# river that i might be going to tomorow



## big fish (Oct 9, 2005)

does any one know what the river next to bostin mills is and if u do what kind of fish are there and what have they been biteing on. I am planing to go there tomorow if i can get anof information what is in there. 

p.s i dont have an wadders so if u can give me good off shore spots it will be alot of help


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

I'm guessing that you're referring to the ski area,if so,that would be the Cuyahoga River.I've never fished it up that far,the best fishing would be farther south from Cuyahoga Falls upstream for several miles.There's good pike and bass fishing in certain areas,along with a few crappies.There's been plenty of posts on here about fishing this river.Personally,I like fishing it in the Mantua area.


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## treefrog (Sep 15, 2005)

thats the cuyahoga.some steelhead along there and the canals that run along it around there have bass and bluegill.watch out for mutane town.lol


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## big fish (Oct 9, 2005)

yes i am refering to the ski resort. what really works there


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Mutane town! Legend has it that mothers thew thier babies off the bridge to drown. They say you can hear thier cries on full moon nights. But I was saved by some river otters and they taught me to fish!


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

I'm in my 50's,and I remember when I was much younger there was all sorts of so-called urban legends about that area around Boston and Peninsula.One area of note around there was referred to as Hell Town.Supposedly,Peninsula is a town of witches and satanic people.There's still a church in that area that has all the crosses upside down,and reportedly displays satanic writings on their billboard in front of the church from time to time.Funny how legends about a certain area never go away,they're just passed down from one generation to the next.


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## big fish (Oct 9, 2005)

dang that is interesting i would like to go visit a town like that and see all the weird stuff


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## ddd (May 12, 2005)

What church are you referring to? I drive through Penninsula a lot but have never seen it.

What's the bridge out around doylestown where you are supposed to hear babies cry if you park on it and turn off the car? I remember hearing those legends.


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## snake69 (Sep 26, 2005)

The one by Doylestown is called "Cry baby bridge" I believe. I remember going there back in the 70's and hearing the stories..........


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

All good stuff,I know of at least 3 locations where's there's a bridge called "Cry Baby Bridge".One's just north of where I live in Mansfield,it's near a small village called Rome.Seems years ago an amish buggy with 4 small children aboard was crossing the old covered bridge that used to be there(vandals burned it down about 15 years ago),a drunk was approaching the bridge from the other direction,and went left of center and forced the buggy over the side of the bridge into the icy water of the Black Fork killing all aboard.As the legend goes,sometimes late at night when the moon is full,you can still hear the screams of the children as they're falling over the side of the bridge.There's another cry baby bridge in Norton,and yet another in Valley City(which also has the graveyard with the infamous "witches ball" tombstone).......but that's another story in itself.I have something I need to attend to at the moment,when I return,I'll give you the skinny on Helltown and Peninsula,and the location of the church.


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## lakeslouie (Jan 11, 2006)

Interesting. You are correct snake. It is cry baby bridge. Just an update to the area, the road is now blocked off on top of the hill and the mill area where bridge is at is now a boy-scout camp. Most of the kids have never heard of this legend and most live in surrounding communities. Too bad. I tried to muster up a good story when we camped there but I'm not a very good storyteller. Am curious about Norton legend. Lived here 47 years and haven't heard about that. Location?

About what works in that area - try a small in-line spinnerbait in yellow/gold, black/silver, white/silver blade fished slowly just bumping bottom. This will work just about anywhere.


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

The church in Boston that is said to have upside down crosses is called Mother of Sorrows.The whole area around Boston is known as Helltown,and there are numerous tales including the schoolbus,the road known as (2)names-top of the world and end of the world,the cemetary,the slaughterhouse,and the hearse.Supposedly,the entire town is composed of satanists who perform black masses at the already mentioned church.The area is also known as Mutane Town,and Mutant Town.The legend behind that has to do with when the government bought up all the homes and properties in the area to create the national park lands there.Somehow or another,there was a large chemical spill (mutane) in the area,resulting in mass deaths of many children,the ones who survived ended up as mutants,and of course,took out their revenge on everybody in sight.The "Norton Crybaby Bridge" legend is a very old one,it goes something like this;A local witch that resided in the lodge right next to the bridge was impregnated by a married man,the local people were very upset over this,and took the baby from her and threw it off the bridge,then hung the witch from the bridge rafters.It is said that if you drive onto the bridge right at midnight and turn your car off,you'll hear the screams of the baby,but beware,it is also said that a very large animal(reportedly as large as a man)guards the creek below the bridge.The horror tales that eminate from the town of Valley City are some of the best ones though.I must not have much of a life,because I know hundreds,if not thousands of urban legends from every corner of Ohio,you learn these things when you live with a witch!!!!


