Kelly Cemetery

http://lawrencecountyohio.com/families/k_p/kelly.htm

http://www.lawrencecountyohio.com/cemeteries/stories/kelly.htm

http://www.internment.net/data/us/oh/lawrence/kelly/index.htm
 

Woodland Cemetery

Woodland Cemetery in Ironton, OH.

Links on actual hauntings:
http://www.forgottenoh.com/Counties/Lawrence/woodland.html

http://www.forgottenoh.com/Counties/Lawrence/briggslibrary.html

http://www.yourhometown.org/page44.html

Links on History of the Cemetery
http://www.lawrencecountyohio.com/cemeteries/stories/woodland.htm

http://www.lawrencecountyohio.com/cemeteries/stories/woodlandarticles.htm

Who haunts The Cemetery:

Antoinette "Teenie" Peters danced with the Imperial Russian Ballet and the Chicago Opera before marrying and settling down in Ironton, Ohio. She was tragically killed in a car crash. Shortly after her interment, vandals broke into her mauseleum, broke the corner off her glass coffin, and broke off two of her fingers, stealing her rings. Also stolen was a brooch given to her by the czar of Russia, and her photo outside the crypt was shot at with a bb gun. Today it is said that every night at midnight, the ghost of Teenie Peters dances around her mauseleum, scaring away would-be vandals.

Osa Wilson was an abused wife. Legend has it that her husband slapped her across the face, resulting in her falling down a flight of stairs, fatally injuring her and her unborn child. Her tombstone portrays a woman's figure, where it is said a handprint appears on the face, no matter how many times it is sandblasted.

The statue is also said to cry real tears, and the belly is often warm...sometimes even a small, faint heartbeat can be felt. The gown of the statue was said to have been seen fluttering as well.
 

Dr. Joseph W. Lowry, a respected Ironton physician who died mysteriously in 1933, is said to haunt the library which stands where his house once was.
Dr. Lowry was found dead in bed in the middle of summer with the heat going in his house. There were rumors that his heirs had him murdered, but the official cause of death was declared a stroke.

The next part is pretty gruesome. The undertaker who received Lowry's body was still angry at him for refusing to pay for a custom-made coffin he'd ordered for his wife two years earlier. As revenge, the undertaker broke Lowry's legs and folded them up to help him fit into the coffin he had refused to pay for. The lid still wouldn't close over his fat stomach, so the undertaker cut him open, scooped out his internal organs, and sewed him up again. The doctor was buried in Woodland Cemetery.

When the authorities later exhumed Lowry to check for signs of poison, they found his abdomen empty. The undertaker admitted what he had done and showed the police to the place where he had buried the organs, but by that time they were so rotten that nothing could be determined.

Today Lowry haunts the Briggs Public Library in Ironton, supposedly searching for his lost body parts. He is also seen in Woodland Cemetery, sometimes walking with his mother. Click here to see my section on Ironton's Woodland Cemetery and its various hauntings.
( http://www.forgottenoh.com/Counties/Lawrence/briggslibrary.html )

Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlington,_Ohio

This is located just outside South Point, Ohio and was the subject of one of the first investigations.

The area was originally settled in 1849 by a group of 37 freed slaves once belonging to James Twyman.

Upon his death, he freed all slaves except those too elderly to make the journey, and secured land and resources for them in what is now the Burlington area of Lawrence County.

More information can be found in Earl Pratt's book, "The Promise Land."

The church is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and there is a monument for the 37 slaves in the Burlington Cemetery where they are buried.

Here's a short article about church festivities from the Lawrence County Register:
http://www.lawrencecountyohio.com/townships/burlington/stories/macass.htm

Ohio Amusement Parks

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=3108
http://www.forgottenoh.com/Counties/Warren/kingsisland.html

http://www.ghostchatter.com/ghsparchives/hauntedpark.htm

Ohio State Reformatory

Sometimes called Mansfield Reformatory or Mansfield Prison...

