(wrote this post a few days before Halloween & had some problems posting it before on blogger. Had it on wordpress, still deciding between the two, any suggestions?)
Hope that everyone has a Happy Halloween this weekend! I've been attending some leadership workshops recently and have fallen behind on my blog updating but I'll have more time from now on. Since October 31st is just a couple of days away, I wanted to draw attention to some of the 'real' haunted houses of Indianapolis.
Many know of the Hannah House located at 3801 Madison Avenue. This historic home was actually a stop on the underground railroad, a safe haven for slaves trying to escape to Canada. A quick rundown of the story is that one night a group of slaves were in the basement and one accidentally kicked over an oil lamp, starting a fire and killing all of them. Some people today say that they can see or hear the moans of the slaves trapped in the basement. Others say they have seen Hannah, the owner at the time, walking around the property.
This home is on the south side in Perry township and has been recognized as an official historical landmark. Today, you can take open house tours, attend a mystery dinner, have your wedding reception or a banquet here too. I doubt I would ever hold my wedding there but it might be interesting to attend an open house... with the lights on!
65 years ago on October 26th, police came to the house at 3850 E. New York Street where they saw Sylvia Liken's dead body inside on a mattress. Liken's torture-murder is one of the most highly publicized gruesome crimes to ever happen in our city. In the summer of 1965, Sylvia Likens and her sister Jenny were sent to stay in the home (I believe it was a duplex) of Gertrude Baniszewski while her parents found work selling concessions with a carnival. Gertrude has 7 of her own children and tensions started to rise immediately. Gertrude was the ring leader, but basically she and several of her children and some of their friends would torture, beat, starve, and do some other crazy, horrible things to Sylvia which lasted several months. They locked her in the basement where she died. It's a pretty horrible story so if you want more details take a look at this recent Indy Star posting.
The especially creepy part about this story for me is that I did step foot into this house, without realizing it at the time. I hadn't even heard of this horrific crime until about a year ago. Sometime in the early months of 2009, I got a call from a couple that I didn't know who were interesting in seeing this house. I asked them some standard questions, also asked if they wanted to see others in this area and they politely said no, they were interested in this one because it seemed quite large and on a corner lot, which would be good for renting one or both sides. I did not have much to do that day and the weather was kind of gross (either raining or some sleeting) so I decided to go ahead and meet them.
Now showing some of these brokedown homes aren't always the most fun thing to do, but I'm going to help out my clients any way that I can. When I do get that rare call asking to see one of these inexpensive, dilapidated properties, I usually make sure to have a flashlight in the car and a pair of shoes without heals, in case things are gross inside. I can't recall exactly because I didn't piece things together until several months later, but either we had to use a cordless drill to take off the 'door' or the door was really hard to open. I try to touch things as little as possible (meaning only the door knob if I have to) and make sure to have some hand sanitzer handy too. To be polite I usually go through most of these kind of houses with my clients but there have been a few occassions where either I was scared of mold, smelled something just awful, or felt like the floor was going to collapse so I tell them I'll wait outside. Well I remember going into the main room with them and then just being kind of grossed out (not always an unusual reaction in those types of abandoned homes) so I said I would wait outside if they did not mind, but to be very careful. I stood on the porch outside, and they really weren't in there too long (it was kind of cold outside) and then that was it. We exchanged information, I tried to get some more info about what they were looking for, would they be interested in other properties in that location and price range, and they told me to email some but I never heard a response back. I left a couple of messages and sent 3 or more emails, but nothing. That happens occassionally, when someone looks over their finances and realizes they don't want to buy, but feel bad about responding that way or something. Anyway, several months later, maybe in the summer, someone mentioned something about scary movies and brought up that one and I googled it and starting putting the pieces together. I remembered the price for some random reason and the street, then added it all up. By then, I had also heard a local church bought it and had since demolished it, but it's still creepy to think that I was in there and even scarier to think that humans can treat another like that.
I'm sure there are several other 'haunted' or creepy places to visit in the Indianapolis and surrounding areas. Real estate agents in Indiana are actually not required to disclose to a purchaser, lessee,etc that a property is "psychologically affected" but realtors and the property owners cannot lie and must tell the truth if a client asks directly. Personally, I think it's best just to be upfront. I wouldn't want a past client to come back and be mad at me later because I sold them a haunted house or something. The Indiana Association of Realtors defines "psychologically affected" as a property that someone has died on, a property that had someone living or died there who had HIV, if a felony was there, gang activity, shooting involving an on duty police officer, or a house where illegal substances were manufactured or distributed.
