St. John's Orphanage (also known as the Goulburn Boys Orphanage) was an orphanage located in Goulburn, a town of New South Wales, Australia. It housed only males, with a capacity of approximately 100 children from the ages of 5 to 16. The Goulburn Boys Orphanage was opened in 1912 and later closed in 1975.
The Orphanage was opened in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy, with the foundation stone laid and blessed on the 17th of March by Bishop Gallagher of Goulburn. It was one of the first orphanages to be built in Goulburn (after the St. Josephs Orphanage which was built in 1906.)
St. John's orphanage had many extensions after it was established. A west wing and a chapel was added in 1919, then a new east wing and a rear room during the 1920s. A hall was then constructed and completed in 1932, and an extension to the south wing in 1938.
After 63 years in operation, the building closed in 1975. It is a reportedly haunted location. The orphanage is now heritage listed.
St. John's Orphanage does not have any caretakers. Nocturnal ghost tours sometimes happen around the building, with the tour guide explaining what life was like in the orphanage.
The building since closing down is still abandoned. It has been heavily vandalised, with most of its windows completely smashed. Walls have also been smashed as well. Recently though, the owner of the building has planned to re-develop it into residential units.
The development is known as the Glebe Gardens, with a pool, a large carparking space and a slight remainder of the original building left. However, there has been no contact of the owner, and the plans have been dropped.
1 comments:
I'm a resident of Goulburn and live afew blocks over from St Johns. My great Uncle was a resident of St Johns a place he wishes not to talk about. After it closed as an orphaned it was used for a short time as a homeless shelter and charity building. As for it's hauntings people have claimed to have seen shadow figures around the size of a child as well as full body apportions of what appear to be nuns. I myself have experienced the sounds of infants crying in the nursery, I've been bitin by something I have a photo of the bite mark, my sister was scratched, I have been shoved down the main stair case, I've heard footsteps when I'm the only person in the building, I've been touched serval times and I saw what I thought was a boy in the second story window and I have a few photo annomilies.
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