchen, pantry, storeroom, and the employee's laundry and lavatory. On June 13, 1894, the first wards were accepted at the Preston School of Industry, and the school was proclaimed officially opened on July 1, 1894. The next year, electricity was installed by way of a water wheel powered dynamos for incandescent and arc lights. The Preston School of Industry remained open until 1960 when new facilities for the school were completed. The building remained vacant and fading into disrepair until September 10, 2001 when The Preston Castle Foundation received a fifty-year lease for the property. The Preston Castle has also been named a California State Historical Landmark (#867) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NPS-75000422).
No reservations are required. The Preston Castle Foundation has taken responsibility for the site and is in the process of restoring it. Location: City: lone County: Amador
Directions: Preston School of Industry, Waterman Rd - plaque located 0.9 miles N of site on State Hwy 104 (P.M. 4.3), 1 mi N of lone
Reported Phenomena
The State Legislature had established the school in an attempt to rehabilitate the youths rather than imprisoning them with hardened criminals. A beautiful building of bricks and sandstone, and an excellent example of Romanesque Revival architecture, locals called the school "Preston Castle." The building has 77 rooms within its four floors, basement, and bell tower. Adorned with lovely fireplaces, massive beams, Winchester stairways, dumb waiters, mahogany pocket doors, a library, a swimming pool, and even a bakery, it is easy to understand why it was compared to a castle. The school also had its own cemetery. The first residents of the school were seven male juvenile offenders, "wards" transferred from San Quentin State Prison, ranging in age from 16 to 18. Their crimes included grand larceny, burglary and robbery. The United States was in a depression during this time, and many of the children at the school had been abandoned by their parents who had left to try to find work in other areas. The school was in operation until 1969 when new facilities were completed, and the Castle was closed. Through the years, the wards were able to learn a variety of skills including farming and carpentry. . . And murder.
On Thursday, February 23, 1950, the attractive and much loved 52-year-old Anna Corbin, head housekeeper, was found murdered in the closet off the basement kitchen. She had been violently bludgeoned, strangled with a hemp cord around her neck, and then hauled down the stairs.
A 19-year-old black man, Eugene Monroe, was arrested for the murder. Two school employees had seen Monroe near Corbin’s office near the time of the murder, and Monroe had been in trouble for burglary in California.
Monroe went to trial three times for the crime, but was fully acquitted in the end because there was not enough evidence for conviction. A year later, he was arrested for rape and murder in Tulsa. No one ever paid for taking Anna’s life so brutally.
Today, ghost hunters and psychics who visit Preston Castle claim that Anna Corbin is still there. Roses have been found scattered on the floor of her old apartment, and the sound of a woman screaming can be heard. A mist-like shape has been seen near the closet where Anna’s body was found.
Anna wasn’t the only individual to die at the school. A young man was shot in 1919 trying to escape. A boy attempting to escape with him died mysteriously a few months later. They are both buried in the cemetery nearby. Many wards died during the years the school was open. Many succumbed to sickness and some, perhaps, from abuse. The smell of sulphur is prevalent in certain areas of the school. Sounds of something be dragged across a floor, a little girl crying, knocking noises, and the sounds of a buzz saw have all been reported. Ghost hunters have captured EVPs including “come on, you can do it,” and “never again.” Legs are pinched, scratches appear on arms and legs, and electromagnetic equipment is drained of energy. Preston Castle is considered one of the most haunted places in America. If you are a skeptic, a visit to this old school just might change your mind
The Investigation
We began our investigation in the main room, unable to obtain better access to do a full investigation. So we decided to pay for admission tickets and do a general sweep of the areas open to the public. We will come back and do an follow up investigation. we were also unable to do any "IR" work due to the nature and conditions of our visit.
Photographs
Click on the thumnail to view the larger image
 | ||||
| ||||||
By SJGH
