| Background & Site History One of the premier antebellum structures in the city of Mobile, the house was built in 1860 by Charles G. Richards, a steamboat captain originally from Maine. Captain Richards and his wife, Caroline Elizabeth Steele, built their dream house in 1860. The Ideal Cement Company purchased the house from Richards’ descendants in 1946. After being turned over to the city of Mobile in 1972, the six Mobile Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution leased the home. The building was donated to the City of Mobile in 1972 and is operated as a museum by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Reported Activity The Richards DAR House was one of those homes that was prevalent in the urban myths and legends of Mobile County. While growing up, just about everyone had heard of the haunts that resided in this marvelous old home. Alleged activity in the house has been reported for a while and even made it into a book by Elizabeth Parker, “Mobile Ghosts.” The tales have been urban legend for a long time were people have heard the sounds of children laughing and running on the upstairs landing of the house. Others have witnessed a lady looking down from the upstairs window of the first bedroom to the grounds below. A recent report of activity came from one of the houses tour guides that has been with the house for many years. She reported that she was coming into the house in the morning and had turned off the security alarm. She then proceeded to a large mirror in the 2nd Parlor. While she was checking her clothing, she realized a man sitting on a couch behind her and to the right. She said he looked at her with a satisfied smile. It dawned on her that she had just turned off the security alarm and that he shouldn’t be in the house. She turned to ask him how he got in, and when she did, he was not there to be seen. She reported that he had what appeared to be wearing Victorian style clothing; the clothing similar to that of a sea captains uniform of the time. Preliminary Findings & Hypothesis No paranormal investigations have ever been conducted at the Richard’s DAR House so no preliminary data is available. Due to the age of the house and the time at which it was wired, back in the 70’s, we believe that high EM readings will be noticed throughout the house due to unshielded wiring. According to the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society report of October 2002, high EM can cause symptoms of fatigue, stress, uneasiness, prickling, hallucinations, and tinnitus. This would hold consistent with the paranormal events being witnessed. Other environmental factors may assist in these paranormal event accounts such as resonance which is common with these older establishments with high ceilings and long rooms. |
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Baseline Readings Data Duration: 23hrs 30min. Outside Humidity: 100% Outside Temp: 44 degrees Climate: Raining LST: 18:05 Electron Flux: 104 >0.6 MeV Geomagnetic: 95nT Baseline readings in the foyer, 1st parlor, 2nd Parlor and Dining room, the AC magnetic field varied little over 1.4mG. While situated under the chandeliers, the magnetic variance had occurrence to spike to almost 2.3mG at chest level. These spikes were replicable and predictable. While in the Dining Room, a spike greater then 4.2mG was noted. This spike was neither replicable nor predictable and only happened once throughout the entire investigation. |
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Baseline Readings 1st Floor |
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| Area | Temperature | Static Magnetic Fields |
| Foyer | 70 degrees F | 1.4 mG > 2.3mG |
| First Parlor | 72 degrees F | 1.4 mG > 2.3mG |
| Second Parlor | 73 degrees F | 1.4 mG > 2.3mG |
| Dining Room | 72 degrees F | 1.5 mG > (4.2mG) |
The baseline readings on the second floor varied considerably. In the 1st Bedroom we realized a very large and constant field of 1.7mG. While the middle bedroom and master bedroom follow suit with the downstairs, it must be noted that the master bedroom did have a lower than expected electromagnetic measurement as this location witnesses have detailed seeing an apparition of a woman. Also of notes, two investigators reported becoming uneasy in the visitor room. The standing em field in the visitor room fluctuated around 1.8mG. It was noticed that as the air conditioner came on, the em field strength became overwhelmingly high to 8.3mG. Temperatures in the first bedroom fluctuated -10 degrees from the ambient air temperature of the room. |
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Baseline Readings 2nd Floor |
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| Area | Temperature | Static Magnetic Fields |