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## ddd (May 12, 2005)

lol... nice stories.


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## ddd (May 12, 2005)

http://www.forgottenoh.com/Counties/Summit/helltown.html

As to what works in the river... I've caught fish on Mepps spinners and some small mouth on tubes.


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## BigDaddy300 (Nov 1, 2004)

would love to hear some Valley City stories.


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

Don't forget about Bigfoot. He has been seen in the the Boston Mills area numerous times.


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## peple of the perch (Sep 13, 2004)

creepy stuff. i dont think i would want to go their


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## Ichabod (Oct 12, 2004)

I've read almost all of the stuff written about Helltown and I'm telling you the truth...almost all of it is way wrong. While the stories are true, the explanations are all wrong.


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## Ichabod (Oct 12, 2004)

Starting with what I'll call the "Appalachia Syndrome", you see ... back in the day, there wasn't anyway into Peninsula other than canal boat, train, and pack mule so the population didn't circulate much and after generations of the same blood mingling...well let's just say "they ended up with there share of problems" which accounts for the mutants...they were...mutants


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## Ichabod (Oct 12, 2004)

There wasn't a chemical spill, but there was a dump were there were thousands of barrels of toxic waste stored. The contamination was so bad the area qualified for Federal emergency funding and is still closed to this day....years after the cleanup was completed. 
"The end of the world" is to the north of that old dump and at the top of the hill is a lake (strange place for a lake...on the top of a hill) called professors lake. It looks like something you'd see in Wisconsin, well, that lake is dead. Why I don't know, but it's as dead as can be.


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

I can tell you a few true stories but then i'd have to ....well you know. Anyway I have first hand experience of something down there and it still creeps me out to this day. I fish down there A LOT and i always get out of there before dark if I am alone.


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

well, lets hear the story...


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## snake69 (Sep 26, 2005)

Yea, let's hear it. As for the bridge I'm referring to, the story goes something like a couple were there on the bank for a picnic and the two dozed off. The baby wandered down and into the water and of course, drowned. And the story goes that if you are quiet on a summer's night you can still hear the baby crying! Probably thousands of bridges & stories like this all over the country.


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## snake69 (Sep 26, 2005)

That's an interesting site mentioned in post #14, by DDD I believe. I went to several counties and found interesting stuff. Most people don't know it, but Bob Hope was locked up as a kid. Go to the site mentioned, go to Fairfield county and then go to the one listed bis. Only reason I know is that I was there back in the early 70's and we all heard about Mr Hope being there in something like 1927.


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## ddd (May 12, 2005)

Another good site I found...

http://www.ghostsofohio.org/goo.htm


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## vkutsch (Oct 28, 2005)

All very interesting. I grew up in Maryland, and of course we had a Crybaby bridge ( it was down Thunder Road) with similar stories about it, and it was protected by the "Goat-man", which I was reminded of by post #12.


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

I use to run on the bike path over there by Alexander road. Anyway about 20 years back they use to use the mental hospital there to treat the criminally insane ( i am not guilty iam insane type of thing). One day while running down there there was a gentleman walking toward me which did'nt seem odd till i approached him he then turned around started running with me (in street clothes) and mumbling something i don't know what. i don't think i efver ran so fast in my life as i left him behind. when i got up to highland road crossing there was a few police cars there and they asked if I had seen anyone on the path. Apparently one of the so called criminally insane criminals had wandered off the property. In one ways it was nice as they drove me back to my car on Alexander Rd. Still creeps me out as this guy was really weird, sort of like Jack Nicholson weird in "The Shining". I also have seen some weird stuff up in the cemetary on top of Valley Vista.


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## liquidsoap (Oct 22, 2005)

thats a creepy story i woukda never went back....


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

I have a little more to add! I grew up in sagamore hills, Only about 1 mile from the brandywine ski area. Before it became the national forest nobody even went dowm there. During the summer vacation days it was the first place we would run to. Grab our bikes and down redlock hill we would go! We would always end up by the river and walk it for miles. One day it would be down to brecksville the next up to Penninsula. Every once in a while we would come across footprints that crossed the river. They had no shoe treads and they always looked to have a purpose. Straight into or "over" the water. The side we were on they would come right out of the water in a straight line and disappear into the woods. We would try to follow them, but once off the river silt nothing! The areas were they crossed was deep water, about 6 feet or more. The other thing was that it was always half way between highland road and penninsula. Mutane town vacinity. 

