Do you believe in ghosts? For generations, people have reported strange sightings at landmarks around Northeast Ohio.
Sure, there’s probably some logical, scientific explanation. But since it’s Halloween season, we’re willing to suspend our disbelief ever so slightly to entertain the possibility of paranormal activity.
So, in summary, after carefully weighing the facts and analyzing the data, we clearly and emphatically declare for the record: Boo!
Here are 10 haunted places, according to local folklore.
Akron Civic Theatre
This majestic theater , which opened as Loew’s in 1929 at 182 S. Main St., is as beautiful as it is spooky. Ghostly activities have been reported at the top of the grand staircase, the projection booth and an old dressing room in the basement. A former maintenance engineer, long since departed, is said to make the rounds in the building. His footsteps have been heard onstage and backstage. He whistles. He closes doors. Oh, and he sometimes flushes toilets when no one is in the restroom. Must be checking the pipes.
Botzum
Today, the intersection of Bath and Riverview roads is a gateway to Cuyahoga Valley National Park . It once was the site of a grisly slaying. In 1882, drunk farmhand John Tedrow accosted guests in the ballroom during a dance at John A. Botzum Sr.’s hotel. The ruffian accidentally tore the jacket of John Brook, who grabbed an ax in rage and hit Tedrow in the head, killing him instantly. Tedrow was buried at Botzum Cemetery, but medical students exhumed him for science. According to local lore, the farmhand’s lurching footsteps have been heard after dark near the northwest corner. There also have been reports of a man with a bloody forehead wandering the woods. He is beyond help.
Cry-Baby Bridge
According to folklore, if you stand on the bridge at midnight, especially during a full moon, especially when it’s foggy, you can hear the wails of a baby who drowned in the 19th century. The site is near the Chippewa-Rogues Hollow Historical Society at 17500 Galehouse Road in Chippewa Township, which most definitely is NOT open at midnight, so please don’t go at that time. According to one version of the tale, a family lost control of a horse-drawn carriage while traveling down the steep hill and it overturned in Silver Creek, where the baby was lost. Another version has a mother committing infanticide. Just so you know: This grim legend is associated with dozens of bridges around the country.
Hale Farm & Village
When you move a bunch of historic buildings to a new site, you’re bound to upset the occupants. See for yourself at 2686 Oak Hill Road in Bath Township. The 1832 Goldsmith House, designed by architect Jonathan Goldsmith, originally was located in Willoughby, but it was moved in eight sections in 1973 and reopened in 1985. Hale employees have reported a female presence on the second floor, presumably former owner Caroline Robinson, whose husband, William Peck Robinson, died the year the house was completed. A Hale volunteer allegedly saw the impression of a reclining body on a bed, but the indentation disappeared as the staffer drew close. Who knew that ghosts needed naps?
Hower House
In 1871, industrialist John Henry Hower and his wife, Susan, moved into their new 28-room Victorian mansion at 60 Fir Hill in Akron. He promised on her deathbed in 1896 that he would never remarry. Four years later, though, he broke that vow and wed Rebecca Ralston, a younger woman. Susan glared out from a portrait on a wall, and things got a little chilly. Strange lights glowed and heavy doors opened. In the late 20th century, a security guard reportedly heard a voice say, “Get out of my house.” A 1980s parapsychologist said he experienced uncomfortable feelings when walking around the Hower bedroom. Gee, wonder why.
Oriana House
The residential correction center at 222 Power St. in Akron served as the Summit County Detention Center from 1930 to 1960. It was the scene of an infamous homicide in 1955: Matron Eula Bonham, 59, was killed during an escape by five teen girls. She suffocated when the girls tied her up and gagged her. For decades afterward, jailers reported strange phenomena. Windows opened and closed. Televisions turned themselves on and off. Furniture scraped across the floor in empty rooms. Footsteps followed guards in hallways. Employees weren’t too worried, though. “She’s a good ghost,” one deputy explained in 1989. “I feel good she’s here. She watches over us.”
Perkins Stone Mansion
Completed in 1837, the home at 465 S. Portage Path was built by Col. Simon Perkins, son of Akron’s founder, Gen. Simon Perkins. Employees, volunteers and visitors to the historical house museum have reported strange things: creaking floorboards, mysterious lights, chiming bells, indentations on pillows. Ghost cats have rubbed against ankles and ghost dogs have prowled the porch. Others have claimed to see spectral figures in old-style clothing, including children running around a table. One woman said she felt a hand touch her hair and another reported feeling someone breathing on her neck. Calm down, Col. Perkins.
River Styx bridge
The people of Rittman don’t believe in little ghosts. No, the apparitions here are on a grand scale. The legend of the phantom train has circulated since 1899 when the Erie Limited No. 5 jumped the tracks and plunged into the River Styx. The train was en route to Chicago with 79 passengers when it derailed, killing engineer Alexander Wallace Logan and injuring six passengers. Over the decades, people have reported seeing a glowing headlight and billowing smoke, and hearing passengers scream as a spectral locomotive plummeted into the river. When would-be rescuers rushed to help, there was no wreckage. The bridge is parallel to East Ohio Avenue, just north of Morton Salt in Rittman.
Wingfoot Lake Hangar
The lost crew of the “ghost blimp” may patrol the Goodyear hangar at 841 Wingfoot Lake Road in Suffield Township. In 1942, Lt. Ernest D. Cody and Ensign Charles E. Adams disappeared off the San Francisco coast while piloting the L-8, a Navy airship that had served as a Goodyear blimp before World War II. The derelict blimp drifted back to shore without any sign of the crew. The gondola was stored for decades at Wingfoot Lake. In 2003, Goodyear donated it to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. Did the phantom crew go with it?
Wolf Creek Tavern
Of course you’re going to find spirits at a bar. Formerly known as the Loyal Oak Tavern, the 1840 landmark at 3044 Wadsworth Road in Norton has served as a cabinet shop, blacksmith shop, sheriff’s office, jail, children’s infirmary, brothel, hotel and restaurant. Over the decades, patrons have reported seeing unearthly shadows, spooky reflections and the apparition of a woman in a long black dress. Some claim to have felt a hand on the shoulder when no one else was nearby. Ray Wilhelm, a bartender from the late 1800s, is said to be one of the tavern ghosts. Apparently, there is no last call in the afterlife.
Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com
More: Do you dare enter? See haunted house ads from Akron's spooky past
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Local history: Ghost stories materialize at Greater Akron landmarks
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