Most Haunted Places in America: Prospect Place

Ohio is the birthplace of many ghost tales, haunted houses and paranormal sightings, but few as notoriously active as Prospect Place in Trinway, Ohio. A century and a half old, the building of Prospect Place comes with nearly as much history as the mansion itself.

George Willison Adams Jr. directed the construction of his glorious Prospect Place shortly after marrying his second wife, Mary, in the mid-1850’s. A marvelously wealthy man – George and his brother Edward invested in a mill directly on the Ohio & Erie Canal right after its construction in the 1830’s – he was already the owner of a marvelous home near Dresdin, Ohio, but wanted to build a “fairy tale castle” for his bride.

The exact reason for leaving the home he had so adored with his first wife, the late Clarissa Adams, is unknown, but many believe the version of the story that states Clarissa began haunting the home, and his new wife Mary could not bear it. Others say Mr. Adams found the house to hold too many memories of his former wife, so he decided to start anew.

George W. Adams ordered two homes built, actually. A modest two-story home near the Adams’ business, and Prospect Place, designed to be as immaculate as one could ever imagine in those days – even a cupola was built atop the highest tower as a crown. The family would travel regularly to the construction site to watch their dream home become a reality. During the summer of 1856, the house was just about ready, until the day before the construction was complete.

That night, Prospect Place went up in a raging inferno! Everything was destroyed. All of the town’s people gathered to form a line of water-filled bucket bearers, but it was far too late to extinguish the blaze. Prospect Place was lost to the flames.

The next day, a drunkard brick-layer, George Blackburn, who had been helping to build the mansion, was arrested after bragging that he’d set the fire the night before to get himself more work. Oddly enough, Blackburn has also laid brick on the prison in which he was incarcerated and escaped his confinement in a matter of days. Fate would catch up to Blackburn, however. His head was split open by an ax during the attempted robbery of a local farmer.

George W. Adams ordered the house rebuilt immediately. The new Prospect Place was built upon the same foundation, virtually identical in appearance to the last. The home featured multiple bedrooms, a large parlor and sitting rooms, an entire wing for the servants, all of the latest amenities. It even had a brand new feature rarely found in those days – indoor plumbing! The most curious feature, however, was a cistern in the basement. It would be years before it was discovered, and even monger before its intentions were realized.

Prospect Place was not just the perfectly happy home of the Adams’ family, it was one of the many stops on the “Underground Railroad”. George Adams was an abolitionist, like his father before him. In fact, George Sr. inherited an enormous number of slaves when his father died, and immediately set them all free. His son had the same mentality, participating in the extremely illegal activity that, if discovered, threatened his entire family and his adored home, Prospect Place. Adams used his mill as a station along the Underground Railroad until the 1850’s, when the Civil War was on the horizon, he moved it to his home. Fortunately, the railroad’s existence in Prospect Place was never discovered until many years later, after the fact.

George W. Adams passed away in 1879, and his estate – worth an estimated $14 million – was split between the family. His eldest daughter, Anna, and her husband William Cox Jr., took over Prospect Place. Cox spent grand amounts of money on renovations to the home and elaborate parties, then one day said he had business in a nearby town and would not be home for dinner. William Cox was never seen again, though there is evidence he may have skipped town and headed to San Francisco. Anna never pursued his whereabouts beyond that point.

Eventually Anna’s son George, grandson of George W. Adams Jr., would inherit Prospect Place. He sold it in 1960 to the Cox Gravel Company (no relation). Over the next 10-20 years, the house saw a lot of deterioration. Leaky roofs had ruined the floors, becoming unsafe to walk on. The home was boarded up and virtually abandoned. Undesirables, likely teenage hoodlums, soiled the walls with graffiti.

Preservationist Dave Longaberger, who lived nearby, took charge to restore the mansion. He began renovations, but died of illness before they were complete. George Adams, great-great-grandson of the original owner, purchased the home from Longaberger, moved in and completed the restoration. During this time, the basement’s cistern and Underground Railroad connections were discovered, along with other relics. He founded the G. W. Adams Education Center at Prospect Place to educate people on the Underground Railroad.

George also hosts tours of Prospect Place, allowing overnight visits to ghost hunters as the mansion is home to numerous spirits and apparitions, and is teeming with paranormal activity.

Visitors of Prospect Place have reported sightings of ghostly shadows and eerie sounds, including disembodied voices, whispers and childlike laughter in empty rooms. It is suspected that the ghost of George W. Adams himself still resides in Prospect Place.

A formally attired male has been spotted on several occasions on the upper floor by the main staircase. Adams loved the home so, perhaps he is simply too attached to leave. However, the apparition is said to have a mustache, while G. W. Adams was known for his long beard – never a mustache. It could be the ghost of a servant, or one of Cox’s many party-goers.

The basement is a focal point of the haunting at Prospect Place; no surprise due to more than a decade of Underground Railroad activity. An African American woman has been reported to linger in the basement areas. All reports have one distinct similarity; that she has some type of head injury.

A local legend tells of a young girl, daughter of a servant who’s family lived nearby, who died after falling from a portico within Prospect Place. It was during winter in the 1860’s, and the ground was too frozen solid to bury her corpse. The story says her body was kept on ice in the basement until spring, and her mother visited her daily until the day of the burial. The sounds of a sobbing woman, and childlike laughter, might be explained by this tale.

One factual event that could have resulted in numerous ghosts at Prospect Place was that of a tragic train wreck in the late 1800’s. It occurred near Dresden one day when a locomotive’s boiler broke down. The train was forced to stop on the track while repairs were made. Another train came barreling down the tracks and slammed into it. Many of the passengers were killed instantly. There was no hospital in the vicinity, so the injured were brought to Prospect Place. The cool basement was converted into a temporary hospital for treatment, but a number passed on before they could be tended. It is said their ghosts still walk the depths of Prospect Place.

The history behind George W. Adams dream home – Prospect Place – is a very long, illustrious one, filled with happiness and laughter, pain and sorrow. It is little wonder the Ohio mansion could be so indelibly haunted by the ghosts of its past.

Related posts:

1. The Haunted Biltmore Estate in Ashevile
2. The Haunts of Destrehan Manor
3. Haunted Place: Chickamauga Battlefield
4. The Haunts Clearfield Job Corps Center
5. WWII Veteran Haunts Depot Antique Mall