S1 – 7: It Was a School for Troubled Boys

and he'd like to show it to me. Being a reasonably snarky teenager dealing with the trauma of her parents divorce and now her mother's insistence on moving all of us three hours away from our childhood home because of this man, I remember being a bit apprehensive about doing anything cordial with him, but the lure of a haunted castle in the middle of California's Gold Country proved to be too much. I begrudgingly joined him. On the twenty minute drive up Highway four nine on a hot, dusty

summer day. We passed golden rolling hills and remnants of old barns and gold Rush era buildings until we reached the small town of Ion, and within seconds of our arrival, I saw a glimpse of a large red castle with a massive bell tower that looked so incredibly out of place, I gasped. We made our way up the driveway and got as close as we could to this old Romanesque style red castle, and I don't think I had ever

seen anything like it in person in my life. And I also somehow new, just by staring at it, the terrible things had happened there. We got out of the car and looked past the fence that stopped us from getting any further, and I asked my stepfather what was this place? He replied, it's Preston Castle. I nudged further, inquiring what it had been before. He said it was

a school for troubled boys. As I peered through the fence, trying to get a clear look in some of the windows and pondering what it would have been like to be a young boy dropped in front of this looming structure, not knowing what could possibly be inside, my stepfather added, I spent a year here when I was a team. I asked him what it was like, and with almost a lump in his throat and a quiet whisper, he said, I don't talk about it. And headed back to the car.

Jim Little Page, my stepfather died in and whatever happened to him within the walls of the Preston School of Industry, he took with him to his grave. I'm Amy Brunei, and this is Haunted Road. Preston School of Industry, or the Castle as it's been known, was built between eighteen

ninety and eighteen ninety four in i own, California. In eighteen nine, two acre parcel of land where the cast still stands was purchased from the Ion Coal and Iron Company for thirty dollars per acre, with one hundred acres donated. Inmates from San Quentin and fulsome prisons helped make the bricks that make up the castle, which were then transported by rail to the School of Industry. The cornerstone was laid on December nine, with people in attendance what an

early Christmas present. The one twenty room Romanesque Revival was a reform school for young male offenders. The hope was to rehabilitate, not just incarceerate. The complex was highly self sufficient. The large acreage of the purchase allowed the boys to grow their own food, raise livestock, and learn farming trades.

The forty six thousand square foot mansion had forty three fireplaces, two hundred fifty seven windows, overlooking the tawny Amador County foothills, a tower festooned on each side by intimidating gargoyles, hallways bedecked with ornate Wayne's coating, and as a stone exterior in the Romanesque Revival architectural style, hence that now iconic

red color of the castle. On the first floor, there was a reception space, the director's room, a walk in vault attached to an office, reception and waiting areas, a dining room, bathrooms, office for the physician, and a pharmacy. The second floor was home to a dorm for the wards in twelve apartments for staff. There was also a library and reading room. On this floor, various closets and storage spaces, and bathrooms. On a mezzanine level, there were

two bathrooms with a few tubs. The third floor, unfinished, had twelve rooms, the fourth, also unfinished, had six. In the basement, there was a playroom, separate laundry for wards and staff, shower room, and the infamous dip pool, kitchen and pantry. Multiple bathrooms, furnace and fuel storage, storeroom and bakery. Basically, Preston was massive in its heyday. The sol boasted one thousand total acres, with seven hundred fifty dedicated to farming

for eight hundred wards. There was a staff of two hundred. The entire campus included fifty buildings. Two weeks after the school was completed, the first wards moved in. It became immediately apparent that while this arrangement could provide structure and security for wards, they were under the firm control of the superintendent and were expected to adhere to strict rules and routines, and if they transgressed, they were given severe punishment.

