Ghosts of Kings Island

For those of you who didn't grow up in the Cincinnati area like me, Kings Island is a local amusement park in our area. Locals to the area all know the ghost stories of the park, but may not know where those stories originate. Let's get into some background:

Kings Island International Street Fountain
Photo Credit: Spectrum News 1/Casey Weldon

DOG STREET CEMETERY AND MISSOURI JANE

The area around King Island is known as Kings Mills, after the King family who founded the Kings Mills Powder Company. The King family settled the area and built schools, stores, and homes for their employees and families. The Peters Cartridge Factory was then built in the area and the settlement expanded. When the Taft Company bought the land in 1969, ownership of an old family cemetery that dates back to 1891 transferred to them along with the rest of the land. The old cemetery still sits on the property near the entrance gates.

Dog Street Cemetery, Kings Island Entrance
Photo Credit: Unknown

Legend holds that a grave was accidentally paved over to create the parking lot, disrupting the rest of the spirit of a little girl named "Missouri Jane." Cemetery records suggest that the accident was a possibility, a approximately 17 grave stones have gone missing since 1980. In addition, at some point, Missouri Jane's headstone was lying on the ground in the cemetery, then propped up against another stone, so there is no guarantee that its current placement back in the ground is accurate. I have no knowledge of any photos or drawings from 1846 showing the original location of the gravestones. I

n addition, in the 1970s, the cemetery was wildly overgrown and difficult to locate when the workers were ready to begin excavating for the parking lot. In the end, once the cemetery was located, it was cleaned up and the decision was made to build the parking lot around it. 

Jane is also known as "the girl in the blue dress," and sightings have been reported in the International Restaurant, near Whitewater Canyon, and most famously, running around the parking lot chasing cars and running in front of drivers.

Missouri Jane's Grave
Photo Credit: Unknown

I've also heard the girl in the blue dress be called "Sarah," but I can't find any evidence as to where that name originated. Missouri Jane is most likely accurate, as her headstone indicates she certainly lived and died in the area.

Ghost Hunters did an episode dedicated to the ghosts of Kings Island (Season 8, Episode 1 if you're interested), and got EVP of a child, and they believe they have communicated with Missouri Jane.

Most of the stories of sightings come from park staff, as she is most frequently seen after the park is closed.

TOWER JOHNNY

The stories about what happened to Tower Johnny vary depending on who's telling them. The basics? John Wesley Harter of Delaware, Ohio was a senior in high school when he attended Grad Night at Kings Island with his friends on May 13, 1983. By all accounts he was a good young man with a bright future and plans to attend college in the fall. 

Where Johnny is Believed to Have Fallen From
Photo Credit: Warren County Sherriff's Office 05-14-1983

That evening Johnny was intoxicated and arguing with his girlfriend, and according to his friends, not having a very good time. Friends reported that after they all rode the Racer together, Johnny disappeared from the group and wasn't seen again.

Official reports claim that after he left his friends, they believe he entered a restricted area, climbed up the Eiffel Tower, was stuck by the elevator's counterweight, and fell about 200 feet, where he landed on top of the north elevator car and died instantly from the impact. Click here for an excellent story with all the details and facts about the accident.

Personally, I do still have questions about what happened the night John Harter died. While yes, he was definitely intoxicated, and yes, people do make out-of-character choices when they have been drinking, the investigation left some unanswered questions. 

First, how did his wallet end up in the lost and found? His social security card and one of his graduation photos, which were most certainly in his wallet, were both found at the site of the accident. Second, people he lived with and his own brother stated to officials investigating the incident very clearly that John was not the type of person to do something like climbing the tower without an audience. 

This leads to my theory about the death: I believe that there could have been a witness to what happened to John Harter that night, and though it could very well have been an accident, it could also have been something more. However that person came into possession of the wallet, they didn't want to be implicated in what happened and turned the wallet in to lost and found before John's identity was discovered. Maybe at some point I'll delve into true crime and see if there's anything to this other than just the overactive imagination of a paranormal investigator.

Since John's death, he's become known around the park as "Tower Johnny." He's been reported to make moaning sounds as the elevator goes up and down the tower, randomly opens and closes the doors of the elevator cars, and has been known to mess around with the elevators after hours. He's also been said to have been spotted along the track and in the tunnel of The Beast, as well as messing with sensors and tipping over trash cans.

