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This picture made the local newspapers in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a picture of the mansion (also called the Hannah house by locals) being moved. As you can see the house was boarded and there was nobody in the house. Yet, there is an image of a girl looking out of the window. The house is reputed to be very haunted and is on the top ten haunted places in USA. http://www.prairieghosts.com/nichol.htmlThe Nicholson Mansion Story
The Nicholson Masion in Valley Mills, Indiana has a interesting history behind it. Unlike typical ghost stories, which are passed down from generation to generation, the stories surrounding the Nicholson Mansion only appeared in recent years. David Nicholson was a well known contractor in the Indianapolis area, and had enough money that he wanted to built a luxurious mansion for his family. Construction began in 1870, just as he began work on building the new Courthouse in Marion County. Nicholson finished work on the house in 1876, and his family lived there until 1903 when they sold the property to the Rand family. The Nicholson Mansion was abandoned during the 1970s, and nearly succumbed to the dangers of urban sprawl. Valley Mills was little more than a ghost town, and the town of Southport was slowly moving south towards the house. It seemed only a matter of time until the house, like many others before it, would be torn down to make way for a new strip mall or parking lot. Instead, Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana stepped in, and saved the building. The Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana moved the house from its original location, to a safer area near Southport. That was when the first rumors of a haunting appeared. A photographer on hand to document the move for the Indianapolis Star, spotted a young girl in one of the windows. The blond girl wore a blue dress, and simply stood in the window of the Nicholson Mansion, watching as the workers prepared. The little girl also appeared in the finished photographs that later ran in the newspaper. Some say the little girl is a ghost of someone who died in the house, or on the property, but there is no record of that happening. A former resident of the house was told that the house was once used as a boarding house. During those years, a resident hanged himself in one of the upstairs bedrooms. One again, there is no proof of the event happening, or the Nicholson Mansion used as a boarding house. Others claim that the Nicholson Mansion was a stop on the Underground Railroad. According to the story, a group of slaves burned to death in the basement after a fire broke out and they were unable to escape. To escape persecution for hiding escaped slaves, the family closed them off in the basement. Their screams are now sometimes heard throughout the house. Some also claim to see blood dripping down the walls, and the smell of decaying flesh. No one has every verified that the house was once a stop on the Underground Railroad.
The Nicholson Mansion was labeled as one of the top 10 most haunted places in America by Haunted America, and a few investigations have revealed startling things. One group of investigators watched in surprise as a lighting fixture began moving in circles on its own. The same group had their EMF detectors spike uncontrollably in a second floor bedroom.
The Nicholson Mansion is currently located just outside of Indianapolis, Indiana on private property.