The worst offenders were held in Company B, which consisted only of a row of beds and a single toilet. Upon arrival to the castle, new wards were taken immediately to the infamous Pool of Lie to cleanse their bodies, specifically their heads. They were herded through a side door, shorn of their hair stripped, and led to a pool of harsh chemicals with only a poll for support. They were made to walk with their heads underwater about x feet to the pool's far end to rid their bodies

of potential pests meant to target likes. The pool likely also exacerbated open wounds on the heads of many young wards, which must have been excruciating. Eventually, the state shuttered this dipping pool practice due to its inhumanity. Sadly, many of the incoming wards were afflicted with tuberculosis and or various addictions to alcohol, heroin, and opium. In an effort to rehabilitate them, their days were divided between school and learning

a trade. There was a print shop, bakery, and cobbler shop where the boys could learn skills for self preservation in the real world. The boys ages seven through eighteen, had a tennis court and a rose garden. They also had a seven thousand book library with a veranda overlooking the town. The more docile and agreeable boys were even able to live in cottages surrounding the castle and learned traits that were more lucrative and socially acceptable. But of course,

ideal is and reform didn't always rule the day. A Sacramento b article from eight nine seven, just two years after the school opened, detailed accusations of abuse by a superintendent, E. S. O'Brien. The first paragraph noted whippings that left their back stripping with blood. At least one of them claimed that salt had been rubbed into his wounds to add to the

torture he was already suffering. The reports of ill treatment were so pervasive throughout Ionn that a group of citizens threatened to storm the castle in order to see for themselves just how poorly the boys were treated. On numerous occasions, O'Brien held boys with one hand while beating them in the face with his other. He extended paddlings by ten to forty strokes, sometimes beating boys until they couldn't walk

without assistance. A younger boy named Roderick received a beating that left him black and blue from the small of his back to the middle of his thighs. For several days. Afterwards, the boy walked around literally dragging one it after the other, and it said that afterward he had to be sent to the hospital. The secretary at the time, H. R. Bernard, recounted in an affidavit witnessing doctor O'Brien beat a ward

in the head and face with the cane. The cane soon broke in his hands, but O'Brien continued his blows with the part left in his hand, which was also broken a moment later from the force of the blows when the doctor grabbed a poll about four ft long and proceeded to belabor the yelling lad over the body. The force of the blows was terrific. The same article alleged destructive and uncontrollable behavior of Wards, not limited to setting the building on fire at least three times. Escape

attempts were frequent and occurred nearly every week. Superintendent E. S. O'Brien told the wards in or prior to that he had given orders to the guards that in the case of an escape attempt, they were to shoot, and shoot to kill. The property wasn't fenced with barbed wire, so wards had one last to turn it. When it was discovered that a ward had escaped, a horn would blow an i own, which alerted citizens to the situation. A hunt would follow, and if someone discovered and returned to Ward,

they received a ten dollar reward. The kids who escaped received corporal punishment in the form of beatings, whippings, and solitary confinement. Country singer Merle Haggard made two escape attempts during his time at Preston. He had memories of beatings with a two by four and attacktoo of p s I on his wrist, so he never forgot the abuse. Horrific stories of abuse and neglect became known Over the years. Wards died of severe illnesses like tuberculosis. Other Wards were

killed by guards. During the Great Depression, parents sometimes dropped kids off at the castle, where the Wards of the state received three males a day, housing and a chance for a stable life. All of this put into perspective why Preston Castle would be harboring ghosts and energy today. There were an incredible number of tragedies involving Wards on the grounds. The first we see was of Grant Walker on June seventeenth, eighteen ninety five. At first, it seems

like he may have died from typhoid fever. However, historian Jamie Rubio dug further and found a conflicting death register that suggests Walker may have died from severe internal burns after ingesting something toxic. On October seventeenth, nineteen eleven, Herman Hubert and fellow Ward and friend John Karaine made an escape just as the dinner bell rang well. They tried anyway, night guard J. D. French pursued the two escapees and

fired his weapon, which killed Hubert. French claimed he tried to fire a warning shot, but Karaine maintained that French shot herman in cold blood. On June sixth, nineteen fourteen, a company of boys went to the pond after dinner for a swim. Those who weren't strong swimmers were supposed to stay in the shallow water, but ta Himavan, confident about his doggy paddle, dove in wards. Robert Raines and Albert Rubideaux tried to say Van after he resurfaced clearly