Why the Beast? Because the elevator cables that were in the Eiffel Tower at the time were stored in the woods back there. Why is Johnny sticking around? Maybe because the official story of his death is wrong, and he wants his true story to be told.

RACER BOY

The Racer
Photo Credit: Kings Island Website

Usually appearing just before sunset or after dark as the figure of a little boy walking along the Racer tracks dressed in white, Racer Boy is believed to be attached to some of the Racer cars that originally belonged to the Shooting Star at Coney Island. The story says that the little boy was found dead under the tracks after falling from the ride.

There is definitely record that a William Bomkamp died in 1966 on the Shooting Star ride. He left the ride station in the last car of the train, and when it returned he was not there and the lap bar was still closed. He was found under the tracks of the Shooting Star. 

The problem? William Bomkamp was an 18 year old student at the University of Cincinnati, not a small boy. The likeliest possibility is that this story is simply folklore.

The Eiffel Tower During Halloween Haunt
Photo Credit: Limitless Park

So...is the park haunted? I've been there on many occasions over the years. I've personally never witnessed anything paranormal or unexplainable at the park. 

The majority of the stories come from people who work at the park and often there is no one else around who witnessed what happened or can corroborate the story. I've never seen any photo documentation claiming to be showing anything supernatural happening at Kings Island. 

However... I can't say anything about the experiences of others when I wasn't a witness either. I've never seen unexplained things at the park, but I have seen unexplained things. 

Whether the park is haunted or not remains to be discovered for certain, but it's one of the more fun places to go looking for ghosts!

Do you have any information or personal experiences to share about this entry? Let us know in the comments, and your contribution could be included in a future update to this entry!

Castle Warden, Ripley's Original Odditorium

*Originally published May 1, 2021 as a promotional piece. Some information may be missing

There are 33 Ripley's Believe It or Not! museums across North America, but did you know that none of them were opened during Robert Ripley's lifetime? Or that the original and first odditorium is located in St. Augustine, Florida? My first visit to a Ripley's Odditorium was during my most recent trip to the Oldest City, and it piqued my curiosity about the history of the building and of Ripley himself.

Castle Warden, shown above, was built in 1887 by William G. Warden of Philadelphia as a winter home. It's an imposing four stories of poured concrete Moorish revival architecture. Warden himself was partners with Henry Flagler and John D. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Company, the president of the St. Augustine Gas & Electric Light Company, and the financial director of the St. Augustine Improvement Company. Because of Warden's wealth and influence, the castle home was a center of winter social events during his life and ownership.

The castle remained in the Warden family until 1941 until it was purchased by Norman Baskin and his wife Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of "The Yearling" and "Cross Creek." The couple lived on the top floor of the castle for a time, and renovated the lower floors into a posh hotel. It was during this time that Robert Ripley stayed at the hotel several times, repeatedly attempting to buy the hotel. He was unsuccessful in his endeavors before he died in 1949, but his estate was able to purchase Castle Warden in 1950, and on December 25, the first and original Ripley's Believe it or Not! Odditorium opened its doors.

Robert Ripley was born in Santa Rosa, California around 1890. He dropped out of school to support his family when his father died, and at age 16 he was drawing sports cartoons for San Francisco newspapers. In 1913, he moved to New York and continued his career as a sports cartoonist, and in 1918 he showcased some sports oddities in his first Believe It or Not! cartoon. 

His cartoons grew in popularity, and by 1923, his Believe It or Not! series moved to the New York Post. In 1929, his feature was picked up by King Features Syndicate, and Believe It or Not! began appearing in more than 300 newspapers across the United States.

Ripley claimed to have visited 198 countries in his lifetime. He showcased "true life" oddities from his travels around the world in his books of sketches, a series of Believe It or Not! short films, radio programs, and travelling carnival-type exhibits that he called "Odditoriums."

