Four of the Most Haunted Manufacturing Facilities in the U.S.
Let’s be honest: Old manufacturing facilities are creepy.
Relics of a rapidly disappearing industrial past, giant dilapidated plants can be found throughout the United States.
The eerie shop floor interiors, row after row of columns supporting vacant warehouses and abandoned ancient machines left to rust away all mix together to create a frightening (and sometimes haunted!) place.
During the United States industrial revolution, before OSHA requirements and labor unions, working conditions were extremely difficult and accidents were commonplace. It is many of these fatalities that have led to the urban legends associated with our country’s oldest plants.
In this special Halloween edition of our blog, IQMS researched some of the haunted manufacturing plants across our nation and the rich history behind them.
While most of them are still standing and live on through the ghost stories that surround them, one thing is clear: You will never catch me anywhere near them after nightfall!
Cape Fear Meat Packing Plant
Wilmington, North Carolina
This 100-year-old slaughterhouse, which closed down in the early 1920s and was demolished just this past year, was described as one of the most state-of-the-art abattoirs in the country at the time.
The looming six story structure that sat abandoned on the bank of Cape Fear for decades was allegedly haunted by the ghost of the soon-to-be-bankrupt Cape Fear Packaging Company owner, who was said to have hanged himself in the middle of the building.
Olivesburg: Quarry and Manufacturing Plant
Richland County, Ohio
The manufacturing plant on Route 545 near Olivesburg used to form metal rods out of molten iron and produce cement blocks for railroad construction projects.
It is said that in the 1940s, a large iron kettle chain broke and poured molten metal onto five workers. All five workers died slow, painful deaths immersed in iron.
The plant has been closed down for years, but it is said that the spirits of the five workers will speak to you if you visit on specific nights.
Peters Cartridge Company Building
Kings Mills, Ohio
Constructed in the 1860s, this massive munitions manufacturing complex originally made bullets and cannonballs for the Union Army during the Civil War. In fact, the Peters Cartridge Company building saw the production of bullets and explosives for more than a century until it was shuttered in the late 1950s.
It’s indisputable that many workers lost their lives in the many industrial accidents, explosions and fires common to the munitions industry.
According to visitors, ghosts are sighted occasionally in the upper windows, footsteps cross the upper floors and roof late at night and the elevator cables sometimes swing for no good reason.
Remington Arms Ammunition and Components Plant
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Perhaps the most famous haunted manufacturing facility in our list today is the old Remington Arms plant.
Comprised of 38 buildings over 73 acres, the massive Remington factory was one of the largest ammunitions plants in the world. But industrial accidents were commonplace in factories that large, such as the 1942 explosion that claimed the lives of seven people, injured 80 others and shot countless bullets through nearby buildings and neighborhoods.
Closed in 1986, the Remington Arms building is now patrolled by the Bridgeport police who have seen moving shadows, heard disembodied voices and screams and witnessed other unexplainable events. The old ammunition factory was featured on an episode of the Travel Channels’ Ghost Adventures in 2009.
Know of any old haunted manufacturing plants in your town? Or maybe you have a resident ghost patrolling your shop floor? Share in the comments below!