in a struggle. However, they were unable to retrieve him. It wasn't until the next morning that they were able to retrieve his lifeless body that had sunk to the bottom of the pond. He is buried at the Preston Cemetery. Frank Carterrella had epilepsy and experienced seizures because of it. Instead of receiving treatment, Frank was kept in his cell. It's heartbreaking to think about. On Valentine's Day nineteen seventeen, Frank died by suicide after making a noose from his

shredded night shirt. In July nineteen eighteen, Samuel Gloin's arrived at Preston. He had been convicted of burglary. Samuel made three escape attempts, although the punishment after the first two must have been terrible. The third proved fatal. While trying to escape a third time, John Kelly of Preston Guard accidentally shot Samuel in the back. Samuel died from the wound. He was twenty years old and only two months from being released from Preston. Ward Frank Algiers was admitted after

having experienced a really bad motorcycle accident. After admission, he went straight to the infirmary, where he died just a week later on May nineteen two. On July ninety four, Ray Baker was shot by Guard Thomas Dooley. Baker was trying to escape when Dully intervened. The ward tried to strangle the guard, who was able to retrieve his gun and shoot Wards. Edgar Howe and Leland Price got into a fight during a Saturday night football game in December

nineteen four. In a confusing decision made to chastise the boys, how In Price were locked together in Preston's basement. The two Wards must have picked the fight back up or a very unfortunate coincidence occurred because Price's skull was fractured after hitting the ground and he fell into a coma. Leland Price died the next morning. On December four, nine Awards were digging a ditch on the property for sewage un ex actedly, the ditch caved in and trapped six boys.

Four were extracted, but two remained buried. William Report and Henry Herstein both died after being buried alive. Probably the most notable and publicized death that took place at Preston was the murder of the head housekeeper on February twenty third, nineteen fifty. Her body was found in the then defunct pool room, beaten with evidence of a massive struggle. She had been strangled with accord, but the cause of her death was a fatal blow to the head resulting in

a skull fracture. A rape had been attempted but not enacted. The housekeeper was incredibly well loved and liked by the Wards and her fellow employees alike, so much so the Wards threatened vigilante justice if her killer was found. The superintendent at the time made it very clear that everyone was a suspect, even staff and that they would be investigating thoroughly. After six hundred fifty seven wards were questioned, a case was formed against a ward named Eugene Monroe.

He was at Preston after being convicted of burglary, but had been the prime suspect in a murder case prior to that, a murder and rape case involving the strangulation of a high school student. Using the same type of court in the case of the housekeeper and tied in the same fashion. Monroe was given a lie detector test and failed, and inconsistencies in his story, plus the fact he had been caught trying to incinerate his clothing, was

enough to charge him. Eugene was tried three times. The first two resulted in a hung jury and the third reached an acquittal. In nineteen fifty one, Eugene was convicted of the rape and murder of a woman in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was pregnant at the time of her death. He was given a life sentence. It is said that Preston's dark past heavily ways on the old building, and that the spirit of the housekeeper, plus so many of these wards that never made it out alive still very much

reside within its walls. There are eighteen boys buried in a small sem ma terry on the property. Many died of natural causes, and there are certainly more deaths that took place there, but the ones buried on site most likely had no surviving family or their loved ones were financially unable to bury them elsewhere. In nineteen sixty, the Preston School of Industry closed. The state planned to demolish the building, and a group of local women fought for

eight years to keep it standing. Finally, the state relinquished and said while they wouldn't tear it down, they would do nothing to keep it standing. So there it sat until two thousand one, when the State of California leased the property to the Preston Castle Foundation. In fourteen, the foundation was granted ownership of the castle and nearly thirteen

acres of property. Fundraising and repairs have been the goal ever since, and estimates are as high as fifteen to thirty million dollars to reverse the years of abuse and neglect of the building. Up next, we'll talk to Connie Brenner, a lead paranormal investigator at Pressston Castle and a member of the Preston Castle Foundation's board will find out what kind of activity they experienced there, in addition to how you can visit the castle and assist in their conservation efforts.

