After being closed to investigations for over a decade, this is your chance to investigate a location recently featured on the Travel Channels "Haunted Towns." Join the Riverside Iowa Paranormal Team as we investigate this active location in Independence, Missouri.

When the Vaile Mansion was built in 1881 by Col. Harvey Merrick and Sophia Vaile, the Kansas City Times called the mansion “The most princely house and most comfortable home in the entire west.” Soon after the Vailes had a mural painted on their master bedroom ceiling that featured a topless female and were shunned by the local Victorian community.

Col. Vaile who was born in 1831 in Vermont, graduated from the University of Louisville with a law degree in 1859. In 1870 he settled in Independence, MO. He was an abolitionist with a passion for politics. He built his fortune by investing in several business ventures, primarily interests in the construction of the Erie Canal. He was also part-owner and operator of the Star Mail Routes.

In 1882, Col. Vaile was forced away to stand trial in New York on charges of defrauding the federal government. Sophia, left alone to face the embarrassment of the trials, fell into a deep depression. She was shunned by the community, battling depression, stomach cancer, and jaundice. On February 14, 1883, Sophia was found dead in her bedroom, dying from an apparent overdose of morphine pills. It is unknown whether this was an intentional suicide or an accident. June 4, 1894, Col. Vaile passed away in the home, having never recovered from a stroke the previous month.

In 1906, the Vaile Mansion was purchased for $1 by Carey May Carroll, who attempted to use the mansion as the Vaile Inn and began to sell bottled water labeled “Vaile Pure Spring Water”, which contained trace amounts of lithium. In 1909, Dr. Charles Sinclaire Elliot purchased a 1/2 interest in the estate with plans to use the mansion as the Vaile Sanitarium. The Sanitarium became an established facility in 1911.

In the 1950s the sanitarium was converted to The Cable Nursing Home or The Cable Resting home for the elderly. The home was closed in 1960 and later donated to the Vaile Victorian Society in 1983 when restoration began and it now operates as a historical museum during the day.

Spend the night investigating with us and one of our Psychic Mediums. We will also conduct some group experiments you don't want to miss. Some of the experiences at the Vaile include:

     •Hearing footsteps

     •Lights turn on and off

     •Disembodied voices of past residents

     •Figures climbing and descending the main staircase.

     •Shadow figures

     •Unexplained sounds

     •Eerie photos

     •EVP’s

     •Identified Spirits

     •Full-body apparitions

     •Many more

Get your tickets now as space is limited!

Snacks and beverages will be provided.