from: Joe
Hi,
my name is Joe. I am a seminarian at Borromeo Seminary on Euclid Avenue in Wickliffe, Oh. The reason I’m e mailing you is because I have a couple questions regarding the events of this old place. First off, it has been said that the owner of all this land, before it was bought by the Diocese of Cleveland, hung himself in his barn (which is still standing in the woods on the back of the property) because his wife had died…or something. I’m wondering if you or anyone who visits the sight might be able to answer this. Secondly, about 100 feet away from the barn is a wine cellar that has been bricked up. It is said that there were occult symbols written all over the walls and giant pentagram written on the floor. Again I’m wondering if anyone has heard anything of this. Thirdly, before this building was turned into a seminary, it was a shelter for pregnant teens. There are multiple stories of young women killing themselves and their children. It is said that some hung themselves off the banisters in the stair wells, that one woman killed her children in what is now our library(some of the guys here say that they have heard children laughing and a woman screaming while in the library), and for some reason it is rumored that the third floor is haunted. There was only one priest that lived on the third floor, and he has recently moved out because he has been assigned to a parish. Fourthly, it is said that a priest hung himself in one the stair wells. I was wondering if this or my third question had ever shown up in the news anywhere. Also, I have asked several priests, and none of them will talk about any of my questions, especially the last one. Anything you or anyone else could give me would be most appreciated. I don’t know if this helps or not but the seminary address is 28700 Euclid Ave. Wickliffe, Oh. 44092. Thanks,
Joe
Hi joe i enjoy going to up there every day i like being scared also i have heard all the same things you have and have had some creepy things happen to me and some friends in the old wine seller?? (or what ever it was) i felt some one breathing on my neck also my friend felt like some one pulled his hair.. i was amazed so we brought out the good old ouija board and tried it out not sure if it was ppl moving it but they all denied saying it wasnt me and having my girlfriend in tears we ran..=)
Hi Joe,
The property the Sem stands on used to be a farm, dating back to the early 20th century. If I remember correctly, the wife died AFTER the husband.
As far as the "wine cellar"… that's actually a tunnel that leads to the basement area of the old Coulby estate… what is now Wickliffe City Hall. I don't know about any occult symbols.
The only suicide of a Borromeo Priest is Fr. Lee Monroe, who was an Ethics Proffesor. Tragically, Fr. Monroe did commit suicide on All Soul's Day, 1996… but the suicide took place at the residence of a family member.
The only haunting I've heard of is in the dorms of the old high school, but don't recall the full story.
Feel free to email me: Patrick S. Cater emtcater@yahoo.com
Hello everyone.
The story that I heard was that the farmer who's name was Joe too, ran his son over with a tractor and then hung himself because of the grief. Then his wife died shortly after. I was told that the "Wine cellar" was slave or servant house. Don't really know, that's what I was told. Be careful going up there. If you go during school hours the cops will get you.
The cellar does not have a pentagram on the floor.(it didn't in 1993) But there was graffiti. More profanity than diabolical symbolism.
That place has haunted me since I went to school at All Saints in the early 80s. I see it in my sleep, sometimes. There used to be abandoned farm equipment inside. Something strange happened to me there when I was eight. It is haunted, definitely, and it's bothered me for my entire life.
When I was a child my best friend and I met and attended this day camp on the grounds. The day camp gave us chances to explore the entirety of the property including the barn and the "wine cellar". There are 2-3 entrances into this barn. The first is the most obvious, the large set of doors at the front of the barn, second is a set of cellar doors about 5-10 feet from the entrance doors. The third is the basement entrance which is an opening near the side of the building (Whether or not this is part of the original structure, I do not know for certain). The safest entrance is through the large main doors. The Cellar doors were never opened in front of me, so the possibility of using them is minimal. ALL the doors into this barn are locked with chains and keyed locks. Unfortunately the cellar portion of the barn has been damaged and squatted in for years, and may still contain some winos or squatters… be prepared for this because they will scare you.
The most recent experience was with a few friends after having a bout of paranormal interest. It was afternoon and we went, parked and walked up to the barn in the woods. As we got there, it was open… which was weird since they NEVER unlock it. We walked inside, looked around and took a few photos. Then we walked over to the wine cellar, which had a significantly more "Active" and "hostile" feel to it. We took some recordings of both buildings before the wickliffe police showed up and asked us very nicely to leave. When responders were escorting us off the property I asked "did they see us park and go in? I'm surprised no one stopped us there!" the police officer responded "no as a matter of fact they had no idea you guys were there until they saw one of you standing in the upstairs window". Now this freaked us out for two reasons. #1: if we were spotted up there, why didn't campus security come down to escort us off the property? We in no way looked like a dangerous bunch. #2: The old barn IS two stories high, however, getting to the TOP floor is impossible because the floor near all of the top story windows is GONE. You couldn't STAND there. Maybe Climb or have a HUGE ladder that allows you that opportunity but there's no way to just STAND in one of the top story windows… so who did they see?
Personally, I do not believe that the BARN or WINE CELLAR caused the events that happened shortly there after, but about 2/3 days after we visited, our apartment (located over 20 miles away) started to increase in severe paranormal activity. We had some slight instances prior to our visit, but following it, those instances got more serious.
