The Unbelievable Horrors of the Old City Jail

holy [ __ ] what the [ __ ] was that I don't think he's gonna be the same after tonight the infamous old city jail looks horrible warm welcome for us another fun fact we're about to walk past where the gallows was they would hang people on site that's a cheery not really also not cheery this balcony no looks like an old witch hat let's walk through it huh that sounds good whoo I feel horrible this week on BuzzFeed unsolved we investigate the old city jail in Charleston South Carolina as part of our ongoing investigation into the question are ghosts real you getting prouder with yourself I tried to inject a little gravitas this old city jail was built on land where a cemetery once was and on the same block as an asylum if that's not some kind of spooky hat trick I don't know what is old-timey jails very fun to visit and that's all I've got to say about that nothing about the ghouls I mean I'm sure there will be no ghouls there will be dust there will be noises that you yeah you know pee your pants oh we all we have the history we have the cemetery there's an asylum down the block there's also been a cast of characters that have rotated through these bars what is this Cheers I don't know why you're laughing at better you couldn't even get it out of your own mouth has to be characters rotating around the bar well let's just get into it how about that yeah the old city jail has been called the most haunted building in South Carolina a ghostly shrine to the city's dark past before the Civil War free innocent african-american sailors would be unjustly locked away if they came through Charleston once the war ended Confederate soldiers and sympathizers were locked up as well in a one scenario we have people who were unjustly imprisoned and then in the other scenario the people who were imprisoning them were now behind the bars true I got a low dose IDO but the people who were wrongfully imprisoned are still wrongfully imprisoned that is true unless they set him free which I I'm gonna guess probably didn't happen completed in 1802 the original building was four stories tall complete with a two-story octagonal Tower due in part to a rash of escape attempts Robert Mills the architect behind the Washington Monument reinforced the old city jail in 1822 but on August 31st 1886 an earthquake rocked Charleston later estimated as a 6.7 to 6.9 magnitude as the brick walls fell around them the 64 inmates who were held captive in the jail begged for freedom finally they were taken out into the exercise yard were led by a female convicted murderer 43 of the prisoners promptly jumped over one of the high brick walls leaving only 21 remaining inmates as the dust settled the two-story octagonal tower along with the entire fourth floor did not survive the quake leaving the structure the three-story building it is today I just like the idea of being out in the prison yard grounds of rumblin yeah bricks are falling some lady stands up and is like hey let's get out of here and your friends like hey I like what she's over the course of the old city jails 137 years in operation the tally on how many men women and children perished within these walls Berry's wildly some say as many as 10,000 to 14,000 people died trying to survive quote eat dirty filthy place unfit for human beings to live in and quote but researcher David C Scott found records of deaths numbering in the hundreds not the thousands the majority likely dying of wounds or diseases during the Civil War Scott's assertion confirms what an inmate in 1864 said that the old city jail was the quote nastiest dirtiest filthiest lousy espuelas in n quote true to that statement one of the more active parts of the jail is a room where they would torture and punish prisoners Illume that has since been used for Ouija board sessions a room that tour guides believed to have a portal Wow yikes this is definitely a jail all right so right now we're gonna walk to a room that they used to pretty much torture and flog prisoners that were misbehaving as you can see this place is a living nightmare but this is the room over here the tour guides who run this place say that there are what they to believed to be inhuman entities inside this building whether or not that means demon I have no idea so feels like a good spot for a demon sure let's find out all right ghouls oh oh damn they call me Shane he's magic Shane and I'm here to send you back to arrow oh wow and for whatever possible inhuman entities reside in this room we're here to communicate so let's rock if you're in you you're some kind of demon ghoul Specter you especially we'd love to talk to you we've got experience with a-holes like you got ourselves a bridge despiteful wiki as we own a bridge a hands topless cow what turbos he said true we got a beatboxing demon in here [ __ ] another one my name is Ryan and I'm here to say we're the baddest ghost hunters in the USA runnin demons and cool - like the old city jail itself it's spirits are violent and vengeful on the third floor construction workers say they saw the apparition of a jailer holding his rifle before vanishing through cellblock bars ghosts will supposedly whisper in your ear as you pass them by sometimes even calling out your name others have said they felt a sensation of being choked or suddenly losing their breath okay that's it I believe in ghosts if on the EVP we pick up choo choo pickle pie so this room you'll notice has iron on the all the walls and that's because people were breaking out so they had to fortify this was referred to as death row they kept some of the worse inmates in here maybe they kept pirates in here it actually would I mean easier to get out of the wood walls if you've got a big old hook maybe they're like jokes in here oh you don't like jokes in here well maybe they do whoo what happened yeah what you got you got a tug yeah we got well we got a hugger here all my