We captured a black shadow on the second floor hallway.
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istory: Liberty Township School, situated in the small village of Ohio City in Van Wert County, Ohio provided education for all grade levels in a single building. While the village is contained within one-half square mile, it was a thriving town. Three railroads used the centrally located Union Depot.
While there is not much documented history for the school, we do know that the cornerstone of the $215,000 building was laid on June 5, 1927. Extensive remodeling was done in 1954 including a new heating and electrical system, desks and furnishings. The school would serve Ohio City until 2006. Claims: Paranormal claims made by workers and volunteers including seeing the apparition of a little girl in the basement cafeteria, seeing the apparition of a lady in white in the third floor hallway, seeing shadow figures, hearing voices and feeling ‘weird’ when in the basement maintenance office. Pictures of full bodied apparitions have been taken in the gymnasium. It is also claimed that the spirit of a local man who committed suicide behind the school haunts the building. Our Findings: We investigated the Ohio City Liberty Township School in May, 2021. We were the first paranormal group to do so. We sat up two static night vision cameras in the gym and one in the third floor hallway to cover the identified hot spots. An additional camera was set up in the second floor hall in an attempt to capture the reported shadow figures. We performed EVP sessions throughout the building and outside behind the building where the suicide took place. Due to the warm weather, the windows of the building were open. We were clearly able to hear traffic noise and some noise from the neighbors. There were bats throughout the building, especially as it got later in the evening. This could account for some of the strange noises, voices and shadows that are reported. While using the spirit box in the girl’s locker room, we seemed to get intelligent responses to our questions. While our cameras did not capture anything unusual in the gym, the camera audio did pick up what sounds like a child laughing. The most bizarre piece of audio of the evening was captured on the camera audio on the third floor. You can clearly hear a telephone ringing. There are no telephones in the building and this is not our cell phone ringtone. |
We did have several personal experiences. While holding an EVP session in the basement maintenance room, two of our investigators clearly heard a man speak. It was not captured on our recording devices and we have no idea what was said or where it came from.
Also, these same two investigators were on the third floor when they heard a very large crash. It sounded like glass breaking and it was first thought that a light fixture had fallen from the ceiling. Upon further investigation, nothing out of place was found. The sound of the crash – and our investigators reaction to it – was caught on the third floor camera audio.
Is the Ohio City Liberty School haunted? Based on the evidence presented to us by the owners and the unexplained voices and shadows we captured – we would have to say yes.
UPDATE: We returned to the school for a second investigation in June, 2023. By that time the building had deteriorated to such a state that the owners decided to close it to all investigations.
Also, these same two investigators were on the third floor when they heard a very large crash. It sounded like glass breaking and it was first thought that a light fixture had fallen from the ceiling. Upon further investigation, nothing out of place was found. The sound of the crash – and our investigators reaction to it – was caught on the third floor camera audio.
Is the Ohio City Liberty School haunted? Based on the evidence presented to us by the owners and the unexplained voices and shadows we captured – we would have to say yes.
UPDATE: We returned to the school for a second investigation in June, 2023. By that time the building had deteriorated to such a state that the owners decided to close it to all investigations.