::: The Ruffin Theatre Investigation Report :::


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The Ruffin Theatre ~ Covington TN
October 13, 2007

History : History of the Ruffin Theatre in TN

The Ruffin is a real delight. The interior has been lovingly described as "Cardboard Deco:" elegant, urban, sophisticated Art Deco transplanted to a tiny West Tennessee cotton town theatre.

Sitting on one side of the town square, the Ruffin, and its dedicated and talented management, has kept life in "downtown" Covington when many other towns have withered and died.

This old movie house opened in 1936 seating 682. Since the early 1980s, it has been a live performance venue. It is also used each year for a haunted theatre prior to Halloween. The theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

  • Feb 1924 L.L. Lewis announced plans to remodel an existing building on the south west corner of the square into a modern theatre seating 500. It opened as the Palace Theatre.

  • June 1927 William Ruffin purchases the Palace.

  • Jan 1936 A fire broke out in the balcony of the Palace Theatre.

  • uly 1936 The rebuild building opened as the Ruffin Theatre and is still in use today.


    • Investigators present :
    Shaina, Wendy, James, Summer & Yvette

    Also present :
    Curtis Jay ~ Fox 13 TV
    Alister ~ Fox 13 TV camera man
    Mr & Mrs Adler Jones

    Eye witness reports of paranormal activity :
    A little girl and other apparitions have been seen and heard.

    Investigation conditions : average temp inside 65*
    weather – mostly clear, low 55*
    Solar – Normal
    Geo – Quiet
    Moon phase – Waxing 8% full

    Investigation duration :
    Arrival Time 8pm
    Start Time 10pm
    End Time 3am

    Equipment :
    Sony Mavica Digital Camera
    Olympus WS-300 Digital Voice Recorder
    Cooper Mini-IR Thermometer
    VC Digital VHS Video Recorder
    Sony ICD-P28 Digital Audio recorder
    CellSensor EMF Meter
    MicroTemp MT100 Infrared Thermometer
    2 Cobra mircoTALK two-way radios
    Sony Cybershot DSC-W55 Digital Camera
    Kodak digital camera DX3600
    iMic attached to a 3G 30GB Apple ipod – recorder
    Sony ICD-B500 Digital Recorder
    K-11 EMF Detector
    Kodak Easyshare DX4530


    Sweeps :
    Unavaliable at this time.

    Investigation Report :
    We began the night by meeting Curtis Jay from Fox 13, camera man Alister and Mr & Mrs Adler Jones. After introductions were made, Adler gave us a tour through the building and shot some film footage before leaving with his wife around 11pm. A base was set up in the lobby, equipment checked and forms completed. We began our investigation by obtaining baseline readings in the various areas of the building. Around midnight Curtis and Alister left us alone in the building. We then split into two groups of three for a time before the acoustics of the building forced us to regroup earlier than planned. We then stayed together in various seats in the theater. Summer and Yvette were in the balcony area while Shaina, James, and Wendy were in the stage floor area for the duration of the investigation.

    Investigation Results :
    A. Photo – 64 pics taken, no anomalies
    B. Audio- approx 17 hours recorded, 1 evp
    C. Video- approx 3 hours recorded, no anomalies
    D. EMF- no unusual readings noted
    E. Temp- no unusual readings noted
    F. Manipulation of equipment/objects- none noted
    G. Video evidence- none
    H. Audio evidence- 1 evp captured.


    EVP :

    Young Girl's Voice

    At 4 13 42 Possible EVP#1
    At 4 13 45 Summer says "Okay"
    At 4 13 47 Possible EVP#2
    At 4 13 50 Summer says "Okay can you..." (she doesn't finish her question)
    At 4 14 54 Possible EVP#3
    You can still hear James talking in the background I broke my files down but about 22 seconds after the third EVP Summer says "Come on you can drop the temperature" Then about 5 seconds later Summer says "I know it's difficult; it takes a lot of energy, but you can draw it from us."

    Just a few minutes later, we begin breaking down.

    Investigation Conclusion :
    The evp was the only thing we captured during our investigation of the historic Ruffin Theatre. I hope someone discovers the name of the girl who is there and who spoke to us.

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