blood is pumping very fast right now yeah I'll tell you it's really funny right now but if that happened to me when I was by myself you'd go crazy I'd probably jump out that window and by the way if you want a little more one time with with the Bergmeister here oh he'll be here alone soon enough long way to back out you're gonna keep that speed going the door behind it's closed did that work out the way you wanted this is a stupid season also on the third floor is a wheelchair from the 1820s that still sits sentry just where it has been for decades some believe that the person who died in that wheelchair succumbed to cholera and that their spirit is still connected to the chair to this day and nobody is allowed to sit in the chair you gonna sit in that chair we're not allowed to yeah we are the Internet's paranormal bad boys that's right we're planning cheap to chair a baby you ain't gonna style me I'm gonna give that thing a high five with my butt cheeks yeah not gonna happen I'm not sitting on that oh it's like a death trap I thought it was like them throwing down the gauntlet like saying oh this is a very spooky chair don't sit in it so it might happen to you when in reality you might get tetanus or something like that tours have been known to catch cold spots and orbs around the chair itself as well as witnessing the chair suddenly turn and bump an unsuspecting visitor in the lake what if you walked in that room I walked in this room we gave him what was that did you want to talk to us because we're up here for whoever sat in this wheelchair we're gonna give you the opportunity to speak with us why do you remain in this jail what was that again whose jail is this whose house is this this this the piece you're gonna need to speak a little clearer we're just trying to figure out why you're here last chance why are you still in this prison okay all right bring it off while going on there how what has happen there the old morgue located in the basement of the jail is said to be the domain of the ghost of a young boy named Jeremiah tragically Jeremiah passed away at a young age presumably from cholera it's said that he will try to hold the hand of a tour guide and some guests have mentioned feeling cold spots that end only about waist-high about the height of a nine-year-old Jeremiah has also been known to throw pebbles at crowds or even slip pebbles into the pockets of unsuspecting visitors allegedly sunglasses have also been knocked off of someone's face by an unseen force in the basement but whether or not Jeremiah is responsible for this is unknown this jail also held Union soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts regiment the very same all african-american unit that was depicted in the 1989 oscar-winning movie glory it said that the soldiers presence has been picked up here during spirit box sessions asking for morphine so up here to the left is the morgue said to be a pretty active place for you know the normal run-of-the-mill stuff but there's also a child in here by the name of Jeremiah another group of people that are often picked up in here are people that were part of the 54th regiment that was featured in the motion picture glory after reviewing our footage we discovered our motion alarm was triggered just outside the morgue it appears the motion alarm was triggered by this orb of light upon testing objects as small as bugs will not trigger the alarm so is this strange orb a spirit that set off the alarm my name is Ryan I'm Shane how are you getting down to his level yeah we're here to communicate with you Jeremiah we'd love to be your friend reach out you probably didn't have a lot of friends around here no well you know you got two buddies you have two big buddies here we have a device that you can manipulate I have in my hand here some pebbles oh you love those pebbles don't you and I hear you can't resist them these pebbles look really you could take these pebbles and launch them right into his eyes yeah yeah lob them into my I don't know I guess if you hit my eye hard enough it's kind of a soft spot maybe you could go all the way into my brain or you could go straight through the nose you'll be dead in a matter of minutes we'll all be better yeah oh no it's a smiley face Jeremiah could you make that smiley face a frowny face I also have my EMF detector right here so I could see any disturbance right now we're at oh oh [ __ ] there's a huge spike Jeremiah if you would like to communicate with us please make a noise you could say something you can move something in the room you could touch one of us we just want to speak to you particularly I want to know why you're in the morgue what you doing down here what's your story why are you in a jail if you weren't related to the family that ran this place who also lived on site by the way which is frankly a little bit odd now if there are any soldiers who served in the Civil War in here particularly soldiers from the 54th regiment first off thank you for your service you did an amazing thing for our country and now I'm gonna ask another favor of you can you please talk to me well that's over now remember the pebbles are in a smiley face at any point you can move those however the most infamous inmates said to still haunt these walls is that of the woman often called the first female serial killer in America Lavinia Fisher Lavinia Fisher along with her husband John were held in the old city jail from 1819 to 1820 while records of the time tell a different story The Legend of the Fisher's has been passed down in Charleston for generations this gruesome story starts at the six-mile in a hotel six miles outside of Charleston that the fishers ran the inn was popular with travelers going to and from Charleston selling goods Lavinia was reportedly extremely beautiful a trait which she used to ensnare her victims Lavinia and John would poison their victims by adding oleander to their tea and so the