Before the towpath was put in, next to brandywine ski area is a company called Jate paper mill. The bike path was just a cinder trail. I was passable with a car and you could go right into mutane town. It would duckout behind a house that was there. In high school we would go down it after dark. We would always see deer cross and other small rodents. But twice we would we something that looked like an indian! It would never look at use and would be going towards the river! Roughly in the area where we saw the footprints years before. We found plenty of arrow heads by the river. In mutane town is an old cemetary at the end of a dead end, right next to the river. One time while driving through it after dark with fresh snow, we saw footprints by the stones with no tracks leading in or out! I swear this!


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## Stoshu (Nov 6, 2004)

Funny how the subject turns from the river to all the urban legends....

I grew up in Bedford & Walton Hills. I still remember the story from back in the 70's. My grandmother, who lived off of Egbert Rd., was getting dinner ready in the kitchen, when she heard the T.V. go in in the family room. She thought it was wierd, because Grandpa used to come straight into the kitchen when he got home. She walked into the family room to find a someone sitting in the chair watching the T.V. He didn't look at her or anything, just sat there and watched T.V. Grandma called the police, and just as grandpa pulled into the drive, the police were walking the gentleman out. It seems a he was an escaped patient from the Hawthorn Mental Hospital (one of the names of the facility). 

Growing up the "cool thing to do" was to ride our bikes down to the picnic area at the bottom of the hill on Sagamore Rd. (next to the hospital), or once you had a friend that was able to drive, pile in the car and drive up and down River Rd (from Alexander Rd) south looking for "Devil's Barn". Legend says that you can see the faint glow of the fires from the satanic services in the distance, and if you found the right area, you could sneak up to viewing distance of everything. Just Don't Get Caught ! ! !


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

Brings back memeries


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

That Indian ghost you saw on the trail was Cheif Pontiac. He assembled the largest group of Indian worriors in history (at the time) to stop european invasion. The encampment was located on the N.E corrner of Riverveiw and Vaun rd. It is said that over 1000 worriors gathered there, some from as far away as the Soiux nations.

There are many, many Indian stories from the areas. The Yellow creek raider are thought to be the last band of Indians in the area.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Heehee - You guys got me going. I'm pretty much a history buff on the old valley....

The old couple that were the original keepers of that old graveyard in Boston Mills Rd. said that when they dug graves, they'd have to rebury all the old Indian bones they dug up. That lil grassy knoll was a Native American burial ground long before the palefaces. My theory is the old spirits didn't like being dug up outta their final resting place.

The lake the put in at the waterpark at Brandywine - they dug up a huge 
Indian Mound to put that lake in. They used the dirt (& bones) from the
mound as fill for the parking lot!

The Jaite Paper mill workers were mostly Polish immigrants. Several died in 
the factory.

The whole valley is covered with old Indian towns, camps, forts and mounds.

There's still a big Indian Mound off Canal Rd. & Rockside (but I ain't tellin' where.)

Off Stone Road, the Haydite Company mines a special rock from the side
of the valley. Legend has it that one of the owners wanted to dig further into
the edge of the valley, and his wokers refused because of an ancient burial ground that was there. He did the work himself and died shortly thereafter...

The old Loony Bin off Sagamoe is still up there, but they have tighter security there now. There used to be a lot of "walk offs" there in the old days. Up behind that, more towards Dunham Road, there was a children's hospital that is supposed to be severely haunted. I guess they tore down the main buildings, but there are still some cabins in the woods there.

I think the whole dang valley is haunted by the spirits of the Natives that 
got so rudely kicked out of the land they had grown to love. The Cuyahoga Valley was one of their favorite areas in northern Ohio...


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Hey Elamanohpee - If go up the hills where you're talking, you'll end up on a high point of land surrounded on almost all sides by steep, almost inaccessable hills. It's only connected to the higher land by a little
ridgeline. Pretty much easily defended. That was Ponty's Camp. I found flint chips up there, but never any arrowheads.


