This month, we have decided to dedicate our #OHCommunitySpotlight to showcasing the spooky, creepy, and haunted locals across the great state of 🎃hi🎃.
Not on Twitter, the thread is available online, as well as below.
Greater Ohio Policy Center Read on Twitter
The #Halloween season is upon us, and as you can see, we are in a festive mood here at GOPC. This week, we are devoting our #GOPCThread to highlighting some of the spooky, creepy, and hunted locals across the great state of🎃hi🎃
Vacant & in disrepair, the apparition of #USA’s oldest 19th century theater haunted downtown #MtVernonOH for decades. Thru a restoration fueled by #taxcredits & persistence, the @woodwardopera rose from the dead & is a part of the downtown renaissance 👻 #GOPCThread
Woodward Opera House (click images for link)
To the north in @MansfieldOhio lies the @OSReformatory, abandoned in 1990 and purportedly haunted by the spirits of its past occupants, the ex-prison is a major tourist destination and a favorite filming location for #Hollywood films, tv & music videos 👻
Paranormal Tours | Ohio State Reformatory (click image for link)
Formerly known as the Athens Lunatic Asylum, The Ridges is now part of @ohiou housing an art museum, classrooms, and storage facilities. An iconic site, over 1,900 people are buried here, fueling rumors of paranormal activity 👻 #GOPCThread
The Ridges | Hocking Hills (click images for link)
Just down the road is the Moonville Tunnel, the last remains of a small mining town. Located in Zaleski State Forest & accessible by the Moonville Rail Trail (@railstotrails), it is said to be haunted by the ghost of a brakeman w/ a glowing lantern😱
Paranormal Investigations | Vinton County Travel (click images for link)
Majestic Theatre (1853) in Chillicothe is the oldest continuously operating theater in the U.S. & has a reputation as haunted. It served as a temporary morgue in 1918 during the Spanish Flu; bodily fluids drained into nearby “Bloody Alley” #GOPCThread 👻
Chillicothe Majestic Theater | Heritage Ohio (click image for link)
Licking County Historic Jail in Newark operated from 1889–1987 & had 22 confirmed deaths within its walls. Described as “incredibly haunted,” it was featured on @travelchannel's Ghost Adventures & offers public ghost hunts & private investigations
Public Ghost Hunts | Licking County Historic Jail (click image for link)
Now we all know that Ohio is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. But did you know that it is also the purported home to at-least three #GatesofHell? #GOPCThread
According to the legend, the #GatesofHell can be found in @GambierOH on the campus of @KenyonCollege. @Phil_Donahue thought so. But is the infamous moniker a case of mistaken identity? #GOPCThread
The Unexpected History Behind Kenyon’s Gates of Hell | The Kenyon Collegian (click image for link)
Others claim the real gate is in the @CityofGahanna, which sounds a lot like ‘Gehenna’, which is the Hebrew word for hell #GOPCThread
Curious Columbus: Gahanna Really Named After Hell | WOSU Public Media (click image for link)
Perhaps the best-know #GatesofHell is in @ColumbusCity. Also known as the Portal to Hell & the Blood Bowl, this drainage tunnel under North High Street is off-limits to the public. Urban legends claim a skateboarder died here in the 1980s #GOPCThread
Gates of Hell Columbus | Weird USA (click image for link)
Ghost & supernatural hunts abound in #Ohio. @TiffinGhostWalk offers tours year round to different sites and locations in #SenecaCo #GOPCThread
Capturing the Spirits | Haunted Tiffin (click image for link)
Up in @Ashtabula_OH, you can walk the streets of the historic Harbor on the Shores of Lake Erie and explore the past rich with history. Join a group tour or schedule a private tour #GOPCThread
Eerie Harbor Ghost Walk | Eerie Harbor (click image for link)
Of course, the one thing everyplace in Ohio has in common is a cemetery. Though sacred ground, many of these places of final rest are brimming with history – and just a few are said to be places to interact with spirits from beyond the grave #GOPCThread
In Marietta you will find Mound Cemetery, built around the Conus Mound in 1801. The Conus Mound is a sacred area to Native Americans. Additionally, the Cemetery has the most Revolutionary War soldiers buried on the grounds anywhere in Ohio #GOPCThread
Some have admitted to seeing a blue ball of light flash through the cemetery, and others say the ghost of a soldier walks the grounds. #GOPCThread
Haunted History of Marietta | Sand and or Snow (click image for link)
Columbus’ Greenlawn Cemetery has many notable Ohioans & past governors buried on its grounds. The Cemetery is home to the Hayden Mausoleum, & rumor has it that a visitor at nighttime can knock on the doors, & the family may just knock back. #GOPCThread
Ghosts of Greenlawn Cemetery | Columbus Ghost Tours (click image for link)
Encompassing more than 285 acres, Lake View Cemetery has over 100,000 graves, with such names as John D. Rockefeller & James Garfield buried on the grounds. The Haserot Angel stands on the grounds, symbolizing “The Angel of Death Victorious” #GOPCThread
Events | Lakeview Cemetery (click image for link)
On Johnson Island near Sandusky is a former Civil War-era prisoner-of-war camp & cemetery, with more than 200 graves from the conflict. The cemetery features a statue called “The Lookout” which purportedly comes to life at night along w/ the other ghosts on the grounds
Now what would Halloween be without #pumpkins. The Circleville #PumpkinShow has gourds, thousands of them in dozens of varieties. “Roundtown”’s annual event attracts 400k+ people over 1 weekend, pumping thousands of dollars into the local economy. #GOPCThread
Ohio is in the top 10 states to produce pumpkins! According to @USDA, pumpkins are a nearly $10M/year industry; In 2020, commercial farmers planted 3,900 acres! #GOPCThread
2020 Ohio State Agriculture Overview | U.S. Department of Agriculture (click image for link)
Well that about wraps-up our tour of the spooky-side of Ohio. There is still plenty of time before Halloween, so jump in the car, on your bike or fly off on your broomstick and see all that the Buckeye state has to offer in the ghoulish & bizarre. #TTFN #GOPCThread
