Wyandotte, MI Police Station (retired) & Oakwood Cemetery
DATE: 09-19-2009 LOCATION: Wyandotte, Michigan INVESTIGATORS: John, Nan,June Bug,Chass, Brad, Heidi, Katie, Jason, Autumn, Terri, Art, Mike-W, Kelly, and Chris
Excitement builds: To say the least the MCGH were very fortunate to be given the opportunity to investigate the old Wyandotte Police station. We were all excited when in the fall of 2009 we were given the chance. The Jaycees of Wyandotte invited us to investigate the now defunked police station. We jumped at the chance to investigate this little piece of history before it is torn down. The Jaycees were already mid-stream with transforming the station into a haunted structure to scare the kids for their upcoming “HELLBLOCK13” haunted event.
A little history: In 1826, John Clark would bury his daughter Katherine on his property, which later in 1869 would become the Oakwood Cemetery. One hundred years later the Wyandotte Police Department moved into their new station located near the southeast corner of the burial grounds, which some claim was on top of some of the grave sites. Which has provoked some unrested souls? The building also served as the location of the 27th District Court, where harsh penalties were handed down to hardened criminals. There are claims of paranormal activity in and around the station and one confirmed suicide. Apparently a prisoner had hung himself in one of the visitation cells.
Oakwood Cemetery is in a unique situation. It has no owner.
Block 37 Lot 22 is a well known location at Oakwood Cemetery. It is the location of the first burial in 1826
The beginning: We arrived promptly at 8:00 PM that night and congregated in the Cemetery parking lot adjacent to the police station. We were met by a photographer from The Times Herald who was doing a story on our investigation and the Haunted House. After a brief walk through the cemetery we escorted the photographer through the old police station. The Jaycee volunteers were still hard at work trying to get ready by Halloween, so we couldn’t start our investigation just yet. A couple of us walked through with news photographer so he could get some pictures and data for The Times Herald article.
John gathering the troops
Katie, one of the troopers
The cemetery: With all the hard work going on in the station we were forced to focus our attention on the cemetery. It’s a little ironic that most members were drawn to a corner spot in the cemetery, later to find out that it was the location of the first burial there in 1826, noted in the picture with the iron fence around the plot. We took a bunch of pictures but the occasional orb, (dust, reflection, lens flare, it’s hard to say) was the only thing that showed up.
JuneBug, Kellie, and MikeW checking out the plots
Kellie in small jail cell
Let's get going: We were “chomping at the bit” to get into the station and finally allowed access at 9:30. Volunteers were still hard at work trying to get their work done for the upcoming haunted house event. Tommy from the Jaycees gave us a tour of the place so we would be more acquainted once we went “lights out”. We set up base camp along some glass block windows which looked to be the old lobby. Some waited for the noise to calm down while others ventured through the construction to get a better feel for the premises.
Chass preping MikeW for "lights out"
Jail cell all-in-one facilities
It really begins: It wasn’t until 11:00 that the last of the workers had left for the night. That left the place to ourselves. The place was still really dusty from the construction. They had literally cut out cement block walls to turn the place into a haunted maze. Most members have their own gear and we all separated up into small groups to start with the investigation. The station was pretty eerie to say the least with its underground gun range, lifeless locker rooms, jail cells, holding rooms, and tiny visitation rooms. The environment was not ideal with the dust still settling from the construction. Anything of paranormal interest was observed in the visiting cell. With members feeling frontal lobe pressure, temperature spikes and feelings of being touched on the calf and head. This visiting cell was the one reported to be were the prisoner had committed suicide by hanging himself.
Setting up for EVP, Night shot of old court room
JuneBug running EVP session in familiar jail cell
Some highlights: The environment was not ideal with the dust still settling from the construction. Most of the activity was observed in the visiting cell. With members feeling “something” from frontal lobe pressure, to temperature spikes, and feelings of being touched on the calf and head. This was the cell were the prisoner had committed suicide by hanging himself. John, Chass and MikeW had tried a crystal pendulum session in the visiting cell with no responses. Our investigator Katie had reported seeing shadows moving while doing EVP session in the larger holding cell. With no hard evidence it was chalked up to her eyes playing tricks on her. At 12:45 AM Both Chass and Heidi reported hearing typing and could not find the source of the sound. They did come across an office area that was vacant.
Underground gun range
Mike in visitation room
Comes to an end: Overall it was a great opportunity for us to be able to go through the station before it gets torn down. We thank the Wyandotte Jaycees for allowing us access and hope for the best at the “HellBlock13” 2009 Halloween haunted tour. On October 21, 2008 the Wyandotte Police Department moved into their new home along with the 27th District Court located at 2015 Biddle Avenue. We wish the Wyandotte police officers the best at their new facility. We also thank the Oakwood Cemetery Association that was formed in 1970 for their dedication to the planning and repair of the cemetery.
New Wyandotte police station
Funds needed for repairs
PLEASE CONTACT MOTORCITY GHOSTHUNTERS BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9am and 8pm @ 313-516-3001 OR E-MAIL @ MCGHPLEASEHELP@gmail.com IF YOU ARE IN MI OR THE SURROUNDING AREA. IF YOU ARE IN THE CAROLINAS, CONTACT ART@MOTORCITYGHOSTHUNTERS.COM OR 919-622-9544
