Athens is widely regarded as the most haunted city in Ohio, so it’s only appropriate that the city’s popular college is steeped in its own haunted lore and legends. On the hill overlooking Ohio University sits The Ridges, a stately part of campus that is hiding a dark and haunting secret. You see, the site was originally the Athens Asylum for the Insane, and there’s something downright eerie about these grounds.
With one of the oldest universities in the United States and a former insane asylum, Athens, Ohio is bound to have a haunting or two. In fact, it just might be the most haunted city in the entire state.
Ohio University/Facebook
The Ohio University is the oldest college in the state, founded on Feb. 18, 1804. The campus spans 1,800 acres in Athens, a beautiful town in Southeast Ohio.
Ohio University/Facebook
The campus is full of charming, Federal-style buildings that house classrooms, labs, offices, museums, and…
Colton Tabler/Google Local
…even a few ghosts.
Jacob Tender/Google Local
What was once the Athens Lunatic Asylum is now known as The Ridges, and it’s owned by (and a neighbor of) Ohio University – but parts of the facility still hold shadows, stains, and spirits of former mental patients who often suffered from violent treatments such as lobotomies.
Jacob Tender/Google Local
What’s more, the grounds of the former asylum are still home to a few unusual – and extremely unsettling – cemeteries. (Yes – there are multiple cemeteries on this Ohio college campus!)
Justin Masterson/Flickr
Patients of the former insane asylum were buried on the facility’s grounds, and their restless spirits are left to wander to property.
Dan Keck/Flickr
Many of the grave sites are unmarked. It’s said that patients whose parents had disowned them due to their mental disorder (a surprisingly common practice back then) were simply given numbered stones in lieu of a named gravestone.
Author Unknown/Wikipedia
Today, the former asylum is home to the Kennedy Museum of Art, a striking museum in Ohio that’s celebrated for its diverse array of art.
Dan Keck/Google Local
The halls of the museum are now decked with colorful artwork, and perhaps a few art-admiring spirits, as well.
Kennedy Museum of Art/Facebook
Have you explored The Ridges before? Did you know about this haunted college in Ohio? It’s lovely, but absolutely not the kind of place we’d want to visit at night by ourselves…
Ohio University/Facebook
Colton Tabler/Google Local
Jacob Tender/Google Local
Justin Masterson/Flickr
Dan Keck/Flickr
Author Unknown/Wikipedia
Dan Keck/Google Local
Kennedy Museum of Art/Facebook
Looking for more hauntingly beautiful places to explore in Ohio? Spring Grove Cemetery is absolutely stunning, despite being one of the most haunted places in Ohio.
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Address: The Ridges, 118 Ridges Cir, Athens, OH 45701, USA