So I'm sitting here now with Connie Brenner, who is a lead investigator at Preston Castle and also a member of the board. She's now been involved kind of on a professional level with the castle for about two and a half years, but her history with the castle goes on even before that. So I think you've probably got some great info for us, Connie, as far as what the history at Preston, what has happened haunting wise there due to what happened there when it was in operation. Yes, yes,

absolutely so. Can you just kind of how me how you came about being involved with Preston. I started out as just a guest one night a friend of mine was involved with the castle, and she's like, Okay, you know, you totally got to come up here and check this place out because we had just kind of gotten started in the whole paranormal field. I went up there for a public investigation and I had never really had any crazy experiences, and like right off the bat that night,

I mean I think. I don't know, I saw like the holy grail of you know, in doing the paranormal stuff, where I actually saw a full body apparition. We were in the doctor's office and I was facing the doorway into the hall, and I saw what looked like a man in a white jacket walked right past the door. And there was another group located in the castle, but they were pretty far and like not even really close to that area. And so one of the girls that had had her back to that doorway, I asked her,

you know, did somebody just walk by? And she went out there and looked, and she says, there's nobody. I mean, it was pretty quick that she went and looked. It just you know, it took me a second to realize that, oh my gosh, I just saw, you know, an apparition walked right past the door. So I bet you were hooked at that point. I mean, that's all it takes. You. Either at that point you're completely terrified and never want to do it again, or your interest is peaked. It

was definitely peaked. And you know, I also got touched that night. We have an infirmary area in the castle, and I was touched you know, there was nothing that could have bumped into me. It wasn't my clothing, and so whoever's there was definitely getting my attention. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting that you say they were wearing a lab coat like they were maybe a doctor or someone that you know, obviously tended to the I guess they called

them inmates there or whatever they called them. I wouldn't say patients even, but who do you think that could possibly be. I think it was a doctor, you know, I see to me now that I know a whole lot more. But definitely seemed like a residual type haunting because it wasn't like it stopped and waved, you know, through the doorway. It was almost as if he was just going about his business, you know, maybe checking in on the patients that were there. They actually called them wards.

Apparently he was also seen by another guest earlier that evening in the same area. He was definitely making his rounds. Then, I mean, it's interesting. I'm hoping that no one you know in your group was running around in the lab coade or anything. So and it's interesting because he was see through, but I could also see that in in a weird sort of I don't even know how to describe it, but like he had like he had dark hair, you know, if it was a guy that was a

part of the investigation that night. You know, usually usually if you're going to wear some sort of a jacket, it has logos or something on it. But this definitely did not. No, No, definitely not. That's interesting just because I think about Preston Castle's history and I wanted to ask you about that a little bit, because obviously it's a very historic place. The history there is very dark. And I mentioned kind of in the beginning of the show.

My stepfather actually spent time there when he was a teen, and he would never speak of it. And he was a pretty he was an open book. He passed away, but his time at Preston he never spoke of, not even to my mom. He said it was a horrible experience, basically, is the most we could get out of him. And so, how do you obviously, for historical purposes, we want Preston Castle to stick around. People work really hard to make sure that it's still standing and it's it's got the

foundation and everything. How do you all reconcile kind of the history and what you do we go in. We are extremely respectful of the spirits that could be there. You know, we have to think about how young that the kids were that were there. You know, we think that there could have been kids as young as seven, and so, you know, we try really hard to be somewhat I don't know, maybe nurturing towards the children that were there, because it wasn't all fun and games there.

