HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
A 1940s stone lookout tower in Kettering's Hills & Dales park, known locally as the Witch's Tower after a fatal 1967 lightning strike
2655 S Patterson Blvd, Kettering, OH 45409
Research updated July 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access to Hills & Dales MetroPark; the tower interior is closed and viewable only from the exterior.
Access
Limited Access
Wooded metro park with unpaved trails and a ridge-top approach to the tower
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1940 · Built 1940-41 by the National Youth Administration · Associated with the Patterson family and NCR founder John H. Patterson · Interior closed after a 1967 lightning fatality
The stone tower on a wooded ridge in Hills & Dales MetroPark was built in 1940 and 1941 by the National Youth Administration, a Depression-era federal work program for young people. Its walls, up to three feet thick, were laid up from stone salvaged from condemned buildings in and around Dayton. The finished structure stands roughly 56 feet tall on land that had been part of the Patterson family's Hills and Dales estate, tied to John H. Patterson, founder of the National Cash Register Company in Dayton. The park road, South Patterson Boulevard, carries the family name.
Locally the structure has gone by several names. Officially it is the Patterson Tower, but generations of area residents have called it the Witch's Tower, Frankenstein's Castle, and Patterson's Castle for its bare stone and its brooding silhouette above the tree line.
On May 17, 1967, lightning struck the tower during a storm. Two Bellbrook High School students had stepped inside to wait out the rain. Peggy Harmeson, 16, was killed; her companion, 17, survived with serious injuries. The tower's interior was closed to the public after her death and has remained sealed since. The surrounding park, operated by Five Rivers MetroParks, stays open daily, and the tower is now one of the Dayton area's most recognized landmarks.
Sources
The reports attached to the tower trace directly back to the 1967 lightning strike. Visitors who come after dark, especially during storms, describe two faint, shadowy figures standing near the base of the structure. Inside the sealed tower, a woman in a white dress is said to appear in the dark, and some accounts describe a low black mist that gathers around the stone and drives onlookers back toward the trees.
The nicknames did as much as any sighting to build the site's reputation. For decades the Witch's Tower and Frankenstein's Castle drew teenagers, thrill-seekers, and amateur ghost hunters to the ridge, and the stories grew with each retelling. Ohio ghost-lore collections and regional writers have documented the tower's standing as one of the Dayton area's better-known haunted spots. The claims are folklore built on a real and documented tragedy; the park asks visitors to treat the closed structure and the surrounding grounds with respect.
Notable Entities
Walk the wooded trails of Hills & Dales MetroPark to the stone tower on the ridge. The interior has been sealed since 1967, so visitors view and photograph the structure from the outside. The park is open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and access is free.
Some links on this page may earn HauntBound a small commission when you book, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial picks are independent. Full disclosure
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Free Guide
11 verified stops, rated for families, mapped in order. Free.
One email to confirm, then the guide link. Unsubscribe anytime.
Gatlinburg, TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park preserves 522,427 acres of southern Appalachian terrain across Tennessee and North Carolina. The land was the heart of the Cherokee Nation before forced removal in 1838 along what became the Trail of Tears, and home to Appalachian Scots-Irish and English settler communities through the early twentieth century. Congress authorized the park in 1926; it was formally dedicated by Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 2, 1940.
Linville Falls, NC
The Linville Gorge Wilderness in Burke County, North Carolina is part of the Pisgah National Forest and contains the deepest river gorge in the eastern United States. The Brown Mountain Lights — unexplained luminous phenomena visible from Wiseman's View and other overlooks near the gorge — were first reported in published accounts around 1910. A 1922 investigation by USGS scientist George R. Mansfield attempted to explain them as reflected headlights and brush fires but could not account for all reported sightings.
Marion, NC
Linville Gorge, carved by the Linville River through the southern Blue Ridge Mountains of Burke and McDowell Counties, is the deepest river gorge in the eastern United States. Managed as wilderness within Pisgah National Forest, the gorge has been associated with the Brown Mountain Lights phenomenon since at least 1910, when documented reports began appearing in print. USGS scientist George R. Mansfield conducted the first formal government investigation in 1922.