this bird's tale: FLASHBACK 1803

"hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on..."

ohio was admitted to the union, as the 17th state, on march 1. it is steeped in history, from native americans to the civil war. which is why it should be no surprise that ohio is full of haunted history...so, in honor of halloween, let's take a little tour!

#1~the ohio state reformatory, mansfield: opened in 1896, the reformatory's history goes back to 1861 when the field, where the building sits, was used as a civil war training ground. and, like most prisons, it has a long list of horror stories: two corrections officers were killed while on duty, one in 1926 and, the other, in 1932. in 1948, two inmates were released for good behavior and, then, went on a killing spree. they murdered 6 people before being trapped at a roadblock. 1 was killed in a shoot out, the other taken to prison where he faced the electric chair. in 1950, the wife of the prison superintendent was accidentally killed when she knocked a gun off a table. it discharged and shot her in the lung. not surprising, the events are suspicious. reported hauntings include: voices near the superintendents office, two men fighting near the pond, and many apparitions near the chapel.
#2~king's island, mason: how many of you knew this? yep. king's island is haunted. it actually appeared in an episode of "ghost hunters" with grant wilson and jason hawes. opened in 1972, king's island is located on property that used to be part of an ammunitions factory. employees, especially tram drivers, report sightings of a young girl, in blue, out in the parking lot. there are also reports of "tower johnny", a teenage boy seen by the eiffel tower, and "racer boy", a young boy in white, seen by the racer. the white water canyon ride is haunted by a ghost that likes to throw rocks at observation tower 2.
#3~the golden lamb, lebanon: first established in 1803, it is ohio's oldest, operational, inn. many famous people have stayed here including charles dickens, mark twain, and harriet beecher stowe. the inn is said to be haunted by, at least, two spirits. the most famous is a little girl named sarah. sarah was the niece of inn manager, isaac stubbs. she died of a terrible fever in 1825. her hauntings are confined to one room, where she makes noises and knocks things off the wall. guests also claim to experience hauntings by ohio supreme court justice, charles sherman, who died at the inn in 1829. he is described as gaunt and gray. guests, also, claim to smell cigar smoke that is believed to belong to justice sherman.
#4~air force museum, dayton: housed at wright-patterson air force base, the museum dates back to 1923. people who are sensitive to the supernatural, as well as psychics, claim to feel an unsettling presence...some even claiming to see apparitions. many of the sightings are attached to exhibits. maintenance workers claim to see the pilot of the "hop along", a helicopter that saw action during the korean war. the pilot was killed in a battle and his blood has stained the pilot's seat. workers, also, claim to see the apparition of a small japanese boy hiding under "bockscar", the plane used to drop the atomic bomb on nagasaki. a shadowy figure has been spotted near the under cage of "strawberry bitch", a WWII aircraft, and a maintenance worker claims to have been slapped by that spirit.
these are just a few of the many famous haunts of ohio. and 3 of them are super close to home. i sense an investigation coming on!!!