Ohio is the 17th oldest state in the union, so it’s only natural that we have our fair share of haunted places. To celebrate Halloween we are listing off some of the creepiest haunts in our state!

Franklin Castle

Described as the “most haunted” building in all of Ohio, historic Franklin Castle sits in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood with four stories and more than twenty rooms, all guarded by a façade of turrets and gargoyles. Hannes Tiedmann, a German immigrant, built the house in 1881. Just ten years later members of the Tiedmann household began to succumb to disease. A total of seven people would pass away in the home before it was abandoned in 1908. Since then the house has changed hands at least nine times, but no owner has stayed inside the house for longer than ten years.

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Higginsport School

The Higginsport School was built in 1880 with the intent of being the best school in all of America. For years the school operated as the area’s primary place of learning. However, In the 1990s the school became too expensive to maintain and was abandoned. Even though the building has not been used for over twenty years, it is said that strange voices can still be heard inside, particularly inside the basement where a man was said to have found dead, badly burned by the boiler.

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Tuberculosis Hospital

Tucked away in a hard-to-find overgrowth, the Lima Hospital was first opened in 1911 to care exclusively for those who had come down with the Tuberculosis epidemic. After operating for 59 years the hospital closed down, said to be haunted by the patients who died on the premises. Some explorers have reportedly heard loud pounding noises, as well as quick-moving shadows along the halls of the decaying third floor.

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Ohio Reformatory

Constructed in 1896, the Ohio Reformatory was originally designed to be the first step towards humane rehabilitation for first-time offenders. However conditions inside the imposing gothic-style building rapidly deteriorated and the prison eventually shut down in 1990 under accusations of inhumane conditions and murder. In 1995 the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society unsealed the prison and opened the building for tours. It has since been one of the most popular destinations for paranormal investigators and history buffs.

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Mudhouse Mansion

The Mudhouse Mansion is located just east of Lancaster, Ohio, and is one of the most intriguing buildings in the entire state. The house was built sometime in the 1840s, and no one is quite sure about its history. One local legend states that a slave-owning government official inhabited the mansion and was killed by an escapee. Another asserts that the house is the home to the Bloody Mary legend, haunted by a murderous family.

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