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Athens Ohio: Haunted Places, Ohio University, Hauntings, Ghosts And Paranormal Activity
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Published: November 8, 2007
From an early age, people develop an instinctive fear of the dark. People naturally fear the unknown since it can just easily bring the terrifying as the welcome. Sounds made in the dark also seem disembodied, allowing people to assume paranormal activity as the cause. Yet, though a child's instinct remains to fear and abhor the dark and its strange visitors, older people sometimes seek out haunted places for the thrill of encounters with the dead.
Many reputed haunted houses exist, some strictly for recreational spooks and others with legendarily scary histories. However, of the areas associated with the paranormal, few rank as highly as Athens, Ohio.
Athens has gained quite the reputation for ghostly activity. Known all over the world for its spiritual encounters, Athens even received the distinction from the British Psychical Society during the 1800s as one of the most haunted areas on the globe. Mt. Nebo, the highest place in Athens, happens to also have the infamous Koons's Spirit Room. The Koons lived in a house on Mt. Nebo, and at some point during the 1800s, the self-educated Jonathan Koons developed an interest in Spiritualism and felt compelled to build a spirit room. Ever since Koons built the room, it has led to some of the most successful séances in the area. Another famous Athens staple for paranormal activity comes in the form of angelic gravestone. The stone Angel of the Unknown Soldiers is reputed to occasionally shed tears and even flap her wings.
Still, Ohio University far and away holds the distinction for most hauntings in the Athens area. Students report activity of ghosts in many of the buildings of the university, one the oldest higher education institutions in the nation. Stories of hauntings in sorority and fraternity houses have become altogether common. For example, the Alpha Omicron Pi house used to function as part of the Underground Railroad, and a former slave named Nicomedus allegedly still haunts the location of his death during a raid on the home. More recent tales of ghosts' activity include that of a woman who fell from her fourth floor window out of Crawford Hall in the Athens town. Laura, the woman in question, purportedly still makes her presence known since her 1993 death, going so far as to prevent CD and tape players from playing the Bob Marley song sharing her name. Stories past and present make Ohio University one of the most haunted places in Athens, an already supernaturally active town.
Just about everyone fears the dark at some point in life. By the teenage years, though, people appear to overcome that fear. In Athens, though, with all of the ghosts reportedly traipsing around town, college students could easily revert to their childhood fears. For the daring, or perhaps just the skeptical, the not-so-sleepy town of Athens makes for a hotbed of ghostly encounters to test the true mettle of any visitors, and to see who still is afraid of the things that go bump in the night.
Sources:
"Haunted Athens." Athens County Ohio. 2007. Athens County Visitor's Bureau. 8 Nov. 2007. http://www.athensohio.com/whattodo/index.php?page= 131.
"Ohio University." Forgotten Ohio. 8 Nov. 2007. http://www.forgottenoh.com/OU/ou.html.
Taylor, Troy. "Ghosts of Athens: the Most Haunted Town in Ohio." Ghosts of the Prairie. 2003. Ghosts of the Prairie. 8 Nov. 2007. http://www.prairieghosts.com/oh-athen.html.
Athens has gained quite the reputation for ghostly activity. Known all over the world for its spiritual encounters, Athens even received the distinction from the British Psychical Society during the 1800s as one of the most haunted areas on the globe. Mt. Nebo, the highest place in Athens, happens to also have the infamous Koons's Spirit Room. The Koons lived in a house on Mt. Nebo, and at some point during the 1800s, the self-educated Jonathan Koons developed an interest in Spiritualism and felt compelled to build a spirit room. Ever since Koons built the room, it has led to some of the most successful séances in the area. Another famous Athens staple for paranormal activity comes in the form of angelic gravestone. The stone Angel of the Unknown Soldiers is reputed to occasionally shed tears and even flap her wings.
Still, Ohio University far and away holds the distinction for most hauntings in the Athens area. Students report activity of ghosts in many of the buildings of the university, one the oldest higher education institutions in the nation. Stories of hauntings in sorority and fraternity houses have become altogether common. For example, the Alpha Omicron Pi house used to function as part of the Underground Railroad, and a former slave named Nicomedus allegedly still haunts the location of his death during a raid on the home. More recent tales of ghosts' activity include that of a woman who fell from her fourth floor window out of Crawford Hall in the Athens town. Laura, the woman in question, purportedly still makes her presence known since her 1993 death, going so far as to prevent CD and tape players from playing the Bob Marley song sharing her name. Stories past and present make Ohio University one of the most haunted places in Athens, an already supernaturally active town.
Just about everyone fears the dark at some point in life. By the teenage years, though, people appear to overcome that fear. In Athens, though, with all of the ghosts reportedly traipsing around town, college students could easily revert to their childhood fears. For the daring, or perhaps just the skeptical, the not-so-sleepy town of Athens makes for a hotbed of ghostly encounters to test the true mettle of any visitors, and to see who still is afraid of the things that go bump in the night.
Sources:
"Haunted Athens." Athens County Ohio. 2007. Athens County Visitor's Bureau. 8 Nov. 2007. http://www.athensohio.com/whattodo/index.php?page= 131.
"Ohio University." Forgotten Ohio. 8 Nov. 2007. http://www.forgottenoh.com/OU/ou.html.
Taylor, Troy. "Ghosts of Athens: the Most Haunted Town in Ohio." Ghosts of the Prairie. 2003. Ghosts of the Prairie. 8 Nov. 2007. http://www.prairieghosts.com/oh-athen.html.
