Old Lake County Jail Ghost Hunt, Crown Point, Indiana
$129.00
Step inside the escape-proof jail John Dillinger walked out of in 1934, and join Haunted Rooms America for a six-hour guided investigation of one of the most haunted buildings in Indiana. Featured on Syfy’s Ghost Hunters. Shadow figures in the cell blocks, cell doors that open on their own, and veteran investigators who refuse to go back.
General Admission ($129 per person): 8PM – 2AM CT
Tickets are extremely limited!
18 & over only, or from 16 with a responsible adult.
Pay in installments with Klarna, Affirm, or Afterpay at checkout.
The Old Lake County Jail, Crown Point, Indiana
The escape-proof jail John Dillinger walked out of. The cell blocks veteran investigators won’t finish. One night, ours.
On March 3rd 1934, a young gangster named John Dillinger walked out of a jail considered the finest and most escape-proof in Indiana, holding what some say was a gun carved from a wooden washboard and blackened with shoe polish. Fourteen jailers were locked in their own cells. He drove off in the sheriff’s own car. Ninety years later, the building he humiliated still stands on South Main Street, and the people who walk its cell blocks at night say the inmates never really left.
This is a six-hour evening investigation of the Old Lake County Jail and Sheriff’s House, a National Register building featured on Syfy’s Ghost Hunters, where doors close on their own, voices echo from empty cells, and one veteran investigator with twenty years in the field has called it one of only three locations in their career they could not finish.
For one night, the jail and the sheriff’s house are ours. You will move through the original 1882 sheriff’s residence and into the jail behind it: the corridors where fourteen men were once locked into their own cages, the small cell where Dillinger waited for his moment, the kitchen door he walked out of, and the upper floors where the shadow figures have been photographed and filmed. The building has been quiet for the public all day. By the time you arrive, it has been waiting.
Location History
The Old Lake County Jail and Sheriff’s House at 226 South Main Street was built in 1882 at a cost of $24,000. The original jail measured 36 by 48 feet, with six steel cells for men, four for women, and a small set of corridors connecting them to the sheriff’s family home at the front of the building. State law required the sheriff and his family to live attached to the jail. They ate, slept, and raised their children fifty feet from the cell block.
As Crown Point grew, the jail grew with it. A larger structure went up around 1908, and a further extension in 1928 pushed the building through the block to East Street, with the capacity eventually reaching around 150 cells, alongside a warden’s residence, departmental offices, an institutional kitchen, a barber shop, and a garage.
In January 1934 the jail received its most infamous inmate. John Dillinger, fresh from a bank robbery in East Chicago that left Detective William Patrick O’Malley dead, was extradited from Tucson and locked in Crown Point to await trial. Sheriff Lillian Holley, recently appointed after her husband, the sitting sheriff, was murdered in office, posed for press photographs alongside him. On March 3rd Dillinger escaped. He locked fourteen jailers, including the warden and a fingerprint expert, into their own cells, took two hostages, and drove away in Sheriff Holley’s own Ford V-8. He was shot and killed by FBI agents outside the Biograph Theatre in Chicago that July.
He was not the only name on the cell roster. James “Fur” Sammons, alleged to have been a hit man for Al Capone and described by those who knew him as a psychopath, served time here in late 1933. Countless others passed through and were not famous at all.
The state requirement for sheriffs to live in the jail was lifted in 1958. The cell blocks stayed in use until 1974, when the new county complex opened on North Main Street. The building has been empty of the living ever since. The Old Sheriff’s House Foundation was formed in 1987 and the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. Today it is preserved, restored, and quietly notorious.
The Hauntings
The Old Lake County Jail was featured on the eleventh season of Ghost Hunters in 2016, and the Foundation itself acknowledges that the evidence captured here has been physical, emotional, mental, and visual. The activity is not subtle, and it is not occasional.
The cell blocks are where most of it lives. Visitors and investigators consistently describe shadow figures drifting along the corridors and into and out of cells that were locked decades ago. Cell doors are reported to open and close on their own. The iron bars are heard rattling in empty cells, and the sound carries the way only metal in a stone-floored corridor can.
Disembodied voices are common, sometimes captured on recorders as EVPs, sometimes audible to the naked ear. Footsteps pace the upper walkways when no one is up there. Lights flicker on and off without anyone near a switch. Photographs taken inside the cells regularly return with anomalies the photographer cannot explain. A shadow figure has been filmed on the third floor.
The strongest testimony comes from investigators who do this for a living. One paranormal investigator with more than twenty years of experience and hundreds of locations behind them has stated publicly that the Old Lake County Jail is one of only three places in their entire career where they felt the activity was too much to continue. They reported that the spirits did not want them there. They left. They have said they will return. Their husband has said he will not.
