The town of Portsmouth is located in southeastern Ohio, near the river. You may have never heard of the town before, but after reading about the haunting there, it will be hard to forget.
The Hallmark Care Center is haunted by the ghosts of children. Patients on the second floor occasionally hear the sound of kids laughing, while many people have been woken in the middle of the night by children sitting on their bed. There are also stories of kids being heard in the attic area. These ghosts like to play with the doors and the water faucets.
A building located at 830 Murray in Portsmouth is also haunted. The building was originally owned by two brothers who used it as their shoe company. When the business went bankrupt, one of the men jumped from the fifth floor. Another version of the story claims that the man waited until the elevator was on the first floor, and then threw himself down the elevator shaft. The other brother then followed suit by throwing himself in front of a passing train. Of course this also has a variation in which the second brother jumped from the roof. Locals now claim to hear a man screaming on the fifth floor and feel someone watching them. Others have problems with the third floor, which seems to have an unnatural feeling.
Portsmouth also has a haunted road in the Dry Run Pond Creek Road. There was once a house that sat on this road, but the house burned down at some point and a little girl died in the blaze. The girl has been described as having long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. Many people claim to see the girl in the area, but she always runs into the woods when a car approaches. There are also stories of people hearing her laughing in the wooded area after dark. Whether this is a real ghost, or just a perky local, no one knows.
To find the real ghosts in Portsmouth though, you need to make a trip to Shawnee State University. The area where the school now sits was once a neighborhood of fairly large houses, and many of the school ghosts date back to the old neighborhood. At the Advance Technology Center, students see the doors and elevators open and close when no one is around. There are also reports of cold spots and many students complain that someone is watching them in the halls.
Massie Hall is also haunted by cold spots, as well as strange shadows. Those who have been in the building late at night claim to hear footsteps and people whispering. There are also stories of dark shadows moving across the building when no one is around. Many of the ghostly experiences happen on the third floor, second floor, and in the basement.
You’ll also find ghosts in the University Library where several houses once stood. Several of those houses were rumored to be haunted, and some of the same activity is reported in the newer library.
The most haunted spot on the Shawnee State University campus is the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts. The lobby and hallways are plagued with stories of people seeing dark shadows and hearing someone walking down the hall, when the hallway is empty. There are also stories of strange noises heard in the same area. A child is sometimes heard laughing in the hallway, while some claim to hear the voice of a woman inside the performance hall, long after everyone has left for the night.
