5 Most Haunted Places in Cincinnati

October 11, 2018 3 Comments

Image courtesy of Haunted Cincinnati Tours

When people think of haunted cities, Cincinnati doesn’t usually come to mind, at least not as much as, say, New Orleans, Savannah, or Gettysburg. However, things go bump in the night (and sometimes the day) all over the Tristate, particularly at the following locations.

Kings Island
Long before Kings Island started its annual Haunt event, spirits were reported roaming the park. The most notable ghost is that of Missouri Jane Galeener. She was just over 5-years-old when she passed away on what is now park property. She’s buried in the cemetery by the park’s new entrance near Great Wolf Lodge.

As the story goes, she drowned in a pond near the area that today is the White Water Canyon ride. It is said that her family lived in the house that is now surrounded by Fort Coney near Soak City. Many history buffs dispute this, though, claiming the house was likely built long after Jane’s parents left the area for Illinois.  

In any case, many have reported seeing Jane, usually wearing a blue dress, in that area of the park.

Music Hall
Build on a pauper’s cemetery and see what happens. Such is the case with Music Hall. in the 1870s, at the behest of Reuben Springer, a wealthy Cincinnati resident and patron of the arts, a hall to replace the rickety old Exposition Hall was planned. He offered to pony up $125,000 if the community could raise the same amount. The residents fell short, and Springe made up the difference, paving the way for construction to begin of Music Hall to begin in 1876.

Part of the property had previously been used by the nearby hospital as a cemetery for indigent people. The city then began using it as a pauper’s cemetery for about 20 years before turning the land into a park. By the time Music Hall acquired the land, the grave markers were long gone, and the building was built on top of the old cemetery. As 2016, bones, quite a few of them, were still being unearthed during renovations.

The building today is considered to be one of the most haunted in America.


Eden Park
As our friend Dan Smith of Haunted Cincinnati Tours told us on Episode 5 of The Cincy Shirts Podcast, the Eden Park gazebo is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Imogene Remus, the wife of famed bootlegger George Remus.

In 1925, George wound up in the pokey at which point his wife Imogene started an affair with a federal agent.  Imogene and her paramour essentially took George’s money. By the time he got out of prison, she had filed for divorce. Heading for a court appearance to finalize the proceedings, he had his diver chase her cab into Eden Park, where it crashed. She jumped out, and he fatally shot her.

Claiming insanity, and acting as his own counsel, he was acquitted. Imogene, or an apparition bearing her resemblance, has been spotted in around the gazebo ever since.

The ghost of Imogene Remus? (Courtesy of Haunted Cincinnati Tours) 

Sedamsville Rectory
West of downtown along the Ohio River sits one of Cincinnati’s smallest neighborhoods, Sedamsville. In addition to being the birthplace of Pete Rose, it is also the home of a rectory building originally constructed for Our Lady of Perpetual Hope Church in 1891.

It has functioned as a residential rental property for the past few decades. Some residents report strange things happening in the old rectory, while others have had no such experiences. Several TV shows on the paranormal have featured the rectory.

Arnold’s
First opened in 1861, Arnold’s is Cincinnati’s oldest continuously operating bar. The building itself dates back to 1838. Over the years, several strange incidents have been reported by employees and patrons. Much of that activity seems to take place on the second floor, but ghostly images have also been spotted outside of the building.

What’s even stranger is no one knows exactly why it’s haunted. Dan Smith says a building that old is bound to be haunted.

On Episode 36 of The Cincy Shirts Podcast, Dan also revealed that one area establishment, famous for supernatural phenomena, is no longer that active. “It’s calmed down a lot,” he notes. Listen from October 17 to find out where it is.

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