Who is doing this is anyone’s guess. Some believe Dillinger himself is among them. Others point to Sammons, or to one of the many forgotten men who died inside these walls in the long century the jail was operational. The cells do not seem to mind which name you put on the activity. They keep producing it regardless.
Your Investigation
The HRA team will lead structured vigils in the most active areas of the building, including:
- The cell blocks, where shadow figures, disembodied voices, and the sound of bars rattling in empty cells are most frequently reported. Spirit box and EVP work, with cell-door monitoring.
- Dillinger’s cell, the small holding cell where the gangster waited for his moment. Trigger object work and direct calling-out sessions.
- The upper walkways and third floor, where a shadow figure has been filmed and footsteps are heard when no one is up there. K2 and REM pod vigils.
- The sheriff’s residence, the original 1882 family home at the front of the building, fifty feet from the cell block. EMF sweeps and quiet listening.
- The kitchen and rear corridors, the route Dillinger walked out of on March 3rd 1934.
- Free investigation in the final hours, where you can return to the area that unsettled you most, with HRA equipment and team support on hand.
What’s Included in the Ghost Hunt
From just $129 per person, you will enjoy:
- A full night of ghost hunting with the Haunted Rooms America team.
- Structured vigils across the jail, sheriff’s house, yard, upper floors, cellblock, and cells.
- Group vigils and experiments, guided by our experienced team.
- Use of our traditional and state-of-the-art paranormal equipment.
- Free time to investigate at the end of the night.
- Snacks and refreshments provided at intervals throughout the night.
Final Warning
For nearly a century, the cell blocks of the Old Lake County Jail held men the law could not contain elsewhere. Killers. Gangsters. The forgotten. Some of them died inside these walls. Others left a mark on the building that has never been cleaned away.
The doors still open on their own. The bars still rattle in empty cells. Voices answer questions no one living asked. Investigators with decades of experience have walked out before the night was finished.
For one night, the jail is open to those with the nerve to step inside. Capacity is strictly limited. If you want to walk Dillinger’s corridor after dark and see what answers back, secure your place now.
The cells are empty. The jail is not.
TICKETS ARE EXTREMELY LIMITED
Event Details
From just $129 per person, you will enjoy the following:
- A full night of ghost hunting with the Haunted Rooms America team.
- Structured vigils across the jail, sheriff’s house, yard, upper floors, cellblock, and cells.
- Group vigils and experiments, guided by our experienced team.
- Use of our traditional and state-of-the-art paranormal equipment.
- Free time to investigate at the end of the night.
- Snacks and refreshments provided at intervals throughout the night.
Event Location: Old Lake County Jail and Sheriff’s House, 226 South Main Street, Crown Point, Indiana 46307
Event Time: 8:00 PM – 2:00 AM CT
Meet up at the location at the earliest 7:30 PM. There is ample parking available at the venue itself.
What to Bring?
Please bring with you a form of photo ID, and a printed off booking confirmation email (or show this on your phone).
We will be providing you with paranormal equipment to use, however, we will need something of value per group to hold onto as collateral (phone, car keys, watch, etc.)
We will be providing snacks and drinks at intervals throughout the night.
Other than that, just yourself and an open mind!
FAQ
What Should I Expect on a Ghost Hunt?
Become a paranormal investigator for the night like the TV stars of Most haunted, ghost adventures or TAPS Ghost hunters.
Use some of the specialized equipment and be guided by experienced paranormal investigators who will share their knowledge, techniques and experiences of hunting for ghosts or spirits.
Feel free to bring along any of your own equipment including but not limited to EVP recorders, flashlights, cameras or video cameras.
Bring extra clothing as in some parts old buildings may get cold but please refrain from wearing clothing that can cause distracting sounds. Many old buildings have a story to tell and we will supply them to you along with of course the ghost stories.
There will be breaks and light refreshments are provided.
We are not out to try and convince the world of the existence of an afterlife. That’s for you to decide.
We can be Sceptical and logical yet open to other beliefs and prayers of protection will be carried out.
We do not perform tricks and will not be running around with sheets on our heads!
You will be with like-minded people looking for the answer “is there really an afterlife”?
However much we try unfortunately we can’t guarantee that members of the spirit world will make their presence known but we can at least guarantee that you will experience a fun and interesting night.
Do I receive an actual ticket?
The event is ticketless. Your proof of booking is your booking confirmation email. You will also receive an email with important information prior to your event, usually the week of.
