Welcome to Helltown, an abandoned city in Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley that fuels local urban legends about a chemical spill and murderous Satanists.
Flicker CommonsThe infamous church in Helltown, Ohio that’s decorated with upside-down crosses.
Boston, Massachusetts may be the most famous Boston in the United States, but it is not the only city to bear this name. In the Cuyahoga Valley, there is another Boston, now long-abandoned, more commonly known by a different name entirely: Helltown, Ohio.
Unlike the ghost towns of the west, this midwestern area is particularly unique because it doesn’t look all that old. Although some buildings bear the features of early America, the rest are distinctly 20th century. The clear “NO TRESPASSING” signs posted throughout the town are certainly modern – and official.
There’s not a soul to be found in this place, but there are still remnants of the lives the former residents left behind, including an abandoned school bus. The town is surrounded by dangerous roads that seemingly lead to nowhere. But it is the church that seems to have inspired its ominous name: The white building in the center of Helltown is emblazoned with upside-down crosses.
Just what happened to this town that led to its abandonment? Why has the former Boston Township come to take on such a dark, foreboding name? There are numerous theories about what happened to Helltown, Ohio — some of which might send a chill up your spine.
The Rise And Fall Of Boston Township
Wikimedia CommonsA modern viewpoint of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the former Boston Township.
While the region is often known as Helltown today, it was once known as Boston Township. First surveyed by Alfred Wolcott of Connecticut and his colleague James Stanford in 1805, the settlers returned the next year to erect a cabin at the site of the present-day Boston Cemetery. This unofficially marked the beginning of a more permanent settlement in the region.
However, the township would not be recognized in an official capacity until January 15, 1811, becoming what as then known as Range 11, Town 4 of the Connecticut Western Reserve into Boston Township. The name of the township was, in fact, inspired by Boston, Massachusetts as a sort of testament to the region’s New England heritage.
In its early years, the township’s economy was bolstered by the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal between 1825 and 1827, which provided a vital transportation route for goods and people. Ultimately, this led to substantial economic growth in the region, drawing in more farmers and workers to aid in the transport of lumber, flour, quarried stone, bricks, and agricultural products to markets in Cleveland and Akron.
Then, in 1836, the village of Peninsula became the largest in the township. It was incorporated in 1859 and thrived thanks to its strategic location along the canal, hosting boatyards, dry docks, hotels, and saloons catering to canal workers and travelers. The region saw another major shift in 1880 upon the arrival of the Valley Railway, which marked the start of a notable shift from canal transport to rail transport. While this did open some new opportunities, it also contributed to the decline in the canal-based transport by which the region had previously thrived.
Public DomainThe impact of the Great Flood of 1913 in downtown Dayton, Ohio.
However, this decline only continued in the 20th century. Traditional industries like quarrying saw a massive drop off, and the Flood of 1913 dealt a significant blow to the Ohio and Erie Canal, leading to its eventual abandonment. By the 1920s, local quarries ceased operations entirely, in large part thanks to the rising availability of concrete.
Finally, in the 1970s, the American government purchased the land to establish the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, later designated as the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in 2000. This acquisition ultimately led to the locals being displaced, their homes boarded up, and the eventual abandonment of the once-thriving township.
Although this seemed to be a relatively par-for-the-course story of a declining Rust Belt region, there were numerous rumors that had begun to swirl around the region’s decline, ultimately leading to the moniker “Helltown.”
But just what were these rumors, exactly?
A Satanic Church, A Haunted School Bus, And Crybaby Bridge
Before its demolition in 2016, visitors to Helltown were greeted with an eerie site: a long-abandoned midwestern town where life had seemingly vanished out of thin air. Buildings were boarded up and signs erected to warn visitors of trespassing, but a few landmarks stood out as particularly chilling.
Flickr CommonsAn old, abandoned gas station in Helltown.
