HGB Ep. 596 - Haunted Massillon, Ohio

Moment in Oddity - Hoss the Hairball

The original Mr. Potato Head included body parts, hats and the like that could be added to an actual potato or other vegetable. But what if those parts were added to a giant ball of hair? Let us introduce you to Hoss the Hairball, a Guiness Book record holding, ball of hair. Hoss was created in Ohio by hair stylist, Steve Warden. Warden's children had asked him for years to create a giant hairball. So in 2013, he began collecting his client's hair with that goal in mind. Warden even installed a chute in the floor of his salon to gather the hair. Little by little the hairstylist assembled what would come to be known as Hoss using liquid glue, spray adhesive and hairspray to keep its shape. The name Hoss was derived from the TV show Bonanza. In December of 2021, Hoss was weighed in by Guiness Book of World Records at a whopping 225.13 lbs. Hoss now travels with Ripley's Believe It or Not and has helped Ripley's raise more than $40,000 for charity organization Give Kids The World in Central Florida. Hoss sports big blue eyes, a large cowboy hat, toothy grin, a big nose and cow-print pants. People have donated to Hoss from around the world to create his rotund body and he continues to grow. Art can take numerous different forms, but creating a hairball that weighs more than the average man, certainly is odd.

This Month in History - Women's Rights Convention

In the month of July, on the 19th and 20th, in 1848, one of the first Woman's Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. The event was organized by Elizabeth Stanton, Martha Wright, Jane Hunt, Lucretian Mott and Mary Ann McClintock, and was a crucial development in the fight for women's rights. Approximately 300 people were in attendance. Suffragists would later state that this convention was what truly launched the suffrage movement. It resulted in the drafting of the Declaration of Sentiments which was modeled after the Declaration of Independence. It laid out the fundamental equalities that women were demanding regarding political, social and economic rights declaring them as the same inalienable rights that men were given. One of the key elements of the Declaration of Sentiments called for women's right to vote. Although that endowment was not solidified until 1920 with the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Sentiments set into motion future activism and legal reforms for women. 

Haunted Massillon, (Mass uh lawn) Ohio (Suggested by: Alexis Balch)

Massillon, Ohio is located in Stark County along the Tuscarawas (tuh skr aa wuhz) River. This was a Quaker town and a canal town that grew and evolved as transportation changed throughout the country. Today, it has a thriving arts and culture scene that embraces its history. Several of the historic buildings in town have ghost stories connected to them. Join us for the history and hauntings of Massillon, Ohio. 

Massillon is referred to as a canal town and that is because the Ohio and Erie Canal played a crucial role in the city's growth. The city was founded on the banks of the Tuscarawas River as Kendal in 1812 by Thomas Rotch. Seafarering New Englanders joined him and many of them were Quakers, so the city was built with those values. A seaman named James Duncan came to the area in 1826 and established another city called Massillon, after French Catholic bishop Jean-Baptiste Massillon. The Ohio and Erie Canal was built through his land to connect Massillon to Cleveland and that was completed in 1832. Hiram and Marshall Wellman were merchants who came to Massillon and they built a warehouse along the canal. They sent out the word that they would pay cash for wheat and this brought farmers from everywhere and before long, Massillon was nicknamed "The Wheat City." *Fun Fact: Marshall Wellman was Jack London's grandfather.* The Port of Massillon thrived until the railroad arrived in 1852. Kendal and Massillon unified and incorporated in 1853. The Flood of 1913 inundated the city with water with floodwaters reaching the upper stories of buildings in the downtown area. The railroad tracks were destroyed and trains were washed away. The Ohio and Erie Canal was pretty much done after this flood. The building of viaducts helped with future flooding threats and saved the city from becoming a Rust Belt shell. The economy diversified and the city has remained resilient. 