The Castle Warden Odditorium is a must-see, and I'm ashamed to say that I visited St. Augustine a number of times before making it a stop on our last trip. You won't be disappointed. Starting with the grounds outside the castle, there are a number of things to check out which don't require the price of admission, which include: Massacre Anchor, which was pulled from Matanzas Bay; a section of tree that when it was cut down, was carved into an apartment, where someone actually lived (you can walk inside); a giant bronco made out of car bumpers; and Michaelangelo's "David," one of the only two copies in the world carved to the exact specifications of the original.

The museum itself houses three stories of curious and unusual exhibits from around the world, including Robert Ripley's personal collection. You'll find unusual artwork crafted from unlikely materials, like jelly beans, toasted bread, and even beetles; fortune telling machines including Zoltar, like the one from "Big" with Tom Hanks; shrunken heads; two-headed animals; torture devices; P.T. Barnum's 1842 hoax, the Feejee Mermaid; and so much more than I could begin to mention here. On my last visit there was a very large, very real, very alive tarantula (in an enclosed container, of course) which I would be extremely happy never to see again, although my stepson seemed significantly less bothered by its presence.

As if all this weren't enough, Castle Warden also has its own ghost story, like so many other places in the Oldest City. On April 23, 1944, two women died in a fire on the the 3rd and 4th floors. As the story goes, the fire started on the 3rd floor due to a lit cigarette. The occupant in Room 17 called for a bellboy who emptied a fire extinguisher and went to find another. By the time he returned, the flames were coming from under the door and had spread to the hallway and up to the 4th floor. The women were both killed, but their bodies were untouched by the flames as a result of their using wet towels to protect themselves from the fumes. The woman in Room 17 was found in her bathtub, and the woman in the 4th floor penthouse was found on the floor of her bathroom. The women are said to haunt the castle.

In addition to regular museum tours, Ripley's also runs the Red Train Tour with stops all over St. Augustine, as well as a Haunted Castle Investigation experience. All of this information as well as booking options are available on their website.

Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium

19 San Marco Avenue

St. Augustine, FL 32084

904-824-1606

Do you have any information or personal experiences to share about this entry? Let us know in the comments, and your contribution could be included in a future update to this entry!

The Old City Gate, a Reminder of St. Augustine's Violent Past

*Originally published May 5, 2021 as a promotional piece. Some information may be missing.

Located at the north end of St. George Street, the Old City Gate still stands, a remnant of the past, a reminder of the turbulence the city has faced in the past. At one time, the gate was the only entrance into the city.

In 1702, British Governor James Moore and his English forces attacked the city. The residents had advance notice and took refuge inside Castillo de San Marcos for safety. The British were unable to breach the walls of the fort, and both sides sent for reinforcements. The Spanish reinforcements from Havana arrived first, and Governor Moore was forced to retreat. However, before he left, he and his forces pillaged the city and burned it to the ground.

Though the residents had survived the siege in the fort, and the city had been attacked in the past, the residents of St. Augustine saw this attack as "the straw that broke the camel's back." In 1704 construction was begun on the Cubo Line, an earthen and wood wall that ran from the Castillo to the San Sebastian River and back to the city. 

An additional wall was erected on the west side of the city, the Rosario Line. The two walls enclosed the city, and it was never devastated by an attack again.

Because the wall was made primarily of earth, it deteriorated over time. The wall was regularly rebuilt and repaired over more than a century. At the time of the last reconstruction, in 1808, the city gate was built of coquina, and it remains today.

In addition to their historic value, there is, of course, a ghost story tied to the gate, as with many locations around the city. St. Augustine had its bouts with yellow fever, and although the gate and the walls could keep out trespassers and enemy forces, they couldn't repel disease. 

In the 1800s, if you or your family was believed to have yellow fever, your home and possessions were burned in an attempt to prevent the spread. "Little Elizabeth" died of yellow fever in 1821. Her body went unclaimed, possibly because her family feared losing their home and possessions, and she was found by officials just outside the city gate. She was one of hundreds of people who fell victim to the sickness who were buried in the Huguenot Cemetery across the street from the gate. People claim to have seen Little Elizabeth playing here outside the city gate in her lacy white dress.

Old City Gate

11 Orange Street

St. Augustine, FL  32084

Do you have any information or personal experiences to share about this entry? Let us know in the comments, and your contribution could be included in a future update to this entry!