Some more _spooky sites_ -
http://www.deadohio.com/HauntedPlaces.htm

this one talks about *bigfoot* in the valley -
http://www.moonspenders.com/grassman.htm

http://www.ohioexploration.com/index.htm

http://www.shadowseekers.org/


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

My son found a very nice nutter or cup stone on a site very much like you're talking about. What direction are you talking about? North 1/4 mile and directly west is the top of the world...is Ponty's point near there?


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

another real cool fort is S.W of Szaley's...not hard to find...lots-o-flint. just don't get caught...federal offence.


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

I should give tours in the park. I have some old books with a lot of locations of old Indian sites...pretty accurate too.

Anyone ever hear of the cave just S. of 82 east of the valley bridge. Something about a civil war soldier left there to guard ammo and was forgotten about. He went crazy and wrote weird stuff on the walls of the cave. The falls there are reported to be the highest in the Park. Almost inaccessible even today...near the eagle's nest that's NOT there


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Ponty's Camp is southwest of the corners of Columbiana & Riverview Roads










And, don't get caught walking out of the CVNR with anything, you're right.
My ex picked some old dried weeds for a bouquet once down by Szalay's, and a Ranger made here go put the dead weeds back!


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Crazy Man's Hollow! It's actualy a box canyon, no cave. Basically a deep ravine that goes back and dead-ends into a semi circular waterfall, it looks like an amphitheatre. It was Civil War ammo dump. They had wooden rails
(to prevent sparks) that led out to the canal. They left a guard there after
the war for a few months, and he went crazy, scribbling bible verses all over the walls of the storage buildings. It's pretty wild back in there. Nothing left but some old bricks - anything else gets washed out from flooding pretty easily.

The waterfall you'retalking about is a little north of the 82 bridge - I can't 
remember which ravine, but it's one of thetwo arrows....


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

creekcrawler said:


> The waterfall you'retalking about is a little north of the 82 bridge - I can't
> remember which ravine, but it's one of thetwo arrows....


Huh, I woulda figgered it to be by where it says "falls"


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Yup, its one of those two arrows.....
The other one is Crazy Man's Hollow.
I'm not sure if you can reach the falls from river level, or if you need to come in from the high side. Either way it's a decent hike/climb.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

Thanks for the posts. I work across from the VA hospital and I'm in the park quite a bit. Interesting information.


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## Lewis (Apr 5, 2004)

Thanks for a very interesting thread!


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

About 35 years ago, I spoke with and old man...probably in his late 70's-early 80's. He told my a story that his great grandmother told him. When she was a child, she remembered she and her family came home from church in Peninsula to find a small group of Indians in there house looking for food, she said there eyes looked like wild animals and her father told her not to do anything and that they would leave when they found food. They tore the house apart taking what they wanted and never really paid much attention to her and her family. It wasn't long before they found enough and just lelf. The funny thing I remember from the story is how upset the great grandmother was that "they didn't even close the door when they left"...kind of an odd detail to remember considering the situation. That band of Indians was known as the yellow creek raider.


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

I'll have to dig up my old books and orginize a hike this spring...maybe around shroomin time. Any interest?


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

IMO,of all the spooky places I've visited in northern Ohio,3 places definitely stand out.Even though I don't include the Helltown-Mutane Town area in this,it still has it's moments,as well as the whole "melon head" legend in the Kirtland area.Number one scariest place for mr has to be Gore Orphanage south of Vermilion,then Mary Jane's grave near Mohican State Forest,lastly the infamous "Witches Ball" in the cemetary in Valley City.I've visited Gore Orphanage numerous times,and on every trip,something weird happened.No,we didn't return to our vehicle and find children's handprints or footprints on the car,or around it,but,on each trip we did see the totally unexplained lights from the area where the foundation still remains,and we did experience certain chilling sounds each time.Skeptics believe these noises could be from the wind blowing through the trees,could be,but when the air is totally calm,and you still hear the same noises-hmmmmmm.Mary Jane's,well let's just say that this place gives me the creeps so much,I don't even like talking about it that much.My associate on my creepy trips is a wiccan priestess,and even she doesn't care to ever go to Mary Jane's again.The worst part of this story is that a lot of the legends about old MJ are true,they're on the dockets of the history books at the Richland County Genealogical Museum.Back in the late 1800's,she was burned at the stake on the old square in downtown Mansfield,proven fact-on the books.Seems she was an herbalist (a.k.a. a witch in those days),anyway,a couple of local children came up missing in the area of her cabin in Pleasant Valley,naturally since she was already labeled as a witch,she got burned for it-literally.The reason I'll never go back,again this is true,completely verified by two Richland County sheriff's deputies.Seems two local thrillseekers were messing around her gravesite one evening,and one of them though it would be funny to urinate on her grave-guess what-it wasn't! They pulled out of the long,creepy lane that goes back to her grave,and as soon as they pulled out onto Tucker Rd.,the deputies started following them,assuming they had been drinking.The deputies were just about to pull them over,when all of a sudden their car swerved off the right side of the road and smashed into a tree,totally demolishing the car,and killing both of the teenagers inside instantly.Not that impossible? Well,the deputies were clocking their speed at less than 20mph! I've never heard of a car being split in half and completely demolished at less than 20mph! Lastly,the witches ball of Valley City.I wouldn't go there again either! Yes,I touched the ball when it was like 15 degrees out one night,and the ball felt so hot I though I would burn my hand,and yes,I have touched it on a warm summer's day and it was ice cold.But.....the reason I won't go there again is the wacky lady that lives next to the cemetary.Those of you that know this legend know all about her,no need to go any farther with that!!!!


