New paranormal activity evidence is revealed at the Warden’s House in downtown Stillwater during a presentation by Johnsdale Paranormal Group on Oct. 26.

The Warden’s House was built in 1853 and was used to house the warden of the nearby prison until 1918 when the prison moved to its current location in Bayport. Over all, 13 wardens and their families lived in the house when it was in use. Johnsdale Paranormal Group has investigated the Warden’s House several times before this presentation along with The Mounds Theatre in St. Paul and First Avenue Night Club in Minneapolis. The presentation was about the things the team encountered during the investigations. The team was formed in 2009 and is based out of Onamia, MN. The group is made up of four men who were inspired to create the group through personal experiences they each have had with the paranormal.

Staff members and many tourists at the Warden’s House often claim to encounter paranormal experiences. When people make these claims, there are often skeptics to shut their ideas down. Yet citizens are still energized by the idea of paranormal activity.

“I think the fact that the Warden’s House is the second oldest house in Minnesota, and that it has such an interesting history behind it, it tends to fit the bill of your classic “Haunted House” description very well,” said Adam Swanson, technology manager of Johnsdale Paranormal Group.

Johnsdale Paranormal Group gathered many pieces of evidence during their investigations. They set up cameras around the house and used recording devices and were able to capture many promising pieces of audio/video.

“[We caught] EVP’s and strange flashes of light. We also caught a picture of what seems to be a person’s face that appeared in the dining room,” said Swanson.

When people hear about evidence captured about paranormal findings, they often panic and believe the activity and “ghost” in the house to be a demonic presence that wants to hurt the living.

“Even though [we captured] those interesting pieces of audio/video, we remain on the skeptical side. We agree that the things captured are odd, but we can’t outright label it as being “haunted.” We would say there definitely seems to be some odd things that occur at the Warden’s House, but at this point- we are not 100 percent sure that it is caused by ghost or spirit activity. So, if there actually is anything at the Warden’s House, we definitely don’t feel that it is harmful or malicious,” said Swanson.

The idea of ghost remaining on Earth after death is sinful in certain religions and to some people. There are hundreds of paranormal investigators who believe that ghost do stay on Earth after death, but the mystery is why the spirit would.

“I think this is one of the big questions that everyone in the paranormal field would like to understand better. Is a ghost just residual energy manifesting over and over in the same pattern? Is a conscious entity that is trying to communicate with us? Is it something that is trapped between worlds or dimensions? We are hoping that our research will someday lead to a better understanding,” said Justin Miner, Johnsdale Paranormal Group Case Manager.

The Warden’s House has been around for an incredible amount of time. Johnsdale Paranormal Group has investigated it many times and has discovered several things but is unable to confidently declare whether or not the house is haunted even with their findings.