So yeah, that's it for the history, nothing else major. Okay, okay, so Alexis, who suggested this city to us mentioned that apparently football is kinda big here. Massillon is renowned for its fervent high school football culture and that is because they have a community history deeply rooted in football. They love there Massillon Tigers team. There is apparently a strong rivalry with the Canton McKinley Bulldogs and it is said this is one of the oldest and most storied rivalries in high school football. Massillon leads the series 76-53-5. The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team that was founded in 1903 and played in the Ohio League winning five championship titles in a row. The NFL began as the APFA in 1920 and the Tigers opted not to join. They stayed independent until they folded in 1923. The Massillon Washington High School assumed the Tiger as their school mascot. Paul Brown graduated from the school in 1925 and he returned to coach the football team in 1932 and he stayed on as coach for nine years with an unbelievable 80-8-2 record. There was a 35-game winning streak in there. Brown would go on to be the first head coach of the Cleveland Browns and he did that for 17 seasons. Interestingly, the Browns have no logo and yes, they are named for Coach Brown, which I only just learned while researching this. The stadium the football team plays in is named for Paul Brown. Massillon finished in the top 4 of ESPN's Titletown USA in 2008.

Before we get into true hauntings, we wanted to touch on the Woman in Black Panic that hit Massillon in 1895. Author Chris Woodyard brought this to our attention on his blog "Haunted Ohio." The Independent wrote in September of 1895, "Some little time ago Peter Ertle stood on the corner of Prospect and Plum Streets conversing in low but impassioned tones with a young woman who listened with an eagerness that did not prevent her from taking mental note of a woman in black, who appeared with mincing steps and hovered near as though to listen. The first impulse of the couple thus rudely approached was one of indignation, but a second glance evoked curiosity, as it showed that the creature wore garments belonging to quite another generation and its head seemed ridiculously small, no larger than Peter Ertle’s manly fist. When the interest shifted and the young people began to scrutinize the strange apparition, the latter gathered up its skirts and floated rather than walked in the direction of Cedar Street. Mr. Ertle and his companion followed, somewhat gingerly, it must be confessed, and after following it through the labyrinths of Kendal town returned again to their corner and resumed the thread of their purely personal discussion. And then something strange occurred. 

Although they so stood that every avenue of approach was under their eyes, they became conscious all at once of a presence close at hand, and turning, discovered to their amazement this same woman, man or spirit, grinning and listening as before. Again it fled and again it strangely disappeared. Mr. Ertle submits the opinion that this woman in black is a sure-enough woman, afflicted with some malady of the head, which causes her to roam the streets at night. But Peter Ertle and that particular young woman no longer carry on conversations in low and impassioned tones at the corner of Prospect Street and Plum." The article continues with saying that Peter Ertle saw this Woman in Black for over three years. There was a belief that this wasn't a real spirit and the article continued, "While it is unwise in these piping times of peace, for real or imitation ghosts to go stalking forth, they undoubtedly have the right to parade the streets, if they so desire, as long as they refrain from committing deeds of a disorderly character or of violence. It does not appear that the “woman in black” has misbehaved herself very seriously, and there is therefore no urgent necessity on the part of anybody to shoot promiscuously at objects which may or may not be mysterious. Young persons whose enthusiasm and courage are of a soda water variety should not be entrusted with fire arms for the purpose of exterminating ghosts or any other animate objects. Revolvers are made for policemen and Wild West cowboys. Other people have no earthly excuse for carrying them, and their possession entails more trouble than it does good. Parents are warned that many of their young sons are inclined to disagree with these doctrines, and it is their duty to assist in bringing about a complete disarmament. Under conditions that give assurance of personal security, let the ghost hunting proceed." Seven days later, the Woman in Black was revealed and The Independent reported, " Canton, Sept. 14. The mysterious “woman in black” proves to be Mrs. Libold, of Canton, who lives opposite the Yohe House. Frequently during the summer Mrs. Libold has visited friends in Massillon, and not being aware that she presented a frightful appearance to the superstitious she has crossed Prospect and Plum Streets on her way to see them. On one occasion, no doubt the night that Peter Ertle and the young lady with whom he was talking first reported the ghostly spectre in black, Mrs. Libold says she was followed quite a distance by a young couple after she had crossed Prospect Street. 'I remember the instance well,' said Mrs. Libold, 'for I was rather frightened myself. I had called on friends in Plum Street and remained there later than I should, for I wished to spend a few moments with acquaintances in Center Street. I started for the latter place and walked rather fast. When I reached Prospect Street, instead of turning up to North I walked straight up Plum Street and then through the alley in the rear of the Steese residence to North. I then noticed that I was being followed by the young man and lady and walked faster. When I reached Hamel’s they had retired and I returned on North Street. The two walked past me and stared at me so closely that I thought they must have taken me for someone else. I then took the 10:30 car for Canton.' When informed that she had been taken for the ghost and had badly frightened several persons she was astonished but greatly amused." 