This It was run military style, right, yeah, And I'm sure there were plenty of success stories that came out of there as well. But just having that kind of first hand knowledge, but then also just kind of reading through the history, I do that too, where I kind of look back on it and I think, you know, what was it like to be dropped off there as a young boy and just not even know what was

coming to you? And and you know, some people were sent there because they genuinely had um issues that needed to be taken care of, and then others were sent there just because their parents couldn't take care of them anymore, you know, especially during the depression. And so I think that's great that you guys approach it in that way of being kind of nurturing and you know, humanizing them,

which I think is huge. This is their home. We are guests in their home, and we tell all of our guests this is not a place to come in and demand and treat the boys, even if there's staff around there. We really come in there with kind of love and respect for entities or spirits that are there. So that's definitely our approach when it comes to that, and I think it works because they're still around. You know,

they're there. And since COVID and you know the fact that we had to be shut down for a year, things have really ramped up. We're getting a ton of activity now, I'm sure. And actually that's something that we've noticed in our investigations, especially in some of these larger places that you know, the only real visitors they get are historians or you know, people visiting in the museum sense. But then also panormal investigators are the ones that really interact.

And I think in some cases the spirits really missed that. And you know, when we come back in, you know, when Adam and I investigator, if I'm out investigating, it's interesting how eager they are to speak again, Like I can't imagine, I don't I don't claim to know what time is like for them. I don't claim to know how any of that works, but it does seem like

they're more eager to interact at the moment. Oh yeah, I mean, and we have different stuff like going in there, we have our hot spots in all that other stuff, but it's changed and we're getting more activity in areas that we never used to, which makes it really interesting and exciting, you know, force because we're like, okay, you know, we get to kind of show people different areas and all that other stuff. I mean, you know, we try

to actually let them kind of discover it themselves. We try not to give them too much information, you know, but we're able to validate that after they talk with us when and if they haven't experience. Yeah, I mean that's great. I know, like it was open during the Spanish flu pandemic, and I was reading through the history because we felt like that a pandemic might be kind of triggering for some of these older locations that had

kind of been through it. And remarkably, I guess a lot of people had the flu and pressed them but they didn't lose anyone, which was kind of unheard of for that amount of people coming down with the flu back then. So just an interesting fact I found when I was digging through the history. Yeah, yeah, I mean it's crazy to think, you know, something like that that they didn't lose people like I guess you could say we are now. So yeah, it's it's very interesting how

that all happens. So what is the state of the castle right now? Obviously a post pandemic, you guys are probably bringing people back in, But how are things going? I haven't been, unfortunately in a few years. I used to go quite often just because it was about twenty five minutes away from my family home, which now my sister and her husband owned, But it was originally built by my stepfather, and so I can't remember the last time I was there. I think it must have been

about seven or eight years ago. So how how are things going there now? Things are great? Actually, you know, we've done so much as far as you know, the construction of the castle or the reconstruction of the castle, We've been able to um do a lot of repairs. I mean, there's so much prepare that needs to be

done to that place. I doubt I will ever see it completed in my lifetime, and maybe not even my sons, who's like, you know, he's seventeen or almost seventeen, and there's just so much and you know, it's extremely expensive to do all the repairs on this castle, but you know, we just keep kind of plugging away at it a little bit at a time. Our parking lot is no longer a gravel parking lot. We actually have asphalt now, and which is great, you know, trying to repair some

of the windows. And there are areas in the castle. I don't know if you remember, but where there was no floor from like the basement to like the fifth floor. You know, that is still unfortunately in that type of condition. I do remember that. I do remember that it's still you know, empty in there. You can still see all the way up, but there are areas that are the

floor has been replaced. Unfortunately, they're not open to the public yet, but the public still has three floors to do their investigations or tours, which you know, the castle is huge, it's shaped like a giant tea. Yeah, there's no shortage of space in there. I remember roaming those halls and I do remember actually because we were doing a public investigation there many years ago, and I do remember I think there was some sort of fire code.