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

On top of Redlock hill (highland road) just to the right before you reach the bike trail was a spot that we would play in year round. We called it 98 acres. It's a very large triagle shape of woods that works it's way to brandywine falls. The backside over looks the brandywine ski area. All thru this area are rock piles. Some looked to be in the shape of graves. We were told that they were part of the indian burial sites. No one ever disturbed them, we would always walk a good distance away from them. At times we thought we could smell fresh smoke when down wind of them. Back around 1976-78 a car was left on the side of the road in this spot. It sat there for a couple of days. The police traced the car and found out that it was owned by a lady that lived a fair distance away. Like an hour or so. They assembled a man hunt and nothing was found. A week went by - still nothing. My two best friends at the time came over and asked if i wanted to go look in 98 acres for the girl, we could get on the news if we found her. I didn't go. I just had this wierd feeling that they were going to find her. THEY DID! She ended her life with a electrical cord and a tree branch. It may not sound all that odd, but the tree she was hanging from had one of the largest rock pile below it! The one pile we would stay the furthest from. Random odds or a force drawing her there? It can probably be traced back , the news crews were there. The park added the land to its property! I'm glad it will be protected.

I'm glad to hear all the Indian facts. I thought i was crazy for what i saw, Indian ghosts! Last night i layed in bed milling over all the old days and the strange footprints and the events that we experienced. Basically i slept like crap. All day at work it was on my mind! We had gone to all the places in the valley that are spoke of. We never knew the history or facts. But you could feel the heavy presence of time there. Thanks for bringing the history part of it, I enjoy it.


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

During the earliest settlers period of the fur traders, the valley was kind of a neutral territory between all of the Indian tribes because of all of it's bounty (game and fish). Native americans roamed the valley for over 10,000 years, there's hardly any spot that hasn't been used by one tribe or another.

My son found a beautiful spear point on top of excavated dirt that was just dumped in a pile at the Peninsula service yard. I'm glad he found or it would have been used to fill in a ditch somewhere.

BTW, there is a mound in the valley and just recently it has been suggested that the same mound builders are direct ascendants of the Aztecs and Incas


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## whjr15 (Jun 16, 2005)

very interesting... i would love to see some of these old indian camps and whatnot... good post!


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## ddd (May 12, 2005)

This is a great thread. It's really getting me involved and interested in the history of the area. Keep em' comin.


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## Stoshu (Nov 6, 2004)

River Walker - what's the Gore Orphanage story? We moved from SE Clevleand to Huron a couple of years ago, and almost bought some land on Gore Orphanage....


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## lunder (Aug 23, 2005)

Not scary but interesting. The big Goodyear sign that can be seen from I77 was once a sight for numerous indian gatherings. From what I have heard the Cuyahoga valley was neutral due to it being a major transportation route for indians to trade with each other. The hill on which the Goodyear sign is now perched was visible from lake Erie. Indians would light signal fires on that hill to let the indians coming from Lake Erie by canoe know that "shop" was open. You can still find charcoal and other remnants of campfires there today. There is also a large hollowed out sycamore tree on Riverview Rd. that, legend has it, is hundreds of years old and an indian meeting place. The Cuyahoga Valley is rich in legend and history. The stories of the Boston Mills area really caught my attention as I always got a creepy feeling while fishing in that area.


