Welcome to the home of
The Moonville Ghost

This site is dedicated to the legend and folklore surrounding one of Ohio's most famous ghosts, The Moonville Ghost. The legend of The Moonville Ghost goes back about 150 years and is tied to the small mining town of Moonville, Ohio. There are many excellent web sites published providing the history of Moonville, as well as the personal experiences of many who traveld to Moonville for themsleves. Some find the ghost, some do not, but all have stories to tell.

The purpose of this site is to become a central point for venturing off on your own quest for the Moonville Ghost. If you're looking for information and history of Moonville, we hope that you find everything you need here and through the web ring. If you have published a site about Moonville and/or your own experiences, we hope you add it to the web ring so that others may more easilly find your site.

So... grab your favorite snack and beverage, sit back, and venture into Moonville. They're expecting you!

Moonville at a glance...

• Founded circa 1850
• Primary Industry - mining town
• Population - at its peak, roughly 100
• First Residents - the Samuel Coe family
• Location - Vinton County, Ohio near present day Lake Hope State Park
• Remains - Moonville Train Tunnel, Moonville Cemetery, one known building foundation

Maps of the Area

The maps above provide an idea of about where Moonville is. The pink highlighting on the second map roughly follows the gravel road that runs from Lake Hope to the trail back to the tunnel. It is important to note that while the tracks are no longer present, the old rail bed is still fairly easy to find. The "X"s on the map point mark the Lake Hope Dam, the Moonville Tunnel, and the Moonville Cemetery.

If you have any questions, comments, or other feedback pertaining to this page, please feel free to email the Gate Keeper.

You are visitor       to this site since February 8, 2002

Reader's Write... (*NEW* August 2002)

This section of The Moonville Ghost is dedicated to you, faithful reader and ghost hunter, to share your stories and photos relating to your personal experiences in Moonville. Have you had a "haunting" experience in Moonville, or just had some old-fashinioned, good, clean, fun? Share them here with the rest of us.

To have "your story" published here, simply send to it to the The Gate Keeper. We'll contact you after we receive it, and give YOU the credit when we post it here on our site.

Orbs in the Moonville Tunnel Laurie and Jean have been ghost hunting for about a year. They visited the Moonville Tunnel in October, 2004, and captured these orbs while photograhing the tunnel. Thanks for sharing! Laurie and her friend, Jean, went to Moonville at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon, 10/7/04. Laurie writes... The mosquitoes were awful and we both were eaten up terribly, so for further reference, TAKE BUG SPRAY!! We followed your [Gate Keeper's] directions and it was very easy to find. We ran into two other ladies that were also taking photos there. We figured they were college students. Jean and I went into the tunnel and set up our recorder hoping to get some EVPs. With the others there, it was difficult to detect any sounds. It was not totally quiet. We began taking pictures with my digital camera and Jean took pics with her 35mm camera. I reviewed a few that I had taken and saw the orbs immediately. We did not have any sensations, cold spots or anything unusual that we could see so we were not scared. We stayed an hour or so and then headed up to the cemetery. We were able to drive all the way up there in my mini-van! We took a few photos and put the recorder down. We did not notice anything out of the ordinary. We enjoyed our visit to Moonville Ohio!! Laurie

Pictures from LadyHawk43135 LadyHawke sends us these photos of the Moonville Tunnel, Trestle, and Racoon Creek circa 1985 when the traintracks were still present at the tunnel site. Thanks, LadyHawke!

Author Edrick Thay writes about the Moonville Ghost Edrick Thay, author with the Lone Pine Publishing Company, has just written a new book on the Ghost Stories of Ohio. In this book, due to be released this month (August 2002), he writes about the Moonville Ghost. Be sure to pick up his new collection of stories and read about the famous, and not so famous, Ghosts of Ohio. In an email to the Gate Keeper, Mr Thay writes... Jeff, the book has gone to the printers. Your help with the Moonville story was invaluable. I'll let you know when the book should be available... Thanks again for all your help. This book can be ordered at Amazon.com. The web sites linked on this web ring are the exclusive works of their individual authors. The information and photos on these pages remains the property of each. If you wish to use any of the material you find on the ring for any purpose, please contact that author directly. The Moonville Ghost can not and will not grant permision for you to use someone else's work. The Moonville Ghost Web Ring is a vehical for linking related pages together. It is owned and maintained by Jeff Schmidt. Inqueries concerning this site or the web ring may be directed via email to the Gate Keeper. Copyright moonvilleghost.com. All rights reserved. All material contained herein property of the moonvilleghost.com, or deemed to be in the public domain. **NOTE** Material contained in the Reader's Write section remains the property of its author as noted above. Site last revised: October 13, 2004.