The Dark History Of Helltown, Ohio, Lives Up To Its Name

The town’s history can be traced all the way back to 1758. At that point, the area was populated by swathes of Native Americans. The tribespeople who lived here were called the Lenape.

The bloodshed didn’t end there, either. The settlement was also sitting right in the middle of a “tribal war trail,” which was littered with brutal conflicts between the Native Americans and the colonials.

After the fighting ended the area was eventually repopulated in 1806. At this point, the locale was given a new name. No, the new citizens didn’t go with Helltown! That moniker came much later.

On a broader note, no other town in Ohio’s Summit County could match Boston’s age. So you certainly couldn’t accuse the place of lacking history. But everything changed in 1974.

So what had actually happened here? Why was the town forcibly abandoned? Those questions have generated some truly bizarre theories in the years since, each more terrifying than the last.

To kick things off, let’s focus on one of the centerpieces of Helltown. This was an eye-catching Presbyterian church known as “The Mother of Sorrows.” Now, from the outside anyway, it didn’t really seem all that scary.

Rumors have suggested that the church was constructed by a group of Satanists living in Helltown prior to the evacuation. That sounds pretty out there, of course, but we are dealing with conspiracy theories here...

In case you weren’t aware, upside-down crosses have developed a reputation that ties them into the occult. As for the church’s interior, many horrific tales have emerged about what the Satanists allegedly got up to.

On top of that, the interior aesthetic was said to be dripping in “occult imagery,” too. So is that why the town had been evacuated back in the ’70s? To escape the murderous clutches of a widespread cult?

The upside-down crosses were a stylistic choice that fits in with the church’s Gothic-revival aesthetic. As for all the scary imagery inside, it’s reported that trespassers were responsible following the evacuation. 

In fact, that brings us neatly onto the abandoned school bus. Much like the church, this vehicle developed a terrifying reputation in Helltown over the years, fueled by theories of murder and the supernatural.

It’s said that all the kids who were riding on that bus were one day killed by a crazed murderer. To add to the chilling tale, the culprit was rumored to still be lurking around Helltown after everyone had left.

The rumors get even creepier, too. If you braved getting close to the bus and looked through its windows, it was claimed that you’d spot the ghostly spirits of the children still sitting inside. Freaky stuff, right?

How does that explain the claimed ghosts, then? Why were spirits said to be lurking in the abandoned space? In truth, there was a presence inside the bus following Helltown’s evacuation. But it wasn’t supernatural.

Helltown’s abandoned buildings and vehicles weren’t the only things to gain notoriety, either. There was another part of the area that continued to spook folks for decades. We’re referring to the ominously named “End of the World” road.

The stretch of road had been part of Helltown since the settlers had made it their home back in the early 19th century. It had been surrounded by trees and greenery.

Now, perhaps unsurprisingly, those recorded tales went on to feed Helltown’s growing list of rumors after it had been abandoned. Again, some reckoned that Satanists were involved — but we kind of expect that by now.

Simply put, the road itself was always hazardous. As it stretched deeper into the woods, the path seemingly disappeared when looking from a distance. But as Obi-Wan Kenobi once said, this was only true "from a certain point of view."

That wasn’t the only issue with the road. At a certain point, it featured the sharpest of turns, which was tough enough to deal with during the day. But at night? With very little available light? Oh boy.

In perhaps the craziest of the Helltown theories, it was rumored that the citizens had been forced to leave due to a horrifying mishap. A toxic chemical had supposedly spilled in the area.

A word of warning to anyone with ophidiophobia: it gets creepier. According to urban legend, the snake stayed around Helltown after the evacuation took place. It was later dubbed the “Peninsula Python.”

Well, in a chilling twist, harmful chemicals were actually being thrown away close to Helltown, at the Krejci Dump. The discovery was made in 1985 when workers started to get sick as well as finding blemishes on their skin.

If it wasn’t mutant monsters or deadly Satanic cults then, what was the actual cause for Helltown’s sudden abandonment? Surely there’s a logical explanation here?

During that period, America was dealing with a rampant concern that only seemed to get worse with time. The nation’s forests and woodlands were — and still are — vanishing at an alarming rate. 

Ford decided to sign off on a piece of legislation that enabled the National Park Service to really flex its muscles. The government agency now had the power to seize any plot of land around the country to save the remaining forests.

Thanks to the town’s woodland surroundings, the National Park Service believed that it was the perfect candidate to form part of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. So the agency started to purchase all of the buildings in Boston.

Unsurprisingly, the locals were both heartbroken and furious. One troubled former resident even went so far as to write on the side of a building “Now we know how the Indians felt.”

But what happened next made the whole thing even worse. Quite simply, the National Park Service couldn’t keep up with its schedule. This meant that Boston was basically left abandoned.

At that stage, Boston was flattened. Most of the properties and areas that fed into the Helltown urban legends were no more, as the abandoned land was joined with Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

While Helltown's reputation—and name—precede it, some ghost towns are actually desperately trying to sell themselves to prospective visitors. It sounds almost too good to be true: a beautiful mountain town littered with rustic cabins has offered people the chance to live there without paying a dime.

A small town sits tucked away in the mountains of Granite County, maybe 20 miles east of Missoula, Montana. Accessed by 11 miles of dirt track, Garnet enjoys a picturesque location surrounded by forest — 6,000 feet up from sea level. Yet nobody lives there.

Kelley’s Saloon, a bar that once hummed with laughter and music, sits quietly gathering dust, while the Wells Hotel still stands but hasn’t seen a guest for many years. And although you can still pay a visit to Davey’s Store, you might be waiting a while for service.

Montana’s Garnet Mountains first started attracting miners in the 19th century. Moving northwards from spent mines in places such as Colorado and California, the prospective workers were drawn to the area by the presence of gold-carrying quartz veins running through the hills.

And not long after the town was founded, local miner Sam Ritchey struck gold. What’s more, by January 1898 business was booming – and Garnet was home to almost 1,000 folks seeking their fortunes.

But as the 20th century rolled around, things began to change. Gold was becoming harder and harder to come by, and many mines were leased out. Around 1905, many of the mines had been deserted entirely, and as few as 150 people were left living in the town.

Cabins were left empty of their inhabitants — but with all their furniture left intact inside, as if the owners had stepped out on an errand one day and never returned. Only Davey’s Store remained open, catering to an ever-dwindling number of customers.

Interestingly, though, the town experienced a brief resurgence in 1934 when the government doubled the price of gold. Another generation of would-be miners took over the empty cabins of Garnet, hoping to make their fortunes in the hills.

Still, thanks to the work of the Garnet Preservation Association, this fascinating slice of American history has been maintained for future generations to enjoy. The non-profit has managed to keep a number of the buildings intact, too, including the saloon, the hotel, and the general store.

You see, a team of volunteers moves into the ghost town each year to maintain and look after the tourists who arrive each day. In return, these volunteers may well get the opportunity to live in one of the historic cabins free of charge and even have a food allowance provided. But is it too good to be true?

According to historian Ellen Baumler, various people have reported ghostly experiences in the town, including witnessing a mysterious woman in a window of the hotel. She also claims that visitors have seen transparent figures walking the streets, not to mention footprints that enter but do not leave doorways.

Although all volunteer positions are currently filled, those wanting to experience a real ghost town can hire a cabin during the winter months. This gives visitors a unique opportunity to experience a ghost town in all its spooky glory.