We got shut down by the by the fire department or something because not this was before the event happened, because they were waiting to get sprinklers, installers something. And that's just indicative of like what you face when you're trying to get these historic places up and running, and not necessarily running, but just keeping them open so people don't forget that places like this existed. And so you know, how important do you think the haunting aspect is in

keeping Preston open? Because I find that some of these historic places, I don't know that they all fully grasp how important their ghosts can be for them as far as funding and raising interest. Um, it's huge. Honestly. We have so many different events that we do up there at the castle, even like the day tours. During the day tours, people ask, you know all the time about is this place haunted? Or if they know that we do paranormal investigations there, they want the information on how

to get involved in that. I have people wanting to be actually on the paranormal team, and it's huge. I think that if we didn't do our paranormal investigations, it would definitely play a loss in the interest in coming up there. I mean, and I'm not undermining the day tours because the day to words are phenomenal, but the place takes on a whole different feel when it gets dark versus the daytime. Have you ever had any of your daytime tour attendees have experiences that they didn't expect?

You know, I don't know, but I would not be surprised because even myself, when I've been there during the day, I've had my hair tugged, I've had whispers in my ear. You know, I've seen things. So I would not doubt that the guests during the day don't have their own paranormal experience there. Yeah, what would you say? The majority of the activity is like there we have, and it seems lately we've been getting a lot of disembodied voices where we're all in one room and it sounds like

there's conversations going on. I remember my actual first night of running the paranorm investigation and I heard, we all heard. We were in the infirmary and everybody in the group heard talking, and I thought somebody had broken into the grounds. And we're out walking the grounds, the castle and I panicked because this is my first night and you know, somebody broke in, and I truly panicked. But after a couple of the dose ents went outside to take a look,

there was nobody there. And so I mean, not only did we hear voices, but we heard footsteps two at the same time, So we get a lot of that. You will hear voices all throughout the castle day and night in my experience. Now, what would you say is

the most commonly reported activity in the castle? Probably the most common is the disembodied voices, and that seems to be what we're getting most of all right now, we have seen some white mists lately, and you know, it's it's pretty hot in the castle right now, so there's really nothing weather related that would necessarily cause that, you know, like the cold or you know, somebody's breath or anything

like that. Also, we've got a couple of shadow figures that we've been seeing also in a couple of the rooms. One of our dose since she just recently saw her first shadow figure and she's never seen what I mean, she's been doing this and she's been to like she's been to so many different places that you would see that kind of stuff, But this was her first time

seeing the shadow man. Oh gosh, I know this miss that you're describing, is it taking the shape of like figures or is it just kind of a missed hanging in the castle itself. I haven't seen it where it's taking actual, you know, the shape of a figure. Some of it seems to be kind of just forming and then like floating around UM but staying together in like not.

I don't not even know how to describe it. Again, not the form of a figure, but just not spread out as what you would see like fogs or anything like that. Right. I do remember when I was there with ghost hunters, there was reports of a mist hanging in there was like a really tall and open area. I feel like it was where the wards used to be and they used to be beds in there. But I do remember it seemed like it was almost an

attic or something that's spent so long. I do remember there was an owl in there that was attacking me. I do remember an owl swooping down me. So, you know, when when I'm talking to UM the guests that come, I tell them that we have our own ecosystem in there, and so the owls um, We've had fall box, We've had you know, other critters in there in the bats, the bats. We have a lot of bats. Yeah, so I've been attacked by many a bat. I think that

still stands at the only owl. It scared the crap out of me because I was just standing there and this thing swooped down across the room and I could feel the breeze of it like going over my head. So, um, it was probably in Company B because we had an owl in there for quite a while. Most of the time they stay up in the tower, you know, but you can hear them, of course when their chicks hatch. They are screaming all night. Oh I'm sure. Well, yeah,

so that it was Company B then yeah. I do remember specifically looking for this missed hanging in the room. I did not witness it, but it's just such an interesting phenomena that you don't care about that often kind of along those lines, what do you think would cause something like that or why do you think that would be happening at the castle, You know, it's it's really

hard to say. I do feel like things are trying to manifest there, and that's just their way of coming through in the form of a miss, whether it's the energy that the guests and us are providing for them or just whatever equipment that we have going at that time.