Anyway, stay safe this Halloween!
Interesting website listing the haunted places of Indiana.
Many know of the Hannah House located at 3801 Madison Avenue. This historic home was actually a stop on the underground railroad, a safe haven for slaves trying to escape to Canada. A quick rundown of the story is that one night a group of slaves were in the basement and one accidentally kicked over an oil lamp, starting a fire and killing all of them. Some people today say that they can see or hear the moans of the slaves trapped in the basement. Others say they have seen Hannah, the owner at the time, walking around the property.
This home is on the south side in Perry township and has been recognized as an official historical landmark. Today, you can take open house tours, attend a mystery dinner, have your wedding reception or a banquet here too. I doubt I would ever hold my wedding there but it might be interesting to attend an open house... with the lights on!
65 years ago on October 26th, police came to the house at 3850 E. New York Street where they saw Sylvia Liken's dead body inside on a mattress. Liken's torture-murder is one of the most highly publicized gruesome crimes to ever happen in our city. In the summer of 1965, Sylvia Likens and her sister Jenny were sent to stay in the home (I believe it was a duplex) of Gertrude Baniszewski while her parents found work selling concessions with a carnival. Gertrude has 7 of her own children and tensions started to rise immediately. Gertrude was the ring leader, but basically she and several of her children and some of their friends would torture, beat, starve, and do some other crazy, horrible things to Sylvia which lasted several months. They locked her in the basement where she died. It's a pretty horrible story so if you want more details take a look at this recent Indy Star posting.
The especially creepy part about this story for me is that I did step foot into this house, without realizing it at the time. I hadn't even heard of this horrific crime until about a year ago. Sometime in the early months of 2009, I got a call from a couple that I didn't know who were interesting in seeing this house. I asked them some standard questions, also asked if they wanted to see others in this area and they politely said no, they were interested in this one because it seemed quite large and on a corner lot, which would be good for renting one or both sides. I did not have much to do that day and the weather was kind of gross (either raining or some sleeting) so I decided to go ahead and meet them.
Now showing some of these brokedown homes aren't always the most fun thing to do, but I'm going to help out my clients any way that I can. When I do get that rare call asking to see one of these inexpensive, dilapidated properties, I usually make sure to have a flashlight in the car and a pair of shoes without heals, in case things are gross inside. I can't recall exactly because I didn't piece things together until several months later, but either we had to use a cordless drill to take off the 'door' or the door was really hard to open. I try to touch things as little as possible (meaning only the door knob if I have to) and make sure to have some hand sanitzer handy too. To be polite I usually go through most of these kind of houses with my clients but there have been a few occassions where either I was scared of mold, smelled something just awful, or felt like the floor was going to collapse so I tell them I'll wait outside. Well I remember going into the main room with them and then just being kind of grossed out (not always an unusual reaction in those types of abandoned homes) so I said I would wait outside if they did not mind, but to be very careful. I stood on the porch outside, and they really weren't in there too long (it was kind of cold outside) and then that was it. We exchanged information, I tried to get some more info about what they were looking for, would they be interested in other properties in that location and price range, and they told me to email some but I never heard a response back. I left a couple of messages and sent 3 or more emails, but nothing. That happens occassionally, when someone looks over their finances and realizes they don't want to buy, but feel bad about responding that way or something. Anyway, several months later, maybe in the summer, someone mentioned something about scary movies and brought up that one and I googled it and starting putting the pieces together. I remembered the price for some random reason and the street, then added it all up. By then, I had also heard a local church bought it and had since demolished it, but it's still creepy to think that I was in there and even scarier to think that humans can treat another like that.
I'm sure there are several other 'haunted' or creepy places to visit in the Indianapolis and surrounding areas. Real estate agents in Indiana are actually not required to disclose to a purchaser, lessee,etc that a property is "psychologically affected" but realtors and the property owners cannot lie and must tell the truth if a client asks directly. Personally, I think it's best just to be upfront. I wouldn't want a past client to come back and be mad at me later because I sold them a haunted house or something. The Indiana Association of Realtors defines "psychologically affected" as a property that someone has died on, a property that had someone living or died there who had HIV, if a felony was there, gang activity, shooting involving an on duty police officer, or a house where illegal substances were manufactured or distributed.
Anyway, stay safe this Halloween!
Interesting website listing the haunted places of Indiana.