Massillon Public Library 

The Massillon Public Library is located at 208 Lincoln Way East. The Massillon library started as the McClymonds Public Library in 1899. The first library was housed in the donated home of Nahum and Esther Russell, which was located on Fourth Street. The library was named for J.W. McClymond who had provided a $20,000 endowment. Founder James Duncan built his home in the 1830s and the house was later owned by Dr. J.P. and Clara Barrick. Clara died in the home in 1909 and the house passed to Clara's son Frank Lee Baldwin and his wife Annie. Annie died in the house in 1931 and she had bequeathed the home to the city to be used as a museum or library. This opened as the Baldwin Museum with many artifacts and some artwork in 1933. In 1934, snakes  and other creatures were added as was a reproduction of a coal mine in the basement. In 1935, a battle ensued about closing the museum and moving the library to the house. The library was moved to the house and a new building was built for the museum. The library is a really beautiful red brick building that was designed by architect Albrecht. There is a large rotunda with two wings, with one of those wings being the Duncan house. The interior features tall ceilings and terrazzo marble floors. 

The library is said to be haunted and staff and visitors have all reported experiences. A security camera caught an interesting develop at the witching hour. Right at 3am, the elevator took itself up to the third floor and opened. A bright light was seen coming from inside the elevator. And then a security camera caught the same thing again and again. It has happened many times. Director Sherie Brown has worked at the library since 1979 and she shared with The Independent an experience she had in 2011. She said she was working in her office that was located in the wing that had been Duncan's house after the library had closed for the day. Someone walked past her office door and she was startled because she thought she was the only employee in the building. She called out and got no response, so she went to see where this person had gone and she found no else in the library. A custodian was cleaning one night and heard what he described as the tapping of a cane in the attic. A patron claimed that someone unseen pushed her. And staff members have been hit by books flying off the shelves. There are also claims of hearing disembodied footsteps and the nose picture of a distinctive perfume. 

Brian Fain is the co-founder of Massillon Paranormal Research Association and they have investigated at the library. The Massillon Independent reported in 2018 the group, "During a six-year period, the group conducted nine investigations at the library. The paranormal investigators have captured a few pieces of evidence to support the claim. Fain's sister-in-law was conducting an EVP session when she asked if the ghost helped the staff out at night when no one was there. When they played back the recording, a woman is heard answering the question with a 'no.' On another occasion, Fain and team members were in the reference area of the library near the fireplace. The two were joking that the chairs were very comfortable. Fain said he couldn't read siting there or he would likely fall asleep. When they played the recording back, a voice could be heard faintly saying 'they sleep here sometimes.' 

The Lions Lincoln Theater

The Lion's Lincoln Theater is located at 156 Lincoln Way E. and was built in 1915 by grocer John McLain. The architect was Guy Tilden and the facade has a beautiful lighted marquee. The interior isn't real fancy and this was originally a motion picture theater that now hosts performing arts. The building is preparing to undergo many interior and exterior upgrades, which was announced just here in July 2025. The theater started with 979 seats and had a Hillgreen-Lane straight pipe organ. The Schine Circuit Inc. took over the theater in 1927 and they installed a Wurlitzer 2 manual, 7 ranks style EX-opus 1560 theatre organ. That organ would be removed in 1938 by Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp. who had acquired the theater in 1931. The Lincoln Theatre was sold in the 1980s to the Massillon Lions Club and they still operate it today with Eric Myers serving as the theater's Executive Director.

The theater is said to be haunted and starting in 2014, it has hosted an event called Haunted: Locked in at the Lincoln. Jim Fravel was the Director of Performing Arts at the theater at that time and he told The Canton Repository, "We've had other ghost hunter groups come and spend the night in the theater and they have recorded amazing results. The Massillon Ghost Hunters Society and the North Canton Paranormal Society have both verified the existence of paranormal activity in the theater. Some of the members have recorded voices and EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon). It's never been anything scary and they've never found any mean spirits." The stories here claim that one of the spirits here goes by the name Red and this entity appears as a shadow, causes cold spots and likes to move things around. Disembodied voices are heard in the stairwells. 

