Public School House Number 4

Hey. I just wanted to know how to get into the school because all the windows and doors are blocked off. You said there was a window in the courtyard, but where at? I think me and a few friends might go down there sometime soon.

reply to post by DarkCloudRider

Did your group like run into people who were there also ? because if so I think the other group was me & my friends because we ran into a group of people there and one of the guys had a machette. w/b

reply to post by CloudlessKnight


I myself have been in school 4 many times even before the auditorium roof caved in I've been down in the boiler room which can be reached threw a hole in the floor in one of the class rooms in my opinion it is very much haunted but the stories of a crazed janitor or the cannibal principle are sadly untrue there was a fire there but it was started by bums in the early 90's //what ever haunts the place is not a product of the building being a former school it is probably because of something that went on since its abandonment in the 70's

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


you obviously dont research to well the school wasnt even built until 1917 and it caught fire in the 90's it was closed as a school because of the building of I-95 so they used it for administrations until it closed in the 70's so get your facts straight before you post.and as far as it being haunted unless you've been there to witness it dont comment on it

The last time the school was open was for the school year 1959/60. It closed for summer and never reopened as a school. It was used as a warehouse for a while then vacated. The fire was long after it closed. Some kids painted satanic symbols on the walls and other grafiti.

I was in first grade and my brother was in sixth grade in the 59/60 school year. He doesn't remember any rumors of janitors and kids or any other wierd happenings. The rumors all started after the school closed.

wow, so I pretty much didn't know so many other ATS people lived in Jacksonville...maybe we should get together or something.

Never been to the schoo, but very interesting...

reply to post by thefallensoul


I've been a few times since maybe the begining of this year.. [2009] and even thougn it was in daylight it was an amazing place. I've actually fallen in love with it. Haha. As far as it being boarded up, yes, they do try and keep the windows closed up to keep people from going into the school, but many times there are at least some that have been kicked out, or something along those lines. Going at night, although extremely creepy, and at times dangerous is your best bet at not getting caught by the police. If you are going down to the basement, make sure to go with someone who has been down there. It is easy to get lost down there. Beware of bums, homeless people, or any other kind of mean person that wants to cause harm to you, or the school. I agree with you about tearing down the school. It is almost 92 years old, and for it to be abandoned for over 30 years and it still being in such good condition is amazing. Anyways, to sum it up, School Four has beautiful archritucture, and a lot of cool areas to explore. Just be carful.

I have been in that school and have been looking for some info about,I cant seem to find it any where. I was 14 years old when I ran away to that school and stayed the night in one of the main halls I be leave.My name is Kim and I am now 18 years old and will never go back to that school. It is in fact haunted. I know which window you are talking about, at this time a lower window was open so I was able to get in.I had some things with me at this time, I had a flashlight,a sleeping bag, $30.00, a lunch packed for when I got hungry and a hand radio.The school as I remember it was so dirty on the inside and I kept getting this unsettling feeling, but I was still so angry and mad with my family I wasn't going home. I was wearing my mickey mouse watch which, when you pressed a button it would glow,but I remember the time being around 10 at night and I had decided to eat my packed lunch,or dinner whatever.(oh by the way I have never talked about this cause I USED to be one of those that don't be leave in ghost but I do NOW!) I had decided to go to sleep late around 11 I remember cause I sang myself to sleep.I woke up and I knew it was very late but I heard foot steps, so I grabbed my flashlight and turned it on in that direction but nobody so I pointed it in the other direction nobody. I turned my flashlight off, now just to mind you this it was pitch black in that school. I decided to look at my watch and it was 2 in the morning, me being that young have never woke up or even been up late, to me being up late was 11 at night. But anyway,I remember still hearing the foot steps but there was nobody there so I turned my flashlight on again and started to look around I even called out if anyone was there but I got no response. The hairs on the back of my neck started to raise cause the footsteps were no longer walking slowly there were running and I remember the noise of the running was coming at me.I turned around where I was and I started running with all my things,empty lubch box,sleeping bag, money in pocket and a flashlight in my hand. The running became louder behind me and I started to feel really cold and for some reason I stopped running turned around and just a large gust of cold wind covered my body and the running was in front of me it was no longer behind me. I was still freezing and realized that I could see my breath when just moment ago it was nice and comfy.At that time I didn't remember how to get out or what I should do.I heard the foot steps again, behind me, I was panicing so badly I wanted to go home, so I started walking to where I thought I had came in at. As I started to walk faster in a panic, the footsteps started to walk faster as I did, it was chasing me. I was so scarred. I started running again and so did the footsteps. I stopped again and turned around and flashed my light but nothing but a cold ass gust of wind. I turned back around and saw an open window and I felt sorta happy, I had turned my flash light off,looking away from the window for a sec, looked back at the window and there was a shadow figure of a man, i hustled to turn my flash lite back on and i can hear the man coming towards me, I turned it on flashed the light in his direction to see his face and he wasn'e there I looked every where in that area that i was in but noone but me. The window was already kinda boken so I broke it even more just to escape and I was climbing out of the broken window I heard the running again coming my way I started to cry in fear and I ended up falling out of the window and halling ass just to get home. I never looked back at that school, I will never go back to that school, I will never lay my eyes on that school agagin for as soon as I turned 18 I moved out of Jacksonville just to get away from that school cause I used to live not even 15 mins from it on foot not even 5 mins in car. If you want to talk more about this then you can reach me on [email protected] Kim ATTACK....