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

Before I go into Gore Orphanage,let me say that it's a pretty good chance that since I'm 100% Native American I'm pretty much up on our history in the area,even though my ancestor's were from Montana/Wyoming area.The last known Indian settlement in Ohio was in the Upper Sandusky area,a small band of Wyandots lived in that area,until they "relocated" to Kansas.There were some very interesting nations in the Cuyahoga Valley,one was the very fierce,and always pissed at somebody Iroquois nation,although they didn't really reside there,they just liked to drop by from upstate NY from time to time and kick some local butt! You also had a fair share of Huron,Ottawa and Chippies around too,as well as a few locals.Funny,because of Hollywood,most folks believe all the good cowboy and ***** battles were way out west.Most of the bloodiest battles between the US and the Indian nations were fought out right here in the midwest,but that's another topic for another time.To answer the question about Gore Orphanage.The real truth is less dramatic than the legends.The main legend revolves around some maniac that owned the orphanage started to go broke,and a little crazy after a couple of his children died from the huge diptheria epidemic that was running rampant at that time.To make a long story short,it's said that he locked all the children inside,then set fire to the place,and all the children died.The legend says that if you park your vehicle outside of the gates(gone)on the bridge over the Vermilion River and walk away from it,not only will you hear the cries of the children,but when you return to your vehicle,there will be little handprints on the hood,and small footprints around your vehicle.This story probably got tangled up with what was a real disaster at that time.A school on the east side of Cleveland burnt down killing 173 children and staff,yes,the doors were for some reason locked! Many people(including myself)believe that since the school fire,and the fire that destroyed Gore Orphanage(no casualties)occured about the same time,one story kind of intertwined with the other.But,the owner of the orphanage was also into witchcraft and seance's and good junk like that,so that probably helped throw a little gas on the fire(no pun intended).Now if you want to hear another scary story that's totally true that dozens of local legends have sprung up from,that would be the story of Ceely Rose.100% true,and on record.I'll have to wait to tell you this one until I get home from making a few deliveries.


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## chuckie (Nov 12, 2004)

talk about CABIN FEVER!?


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

Wouldn't call it cabin fever,just an interesting side topic,if it was a true case of cabin fever,I imagine the topic would lean more to fishing or hunting.


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## Johnny Bravo (May 6, 2005)

...........the story of Ceely Rose.


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## ddd (May 12, 2005)

I did a google search and found the story on the Internet, but I'll let River Walker tell it.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Whoa Riverwalker, you know your stuff. The Native American's most valiant stands
took place in Ohio. They dang near kicked the longswords (palefaces) out of Ohio.
If Tecumseh could have had a few lucky breaks, the settlement of America would've 
stopped at the Cuyahoga River, if not the Pa/ line....
The Cuyahoga River _was _ the Indian border for quite some time.

LMNOP - The Goodyear sign ( and the480 bridge area) is an archeaological sight known as "Tuttle Hill". It was home to natives of the"Whittlesey Tradition".
They were a "prehistoric" race, meaning they were here before the white man
entered the area (up to 1600). They inhabited mainly the Cuyahoga River Valley, 
but they ranged from the Rocky to Conneaut. Tuttle Hill was a large encampment,
they found firepits, lodges, trash pits and a small ossuary (cemetary). The community
cemetary was probably located lower in the valley, below the bluffs, since it would have been pretty big. There's another similar site called "Southpark" a little further south, and tons more smaller sites all along the valley to Akron. No one knows what happened the these Woodland Indians, they were gone when the first white explorers entered the area. They were rather advanced, having their own fields of crops, along with whatever they hunted and fished for in the area. 

The valley was later occupied by numerous other tribes in historical times, since the white settlers pushed all the tribes from the east coast and NewYork to the west.

If you ever go up by the Goodyear sign, you can see what a good location it is, the
view over the valley is magnificent.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

By the way, the Tuttle Hill Site was destroyed when 480 was built, and the Southpark site has been destoyed in the last 20 years by a quarrying operation. The Southpark 
site was constantly being dug into by local looters since the 30's. 
Luckily, archeaological digs salvaged as much info as they could before their destruction........


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

I can tell you that Devil's Barn in the valley did exist. It burned down about 15 years ago. There is still a satanic following but it has moved to peoples homes in different areas of Cleveland, namely the wharehouse district. I have known someone who was involved in that back in the mid 80's.


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

fishing pole said:


> It burned down about 15 years ago. I have known someone who was involved in that back in the mid 80's.


REALLY WEIRD   ...so do I and haven't seen him for 6-8 years until TODAY...just about 2 hours ago. Next thing I'm going to hear is that he died 5 years ago.


