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Reported phenomena — as catalogued
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An all-volunteer community theater housed in the 1914 Putnam Theatre at Third and Putnam in Marietta, where crew members report a derby-wearing apparition called Mr. Shea and a second figure believed to be a former lighting technician.
229 Putnam Street, Marietta, OH 45750
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Standard community-theater ticket prices listed on midohiovalleyplayers.com.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Ground-floor entrance to the main auditorium; backstage and basement spaces remain historic and uneven.
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1914 · 1914 vaudeville-era Putnam Theatre at Third and Putnam Streets · Continuously occupied by Mid-Ohio Valley Players since 1977 · All-volunteer community theater company founded in 1959
The Putnam Theatre at the corner of Third and Putnam in downtown Marietta opened in 1914 as a purpose-built vaudeville house. After the decline of the vaudeville circuit it served as a movie theater and other commercial uses through the mid-twentieth century before falling into disrepair.
Mid-Ohio Valley Players, the volunteer theater company that today calls the building home, was founded in 1959 and initially performed in rented spaces around Marietta. In 1977 the group purchased the Putnam Theatre building and began an ongoing restoration project, gradually returning the auditorium and lobby to a presentable historic state while continuing to mount a full season of musicals, comedies, dramas, mysteries, and children's productions.
The company maintains the venue itself as part of its mission and counts the building among Marietta's significant early-twentieth-century theatrical landmarks. Clio and the Washington County CVB both feature it in their historic-properties listings.
Sources
According to the News and Sentinel's 2013 feature on haunted Marietta and the Ohio Exploration Society's Washington County compilation, members and crew at Mid-Ohio Valley Players have long described unexplained activity inside the historic Putnam Theatre. The reported apparition most often identified is 'Mr. Shea,' a former owner described as wearing a brown felt derby and appearing in the auditorium or backstage. A separate figure, believed to be a former lighting technician, has also been observed by crew members.
The News and Sentinel feature documented a specific incident in which staff reported audible jangling chains and a disembodied male voice saying 'Oh. They are just hanging out' inside the otherwise empty building. Additional reports include objects moving on their own in the prop room and an icy basement breeze with no apparent source.
These accounts are presented as part of the theater company's own oral tradition; we frame them as the lore that has grown up around a century-old performance space rather than as confirmed phenomena.
Notable Entities
Attend a musical, comedy, drama, or mystery production by Mid-Ohio Valley Players in the historic 1914 Putnam Theatre. The volunteer company has performed continuously since 1959 and purchased the theater in 1977.
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