story goes a lever allowed for John and Lavinia to drop their victims from their beds into a chamber below where John killed and dismembered them we can say the tea not that impressive that's also just child's play right there shouts play yeah but trap door yeah pretty good yeah and dismembering okay a little much but at least in terms of serial killers the other sort of doing that very success these people are like comic book villains yeah on February 18th 1819 the sheriff arrested the fishers some stories put their body count between 20 and 30 while others speculate that it could be as high as 120 men who fell prey to lavinius deceptions yet some reports suggest they never murdered anybody as no bodies were ever found that implicated the fishers the fishers were taken to old city jail and the six mile in and everything in it was burned to the ground in January 1820 the Fisher's were convicted not of murder but of highway robbery they were sentenced to die by hanging right up until the end Lavinia did not believe she would be hanged she thought the governor would not let a woman die at the gallows as the legend goes an old law in South Carolina said you couldn't hang a married woman so on the day of her execution Lavinia arrived at the gallows dressed in her wedding dress only to see them hang her husband first so then she's no longer married yes oh that's attorney among lavinius last words were quote cease I will have none of it save your words for others that want them if you have a message you want to send to hell give it to me I'll carry it and quote and then the video Fisher jumped from the gallows and hanged herself would love to talk to this lady well fire up my little spear box and I can we can get a word in there can't wait we'll get her on the horn spear if she gives us a choo-choo pickle pie that'll be a get what if you told her hey I have something to tell the devil Jim to pickle pie and she goes that's that's what you want to say to the to the devil I'll say you're goddamn right Lavinia screams are reportedly heard echoing into jail visitors to the jail have said they've sensed lavinius presence others say they had actually seen her inside through a window some claims she manifests sometimes as a tingle along the skin or even a scratch in fact three scratches together are said to be her mark okay so here we are this is the cell the infamous Lavinia Fisher and her husband John Fisher let's see if she has anything else to say Oh imposing once again my name is Ryan I'm Shane point two on the Mel meter if you would like to communicate with us to clear your name to wipe all of the red off of your ledger in the history books this is your chance what now what about you John maybe your wife has tired of people screaming at her maybe you want to clear your guy's name alright Lavinia I'm gonna talk to you again once again the more silent you are the worse it's gonna look for you I'm trying to help you out stop I'm not going to that was you we're gonna keep it up could have been me then I could have been a go or no once again one word though gonna need more than one word I really thought your legend would precede you but it turns out all a bunch of hooey what did you not like that did you not like me saying you weren't as big and bad and scariest history would make you out to be Lavinia what take a crack at it yeah what if my shirt started again why boys Wiley's what see that that's my belly button you like that and if that wasn't hot enough ah that's so an innie it makes a little noise when you've had it mara turn off the box you'll hear it a little bit better hold on get a load of this Lavinia you want a little do it look at these juicy little holes mm-hmm couple of moist little man craters for ya hmm you could plant your flag on this bad boy I think we have to go now clearly she's not amused well we gave her everything I mean we really that's the first time we've ever really tried to seduce a ghost and we failed who could've saw that one coming right after reviewing the footage we discovered on one of our static cams what appears to be a figure moving right outside lavinius cell [Music] is this the ghost of Lavinia Fisher I believe this is the biggest piece of evidence we've ever caught on this show it's no good how do you think that's no good I mean it looks just like maybe a car passing somewhere or something a car passing someone could also just be someone walking outside and that couldn't be any of us there's no one down there at that I thought you would ask that so I see I synced up the timelines yeah I know where we are in the building okay I believe it's a ghost we had all the staff accounted for in front of us me maybe there was a third staff member that they didn't know about that was walking around I don't think so maybe a vagrant walked in i think that's pretty solid evidence of a ghost I think we caused something very very so here it is exciting with this shocking evidence in mind we now move to the final phase of the investigation for the first time ever we're going to explore the entire prison individually it's a nightmare I don't like it it's most nervous I've seen you before an individual and quite some time hey well we've never done something where we shut down the entire building and now it's just us groaning do it please I'd like some privacy just me and the ghouls now all right normally I'd say this job is pretty fun but it's it's nice like these that uh I truly hate this job this is certainly pretty hellish mm-hmm not suitable for anybody down here there's any ghouls here you got a great guy to mess with I'm happy to be the subject if you're terrorizing come on get after me this is probably one of our more formidable foes and the fact that I'm gonna have that entire unholy hellhole to myself I can't make any promises that I'm gonna stay in there the full ten minutes okay moving on okay could be going up the stairs here in a moment that would