Five Oaks Mansion

The Five Oaks Mansion is located at 210 Fourth Street NE and was the home of the man whom we mentioned in regards to the beginnings of the library, J. Walter McClymonds. Five Oaks was named for the five oaks on the property and built in 1892 as designed by architect, Charles F. Schweinfurth in the Gothic and Romenesque styles.  The street it was built on was known at the turn-of-the-century  as "The Showplace of America." It was said to be the architect's best work. The exterior featured towering chimneys, an arched portico and a corner turret tower. The interior featured Tiffany glass, chandeliers, exotic woods that were beautifully carved and there was also gold and silver leaf embossing. The house was filled with Victorian furniture as well. In September of 1919, the house became the meeting place for the Massillon Women’s Club, which had been formed to support the WWI effort. The house was registered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Haunting activity included hearing a woman singing, a statue that moves on its own, the smell of a cigar and full-bodied apparitions. The North Ohio Paranormal Scientific Society investigated in 2010 and reported feeling "spider webs" across their faces and arms, hair touched, touches on the neck and cold air on the neck, heart racing and dizziness.

Kozmo's Grill

Kozmo's Grill is located at 37 First Street SW. Kozmo's was opened by three guys, an ex-beer salesman, an ex-medical swab manufacturer and an ex-CPA in 2005 in a building that has been here for 150 years. The name comes from Kramer of Seinfeld. His first name was Cosmo with a "C." The restaurant has a K instead. The men renovated the space, embracing its history by highlighting the tin ceilings, exposed brick and refinishing the original wood floors. A wood stone hearth is the heart of the restaurant and is used to make pizza, cookies, fruit cobbler and dips. Before Kozmo's was here, this was Coppers Bar & Cafe. Sherri Brake had investigated here when it was Coppers and she writes in her book "Haunted Stark County," (pg. 86)

Kendal and Massillon City Cemeteries

When the city of Kendal was founded, the Kendal Cemetery was the first burial ground established in the city of Massillon. The Kendal Cemetery was founded in 1811. When the Black Plague came through the city, a mass burial pit was dug and people who died from the plague were thrown into it. There are legends that claim some of them were still alive. Some of these mass graves had up to 40 bodies. In 1848, it fell into disuse and then disrepair. Some bodies were moved to a new cemetery opened as the Massillon City Cemetery in 1846 at 1827 Erie Street South. We read that the former Kendal Cemetery is now just a grassy field at Ninth Street NE and Andrew Avenue NE and that a white urn with a few flowers planted inside is all that remains as a marker for the cemetery. There is no sign. No headstones. But bones still remain below the soil. Homes near the former cemetery are said to be haunted and its no wonder. Local historian Bob Bratton had grown up in a house on the 200 block of Ninth Street. "The Alliance Review" talked to Bratton in 2017 and reported, "As a young boy, Bratton remembers waking up one night to see a square-headed silhouette sitting at the end of his bed. He never told anyone of this occurrence. Twenty years later, his younger brother occupied Bratton's old bedroom and also awoke one night to see the same figure with the perfectly square head sitting at the foot of his bed." Ohhh, the square headed ghost! That's a first for us.

The Massillon City Cemetery has 24,000 burials. One of the people moved here from the Kendal Cemetery was Captain Mayhew Folger. Folger had been the Captain of the Topaz and on one of his voyages in 1808, they rediscovered Pitcairn Island. For those unfamiliar with Pitcairn Island, this is where the mutineers from the Bounty - you know, Mutiny on the Bounty - settled. That happened in 1789. So Folger ends up here in 1808 and only one of the mutineers was still alive, Alexander Smith, whose real name was John Adams. Adams gave Captain Folger the Bounty's azimuth compass and Larcum Kendall K2 marine chronometer. The group had burned the Bounty to escape detection. Captain Folger moved to Kendal, Ohio with his family in 1813. He became the first postmaster of Massillon in 1828 and died later that year. He is said to haunt the Massillon Cemetery with balls of light frequently showing up in photos taken with his headstone. Tour guide, author and investigator Sherri Brake shares that when the Captain was dug up from Kendal, his coffin was empty and that his body had been grave robbed. Not sure if that is true and they buried an empty coffin in Massillon City Cemetery or just put up a cenotaph. Maybe that is why he is haunting the place.