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

Before I go into the Ceely Rose story,I'll comment on the local NA stuff first.Creekwalker,you nearly made one of my points for me.The "modern" nations say from 1700 on up,were more apt to bury their dead in small cemetaries (not mounds),or they laid them on pyre's.Most of the burial mounds throughout Ohio and neighboring states were the work of prehistoric NA people such as the Adena's and Hopewells,although the Delaware were also known to do this much later in history.Most of these ancient tribes had been long gone thousands of years before Columbus.A really cool side note,a dugout canoe was recently unearthed in northern Ashland County completely intact dating back to the Hopewells.The treaty line spoke of earlier was known as the Greenville Treaty Line,it's in my area too.Some of the bloodiest battles ever fought in Ohio were in the area of the NA village of Greenville.That stood near the town of Perrysville along the Black Fork,kind of between Charles Mill Lake and Pleasant Hill Lake.Probably one of the best known skirmishes around here was the famous Copus Hill Massacre.The tales of Tecumseh are pretty cool too.Had other nations listened to him,and followed him,yes things would've been different,but only for awhile,the inevitable would've still happened.As a consolation,a lot of my relatives still believe what's here first,will be here last.If that's true,hope I'm not one of them,I don't want to get chased around by saber-toothed tigers or wooly mammoths!!! The Ceely Rose story is true,the legends who knows? Ceely lived in what is now known as Malabar Farm State Park,some say the Malabar Inn was her home.Seems she had a crush on the boy next door,even though he wasn't particularly fond of her.When her father learned of this he vowed to never let her see him again.So next morning Ceely laced the cottage cheese the family was eating for breakfast with arsenic-laden rat poison.Her father died almost instantly,her brother died about one week later,but her mother recovered,so Ceely poisoned her again offing her too.At her trial,she was deemed insane and sent to the old Toledo asylum,then finally to the Lima State Hospital,where she died in 1934.The cemetary where the family is buried is called Pleasant Valley Cemetary on Hanley Rd.SW of Mansfield.This place is definitely haunted,to this day many researchers with their high-tach gear see glowing orbs(similar to the ones at OSR),and glowing trails,I have only visited this place a couple of times,and although I haven't seen or heard anything there,I do get a creepy feeling when I'm there,but what cemetary isn't creepy to begin with?


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

I got the creeps


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

Anyone ever go to the old cemetary up in valley vista...creepy


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## liquidsoap (Oct 22, 2005)

yes i got the creeps reading this too.....
been watching this thread, i go snowboarding and hikin in the area and didnt even no this, thanks for posting this all
its been really cool to learn about stuff like this


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## Steel Cranium (Aug 22, 2005)

Wow. That one brings back some memories. We hiked back there at midnight when in boy scouts from the Firelands camp. Very spooky area.


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

Does anyone ever recall the story about the guy from the psychiatric hospital who went by the name of Buckwheat? Maybe Creekcrawler will know.


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

I know of one old,old legend of an escaped patient from a state mental hospital near Mount Vernon in central Ohio.Seems this legend starts at the hospital,and ends up(if it ever does)in Mohican State Forest.If you're aware of the Big Lyons Falls(in the park),and Bridal Falls(private property just outside of the park)tales,then you may have heard this one.It is still without a doubt the creepiest story(or legend)that I've ever heard,partly because different parts of the story are true,and other parts may be true.Before I add anymore,does anyone remember this story?


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

The one I am talking about escape from Hawthorne on sagamore rd and was a cannibal


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## vkutsch (Oct 28, 2005)

Cuyahoga cannibals? Do tell, please!


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

The story of Dr.Crowe and the "melon-heads" from the Chagrin River/Kirtland area has a lot of cannibalism in it.This story is very hard to dismiss as urban legend,a lot of people over the years have seen the melon-heads,including some very respectable people that you wouldn't think would comment on seeing something if they hadn't.I've known about this story for over 40 years,and unlike most "ghost stories",not a lot of new details have been added to spice it up,the story is pretty much the same as it's always been.All I can say is "I" don't fish the Chagrin ANYWHERE around Chillicothe Rd.,or anywhere on the East Branch!!!!!!!!!!!


