Exploring The Haunting Mysteries of Preston Castle. Where History Meets Paranormal. Ione California

Preston Castle School of Industry was constructed in 1894 as the administration building for the Preston School of Industry, a reform school for boys. The Romanesque Revival style of architecture was to make the building look like a school rather than a prison.
The Castle opened in June 1894 and remained in use until 1960. In 1960 the State planned to demolish the building and from 1960-1968 a group of local women fought to keep it standing. Once the State agreed to not tear the building down they also said they would do nothing to keep it standing.
The building remained vacant and in disrepair until September 2001 when the Preston Castle Foundation leased the building from the State. And later, in 2014, the foundation was granted ownership of the Castle and 12.91 acres.
The Preston Castle Foundation’s mission is to preserve, rehabilitate and utilize the historic Preston Castle site as well as preserving the history of the school, its staff and boys.
In 1890, the 230 acre parcel of land where the Preston Castle stands was purchased from the Ione Coal & Iron Company for $30 per acre with 100 acres donated. The land was purchased to house the Preston School of Industry, established by the State Legislature as a progressive action toward rehabilitating, rather than simply imprisoning, juvenile offenders.
The plans for the school were ambitious with the original plans showing 77 rooms on five floors. The administration building, which eventually came to be called the Preston Castle, would be the most significant example of Romanesque Revival architecture in the Mother Lode.
The first floor would house a reception and Director’s room, general office with a walk in vault, reception room, sitting room, a butler’s pantry, a dining room, employee lavatory, physician office, pharmacy, clerk’s office plus three additional offices. The first floor annex would include a dining room. The second floor would include a reading room, library, twelve apartments, a school room, coat and hat room, men’s water closet and women’s lavatory. The second floor annex would hold a dormitory, a locker room, and a linen room.
A mezzanine level was to provide two bathrooms with three bathtubs. The third and fourth floors would remain unfinished. The third floor would contain twelve rooms and the fourth floor was designed to have six rooms.
The basement would include a play room, water closet (long urinal and nine toilets), laundry, lavatory with foot bath, shower room and plunge bath, hall, kitchen, pantry, furnace room, fuel storage room, and a water closet with two toilets. The basement annex would hold a bakery, fuel storage room, kitchen, pantry, storeroom, and the employee’s laundry and lavatory.
At its peak the Preston School of Industry encompassed 1,000 acres, 750 of which were farmland. It housed 800 wards, employed a staff of 200, and utilized approximately 50 buildings.
On June 13, 1894, the first wards were accepted at the Preston School of Industry, and the school was proclaimed officially opened on July 1, 1894. The next year, electricity was installed by way of a water wheel powered dynamo, called a Pelton Wheel, for incandescent and arc lights.
The Preston School of Industry remained open until 1960 when new facilities for the school were completed. The building remained vacant and fading into disrepair until September 10, 2001 when The Preston Castle Foundation received a fifty-year lease for the property. The Preston Castle has also been named a California State Historical Landmark (#867) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Featured In Numerous Movies And Television Shows:
One of its most notable appearances was in the 2019 major motion picture thriller “Apparition,” staring Kevin Pollack and Mena Suvari which relied heavily on the Castle for its location. The 2014 horror film “A Haunting at Preston Castle,” also used the Castle as the primary filming location.
The Castle was also featured in the first episode of “The Lowe Files,” a reality TV series hosted by actor Rob Lowe and his sons, produced by A&E in 2017.
Actor, director, producer Ron Howard and the producer of “The Amazing Race,” Bertram Van Munster, produced a reality TV game show called “The Great Escape,” (2012)
Preston Castle Deaths:
prestoncastlehistory.blogspot...
Tours, Paranormal Tours, Info:
prestoncastle.org/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston...
Merle Haggard - Fool's Castle
• Fool's Castle (2005 Re...
Music:
Dark Tension Rising Music By Mattia Cupelli
Аmbient of a really DARK PLACE By Stereocode
Tense Horror Background By UNIVERSFIELD
Horror by Alex-Productions
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Photo Credit:
Kevin Cortopassi Flickr
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