be a lovely opportunity I'm gonna leave that in case from Ryan trips on it I think that'd be kind of funny I would say normally when I do these I am furious by how Cavalier Shane is inside there but right now I'm gonna just say I'm impressed if he's if he's having a good time in there right now there's something truly wrong with his brain well now this is a beautiful gorgeous room with wonderful acoustics I mean look at this [ __ ] who wouldn't their right mind would be stoked to be in there by themselves you know how much of a psychopath you have to be to enjoy that god I would actually recommend you don't waste your ghost energy on me just gonna level with you you're gonna want to save it for the other guy he's gonna come in here right after me and whatever you do it's gonna be a laugh riot he makes very funny faces he's gonna not a guarantee but if you do something depending on the severity of your actions he may poop himself if you do it to me I'll probably blame it on the wind or say it was an owl dropping a nut somewhere oh I hear someone down there guess that means we're doing here ghouls it's been a real jolly time with you how was it I don't want to scare you but there is something a little weird about this place yeah no [ __ ] I think I heard something what do you mean you think you heard some things nothing it's here tell me what you think you heard we'll compare notes afterwards I don't know if I could do this man there you go you're a ghost hunter I know you got to do it that's what you came here for isn't it all right just me by myself his brain seems a special kind of putty right now I don't know if I could do this holy [ __ ] okay this is horrifying this is truly horrifying suddenly smells like the ocean how about that what's in here with me when he asked me where the sounds came from I said upstairs cuz that feels like a good final boss for him I'm sure he'll go in there and hear a ton of things first floor look the pebbles are still in a smiley face walk into the end of the first hallway no I'm not [ __ ] that if he makes a full 10 minutes I'm gonna be very proud of him what in the [ __ ] am i doing what am I doing here all of the hair my arm is standing up I'm standing in the middle of the old city jail by myself I'm the only person in this building what kind of idiot would do this me I realized me I'm the fool make it some nonsense noises baby here we go an hour or two ago now I'm going to run into the warden's room yeah this [ __ ] sucks I hate it I [ __ ] hate this [Music] that is quite a reaction I think we're making some headway you think you're crazy you haven't seen crazy yet on the third floor marching down the hallway where are you I'll give it to you this is the scariest building I've ever been in in my entire life I think I've cracked my plane is crashed keep in mind an hour ago he was drumming his belly button I don't think he's gonna be the same after tonight where are you where are you what the [ __ ] was that who did that who did it again holy [ __ ] it felt like something walked past me twice once on the right side once on the left side for context this spot where I felt something run past me is the exact spot our static camera caught the figure the human mind if it's looking for something at all it'll find something and he's going to find something and it will destroy him if I'm gonna be here what the [ __ ] that trip over that did that move it's gone quiet now and I'm afraid he's dead whew my heart holy [ __ ] chassé burn the gumbo must had a heart attack where were you the thing that walked past me where are you yeah charge I'm gonna see this place in my nightmares for years so thank you for that thought the door went the other way [ __ ] that forever it sounded like you went through some stuff in there that's leave okay did you hear anything didn't hear anything but I felt things that's good once I was standing in the second floor I was standing still and I felt a gust of wind past the right side of me I turned around and then it went past the left side of me the opposite direction I hated it well I didn't actually hear anything in there I just wanted to really psych you up for it you don't look well I started growling like a dog we heard you did you yes oh I think the whole neighborhood heard you oh really was it that loud yes I think we have to leave okay let's just go whether or not you believe that a building can truly embody the sins of the past you must recognize the old city jail was the site of cold-blooded brutality however I dare say some light was shed on that subject tonight with bizarre noises physical sensations unidentified movement and a possible apparition tonight's investigation moves Shane and I ever closer to completing our ongoing investigation into the question are ghosts real but for now and perhaps forever the question remains unsolved you [Music]

Channel: BuzzFeed Unsolved Network

Views: 7,828,735

Rating: 4.9621034 out of 5

Keywords: PL-Supernatural, PL-Supernatural-S6, PL-Unsolved, PSSC, SffZ, The Unbelievable Horrors of the Old City Jail, buzzfeed, buzzfeed ryan, buzzfeed shane, buzzfeed unsolved, buzzfeed unsolved network, buzzfeed unsolved supernatural, cold case, creepy, eerie, haunted, investigate, investigation, mini doc, mystery, paranormal, ryan bergara, shane madej, supernatural, theories, unexplained, unexplained mysteries, unsolved, unsolved mysteries, unsolved mystery, unsovled supernatural

Id: bcdEFos9YQQ

Length: 30min 29sec (1829 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 25 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/the_shattered_ones]

I'm gonna pretend that I didn't hear it or that it said something else... Its freaky

[u/IcyWolfosKelsos]

I haven't watched a season of BFU Supernatural in such a long time. I really miss their investigations.

[u/VulgarReader]

u/shanemadej u/ryanbergara

[u/Reidroshdy]

I don't hear it.

[u/dazzlinreddress]

Can't hear it.