The Mystery of the Plainfield Wisconsin Ed Gein House Location
This fascinating and horrifying true crime story of Edward Theodore Gein, the infamous grave robber and killer popularly known as the “Butcher of Plainfield,” has been obsessing and doing the reverse to many murder buffs for decades. A new generation is awakening to the terrifying actualities surrounding the remote farm where Gein lived and committed his ghastly deeds with Monster: The Ed Gein Story, a Netflix series new to the genre.
The main question on the minds of those pursuing his dark legacy is: Where is the Plainfield Wisconsin Ed Gein house location today?
The fact is that the physical house sitting on Gein’s farm, often called a “house of horrors,” no longer exists.
What Happened to Ed Gein’s Farmhouse?
During the month of November in 1957, the disappearance of Bernice Worden, a local owner of a hardware store, brought Ed Gein’s activities to light. When investigators searched Gein’s property outside the town of Plainfield, Wisconsin, they discovered a macabre assemblage: furniture fashioned from human skin and bone, skulls serving as soup bowls, and a plethora of body parts including those of Worden and tavern woman Mary Hogan.
The farmhouse served as a grotesque altar to Gein’s obsessions, nourished by the demise in 1945 of his highly religious and controlling mother, Augusta Gein.
However, the actual structure did not survive for long. The farmhouse mysteriously burned down in March 1958 while Ed Gein sat behind bars. The cause of the fire was never officially determined, although many suspect a local act of arson from either a single individual or a group wishing to wipe the memories of the horrifying structure from their minds.
In a move that reflected a communitywide wish to bury the past, the town actually managed to erase whatever semblance there was of the crime.
The Current Status of the Location
This land where the infamous house had once inhabited has become privately owned as of today. More than sixty years have passed since Ed Gein’s house lay vacant, and nothing has directed in its former site. No standing remnant of the house is left for interested pilgrims to see upon. This infamous farm remains an unmarked, empty field-vaguely echoing and disturbing ground where one of the worst true-crime stories was ever told in this country.
The Netflix Connection: Henry Gein and the Dark Past
The recent Netflix series shines a light not just on Gein’s two known murders, but also on the suspicious death of his older brother, Henry Gein, which occurred in 1944.
While Henry’s death was officially ruled an accidental casualty of a marsh fire, suspicion arose due to bruising on his head and the fact that Ed was the one who led authorities directly to the body after reporting him missing. Henry had often criticized Ed’s unhealthy devotion to their mother, giving Ed a clear, albeit speculative, motive.
The farm where Ed and Henry worked and where the house stood is the epicenter of this dark history. While the house is gone, the Plainfield Wisconsin Ed Gein house location remains synonymous with the events that inspired some of the greatest horror films of all time, including Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs.
