Paranormal Activity Investigators

Location Information

Date:21st November, 2010     Type:Business

Location Title:J. Huston Tavern     City/State:Arrow Rock, MO

Investigation Times:06:00 PM - 09:45 PM     Status:Analysis

 

Weather Information

Sunrise:07:08 AM   Sunset:05:00 PM

High Temperature:73 °F   Low Temperature:53 °F

Sky Condition:Overcast   Wind:SSW at 15 mph

Humidity:82%   Precipitation:0%

Lunar Phase:Full Moon   % disk visible:100%

Solar X-Rays:Normal   Geomagnetic Field:Quiet

Pressure:23.96 mmHg  

 

Investigators Present

Bryan Kaplan

Jenny Kerr

Becky Ray

Kevin Simpson

Jennifer Sprague

​

Location History

​

From http://www.prairieghosts.com/arrow_rock.html
Written by Troy Taylor
In 1829, the town of Arrow Rock was founded on the bluff above the river. Originally named Philadelphia, the town’s name was changed in 1833 to coincide with the landmark. Its situation on the Missouri River and Santa Fe Trail meant that large numbers of travelers heading west passed through the town. In 1834, Joseph Huston, a native of Virginia, began construction of a two-story brick structure known today as the Old Tavern.
By 1860, Arrow Rock had become Saline County’s most important river port, with a population of more than 1,000. Famous residents have included the painter George Caleb Bingham and Dr. John Sappington, who was instrumental in combating malaria. The town has also produced three Missouri governors.
The population boom of the past slowly faded and today, Arrow Rock can only boast about 100 residents. Its charm, antique stores and inns still manage to attract thousands of visitors though and remains in a constant state of restoration.
One ghostly spot in town is the already mentioned Old Tavern, which was built in the 1830's by slaves owned by John Huston. The tavern still operates today as a wonderful restaurant and is also home to "spirits" of another sort. Over the years staff members have claimed a number of strange experiences. The daughter of a manager refused to stay in the building alone and a teenager who mopped the floors for the place quit. He said that, even though the dining room was empty, he heard the sounds of people talking and eating in the other room. Others have heard their names called and have heard unearthly footsteps pacing the floors.

​

Investigators Notes

​

Becky Ray:This was one of those investigatons where crazy things happened before we even had time to unpack our equipment.
Highlights:
Kitchen door swinging on it's own without logical cause. We tried all night to recreate this and were unable to get it to perform as it did on its own.
Loud crash. I captured this event on video and will be posting it soon. We were not able to find anything that could have possibly made the sound we heard. What is most interesting about this to me is that I had the same thing happen on an earlier visit to the Tavern.
This is a location I would like to return to as much as possible.

​

Kevin Simpson:This building was AMAZING. From the moment we walked in the door into the kitchen door was swinging back in forth. We tried many things to recreate it and nothing. There was also a dress hanging on a chair that would wave back and forth when the door would open, like someone was moving it. When we would walk thru the door it would move the dress but only for 2 or 3 seconds. But when we were first there it swung for 10 or 15 seconds. Several times throughout the night myself and others in the group heard voices male and female. At one point I went into the kitchen to refill my drink and as I got into there I heard 2 distinct laughs. One was pretty loud and the other was quieter. No one was around the building that I saw. Probably the best point of the evening was when we were sitting in the dining room talking and there was a loud crash in the kitchen. The entire group went into the kitchen to find nothing out of place. We did numerous experiments to try to recreate it, will be checking my recordings to see if we recreated it. I would like to thank everyone involved for a great investigation and also to our host for the great experience and also the amazing food. I could have not been happier with the evening. I would love to go back to this building and also would be open to any building in this town. Great history and also great memory for me.

​

Jennifer Sprague:On this investigation I brought my own notebook for notes and also used a digital audio recorder. From the moment we walked in there seemed to be some strange activity happening with the door that served as the entry way between the kitchen and the dining room. The door apparently seemed to be opening by itself. This was witnessed by much of the staff there as well as members of our group. No matter how hard we tried to figure out what could be the cause for the door to open, we could not find a logical explanation. One literally has to manually push open the door, a breeze, even a strong one, was not enough to create the same effect. The strange thing was was that as the door opened a small breeze as if somebody was walking by was felt by not only me but also by other people there. In fact a dress that was hanging over a chair right by the door also swayed as this was happening. What is even stranger is that during the night the door did open by itself again. Although other members of the group described hearing some disembodied voices, I,myself, did not. We all heard some indescribable noises throughout the place, that we could not explain and that were more than normal 'creaks' associated with settling of foundations. The most noted one came from the kitchen. During this time we were all sitting in the dining room when a loud metallic sounding crash came from the kitchen, it was so loud that we were all startled to hear it. Upon investigating what it could be we saw nothing out of place in the kitchen, and nothing seemed to have fallen. We were able to rule out other factors. In order to create the same sound one would have to literally drop all the pots and pans on the floor, take a huge container full of silverware and slam it on the ground, or lift up the opening of one of the steamers and slam it. Hopefully we will be able to put up that footage soon as we were lucky enough to capture on film. I will be reviewing audio soon and will post any evps ( electronic voice phenomenon) that I come across. I would like to thank the J Huston Tavern for having us out there, and also the wonderful dinner!! I really hope to go back in the very near future! It's definitely an interesting place!