Massillon Psychiatric Center

The founder of the city, James Duncan, had owned the land where the Massillon State Hospital for the Insane was built in 1898. The cottage that Duncan built here when he was grazing sheep was used as a dwelling by the hospital until 1956. Ohio Governor William McKinley, whom would later become president, is the one who suggested that the 240 acres of this plot be given to the state to build the hospital. The cottage design for mental hospitals had taken hold in the country at this time as a better way to treat the mentally ill. The Kirkbride Plan was losing favor. In honor of McKinley, the first hall built here was named for him and covered 52,000 square feet. Three hundred patients were moved in after the hospital opened and Dr. A.B. Richardson was the superintendent. 

Ironically, the best superintendent at the hospital was named Arthur Hyde. He took over in 1918 and would remain in that position until 1954. He knew each patient by name and treated them with respect. It is said he did more for the mentally ill than anyone else in Ohio. A trolley was built between the city of Massillon and the hospital. The hospital continued to expand adding forty buildings that included a laundry, power house, boiler house, kitchen and bakery, dining hall, infirmiry building, stroehouse and residences for patients and employees. By 1950, there were 365 employees and 3,100 patients. As the 1970s brought other theories on treatment, patients were slowly transferred out of the hospital to other facilities. The hospital changed its name to the Massillon Psychiatric Center after that and today is known as the Heartland Behavioral Health Center. In October of 2024, federal grants were used to begin a clean-up at the hospital. 

McKinley Hall closed and has sat empty. People have claimed that this is the most haunted location on the property. Lights flicker inside when no one is inside. There have been sightings of a ghostly boy inside. He was seen by nurses through the years and they claimed he darted through the halls at night. Sherri Brake says that in 2005, she was taking a tour group into the hall and this group included a local reporter and photographer. The photographer caught an image that looked like a blurry little boy and there were no children on the tour. 

Doctors Hospital

Doctors Hospital in Massillon was located at 400 Austin Avenue NW before it was demolished. This hospital was built in the early 1960s and ran until 2008. Five doctors and a businessman are the team that formed to build the hospital. The building was shaped like and airplane with a main corridor and two wings that included 48 beds. The hospital was expanded several times over the years and ended up being 300,000 square feet. The hospital offered all services from regular doctors visits to emergency care and surgery. There was intensive care units and a maternity ward. The hospital went into decline after merging with Massillon Community Hospital in 2006 to become Affinity Medical Center and all serves were eventually moved to the Massillon facility. The Stark County morgue remained until 2009 and the building sat vacant until it was demolished in 2019. 

Doctors Hospital was said to be haunted. One of the spirits here was said to be a nurse's aid who died from a heart attack in the hospital. He liked to hum and so disembodied humming was heard. A misty apparition has been seen. Water faucets would turn on and off by themselves, even as staff watched it happen. Nurses claimed to hear their names being called when no one was around. There was one room that was said to be the most haunted. The legend behind it was that an elderly woman had cursed the room before she died. Patients staying in the room would complain that an elderly woman would enter their room and pull their covers off of them and tell them to leave her room. Coldness would often fill the room - but then, you have to wonder if these people had ever been in a hospital. The freaking place is always freezing! A hospital administrator wanted to prove the stories wrong, so he stayed the night in the room, but he fled it around 2am. He then had the room sealed off and no patients were ever assigned the room again. 

A story shared with 12 News goes, "Another tale takes place in labor and delivery. According to Miller, an expectant mother was in distress. Her young nurse went in search of a doctor for help. She encountered an older physician in the hallway who barked orders and walked away. Not long after, a superior berated the young staffer for administering drugs without doctor's orders. The young RN offered up a description of the mysterious doctor. Her description eerily matched that of a hospital doctor who had died years earlier." 

Massillon, Ohio is a historic town oozing with small town charm and football. There is plenty of interesting architecture and it would seem that there are plenty of ghosts too. Are these location in Massillon haunted? That is for you to decide!