I hope this is of some assistance to the question about the barn and wine cellar. Our EVPs we reviewed showed most of the activity happening in the wine cellar a few possible names were determined one of which was "Joe", the other two were "Marley" and "Sarah". I haven't listened to these EVPS since and won't ever again. There were no commands or demands, but what we think was "what brings you here" was deciphered via the tapes. We used ANALOG cassette tapes to defer digital artifacts.
I would love to know more about this location and it's history, especially since no information seems to be available anywhere about it's story.
Hopefully this has been helpful. Thank you so much for reading.
We were just there today, my boyfriend knew about it and we went in the middle of the day with no issues. What we went into was a building that looked small from the outside, kind of looked like it was built into the hill. It's like right on Bishop road after you walk down the hill from Ridge road, and turn into a grassy woodsy area and it's right there, a bit away from the grounds of the Seminary. The only way in is what looks to be a window, kind if have to be hoisted up. Immediately inside is a room with nothing but bricks and wood and grafitti. Straight ahead is a long hallway, with a room off to the side in which my boyfriend calls the chaped because one time he went there and there were burnt candles in there. Back down the hallway the way you came there is another room with a huge heating duct? In the middle and off of that room is another long hallway. Now at the end of this second hallway is a wall on which an about 6ft tall painting of a black human figure, upon further inspection the painting had red dripping from the hands and all over the body, also around it were some pretty freaky words about "he will rise again". That is the best description I can give, I had a pretty bad feeling the entire time we were in there, but now I have this intense need inside of me to know exactly what this place is. If anyone can help I would appreciate it!!
I just moved into the Wickliffe area near the high school with my wife back in September of last year. This is interesting to me because we live right around the corner from this area but don't know exactly where it is. I know the last person who posted said it's down the hill from ridge road. Ridge road turns into bishop road right where bishop and Rockefeller Rd intersect right? If that's the case its super close to where i live. I'm curious as well. If anyone has any more information about it I would like to check it out !
I also live around this area and am interested In this place as well though I never knew about it until now. Where exactly is this again ? I live off of bishop before it hits Rockefeller rd by the high school .
I just moved into the Wickliffe area near the high school with my wife back in September of last year. This is interesting to me because we live right around the corner from this area but don't know exactly where it is. I know the last person who posted said it's down the hill from ridge road. Ridge road turns into bishop road right where bishop and Rockefeller Rd intersect right? If that's the case its super close to where i live. I'm curious as well. If anyone has any more information about it I would like to check it out !
The Seminary is located across Bishop from Wickliffe Country Place nursing home…though the address is on Euclid Ave, it emcompasses a large area. The Euclid Ave exit ramp off 90 is at the west end of the propertyl.
I went to school at Borromeo College of Ohio (the Seminary) from 1982 to 1985. During my time there, I heard several stories about paranormal activity especially involving a dorm room where an alleged suicide took place. I also witnessed many creepy things. For instance, there's a church in the back of the seminary that, in its day, was used as a parish. It's not attached to the seminary. It's kept open 24/7 and it's always lit with candles. I had gone into the church at night many times to meditate. As far as I knew, no seminarians or priests went there in the evening…which makes it strange that it would always be lit by candlelight. Anyway during my meditations, I'd hear doors closing and things moving. It was creepy but I kept going back until I thought maybe there was someone in the building that I didn't want to meet. Of course, nothing compared to my first night on campus. I arrived early to school because that's when I could get a ride from PA to OH. The seminarians and priests reside on the second floor which is split off into wings. Because I was early, no other seminarians were there. I was the only person in my wing that evening. That night was full of paranormal activity, not the pleasant kind either. I had experienced things before but that first night was chilling. Throughout my years, I experienced activity besides meditating in the church. For instance, my friend and I were up late talking in my room. It was probably 1 AM when he left. At that point, I closed my door which was always locked, pulled my sneakers off beside my bed and went to sleep. The next morning I got up for morning prayer at 7 AM and my sneakers were gone. They disappeared from my bedside, in a locked dorm room within six hours. They eventually showed up on the first floor in a room that housed a phone for the sems to use. They were neatly sitting under the desk as if pulled off my feet.
I don’t mean to freak you out but those names are familiar to the grounds, i went to school at all saints and there was a little girl named Sarah that died of cancer at a young age. It stuck out into my mind, she would always ask her mother when she was picking Sarah up From school if she could go to the “abandoned church” aka the barn. When she died our school community was extemely active with her death. When i went up to the barn in july i took some pictures and recently going back there was a picture of some graffiti that was in some weird code so I went on a website with the picture of the code and it spelled out Sarah…. CREEPY. Oh and also Marley is the name of our principal that passed away and our other principal that died was named joe. There’s also another joe that was a priest that killed himself in the woods or something. Idk if posting this would help you or just scare you, but all i have to say is I’m not going back to that barn, it’s the portal to hell
Has anyone ever found a reason why Lee Monroe commited suicide ?
As far as I know, a reason has never been given. Shortly before his death he told me, " God did not need much time." It was a small conversation but I detect he was already struggling with something.
Thank you for your reply..
I suspect it might be from his days at St. Columbkille in Parma.