reply to post by Anonymous ATS

it didn't open until 1917 how did it caught on fire in 1916?

every time i go pass school 4 i get a strange feeling as if someone is watching me. then i can't think of anything but the school and then i get flashes of people i don't know and no I'm not a medium at least i don't think. i do feel things and i have seen ghost.

Alright so im wondering if anyones spent the night

I was just there last night after driving by the place for years. A few of my friends had been there before, so we decided to go back with a ton of photo equipment (lol) and take some snaps. We ended up photographing nothing but the auditorium because it was just so awe inspiring.

I shot primarily large format film, so none of those photos will be up until I sit down and develop 'em, but I'll share one of my favorite digital shots.



You can clearly see where the roof had collapsed and how vegetation has just taken over. The place was just covered in graffiti, but other than that, there really weren't any signs of any serious crime. No pointless destruction, no drug paraphernalia, just scattered beer bottles and spray paint cans.

I was really amazed at just how structurally sound (at least to me, and I'm no engineer, but do have some construction experience) the place was, and thought it would take relatively little to restore it to a functioning building.

Okay, the haunted stuff that everyone has been talking about. Not once did any of us ever feel anything out of the ordinary- in fact, to me there was a feeling of quiet peace in there. The open sky over the auditorium with the vegetation growing up through it just made us all realize how powerful nature is and how it can just reclaim anything.

We fully explored the basement (didn't take any cameras with us since they were just too bulky and bloody expensive, but next time. . . ) and reached the boiler room. The boiler equipment is still in place, and the room still has a faint lingering odor of kerosene. Lots of graffiti down there- references to "hell" and "Satan" and arrows with the word "beware" next to them, but nothing that would ever indicate the presence of ACTUAL shenanigans going on down there. Just a dark, creepy, but amazingly intact crawlspace. At the northern end of the crawlspace, you could easily walk upright, but as you walked towards the south side, crouching became necessary. This is most likely because the structure was built on what looks to be a large pier foundation and the ground was never totally leveled during construction- the building was just built up above the natural slope of the land. Pretty interesting.

We're planning on making a return visit sometime soon and during the day (we were there from midnight until about 4 AM, so it was dark as hell and not all that awesome for the kind of photography we do) and we'll produce a much better record of the other sections of the building and the basements.

Oh, and around 2:30 AM we started smelling coffee and donuts. . . ?

[edit on 10-5-2010 by FryingPan]

my friend managed to get inside and actually saw a janitor and some school children who were most definitely spirits. and by the way what happened was that children got trapped along with sum staff and janitors and burned to death. as far as i know the janitor who was murderous is just a rumor but there really was a fire which resulted in death. i urge you to go explore take pics and such but be careful and prepared for the absolute worst.

reply to post by bre98531


That's not even possible. The building didn't catch fire until 1995- 35 years after the school had closed.

I've been researching the place for the past few days- there's absolutely nothing to substantiate it being haunted. Nothing at all.

This thread seems to have died down but I wanted to throw in my two cents just in case anyone was still planning on heading over to the school. I went in March of 2011 and was still able to get in with relative ease through a boarded window. There was also a hole in the outside wall (it's a bit obstructed by concrete pieces and shrubs) near the ground that led directly to the furnace room. No spooky encounters to speak of though, just a sleeping homeless man in a hallway on the second floor.