Ohio’s Haunted History
Normally when one hears of haunted locations, the state of Ohio does not make the list. Ohio truly has its share of spooky buildings, odd destinations and ghostly towns. Many years ago Ohio was considered the great Northwest Territory, an unknown land of rolling fields, meandering rivers, and dense forests. Many settlers had not pushed west of the boundary lines imposed by our young growing country. Those that did were often met with Native America Indian resistance, frontier slayings, massacres and vicious diseases that crippled the growing population.
Ohio has been home to seven Presidents, the Wright Brothers, and Thomas Edison. The Buckeye state is also home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and The Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ohio has supplied the nation with cars, steel, rubber, various crops, and dairy products. Ohio has also supplied us with whispered legends of Cry Baby Bridges, vacant orphanages where children are still heard and seen, headless horses and horsemen, haunted cemeteries, UFO sightings, and even Bigfoot. The Buckeye State also boats the highest concentration of Pagans in the nation. It’s a state full of oddities, ghosts, and things that go bump in the night!
Ohio boasts 24 Cry Baby Bridges where the legends are basically the same. Stand on a bridge late at night and listen for the baby to cry. Most of the legends mention a woman, usually a local witch, who drowns her baby on purpose. Some legends state you must stand on the bridge at night on the stroke of midnight — others are not so precise and any time of the night suffices but it must be a full moon.
Several vacant orphanages in Ohio or even the area where the buildings used to stand is said to be haunted. The cries and moans of the children are said to float around you on the wind. Some areas are said to also feature ghostly shadows of children wandering around as if playing a ghostly game of hide-and-go-seek.
Bigfoot sightings and UFO report also grace the buckeye state by the hundreds. Ohio is mentioned in many Top 10 lists as one of the most active UFO states and Bigfoot sightings in America. Salt Fork State Park in Southeastern Ohio hosts the largest annual gathering of Big Foot enthusiasts in the entire state. Director Stephen Spielberg used an Ohio UFO sighting report as a scene in the movie Close Encounters. Remember the scene where the cop car followed the UFO and drove off a cliff?
Any curious person is probably asking the question, “Why is Ohio so odd and haunted?” The answer can probably be attributed to the fact that Ohio has many Ley Lines, which are invisible lines of earth energy. The Native Americans could feel this energy allegedly and therefore put burial grounds, villages and the main trails upon these areas of energy.
It’s a popular theory in the paranormal field that energy enhances paranormal activity. If so, would Ohio’s multiple Ley Lines help paranormal events to occur and influence hauntings and activity in may areas? Areas that lie upon Ley Lines in Ohio include the Serpent Mound, and the towns of Chillicothe and Coshocton, Ohio — both native American Indian villages many year ago.
Ohio is truly more than just several interstates running north, south, east, and west. It’s a land of wild frontier history, of Indian massacres, haunted locations, ghost towns, creepy cemeteries, and haunted lighthouses. Across this state one can find spooky bridges and unexplained sightings in the woods and in the skies. It’s an unending state of mystery, history, and beauty off the beaten path.
Next time that you travel across Ohio, take time to get off the well traveled paths of concrete highways. Jump on a back road and head into the outskirts of any town. Pull off the road and wait till the sun sinks and shadows deepen. You never know what you might experience! Ohio, the haunt of it all!