They offer overnight ghost hunts similar to those offered by Moundsville and have plenty of dates available this year and next...so something maybe to look into for next year's trip.

http://www.mrps.org/
http://www.forgottenoh.com/OSR/osr.html
http://crime.about.com/od/prison/a/mansfield.htm

This is the link with the ghost stories.

http://www.trimarpress.com/MansfieldReformatoryReport.html
http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/OH6272/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_State_Reformatory
http://www.graveaddiction.com/osr.html
http://www.zerotime.com/storefront/ghosthunter/sample3.htm

Ironton Ohio

http://www.lawrencecountyohio.com/ghosts/index/index.htm

This is kind of a cool link. It has a variety of " true ghost" stories as submitted to the Ironton Register since the 1800s up until about the 1970s

. Not really anything that can be investigated, but a cute read.

The Ridges

The Ridges is the old state hospital located in Athens, OH. It is now a part of the Ohio University campus.

Ohio University has had several claims to fame for its massive amount of ghosts.

 Some say it is because the cemeteries of Athens are laid out in a big pentagram around the city, with the university being at the dead center.

This website is pretty comprehensive and has plenty of links to follow for more information:
http://www.forgottenoh.com/Ridges/ridges.html

The Athens SPECTRE newspaper article about the other various campus haunts:
http://cscwww.cats.ohiou.edu/~jour430/SPECTRE/campushaunts.html
(My friend stayed in the dorm where the girls basketball team allegedly stayed and she said that she DID hear what appeared to be basketballs bouncing every now and again. We didn't hear anything on our trip though.)

I visited here in the Fall of 2001 and had a creepy experience of my own. I went with my best friend to visit another friend who went to school there, and the three of us, plus our friend's classmate, a native of the area, went exploring.

We had a few strange things show up in the children's building and that's where I had MY personal experience. The guy who was with us and I decided to walk up the hill from the main grounds to where the building was. The other two were too frightened to go, and were parked in the car at the base of the hill. Upon leaving, we were walking down the hill, and I felt what I perceived as a small boy slip his hand into mine and tug on my shirt hem. I was a good three feet away from the other guy, plus he was on my OTHER side, so I doubt it was him. I still don't know exactly what it was I experienced, but it was definitely filled with an air of overwhelming sadness.

When we got back to the car, the two girls claimed that while we were up there, my voice recorder that I brought had turned itself on to "chipmunk mode" and was playing back what we had recorded earlier.

Ironton Cement Factory

Also known as the Alpha Portland Cement plant, this factory was built in the late 1890s and operated for nearly 70 years.

The official reason for the closing of the plant is listed as financial hardship, yet folklore tells a more sinister reason...the flooding of one of the mine shafts trapping and killing several workers. It is those workers who are said to haunt the factory today.

With many of the mine shafts still basically open, the area is pretty unsafe, and I believe is mostly inaccessible today anyway.

http://www.abandonedonline.net/index.php?catid=131

http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2004/01/05/news/news02.txt

Prospect Place

"Prospect Place is the 29 room mansion built by abolitionist George Willison Adams at Dresden, Ohio, in 1856. It is the home of the non profit G. W. Adams Educational Center, Inc.

We are located in the Village of Trinway, Ohio, just 1/2 mile north of Dresden."

This building was a stop on the underground railroad, and is now listed on the National Register of Historical Places. They hold over night ghost tours on a regular basis.

http://www.prospectplace-dresden.com/

http://www.sghsociety.com/prospect_place.html

http://www.graveaddiction.com/prospect.html

http://www.forgottenoh.com/Trinway/trinway.html

Our House

The Our House Museum was built in 1819 as a tavern by Henry Cushing, and his sister Elizabeth. It is located in Gallipolis, OH.

 The apparition of Mr. Cushing, wearing short green breeches, has been seen in the kitchen, and also along the back pathway. Phantom footsteps are also often heard.

