Ghostly Apparitions in Ohio

Maumee Bay Brewing Company and Restaurant is located in downtown Toledo, Ohio near the Maumee River. It is located in a multi-floored 1859 brick building which originally housed the former hotel, The Oliver House. It is the oldest building in downtown Toledo. The original lobby has 30 foot high ceilings and large windows it is now a private dining room. The in-house brewery is located on the 2nd floor where the hotel’s ballroom used to be. They produce ales, lagers and specialty brews in the German tradition of Reinheitsgebot. The first floor has several dining rooms and the basement houses another part of the Brewery, another pub, The Mutz and a pool room.

The Oliver House Hotel was built by a wealthy sea captain William Oliver. The hotel was aimed at a higher class clientele and offered first class accommodations. After 40 years the building was sold and became a rooming house in 1900. Afterwards throughout its 20th century existence it housed many different businesses. During the 1980s it was even used as a studio for bands. In the early 1990s the building was converted into apartment lofts, meeting rooms, restaurants, pubs and Maumee Bay Brewing Company located on the 2nd floor and in the basement.

Unfortunately the land the original hotel was built upon used to be an Indian burial ground. An addition which was added in 1965 was built on top of the bones of an Indian warrior chief whose grave was mistakenly dug up by construction workers. The bones were simply reburied. During renovations when the addition was torn down the bones were dug up again and the local Indian authorities did a sage and tobacco ceremony to calm the spirit.

During the Spanish American War wounded soldiers were brought by train and either recuperated or died at Oliver House in the 2nd floor rooms which were used as a hospital and the basement may have been a makeshift morgue.

One entity here is known as the Captain. He is described as a jovial spirit. A psychic who has an office in the building didn’t like the fact that he had to go down to the basement to use the bathroom. One day he encountered a transparent, stocky entity – the Captain who was pleasantly surprised that the psychic could see him and afterward the psychic always felt a protecting presence when he went down to the basement.

The Captain also enjoys the old lobby area which is now a dining room and likes to check out the staff and guests here. Doors open and close by themselves and people get chills and feel cold spots here. There is a feeling of having an unseen presence watching you. The Captain dressed in his full uniform also likes to watch a game of pool being played in the basement pool room.

An entity of a lady dressed in a long, green dress has been seen coming down the stairs from the 2nd floor and foot steps of an unseen male presence have been heard. A brick layer who worked on this building during the 1900s fixed up an apartment for himself to stay in during renovations. Going up the various staircases to his room one evening he heard a man’s heavy footsteps following him and they stopped when he did and continued when he started moving again. The worker quickly rushed to his apartment and shut himself in.

Psychic Chris Woodward felt a lot of uneasy, unhappy energy here which could come from disgruntled Indian spirits, soldiers or the flop house experiences. And so the living have found a way to live with the spirits around them especially the good Captain.

The Wood County Historical Center and Museum with 50 acres of park facilities is located on the outskirts of Bowling Green, Ohio.

In the 19th century the poor, the handicapped, the orphans, the unwed mothers, the homeless, the infirm and the insane all needed a place where they could go and where they would be taken care of. So the Wood County Infirmary was established and offered their services from 1868 until 1971. They gave people a sense of belonging, of team work and community, as the inmates worked together to run the 200 acre farm and grounds.

On both the first and second floors of the main building, there are 30 rooms of exhibits. The attic and basements are shut to the public. On the 1st floor, in all 3 wings, the rooms are used for showing the history of Wood County. The west wing had housed the living quarters of the staff and the Superintendent and his family. There had been dining rooms for men and women and a kitchen on the first floor.

The nurses station was located in an area between the women’s dining room and the east wing. The Lunatic House is a two story brick Victorian structure made up of two hallways one on each floor with rooms off the hallways. Men who wound up here were deemed insane by a court of law in a trail. The patient’s room was small and had bars on the windows. There was a shower room where the staff hosed them down. When people died here they were put in a simple, pine box and buried in the infirmary’s graveyard Sunset Acres. Each plot had its own number no names were put on the markers.

After the place was shut down the Lunatic House was used as a storage area. The Main Infirmary Building was renovated. In the Main Infirmary Buildings Attics and Basements many people with permanent disabilities were never able to leave and died here. Eight people are known to have died from the turn of the century flu epidemic. A pharmacist Dorsey Sergent who worked in the rest home from 1965 - 1971 tells the following story.