It's I don't know, it's really hard to say. You know, the MISS thing is is a little new for me as far as that goes there, and I mean, I've heard about it, but i've actually just recently, just since we've opened up this year, is when I've seen the miss and as well as some of the other docents. That's what they're retorting. How is Preston Castle kind of received in I own? Is the town really interested in skiing it kind of succeed you know? How do they

feel about the ghostly history being so prevalent. Do you guys ever get any pushback or are people mostly very welcoming of it? I think the town is pretty welcoming that. I mean, if anybody's been there. The castle sits on top of a hill that overlooks the entire town, which is super super tiny, but you will see, you know, if you go to the different restaurants or shops in the town, you can see some picture of the castle,

whether it's part of their logo or whatever. But the castle, the way that it sits looking over this town, it's not something that you can miss. Um, it's hard to say. It seems like they're pretty open to it. There's, of course, with anything, you're going to have people that say, no, no, it's not haunted, there's nothing there, and then your fair share of people that are like, oh my god, I've been there, and yes it's totally haunted. So um, you know,

it's it's probably a mixture. How often do you have people kind of visit the castle who actually spent time there or work there. I believe we have one volunteer that actually worked it, or maybe he was a war there. I can't remember, but we do have quite a few people that will come through. We had an event not that long ago, or I should say it feels like over a year ago now that he was visiting. I think he said he was visiting from Oregon or he

had been out of state and he came back. I was talking to him and he was telling me about spending time in one of the units called Tamarack, and that is the solitary confinement unit. It like he was really shook up just talking to me about it. He said that he had actually never been in or was never part of the main building of the castle, but he said his experience in Tamarack was just it was not good, but he had come up there. I guess, I don't know, like just to resolve things with himself.

I'm not sure, But yeah, we do. We do have people coming up there and talking about how either they spent time or that they had family members that either spent time or work there. When people bring things like that up, or when they kind of talk about what it was like there, or even just kind of what the routine was and things, does that ever seem to instigate activity. I don't know. I don't know. You know, when I was talking to this particular guy, we were outside.

I don't even know if he had gone inside. I think it was just more of him sitting on the grounds or standing on the grounds talking to me. But I don't see why it wouldn't people coming through there, it could definitely spark some of the activity. Have you ever gotten anything identifiable or as far as who could be haunting Preston or are there any ghosts that you think you know who they are specifically? You know, I don't think we've gotten any specific ghosts or people that

had been there. It's really hard to say. We suspect, but I don't think, you know, we've never really gotten solid confirmation of any names or anything like that while we've been investigating. And it seems like, you know, a lot of the activity you describe is pretty residual in nature, meaning that it's almost like a recording playing over and over for people listening, like the energy of someone just

kind of going about their routine. Is there anything there that you would say is maybe more intelligent or like seeking some sort of help or needing something. I definitely sense that there is one particular one that we've all kind of had some sort of interaction with down in the basement area or the intake room, which is where the boys came in. And I've seen him as a shadow, I've felt him as oh gosh, like he's followed me through the basement before, and it's definitely a male presence.

And sometimes we've, like I said, we've seen him kind of walking back and forth, but more of a shadow figure. And that one, in particular, I think is intelligent and definitely interactive. Okay, so the intake room was that the room that had the pool. Didn't they have some sort of pool that they kind of washed them. I think they stopped using it eventually because it was harmful, but

it was that where that was. Yeah, So they enter in through the intake and then immediately they were taken into what we call the de lousing pool, which um is, I think is barbaric personally, they were you know, thrown into this pool whether they knew how to swim or or not, with chemicals and all the other stuff. And not to mention that the staff kitchen was like right across from that, which kind of grosses me out to think that you know, those chemical and there could have