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

I fish the east Branch all the time. 95% is posted. I fish a section a buddyy owns. It is a little weird down there


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

River Walker, I think the melon heads you are writing about are actually some of the aliens that landed down in Alabama in a UFO and took some people up for examination. You know, they always seem to land there and take people out of the swamp and examine them and they are never the same afterward. They never take doctors lawyers or any professionl people, just swamp people. Anyway, I think that's what the melon heads are, inspectors from a UFO. They think that Steelhead fishermen are an odd lot especially those fishing the Chagrin. So, you'd better be careful for they might take you too. LOL


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

You've really never heard of the "Melon-Heads"? I thought everybody knew the story about them.There's probably a million stories about them on the net somewhere,look under Haunted Ohio,or Haunted Cleveland.There's a lot more sites too I'm sure that would tell their story.I first became aware of it back in the seventies when I worked for the ODNR.We were doing work along the East Branch of the Chagrin,and heard some of the story by a property owner,that swore he had encountered a couple of them at different times.After that day,I dug up all the info I could(no internet then),I was surprised to find that there were a lot of reference's pertaining to the melonheads in books I found at the library.The stories I found went back as far as 1911,so their tale has been around for awhile.


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## lakeslouie (Jan 11, 2006)

I would like to nominate this thread as "most interesting" for the year. Especially after the abrubt turn it took with post#3(treefrog).


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

Maybe we should ask the good folks here if we could get a special forum for ghost stories and legends-lol!


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

folklore forum


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## ddd (May 12, 2005)

This thread did get a little, no a lot derailed. But I am sure enjoying it.


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## ddd (May 12, 2005)

http://www.weirdus.com/stories/OH04.asp


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## flytyer (Jan 3, 2005)

This is some cool stuff especally at 2:00 am and after a few glasses of Johnny Walker!  Keep it going guys , great thread!!


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## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

I still think the Buckwheat dude is the same one from the original Melonhead story.Depending on where ,or from whom you heard the story of the melons,there's a bit of a differing timeline involved.One popular version of the story has it all starting shortly after WWII.Actually,it all came about right at the tail end of WWI,and Dr.Crow wasn't involved in the story until years later.There was a man named Bud Wheaton(why I think the name Buckwheat could be the dude I'm referring to,similar name in a way)he was brought back to the states from the battlefield in Europe all messed up.At that time in history,the Germans were experimenting with different types of nerve gasses,including mustard gas.Seems Bud had gotten gassed up pretty bad,once they got him into the old VA hospital that used to be in the Chardon area years ago,or possibly Kirtland(I know it was along Rt.6 somewhere)he was pretty much brain dead.Somehow somebody thought injecting water into the brain would relieve the pressure on his brain.Evidently,they went a little too far with this research,reportedly his head swelled to more than twice it's original size.Once he awoke from the semi-coma that he had been in,he became more and more unruly and aggressive.They eventually transferred him to a nearby insane asylum,from which he somehow managed to escape.While police were searching for him,three teenaged children came up missing from the area,two boys and one girl.They eventually found both boys,one had his neck severed in a animalistic way,while to everybody's shock and disbelief,the other boy had been partially eaten.The girl was found about a year later(now it gets real interesting)she had been raped by the madman,and had just given birth shortly before she was found.The interesting part-her name was Samantha Crow! She eventually went insane and was put in an asylum,and Bud Wheaton was never found,or even heard from again.Then around 1945,along comes a Dr.Crow who was infamously known for injecting the brains of young children with water that swelled their heads to an enormous size.I don't know about you,but sounds mighty coincidental to me! There's a ton of websites out there that you can get all the more modern melonhead stories from,but I'm guessing you'll have a hard time finding this true version of how it all came about to begin with.Guess I was just fortunate enough to talk with a guy who's father had been a local constable in that area at that time.As I mentioned in an earlier post,when I was with the ODNR,we did some work along the East Branch and the property owner I talked to about the legend,it was his father that was the constable.Do I believe the stories? Yes,I believe both versions strongly.I believe 100% these melonheads are still out there to this day.


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## Big Daddy (Apr 6, 2004)

WOW! I haven't checked this thread in awhile... Melonheads??? Just one more thing to watch for out there!


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## vkutsch (Oct 28, 2005)

I'm surprised no one has made a movie about these guys. Are you guys sure the mellon heads aren't just feral John Cougar fans living in the woods?


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## fishing pole (May 2, 2004)

I've just got off the phone with the local police, FBI and sheriff. they are warning everyone to stay off all rivers. There should be no one on the rivers ever. This is for your own protection. If you do see somone on the rivers warn them of the dangers and have them leave the area immediately.


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