A nursing home resident, an elderly woman who lived in the room across from the top of the stairs, stood up to another female resident, a transfer from a mental institution who was a bully. The bully threw the woman down the staircase resulting in this woman’s death. However it was said to be an accident. In the Sunset Acres Cemetery the list of names that went with the numbers of the grave markers got lost and a few years ago utility workers unearthed some unmarked graves and got the bones of different people mixed together and if the spirits don’t like something then this is the worst that could happen.

Psychic investigations have been made at Wood County. On the outside grounds a mysterious, spooky black form of a man has been seen. The entity is dressed in a cape and has appeared striding up the walkway disappearing right before reaching the front door. A gentle entity known as Bert physically and mentally handicapped with a goofy smile is seen tottering about pulling his little red wagon. His one leg is much shorter than the other. This spirit also likes to sing hymns. His unseen presence has also brushed past the living. In Sunset Acres Cemetery orbs and EVP’s (Electronic Voice Phenomena) have been recorded and psychic Michael Colson managed to record a disembodied voice and orbs coming out of graves and flying about. Other have seen apparitions in the graveyard.

In the Main Infirmary Building a friendly elderly woman called Agnes has been seen wearing a white nightgown and night cap. She appears and smiles at everyone. It is thought that this was the woman who was thrown down the stairs. Pharmacist Dorsey Sergent while walking with a fellow worker from the west wing to the central hall saw a real-looking white gowned elderly woman who suddenly appeared in the hallway by the resident’s kitchen. She smiled and disappeared. In the late 1980s a worker varnishing the floor on the 2nd floor of the west wing felt as though someone was watching him. He looked up and saw the same woman. After finishing work he returned the next day and found a set of small footprints in the middle of the newly varnished floor.

When the place was a nursing home the nurse’s station on the first floor was located right next to the former women’s dining room. When no one was in the old dining room nurses would hear dishes and pans rattle by themselves. Because of uncomfortable feelings they would not go in there alone. Psychic Chris Woodyard walking through the dining room was wacked in the back of the neck by a burst of spiritual energy and saw two women fighting. In the Hallway Beyond the Alumni Room (where pictures of classes of Weston High are found) psychic Chris Woodyard found it to be ice cold. She saw an old woman appear who was tied into a wheel chair.

A temporary display was located in one of the hospital rooms. Paranormal investigators Michelle and Michael Colson led two investigations with interesting results. A female entity attached to the mausoleum glass was upset that her glass was in the display away from her grave site. She made herself known with cold spots and made the 6 inch area around the glass itself have a warm, numbing effect on hands. Her EVP’s explained how she felt. An entity of a child tugged at this female entity and was not very happy. Many orbs flying about the room were recorded on DVD and can be viewed.

On the second floor of the Wood County Infirmary cold spots can be felt. There is a feeling of being watched. Staff members have heard voices of women talking coming from the old sitting room. Psychic Chris Woodward saw a woman looking sadly out of the window in this room.

The psychic was given a private tour through the attics. At one time the West Wing Attic was a women’s dorm reserved for noisy, disagreeable women. Now only used for storage. A curator working here among tall row of shelves was coming down a three step ladder and missteped off the ladder. Losing her balance she fell backwards and was caught by unseen hands which put her back on the step. A dark KKK robe stored in a closet gave off some negative energy and a vision came to Chris. She heard a man in the closet crying and saying, "Don’t hurt me!" In the Center Attic which is a huge, ballroom-like area she saw the entity of a retarded man in a closet.

In the Lunatic House while standing on the first floor visitors have heard heavy footsteps walking back and forth across the 2nd floor above them. Psychic Chris Woodward had terrifying experiences here. She became tied into the experiences of the residents here including a huge man in psychotic fit, a woman in a confining outfit to keep her from hurting herself and finally her seeing life through the eyes of a resident.

Michelle and Michael Colson’s two investigations here uncovered some real evidence of multiple haunting. Many orbs were caught on film flying around both floors. There was the face of a man looking rather manic which appeared in the window pane at the end of the hall on the second floor in a picture that was taken. There was gotten on film a dark shadowy figure slipping out of one of the rooms. A single bolt of lightning in the middle of the second floor was caught on film. Michelle got contact with a powerful spirit Daniel and its knocking yes and no was recorded, as well as its EVP’s when it was talking to her and the sound of it throwing something was recorded.

So take a walk on the wild side and meet some really interesting spirits. They’ll be waiting for you.