Every Museum Has A Story

Every city, every town, and every highway has an old, creepy building that is assumedly flocked with ghosts and bumps in the night; the Country Music Highway is no exception. With original buildings dating all the way back to the early 1800's, of course there are many legends, rumors, and tall tales regarded phantasms and unexplained apparitions. One building in particular is the Van Lear Coal Mining Museum in none other than Van Lear, Kentucky. A renovated coal company building from the 1900's, this museum is brimming with artifacts, furniture, and memorabilia gathered from all across the ages.

At first, one might think this is one of your run-of-the mill old, freaky buildings which automatically spawn rumors and the workings of active imaginations. However, this one is unique in the fact that almost every person that steps foot in the building, particularly after dark, experiences something that cannot be described as anything besides other-worldly. There are multiple written and eye-witness accounts of strange apparitions, "shadow people", noises, and even direct communication with those beyond the veil. There are documentations on video, audio, and in photographs. One account states that a two-year-old girl went missing in the museum, to be found in the library seemingly talking to someone nobody else could see. There have also been accounts of feelings of children sitting on laps and footsteps walking through the building when no one else was there.

It has been discovered that three people have died in that building: a man named PJ, in the craft room; Dan, in the dining room; and Elmo in the model room.

The Floyd County Paranormal Investigation team conducted research in the building. They confirmed the presence of spirits, particularly when a female voice told one of the men to be careful while climbing a ladder. The catch? There were only two people in the building at the time, and both of them were male.

The museum conducts occassional "ghost tours" after dark for anyone wishing to see a spirit or two. If you want to see one of these apparitions, however, you'd better bring extra batteries for your flashlight - the ghosts find amusement in draining your power.