The Moonville Cemetery
August 27, 2000 - 9:00 am EDST
Overcast, cool, and damp following heavy rains overnight
Moonville, Ohio, was a small mining town thatgrew-up along a railway in the mid 1800's. A short 150 yearslater, it has virtually disappeared. It's memory is kept alive by a tunnel that ran through a mountain just east of town, and by the numerous ghost stories associated with it.
If you're into finding old, forgotten towns, there are some things you might be interested in. The tunnel is still there, the rail bed is still there, at least one old foundation is still there, and the cemetery is still there.
I recently visited Lake Hope state park in South-Eastern Ohio. This park is located just a few miles from where Moonville used to be. While there, I visited the old train tunnel and the cemetery. I visited both areas twice: after darkand in the early morning. While I don't claim to believe inghosts and hauntings, I have to admit I "stumbled" into something I can't quite explain...
The weekend started off pretty ordinary. One of my goals with the trip was to find the Moonville tunnel, some of the old buildings, and the cemetery. To my luck, one of the activities at the park that night was a "Night Hike" to the Moonville Tunnel. My daughter and I opted in and off we went.
We had to drive about 4-5 miles to get a point where we could "easily" hike back to the tunnel. Once there, we parked and treked off down the old rail bed to a point where a trail branched off to the right and went down the hill. We walked what seemed to be a good distance until we came to Racoon Creek.
To actually get to the tunnel, one must cross Racoon Creek. Just a few years ago, one could have crossed by walking across the old train trestle. That, unfortunately, has been removed by the railroad. To cross now requires walking on a "stone bridge" set by those who came before us! Doing this at night with flashlight in hand just adds that much more fun to the whole experience!
Once across the creek, we climbed back up to the rail bed on the other side. This was a fairly steep climb up a bank covered in loose gravel and mud. Again, accomplishing this at night made it that much more fun.
The tunnel just "creeps" up on you. If we had done this during the day, we would have seen it not long after climbing up the bank. As it was, we were looking down with our flashlights trained on the ground immediately in front of us. I looked up as the ground on either side of us began to rise and there it was - plunging right through the heart of the mountain. A great big "mouth" in the side of the earth waiting patiently for us to walk right in!
The tunnel was originally made by stone cutters from huge sandstone blocks. However, in 1903-04, the railroad cameback and refurbished it with clay bricks. The tunnel is somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 - 40 feet high and 20 - 30 feet in width (across the bottom). It is close to 100 yards long. Some of the origianl sandstone can still be seen at either end.
Our group proceeded to the center of the tunnel. Once there, we were instructed to turn out our lights. The center of the tunnel was so dark we couldn't see our hands in front of our faces. The only other place I have experienced this kind of darkness was deep inside caverns where the sun never shines.
In this dark old tunnel, we heard the stories of people who died in Moonville of tragic deaths. Of the woman caught out in the middle of the trestle by a raging steam-powered train with no where to go. Of the man who died when the mine he was working in collapsed on him. Of the man who patiently waited for the train to pass, then started to cross the tracks, only to be hit by the "second half" of the train that had somehow come separated from the rest at some point along the way. Of the brakeman who, after playing cards with his friends, and having consumed a great deal of liquor, walked out in front of a train passing through town.
After hearing the stories and "playing" in the tunnel, we headed back to civilization. No one had seen or heard a ghost that night, but everyone had a great time. I would strongly recommend this activity to anyone looking for something "out of the ordinary".
As we gathered back at the cars, I asked the park ranger if the old cemetery was still around, and if was accessible. He indicated that yes, it was still around and accessible. He told us how to get there and that we could go there next if we wanted.
Feeling adventerous, we (myself and my 8-year-old daughter) headed up. It was a very narrow, tight, winding gravel road up the side of a large hill. The tree branches "wailed"as they scraped along the side windows of the mini van. It was creepy and it was taking it's toll on my imagination and my daughter's. When we reached the top, we could see some of the grave markers in the glow of the headlights. I looked at my daughter and asked if we should get out and have a look around. The expression on her face answered for her before she uttered the words, "Let's come back in the daytime!" I agreed.
Which brings me to the photo shown above. It has been reported on several occasions that the "Moonville Ghost" is that of the brakeman that was hit by a train. It is said that his ghost can sometimes be seen inside the tunnel and the cemetery on stormy nights. It is described as a white ghost swinging a red brakemen's lanturn. It is said that he is still swinging his lanturn in an attempt to stop the train that ran him down.
Our visit to the cemetery was early in the morning following a night of storms. The air was damp and cool. The sky was overcast. It made the lighting in the cemetery errie and somewhat dark. As I took the photo above. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. My kids were off to the right side of the picture looking at the old grave stones. Even as I "snapped"the picture, I did not see the image hovering above the ground that appears in the photo. It wasn't until I got home and viewed the pictures I had taken that I saw the "ghost".
Personally, I do not believe in ghosts and hauntings. However, I am unable to describe what appears in the photo. If it had been a bright sunny day, I would have guessed it was just the sun reflecting out of the camera's lense. But it was overcast and dark and there weren't any light sources other than the morning sky. The photo is here for you to view and to decidefor yourself.
Welcome to Moonville!
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