Abandoned or haunted?
The Wise County Orphanage sits alone in the woods and is considered to be one of the most haunted locations in Virginia, something that has been said about many places in the Commonwealth.
Some locals claim the property is haunted, specifically by small children whose voices have been heard. There are tales of strange lights seen in the area of the orphanage and also stories that babies were stolen from the orphanage and adopted by the wealthy.
Abandoned in the 1920s after serving as an orphanage for abandoned and orphaned children. It has since been left the crumble and decay, with nature claiming it back as its own over the years. From the outside, it even looks like your typical haunted house!
First-hand accounts
The authors of an article by Southern Trippers about 12 haunted locations in the Commonwealth said the location "seriously gives us the creeps"!. The building is said to be "slowly becoming consumed by the wilderness around it". Christopher Sloce who lived in Wise agrees. Sloce said he heard many stories about the abandoned building and once saw video footage during a hazing event.
Everyone who watched the video believes they saw a redheaded child in sack clothes at the bottom of the stairs. Sloce said rumors suggest that the Wise County Orphanage was filled with telephone books and the police were supposed to be guarding it 24/7. He tried years later to get into the building but said the overgrowth around the facility is so thick it's what prevented him from being successful.
There are no stories about anything that happened in the building while it was operating as an orphanage or dates of when it was filled with children. Those stories like the building have been consumed by the surrounding wilderness.
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