Location: OH 77, Trinway, OH Map
Constructed: 1856
Prospect Place Mansion or The Trinway Mansion is a historic abandoned building in Trinway, Ohio that is claimed to be haunted. Prospect Place Mansion was constructed in 1856 by George Willison Adams, a supporter of the abolitionist movement and a member of the Ohio General Assembly. Unfortunately shortly after its first construction mansion was burned down, possibly due to arson. A new one containing 29 bedrooms was quickly build on the same site. Prospect Place Mansion at the time of its construction was state of the art. It contained one of the first cooling systems in a private residence. Colder air reached all parts of the house via pipes in the walls of the building. It also contained indoor plumbing with a copper tank cistern on the second floor. It created pressure that supplied water to the whole house. However its biggest secret was in the underground structure of the residence.
Here George Willison Adams hid runaway African American slaves who escaped from the South. In fact Prospect Place was one of the stops along an Underground Railroad, a secret road for escaped people to travel north to states free of slavery. Some made it as far as Canada to escape persecutions and possible bounty hunters who followed them. George along with his brother Edward risked their lives to save many slaves that ran from their plantations. A small tower (pictured on the right) that is visible picking from the central wing of the house offers a great view of the surrounding fields and forests. It was here that the lookouts were stationed to met a new group of slaves or to warn the owners of the residence of the coming danger. The basement of the mansion had its own fireplace to keep people warm who hid from the strangers and neighbours of the owners. George W. Adams died on August 31, 1879 at the age of 79. Today this house houses headquarters of G.W. Adams Education Center. After years of abandonment it undergoes extensive reconstruction by its new owners.
Prospect Place Mansion is considered to be one of the most haunted place in the state. In its long history it saw plenty of hardship and violence. Many slaves that traveled through this mansion stayed here to heal from various diseases that they caught along the way. Many didn't make it and died here in the basement of the mansion. But these were not all the deaths that are attributed to the time period. Since George W. Adams was a member of the Ohio General Assembly he did escape suspicion of many bounty hunters. But there were incidents when they showed up at the door steps of the house. Their job was to hunt runaway slaves, bring them back to their masters and subsequently receive money for their "cargo". One of these man got too nosy around the house of Adams and he paid with his life. He was caught the man of Adams, tried in a mock trial and later hanged in the barn of the house. Many people who visited this mansion claim that the worst and most violent experience they had with the ghosts here is in the barn of the house. The spirit or what ever entity that lives their is most aggressive to the outsiders.
/train1[1].jpg)
Another
tragedy occurred in 1912 just outside of Prospect
Place Mansion. A freight
train was standing on the railroad. Another passenger train that
was traveling behind it was not warned about delay on the
tracks. It hit standing train at full speed unable to stop in
time. Many people were killed and wounded. Prospect Place became
a make shift mortuary for the dead. Its basement was a fairly
cool place and many bodies of the unfortunate victims were moved
here. Some people claim that they hear and seen people who died
in that terrible crush. Others reported stench of the
decomposing bodies that suddenly appear in the air and just as
suddenly disappear with explanation.
Another more friendly ghost that is said to live here in Prospect Place Mansion that of a little girl. She died as a result of an accident falling from a balcony of the mansion. It happened in winter. Due to coldness the ground froze and body of a girl was stored in the basement until spring when the soil thawed and she was finally laid to rest. Girl's mother came here every single day to talk to her deceased child. Some say that eventually she caught pneumonia and died shortly thereafter. She is described as one of the happier, more friendly ghosts of the Prospect Place. She runs around, giggles and occasionally plays tricks on visitors or so do they claim.
/boyinwindow[1].jpg)
/ghost-boy[1].jpg)
/randyspic.jpg.w300h239[1].jpg)