In the ballroom, which once hosted General Lafayette in 1825, has been the site of a woman singing, and chairs scraping, as if a large audience was being seated.

The singing ghost is thought to be Jenny Lind, who stopped at Our House in the 1850s during her American tour.

Info from Haunted Ohio II by Chris Woodyard.

Websites:
http://www.planetware.com/gallipolis/our-house-museum-us-oh-586.htm

http://www.visitgallia.com/ (Click attractions)

http://www.placesohio.com/ohio-historic-sites/ourhouse/

http://consumer.discoverohio.com/searchdetails.aspx?detail=44727

Crosskeys Tavern

This building is thought to have been built in the 1880s on the site of several other torn down buildings.

In the 1930s the building was occupied by Sun's Bar and Grill and Shine's Restaurant. Tom Burke bought it in 1973, naming it The Crosskeys, after a pioneer-era tavern. It is located on Main Street in Chillicothe, OH.

Today, the building still operates as a tavern, with lunch being served daily as well. It seems to be haunted by a ghost the employees have named "Harold," who messes with the lights and throws drinks. Much of the activity seems to occur in the basement.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/entity.php?id=5162

Additional info can be found in Chris Woodyard's Ghost Hunter's Guide to Haunted Ohio.

Lake Vesuvius

Shadowlands Listing:
Ironton - Lake Vesuvius - Many people have said that 3 ghosts haunt this place.

A man who wears a cowboy hat and is seen walking along the road, a woman that looks like she has been beaten to death that has been seen down by the boat docks, and a strange white figure that floats in the trees.

http://www.superpages.com/cities/mtg/39492/

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/wayne/recreation_sites/ves_recreation.html
(Be sure to check out the Vesuvius History link)

http://www.lawrencecountyohio.com/nativeam/stories/IndiansVesuvius.htm
(nearby cave excavation)

River Valley Health Systems

The River Valley Health System in Ironton, Oh closed in January of 2001 due to financial problems.

It was purchased in 2002 by Our Lady of Bellefonte, but was never reused. It is now slated for demolition.

http://www.abandonedonline.net/index.php?forumcat=1&postid=2433&topicid=604
(Newspaper articles about the demolition)

Hauntings Information:

The third and fourth floors of the old county hospital, which is now closed, is haunted by the ghost of a doctor.

Many eyewitnesses can account for that. Patients, in the past, had reported seeing a figure at the foot of their beds, staring at them.

There have been many unusual occurrences there, when it was open, and most certainly now that "they" have the place to themselves.

Mud House Mansion

http://www.forgottenoh.com/mudhouse.html

This site has tons of information and personal experiences, plus tons of links to more sites.

Mud House Mansion is in Lancaster, OH. However, NO permission is granted to investigate, and it is said that you'll be stopped by private security guards for even taking pictures of the outside.

Majestic Theater

This link has a brief history, pictures, and haunting information:
http://www.forgottenoh.com/Counties/Ross/majestic.html

This is the official website. Check out the history section for a complete timeline:
http://www.majesticchillicothe.org/

These links talk specifically about Camp Sherman and the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic that spread through:
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=670
http://www.nps.gov/archive/hocu/html/sherman.html

During the flu epidemic, the theater was used as a makeshift morgue for the funeral parlor across the street.

Monitor School

Located in Coal Grove, OH.

The Monitor School (or Coal Grove School) was built in 1905 as the area's new High School, and was later converted into an elementary school.

It was built by Cooke Bros. Construction Company with architect T.S. Murray, a local citizen.

 T.S. Murray had his office on the second floor of the Furlong building, and his company was sued by St. Joseph's in the 1880s for breach of contract. The obituaries of T.S. Murray and his family can be found at www.lawrencecountyohio.com

It was part of what later became the Dawson-Bryant school district with original board members including:
H.L. Sartain
John A. Jones
John Peters
Philip Carey
Chas. Moseman

The school apparently closed sometime in the 1980s/1990s after a new school was built.

