Moonville Tunnel is some of the few remains of the mining community that used to be there. Now, the railroad tracks are gone, but it is said the ghosts of those who died along the tracks are still there, warning everyone for the oncoming train.
Tucked deep within the dense, shadowy expanse of Zaleski State Forest lies Moonville, an abandoned railroad community whose eerie tales and spectral residents have remained, even though the living moved away.
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While the town itself is long gone with only foundations of a few buildings, a cemetery as well as the railroad tunnel where the ghost stories come from. Its haunted legacy endures, centered around the infamous Moonville Tunnel—a foreboding passageway that continues to stir the imaginations of those who dare to visit.
The Birth and Death of Moonville
Founded in the mid-19th century, Moonville was a modest mining community that sprang to life thanks to the railroad cutting through the rugged landscape. Its location, remote and isolated, made it an ideal spot for transporting coal and clay, but a dangerous one for the people who lived there. A small cluster of homes, a general store, a post office, and a cemetery where the heart of this tiny settlement of a few families.
However, Moonville was destined for an early grave. By the late 1940s, with the decline of the mining industry and the advent of more accessible transport routes, the town’s population dwindled. Eventually, the last remnants of the community faded into obscurity, leaving behind only whispers of its haunted past and the enduring structure of the Moonville Tunnel.
The Moonville Tunnel: A Portal to the Past
Today, the Moonville Tunnel stands as one of the few physical reminders of the town’s existence. The Moonville tunnel was also used as a footpath of the miners and their family walking along the tracks. This together with trains coming from both east and west on a single track caused a lot of deaths over the years, some say at least 27 deaths around the station and the tracks.
The tracks that once carried freight trains through this lonely stretch of forest have been removed, leaving a rugged path that winds through the trees, leading curious adventurers to the tunnel’s yawning mouth. Graffiti marks its ancient walls, and the tunnel’s darkness beckons with the promise of the unknown.
But it’s not just the tunnel’s history that draws visitors—it’s the ghosts that reportedly haunt its shadowy depths.
The Ghosts of Moonville Tunnel
Since the late 1800s, stories of ghostly encounters in and around the Moonville Tunnel have been passed down through generations. The most famous of these spectral sightings is that of the Lantern Man. Described as a towering figure, close to eight feet tall, with a long white beard and glowing eyes, the Lantern Man is said to appear from the darkness swinging a luminous lantern. Clad in dirty overalls and a miner’s hat, he releases a terrifying scream that echoes through the tunnel, sending chills down the spines of those who hear it.
Legend has it that the Lantern Man was a brakeman who met a gruesome end beneath the wheels of a train. He fell asleep around 1859 according to some sources at work. Some say he had been drinking and just laid down to sleep on the tracks. It was a stormy night and he woke up when the sound of the train left the depot. Stumbling to the tracks, he fell and died.
There is a newspaper article from the McArthur Democrat from MArch 31 in 1959. It says: “A brakesman on the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad fell from the cars near Cincinnati Furnace, on last Tuesday March 29, 1859 and was fatally injured, when the wheels passing over and grinding to a shapeless mass the greater part of one of his legs. He was taken on the train to Hamden and Doctors Wolf and Rannells sent for to perform amputation, but the prostration of the vital energies was too great to attempt it. The man is probably dead ere this. The accident resulted from a too free use of liquor.”
His ghost now wanders the tracks, eternally searching for the lantern he lost in life, warning trespassers of impending doom as he tries to catch his train.
The Ghost from the Trainwrecks
There is also a story about the man being an engineer called Frank Lawhead, or sometimes called Theodore, who was driving his train along the tracks around 1880. The dispatch forgot to tell him about an oncoming train and they collided. Both he and a fireman onboard were killed.
“Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 5. – Two freight trains ran together on the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad, near Moonville, on the eastern end of the road, yesterday. Engineer Frank Lawhead and Fireman Charles Krick were killed and six of the crew wounded, none fatally. The cause of the collision is said to have been the failure of the train dispatcher to notify the east-bound train of an order to the west-bound train to run on its time.”
– Chicago Tribune – Saturday, November 6th, 1880
His ghost is now haunting the tracks and the tunnel, and was said to be spotted by other engineers traveling the route, said to hold his lantern in his hand, still trying to stop the trains. These sightings are said to have happened all the way up to the 1980s until the railroad came to an end and the tracks were removed.
The Lavender Lady
Another haunting figure is the Lavender Lady, an elderly woman whose presence is often accompanied by the faint scent of lavender. Sometimes she is called Mary Shea. According to local lore, she was gathering lavender near the tracks when she was tragically struck by a train. Others say that she was looking for her fiance who worked on the rail line when she was struck by the train and died.
When this is said to have happened is rarely mentioned, some citing it around 1905. Visitors to the tunnel have reported seeing her ghostly figure, dressed in old-fashioned clothing, gliding silently through the mist, smelling of lavender.
The Bully on the Tunnel
There is also the story of the ghost of Baldie Keeton being told. He was a resident of Moonville they say and a mean drunk who liked to fight, often bear hugging his opponent. One day he was kicked out from the Saloon and was found dead on the tracks, many believing it was murder. The legend says he throws pebbles from above the tunnel at those visiting, staring at you.
It seems that this legend is a more recent one and not as often told as the other ones. The story of The Bully is often told by mothers to their children, telling them not to stay out after dark as The Bully would get them.
Beyond these apparitions, there are tales of formless spirits—shadows that flicker just beyond the range of vision—and an unseen entity that hurls pebbles at those brave enough to enter the tunnel. These playful yet unsettling encounters leave visitors questioning the reality of what they’ve experienced.
A Pilgrimage to the Paranormal
Despite its chilling reputation, Moonville has become a popular destination for ghost hunters and those intrigued by the paranormal. The hike along Raccoon Creek to the tunnel offers a serene, if eerie, journey through nature, where the line between the living and the dead seems to blur.
In recent years, local efforts have worked to preserve the history and mystique of Moonville. Guided tours, ghost walks, and Halloween events invite the curious to explore the tunnel and surrounding areas, offering a glimpse into the town’s haunted legacy..
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References:
Moonville Tunnel Rail Trail | History and Ghost Stories | Directions |
