Ghost Stories

Opera House Fire Leaves Ghosts Behind? Men, women and children crowded into the third floor of the Weyant Opera House on a brisk spring evening on May 17, 1886. The local Westerville residents were excited to see the traveling theatrical performance of “ Uncle Tom’s Cabin .”  The play had been a national sensation since P.T. Barnum staged it in 1853 in New York City. The church-going folks of the town were not in the same frame of mind about theatrical performances.  They considered them sinful and warned of dire consequences for those in attendance. That warning came true on that cool evening. A four-foot stage sat along the western wall of the opera house’s large top floor.  Theatre goers ascended a long set of stairs and entered through a narrow doorway in the rear of the room. Coal-fired oil lamps lit the stage to the delight of the children who lined the front row.   The buzz in the room was audible.   Traveling actors who p...

In the mid to late 1800s, Waverly, Ohio's way of life was heavily influenced by one man named James E. Emmitt. He was the town's main entrepreneur and self described first millionaire, earning his wealthy from hauling grain, operating a mill, making whiskey and "Emmitt's Discovery". He "discovered" his snake oil cure-all after a mule kicked a can of fuel in to a vat of spirits. Why he would want to drink it much less sell it is beyond anyone's understand. Using his influence, the county seat moved from Piketon to Waverly. The Ohio and Erie Canal route was changed as well. If he didn't already have his hands full, Emmitt decided to build a restaurant/hotel on the site of a former hotel owned by one of his former business partners. The original wooden hotel was built in 1850.  A fire killed 3 people and destroyed much of the structure. In 1861, Emmitt rebuilt the hotel using bricks, hiring a man named Madison Hemings to do the construction. Hemin...

There are two haunted tunnels in Chillicothe, Ohio, one being the Schrader Road Tunnel. It is believed a woman and her child died inside this tunnel. The manner of death depends on who you ask. A common version has the woman putting her infant on the railroad tracks just as a train approached. Another has her slitting the baby's throat and then hung herself. The second story may bleed in to the alleged death of a second woman at the tunnel. This woman was murdered either by hanging or killed first and then hung from a tree branch at the north end. Whether or not these deaths occurred, Schrader Road Tunnel has its share of paranormal activity. If you drive through the tunnel with your lights off and windows rolled down you can hear the cry of a baby. Sometimes hand prints are found on the back of the car. Other reports include strange sounds, shadow or apparition of the woman, laughter of children, cold spots and a dark figure with red eyes. The murdered woman is also seen from ...

For those of you who think you've never been or even seen Ohio State Prison, you may have and didn't even know it. It was used as the setting for the movie Shawshank Redemption. It's even listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. 154,000 inmates passed through it's gates during the entire 94 years that it was a working prison. Some never left. There are 215 numbered marked grave sites of prisoners who died from disease, influenza, tuberculosis, and others from violence. The worst occurred in a lonely place, deep in the prison ground known as solitary by some but by everyone else it was called the hole. Near total isolation could crack the toughest cons. One inmate hung himself, another set himself on fire, once two men were left too long in a tomb like cell and only one walked out, leaving his cellmate's body behind stuffed underneath a bunk. The bloodiest incident that occurred at the prison happened outside it's walls in July 1948. The Reformatory's ...

Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio has its share of ghost stories. One tells of an adventurous man who fell in love with a windy, steep-sided hollow. In the 1790s, William Conkle traveled the lands in the spirit of exploration. He traded with Shawnee and Wyandot Indians. He witnessed animals such as bears, elk, bison and bobcats. When he came upon that wondrous hollow in Hocking Hills, he carved his name and the year, 1797, in to stone for future travelers. It's unclear how he died but it's believed he roams that gorge, keeping a watchful eye over his treasure. And he has company. After his death, life molded in to a much harsher nature. The population among the wilderness grew. Native Americans found the situation cramped. While paddling down the Ohio River to their new home, a group of three Shawnee raided settlers, stealing silver and other treasures. In the spirit of thievery, a posses of settlers followed the natives in hopes of taking what they had stolen. The natives wer...

Built in 1828, John Pray constructed a house to serve as a trading post, tavern and hostel located in Waterville, OH. It became the centerpiece of the village. The place where locals and travelers alike escaped from the harsh Summers and Winters. Constructed from black walnut beams, it quickly transformed in to a third-story structure containing a prison cell (for transit prisoners), a dressmaker's shop and doctor. Like many historic buildings, this one switched hands many times over the years, becoming a restaurant between 1943 and 1993. Despite its grandeur, many townsfolk lobbied for its destruction, believing evil lurked within. It was this evil that lured the house's most famous guest, Henry Ford in 1927, to host his Halloween party there. Legends ooze out of its ever orifice. One tale describes a sheepherder who in the 1840s checked in to the Columbian House for the night and vanished. It wasn't until 30 years later the truth was revealed. On his deathbed, a farmer ...

In 1869, the first Grassman was sighted in Gallia County, Ohio. Imagine seeing an ape-like creature standing at seven to nine feet tall with brown or reddish hair and a muscular build. What would your reaction be? Now a days, a camera would be retrieved and the next blurry video clip would hit YouTube fame. Some believed the Grassman is yet another Bigfoot in a different location. Those with a close encounter with the creature describe it as having a more human-like face and teeth. The History Channels investigative team Monster Quest went in search for evidence of its existence. Unfortunately, the evidence they recovered was inconclusive. Will the Grassman ever be identified?

There are over thirty rooms in the castle's four stories and the roof is designed in steep gables that give the place its gothic air. Secret passages honeycomb the house and sliding panels hide the doorways to these hidden corridors. It is said that a thirteen-year-old girl was once murdered in one of these hallways by her uncle because he believed her to be insane. In the front tower, it is told that a bloody ax murder once took place and it was here that one of the former owners found a secret cabinet that contained human bones. The Deputy coroner of Cleveland, Dr. Lester Adelson, who examined the bones shortly after they were found in January 1975, judged them to be of someone who had been dead for a very, very long time. A German immigrant named Hannes Tiedemann built the mansion in 1865. Tiedemann was a former barrel-maker and wholesale grocer who had gone into banking. This new source of wealth allowed him to spare no expense in building the house and he soon moved in with ...

For those of you who think you've never been or even seen Ohio State Prison, you may have and didn't even know it. It was used as the setting for the movie Shawshank Redemption. It's even listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. 154,000 inmates passed through it's gates during the entire 94 years that it was a working prison. Some never left. There are 215 numbered marked grave sites of prisoners who died from disease, influenza, tuberculosis, and others from violence. The worst occurred in a lonely place, deep in the prison ground known as solitary by some but by everyone else it was called the hole. Near total isolation could crack the toughest cons. One inmate hung himself, another set himself on fire, once two men were left too long in a tomb like cell and only one walked out, leaving his cellmate's body behind stuffed underneath a bunk. The bloodiest incident that occurred at the prison happened outside it's walls in July 1948. The Reformatory's ...