Toil: 1115 - Witches Castle-where else would you expect TOIL to live??

Claimed by fuzziebear3 3 years 7 months ago (1h 49m 22s since publication) · visibility Watch (1)

S Patterson Blvd, Kettering, OH, US

Dayton legends: The long-told tales behind Kettering’s ‘Witch’s Tower’ Hills and Dales Park, a lush urban forest, opened in 1907 on land owned by NCR founder John H. Patterson. The Olmsted Brothers, a prominent landscape architecture firm consisting of John Charles & Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. designed Hills & Dales. Their father, world renown landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and his partner Calvert Vaux designed New York City’s Central Park in 1857 and 1858. Even though the park was outside of Dayton’s city limits (present day Kettering & Oakwood), the land was deeded to the City of Dayton by Patterson in 1918. Fiver Rivers MetroParks began operating and maintaining the park in 1999.

Lookout Tower — known also as Frankenstein’s Castle, Witch’s Tower and Patterson’s Castle — was completed in 1941 in what is now Hills & Dales MetroPark.

Built to provide views of Community Country Club, it took a year for boys with the National Youth Administration to construct the 30-foot-tall tower from salvaged stone.

The walls are more than three-feet thick in some places, according to a 1941 Journal-Herald story marking the completion of the project. Inside, 50 stone steps spiral to the lookout platform that offered views for 15 miles.

During the 1960s, the remote location encouraged vandals who painted names on the walls and left whiskey bottles and beer cans scattered on the grounds. Shingles torn from the roof and glass bottles were thrown at passing cars on Patterson Boulevard below.

Park maintenance crews boarded the door and later covered it with a steel gate but the tower was repeatedly broken into.

Strange tales have surrounded Lookout Tower for decades, according to Chris Woodyard, author of more than a dozen books including the Haunted Ohio series.

There have been sightings of eerie figures dancing around a fire and reports of unexplained scorch marks found on the ground.

But the most common story is the appearance of a ghostly girl and boy whenever lightning illuminates the sky.

That intriguing tale is based in fact.

She and 17-year-old Ronnie Stevens reportedly took shelter inside when a thunderstorm rolled in.

Harmeson was found dead lying on the 11th step in the tower, half of her body covered in severe burns. Stevens survived but was uncontrollable when an ambulance arrived and was restrained in handcuffs.

“Investigators theorized the couple was walking down the stairway when a lightning bolt ripped into the tower,” the Journal Herald reported.

Legend has it after her death visitors found burnt images of the girl within the tower. No matter how much they were scrubbed, the stains remained on the walls.

Despite the sketchy stories, the tower – its door sealed with concrete – still draws the curious.

Places that appear spooky can be exhilarating, Woodyard said. “I just wonder if to feel alive, to be fully feeling alive, we need this sense of fear and excitement?”

This Metro Park is a wonderful place to explore and the fall season is particularly special....especially when the weather is mild. You will need to use your typical geo-sense to locate the spot where TOIL is temporarily taking up residence. It would appear she is more of a WOODS witch rather than a tower witch. Enjoy this park and HAVE FUN!!

Notes

fuzziebear3 Player local_offer18	check_circle 3 years 7 months ago I heard this familiar had lost her companion. Oh no! I hopped on my broomstick and flew right over, hoping that I would find her so they can be reunited. As a matter of fact, the companion was so good excited, she is going to come and stay with me. She really liked the witches tower and wants to explore more. Thanks for the STT!!!
cron Operations local_offer0	publish 3 years 7 months ago Published.