The date listed on one site is 1984. The school had been named a defendant in a law suit regarding outdated heating practices involving coal.

 Afterwards, it was apparently still owned by the Dawson-Bryant School District.

In 2000, the community tried to rally together and turn the abandoned school into a community center.

It was, however bought by an investor who wished to turn it into an apartment complex. The community again rallied...this time AGAINST those plans.

They wanted to keep the building in as original condition as possible. It is now back on the market.

The main paranormal activity reported is strange lights seen inside the building when no one is there, and also scant reports of a ghostly janitor seen roaming the halls.

Newspaper Articles:
http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2002/11/09/news/export10120.txt

http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2002/08/22/news/export8220.txt

http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2000/03/29/news/export4122.txt

http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2000/03/30/export4140.txt

Pictures:
http://www.abandonedonline.net/index.php?catid=253

Elizabeth's Grave

There's an interesting story surrounding Mount Union-Pleasant Valley Cemetery in Chillicothe Ohio.

Legend has it that a woman named Elizabeth either hung herself, or was killed in the back of the cemetery. She was buried at the front of the cemetery, but her headstone keeps mysteriously moving to the back, where she died.

This website pretty much covers the history, pictures, and hauntings:
http://www.graveaddiction.com/egrave.html

There are two graves photographed with the name Elizabeth. One stone is obviously broken and lying to the side, while the other is also broken, and lying in a pile of other broken stones in the rear of the cemetery.

The Anchorage

The Anchorage (or Putnam House) was built in 1859 by Douglas Putnam. It has been home to many prominent and wealthy Marietta citizens over the years, and is now owned and maintained by the Washington County Historical Society. It is supposedly haunted by Douglas Putnam's wife, Elizabeth, who passed away in 1862.

http://www.wchs-ohio.org/Anchor.htm
http://www.culture.ohio.gov/project.asp?proj=anchorage

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ0lI_dvyHw
Video from Parkersburg Ghost Hunters' investigation

http://www.geocities.com/midohiovalleyghosthunters/anchorageghosthunts.html
(2007 public ghost hunts)
 

Ironton High School

This school, built in 1922-23 and slated for demolition soon, is not haunted per se, but is a favorite place for photographers and urban explorers.

After several failed attempts at saving the school, it was decided that it would be more cost efficient and practical to just build a new school. However, many features of the old school will be implemented in the construction of the new one.

Address:
Address: 1701 South 7th Street, Ironton, OH

School board website:
http://www.tigertown.com/

Newspaper articles:
http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2005/06/26/news/news189.txt

http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2005/12/18/news/news341.txt

http://www.irontontribune.com/articles/2007/06/11/news/news272.txt

Pictures and information:
http://www.abandonedonline.net/index.php?catid=208

Emmitt House Restaurant

The Emmitt House is located in Waverly, Ohio and was built in 1861 by the town's first entrepreneur, James Emmitt. Emmitt hired the illegitimate son of Thomas Jefferson to construct a hotel/restaurant along the bank of the newly built Ohio-Erie Canal.

Today the house is still a restaurant, and a number of ghosts are said to inhabit it. Employees and patrons report smelling James Emmett's cigar smoke, and even leave packages of cigars out for him. An older lady is seen cleaning when no one should be there, and two ghostly children said to be from the Harper family are seen roaming about. Slaves from the days of the Underground Railroad are seen or heard in the basement, and different poltergeist like activity is experienced.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6319/emmitt_house_restaurant_in_waverlyohio.html

http://www.emmitthouse.com/

http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohpcgs/pictures/id167.htm

Hell Town- Boston Township

Hell Town is one of those towns that abound with urban legend...a LOT of urban legends. Many consider the whole area cursed, with stories of Satan Worshippers, ghosts, serial killers, etc. Here is the truth behind these legends:

http://www.prairieghosts.com/helltown.html