The first and most noticeable was easily the Presbyterian church that once stood tall above the town. The church was adorned, shockingly, with upside-down crosses — something not typical of most churches. This strange, seemingly blasphemous detail led to rumors that the town’s locals had not been people of God but rather Satanic practitioners who stalked the streets and attempted to lure in visitors with tales of their sinister practices.
In truth, the church had been designed in a Gothic revival style, in which it was fairly common to display crosses upside-down. Still, the church alone was not the reason for Helltown’s frightening renaming.
Another point of fixation in the abandoned town was an old school bus that had been left to rust. The chilling image of a passenger-less school bus led to further speculation that some terrible, tragic fate had befallen old Boston Township.
Ghost hunters even claimed that they had seen the spirits of a man or children residing within the bus at certain points. According to legend, the bus was carrying high school students on a ski trip when an elderly woman flagged it down, claiming that a young boy in her house was seriously injured. It was a trap, however, and all the children fell victim to a serial killer.
The tale claims that if you peer through the bus’ windows, you can see either the ghosts of the killer or his victims still sitting inside.
Once again, however, the truth is far less terrifying. In actuality, the bus’ inhabitants were not spirits at all. Rather, the hunters had seen silhouettes of a man and his family who were living in the bus temporarily while their house was being renovated.
Flickr CommonsCrybaby Bridge in Helltown.
There is also legend of a “Crybaby Bridge” in Helltown. According to local lore, if you leave your car on the bridge, you will return to find it surrounded by children’s footprints and sometimes handprints on the windows. If you listen closely, some say, you can even hear the cries of a baby who was thrown from the bridge.
Of course, there are similar legends about Crybaby Bridges all across the United States, so it’s not unlikely that this particular bridge is part of a larger trend rather than an actually haunted location.
The Peninsula Python And The End Of The World
Flickr CommonsAn abandoned barn in Helltown.
Destination America, also explored another theory that a chemical spill infested the waters in Helltown, leading to the creation of what locals called the “Peninsula Python.”
The legend says that a gigantic snake roams the woods of Helltown. Rumored to be a mutant resulting from the toxic chemical spill, the creature has never actually been observed, but that lack of hard proof has not stopped locals from celebrating “Python Day.”
There was indeed a chemical dump near Helltown, known as the Krejci Dump, and it was found to be polluted with toxic chemicals. However, the existence of the so-called Peninsula Python remains unproven.
Flickr CommonsOne of the many closed-off roads that surround the town, this one at the End of the World.
Lastly, there are legends about a location within Helltown known as “The End of the World.” The End of the World is one section of Stanford Road which features a steep decline into a wooded area, creating an eerie and foreboding atmosphere. Legend says that the road leads to a dead-end where supernatural occurrences are common.
Once again, though, there are similar stories of other “Highways to Hell” or “Gates to Hell” across the world, and it is more likely that the name was given to this stretch of road simply due to its eerie atmosphere rather than anything actually paranormal. In fact, the same could be said of Helltown in general.
How Helltown, Ohio Actually Got Its Name
Flickr CommonsThe Helltown cemetery.
Helltown’s spooky name is the result of, rather than the source, of all these urban legends. Helltown is actually just a nickname for a part of Boston Township in Summit County, Ohio. The residents of the area were indeed forced to abandon their homes by the federal government, but not because of a chemical spill or supernatural coverup.
With national concerns about deforestation in full swing, in 1974 President Gerald Ford approved legislation that allowed the National Park Service the power to expropriate land, theoretically to preserve forests.
While the idea behind the bill may have been good-intentioned, it was bad news for residents living in areas designated by the National Park Service for new parks.
The area that is now dubbed “Helltown” was earmarked for the new Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the people living there had no choice but to sell their properties to the government. One disgruntled mover scrawled his own gloomy epithet on a wall: “Now we know how the Indians felt.”
Enjoy this story about Helltown, Ohio? Next, check out these seven creepy abandoned cities. Then, read these five freaky stories that are totally true.