| Landing | 71 degrees F | < 1.0 mG |
| 1st Bedroom (brides changing room) | 59 deg F < 69 deg F | 1.7 mG > |
| Middle Bedroom | 69.7 degrees F | < 1.3 mG |
| Master Bedroom | 70 degrees F | < 1.1 mG |
| Porch | 68 degrees F | < 0.8 mG |
| Visitor Room | 73 degrees F | 1.8 mG > (8.3mG) |
| Overseer Room | 77.3 degrees F | < 0.4 mG |
Resonant Frequency Analysis "Infrasonic frequencies are felt as vibrations which, if intense enough, may result in feelings of nausea, vertigo, hallucination and eventual black-out or internal hemorrhaging". These sound waves are under 20 hertz and can be produced by normal sounds if the resonant frequency of sound (how many times per second sound travels between a cavity and returns to its starting point). Resonant frequencies for some areas were calculated at room temperature (72 F) with the following formula: (1131.743 f/s) / (2 * Cavity Width (in feet)). Note that the 1131.743 feet/second figure is the speed sound travels at in room temperature, and frequencies below or near Alpha brain wave (< 13 Hz) frequencies were flagged in red, as there is a possibility that these affect the body more than higher infrasonic frequencies. Notice the "1st and 2nd Parlor" measurements, correlating with the reports of an apparition seen, where feelings of uneasiness have been reported by many. |
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Room Resonant Frequencies at 72 F |
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| Area | Msrmnt | Resonant Freq | Area | Msrmnt | Resonant Freq |
| 1st Parlor& 2nd Parlor | 39’ | 14.51 | Middle Bedroom | 17.3’ | 32.7 |
| Upstairs Foyer | 25’ | 22.63 | Master Bedroom | 23.5’ | 24.1 |
| Dining Room | 23.5’ | 24.1 | Visitor Room | 13.4’ | 42.23 |
| 1st Bedroom | 17.5’ | 32.34 | Overseer Room | 11.1’ | 50.98 |
Video and Audio Analysis Video: No video anomalies were captured during this investigation. Audio: Inconclusive. - Capture Subjective Analysis The purpose of the subjective analysis is to give the reviewer of this report an idea of what the investigators experienced, or were experiencing during the investigation. Though the subjective analysis does not hold any ground to concrete quantitative data; it can and does often show correlations to that which is quantifiable. If something is measurable it is considered real data. Feelings, unfortunately, are not measurable and as such are not considered valid data. However, we cannot dismiss our feelings and gut intuitions. This is the entire reason this section exists. The term investigator in this section refers to anyone that is a member of the Ghost Hunters of the South paranormal research team. The term attendee in this section refers to anyone at the investigation that is not a member of the Ghost Hunters of the South paranormal research team. During the preliminary walk through, one investigator reported hearing a whisper at ear level. The whisper was quick and unintelligible. Due to the high ceilings and long rooms of the house, the echo of a conversation could resonate in such a way to give the effect of being at ear level. Although the attempts to repeat the effect failed, this theory is accepted. Investigators felt uncomfortable in the upstairs visitor room and even tended to rush out of the room due to the uneasiness that they felt. During the investigation, investigators kept experiencing the “corner of the eye” syndrome, where they would feel like they were seeing something out of the corner of their eye; they would turn and look, but nothing would be there. There was a strong feeling of being watched. This occurred in the master bedroom and the first bedroom (bride’s dressing room). An attendee of the investigation mentioned that she experienced a strong sensation of someone desiring to talk with her to tell her something while in the “brides changing room.” The feeling went away very quickly, but as the attendee walked, she felt as if someone were following her, and watching. For more on the attendee’s feelings, please review attachment “A” on page 2 which is her account in her own words. One of the more interesting feelings that all the investigators had about the home was the undeniable feeling of the Richard’s DAR House being more then a museum. To all the investigators it felt like a home and that when we turned the corner of a room the whole family would be there waiting on us. It was very comfortable. One investigator mentioned that she felt a child was watching her as she entered into the upstairs visitor’s room. She felt as if the child was watching her from the window and that if she turned to look quickly the child would be there staring. Please review attachment “B” on page 2 which is the investigators account in her own words.
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