About This Location
Moonville Tunnel is an abandoned railroad tunnel in the Zaleski State Forest, once part of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad. The tunnel served the now-vanished mining town of Moonville, which was established in the 1850s to support local coal and iron ore operations. The town was abandoned by 1947, but the haunting tunnel remains, drawing hikers and paranormal investigators to this remote stretch of Appalachian Ohio.
The Ghost Story
Moonville Tunnel is considered the most haunted place in Appalachia. The most famous ghost is that of Frank Lawhead, a train engineer who died in a head-on collision near the tunnel in 1880. Visitors report seeing his apparition walking along the old railway bed carrying a lantern, forever warning of danger on the tracks. Other spirits include a woman who fell from a train and a brakeman killed while switching tracks. Witnesses describe glowing orbs, mysterious mists, and the spectral light of a swinging lantern approaching through the darkness of the tunnel. The isolated location, surrounded by dense forest and accessible only by hiking trail, adds to the eerie atmosphere. Some visitors have captured photographs showing strange lights and figures that weren't visible to the naked eye. The tunnel has become a pilgrimage site for ghost hunters throughout Ohio.