The Story It all started with a newspaper article … from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. (Yes, the Brooklyn in New York). Dated November 4 (1889), the article states that Deputy United States Marshall Williams of Cincinnati removed a man named James Brown from the Ohio Penitentiary. Brown was described as a deranged man being transferred […]
An Ohio Vampire? Can It Be True? Read More »
History, Myths and Legends, People
Waynesville is a small village in Warren County that, according to the 2020 census, houses a little shy of 3,000 souls. It is located around the intersection of US Route 42 and State Route 73. At first glance, it appears to be a reasonably typical village, but if you look a little deeper you will
The Many Ghosts of Waynesville, Ohio Read More »
History, Myths and Legends, Places
They say that somewhere in Ohio, there exists a cave that contains the bones of twenty-one escaped slaves. Legend has it that before the Civil War, the escaped slaves entered the cave, trying to hide from the slave hunters that were pursuing them. However, the cave somehow got filled with poisonous gas, suffocating them all.
A (Possible) Lost Cave in Middletown Read More »
History, Myths and Legends
When you start looking into the myths and legends of Ohio, you’re probably going to hear about the Dayton suburb of Kettering. Did you hear about the ghost of The Witch’s Tower? Have you seen Frankenstein’s Castle? Don’t go near the Patterson Tower at night, alone. The Hill and Dales Tower is haunted by a
The Mysterious Tower of Kettering Ohio Read More »
History, Myths and Legends, Places
Growing up, I swear I remember seeing the name Johnny Appleseed all over the place. Back in the days when my age was a single digit, I thought he was pretty cool, planting trees and doing … tree planting stuff, I guess. Fast forward roughly twenty or so years and I was giving a talk
Johnny Appleseed – The Myth, The Legend Read More »
History, Myths and Legends
It is impossible to study history without running into some myths and legends. By definition, these are stories we tell (or pass down) to help explain the unexplainable, to breathe new life into old folk tales, to exaggerate people or places who exceed whatever expectations we have placed on them. Most of them do have
The Mystery of the Gore Orphanage Read More »
History, Myths and Legends
In the early days of Ohio history, new communities were being created at a fairly quick pace. While most of these towns grew to become villages or towns or cities, not all places were quite so lucky. Some communities, for whatever reason, never got their chance to shine. Others were based on religious or philosophical
Moonville – A Ghost Town With Ghosts Read More »
Ghost Towns and Lost Places, History, Myths and Legends, Places