Is there any age limit of who can attend these events?
The age limit is 18 years and over.
Will there be a Medium at the event?
All events listed on Haunted Rooms are hosted by experienced Hosts and Professional Psychic/Clairvoyant Mediums. However sometimes a Medium(s) may not always be present – but as usual, you will be in very safe hands with our experienced Hosts who have a wealth of knowledge and are fully trained in all aspects of professional public ghost hunting events and experience nights.
Can I sleep at an event?
Unless it is otherwise stated, events don’t include sleepover.
Will I see a Ghost?
Unfortunately, the activity will not just happen on command, however using the various experiments and experienced hosts on the events, everything will be done to offer the best chance of spiritual activity.
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Reviews
Everything was well organized and smooth. There was no gimmick, it started off as a quiet night paranormal wise, maybe because there was a long game of soccer going on right outside. Nothing to be done about that. Mid-Orange Correctional facility is now also part sports complex. The guides demonstrate tools used for investigating and even though the night started quiet, they didn’t hype up every little sound. They debunked sounds and explained what to look for. By 1am my husband and I ran into a group that came with their own equipment and had returned to a spot they had previously had activity. They welcomed us to join them and my EMF meter flew to red pretty steadily. They brought out the dowsing rod and it pointed at me directly so I was asked if I would hold it. I have never really understood how people don’t move the rods themselves. When I held it I realized there is a sleeve on the handle. So you’re not touching the rod. The rod was very responsive and corresponded with the EMF consistently for a few minutes. Anyway, what I liked most is it seems like the community cares. Everyone in the group checked in on my comfort. It was my favorite part of the night.
My son and I had a truly unforgettable experience at the Rock Island Roadhouse. The team that ran this event were all very knowledgeable of the history of the location as well as all of the equipment that they use. There were I think around 50 people total that attended and they broke us out into 4 separate groups. The first 4 hours of the night that were spent in the group setting taking turns with each team member didn't have much activity going on, however, once we were able to explore on our own the last 2 hours, we had some AMAZING activity! We even picked up what sounded like two whispering words in response to our questions! I highly recommend this group!
Did the Battleship North Carolina on April 3rd. I've already booked again for August. The hosts (Both physical and spiritual) were amazing. Recorded several EVP's throughout the night. Some very strong responses with dousing rods. Always skeptical about them, but there were strong responses, especially when we started talking to them like the military members they were. At one point I asked if they wished they had women on Battleships, he replied with a strong "Yes" and my Ghost Box replied with the word "Seductive". He really liked one of the young ladies with us. Turns out she was 18 and he was 20 when he died. Can't wait to do this again!
Just did a tour with this group on the Battleship North Carolina. Absolutely wonderful experience!! My husband and I will definitely be booking again. The leaders are super nice, respectful, and knowledgeable. Definitely recommend!!
Just finished our VIP overnight at Hotel Metropolitan in Paducah! Ms. Venita and Julie were the absolute best! They both made sure we knew what we were doing with equipment, and gave us a fantastic guided tour and explained the history so well. Venita especially made an impression on my group. She is super friendly and definitely knows what she's doing. Can't wait to see her again! I wouldn't want anyone else!
My dad, my sister-in-law, and I stayed at The Metropolitan for a paranormal investigation, and it was truly an unforgettable experience. The atmosphere was warm, inviting, and full of history — but what made our stay exceptional was the incredible staff, Julie and Venita. These two amazing women went above and beyond the entire time we were there. They walked us through all the investigation equipment, helped guide us throughout the night, and made us feel completely comfortable and right at home. Their hospitality was top-notch — from the snacks and drinks they provided to the delicious hot chocolate they made for us during our late-night exploring. Their kindness, patience, and passion for what they do turned our stay into something truly special. If you’re looking for a place filled with charm, comfort, and staff who genuinely care, The Metropolitan Hotel is the perfect choice. Our overnight stay exceeded every expectation. Highly recommend! I wouldn't want anyone else to tour with!! 👻✨🍫
My son and I went to belles grove plantation and it was the best time! We enjoyed everything! Miss V was great! We got a few pictures of something in the windows and I actually started crying which I NEVER would let my son see me cry! It was kinda spooky but awesome at the same time! The team is great and I highly recommend going on one of their tours! Thank u all for a great experience
I had an amazing experience with Haunted Rooms America at the Belle Grove Plantation in King George, VA. The staff was very informative and helpful explaining the various pieces of equipment.
We had such a great experience at the Metropolitan Hotel in Paducah Kentucky. 10/10 would recommend.
