been kind of floating around. But yes, that's where we feel a presence for sure, and we've seen you know, a shadow down there and it's definitely male. Okay. Aside from that area, are there any other like major hot spots in the castle where you feel like there's just i know, the infirmary because that's where you saw the doctor or where the doctor was seen, right. Is there anywhere else that you feel like it's almost like guaranteed activity if you go into a space. So, yeah, the infirmary,

the basement, the basements. Definitely a hot spot because we have like a chapel school area that we've gotten, you know, some activity in. We just had an investigation this last Saturday and they were getting activity up in Company B. That isn't you know typically um I would say a hot spot, but once in a while we do get that. And also on the second floor. Lately we've and getting

some activity down the hall. We actually us as docents, got some activity in the visitor center, which is kind of what we call home base where we had We were sitting there, there was three of us and we probably people were sitting there for a good forty five minutes to an hour and there's like this little sink area and all of a sudden, we heard this big bang and we went over there and it appeared that a knife fell off one of the shelves and hit

I mean like nothing, there was nothing there that could have knocked it down or anything. And the fact that we were just sitting there for so long and nothing had happened, and then boom, you know, this knife falls out to the shelf. So I don't know, that's pretty wild. Is there any activity that people experienced there that you think has like violent or aggressive tendencies, like any scratches or pushing or anything like that. No, I don't think so.

We've had one instance of a scratch not that long ago. She you know, is an intuitive and she didn't feel threatened by the scratch. I think she felt more that they were trying to get her attention and that was down again in that basement area, and it might have been that male presence that we all feel down in there. And as far as pushing, maybe people have reported occasionally a push, but I personally don't feel that there's anything bad there or evil or violent or anything like that.

I think that it's more that they're just besides the residual that we have there, they're just trying to get our attention, right, I mean, I think that sometimes aggressive activity is just that and it's mistaken for something more,

you know, sinister. But sometimes they think that some entities just really want to get your attention and when they allies, they can touch you or imagine being that desperate, like you're trying to get some sort of message across, and you desperately reach out to someone, And sometimes I think that is kind of misconstrued as negative type activity well, you know, I have a lot of respect for everything

you guys are doing at Preston. I know this last year has been incredibly hard for historic locations, but it sounds like you guys are back up and running and have a lot happening soon. So if people want to visit, what can they do and what do you have coming up that people might be interested in. Definitely check out our website which is Preston Castle dot org. And we have a huge event coming up which is our Halloween Haunt.

It's one of our biggest events of the year and that will be all through October on Friday and Saturday nights starting October and they can go to the website to perk as tickets, but they are selling fast. We sell out fast on this. You don't want to miss it. It's three floors of the castle and it's just it's amazing and we change it up every year and so the people that have come through in years past absolutely love it. Well, that's great and obviously all the money

raise goes to a great cause and that's fabulous. Hopefully I'll be able to get back out there soon. I will be visiting families soon, so I will have to pop by the castle and say hi. Absolutely all right, well, thank you so much for taking the time. I appreciate it, and hopefully I will see you soon. All right, thank you, Amy. I have to admit, after researching Preston so intensely and hearing the stories that came out of that building, I

wondered why we're all so intent on preserving it. But there is something special about that red castle, so out of play in the California Foothills. Architecturally alone, its significance cannot be denied. And yes, there were tragedies, but there were also many who left there, changed and reformed, who might not have had the lives they did without some intervention. I also feel like repurposing the space into something more positive can be a forever reminder of the growth and

evolution we and all of society is capable of. It can also serve as a reminder of a place we don't want to go back to. So I urge you to explore the California Foothills, particularly Amador and El Dorado Counties, often overlooked areas closer to Nevada than they are to San Francisco or Los Angeles, and they're filled with gold Rush history and ghosts and as you do, make the stop and I own to see the castle. If you can book a tour or a ghost hunt and let

them know you know a former local me. I'm Any Brunei and this was Haunted Road. M Haunted Road is a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey. The podcast is written and hosted by Amy Bruney. Executive producers include Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. The show is produced by rima Ill Kali

and Trevor Young. Taylor Haggerdorn is the show's researcher. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.