Est. 1937 · 1910 Big Four Railway Disaster Triage Site · Ohio Transportation History
The community of Poasttown was established in 1818 when Peter Post laid out a settlement he originally called West Liberty. By 1848, when Post became the town's first postmaster, the name had changed to honor its founder. The railroad came through, and with it both commerce and risk.
The land that would eventually hold the elementary school witnessed two major rail disasters before a single classroom was built on it. In 1891, a collision between passenger and freight trains at the site killed four people and injured fifty. More consequentially, on July 4, 1910, an off-schedule Big Four passenger train collided with a freight train in what became one of the worst rail accidents in Ohio history. Reported death tolls for the collision range from 24 to 36 people depending on the source. Some historians say the field where Poasttown School would later stand was used as an improvised triage and treatment area in the immediate aftermath.
The Great Flood of 1913 compounded the area's catalogue of disasters, claiming six lives near Middletown.
Poasttown Elementary opened September 7, 1937, with a formal dedication on April 15, 1938. It operated as a functioning public school until 2000 — sixty-three years on ground saturated with the history of two rail disasters and a flood. The building closed when the district consolidated its facilities.
Since 2000 the building has been operated as a paranormal investigation venue, hosting events through Ghost Hunt Weekends, Eerie Excursions, and American Hauntings. Its appearance on Travel Channel programs has made it one of the more recognizable investigation venues in Ohio.
Sources
- https://poasttownschool.com/history/
- https://www.ghosthuntweekends.com/events/poasttown-elementary-school-wraith-hunt-2
- https://www.wcpo.com/longform/inside-poasttown-elementary-butler-countys-haunted-abandoned-school
Shadow figuresEVPEMF anomaliesTouching/pushingPhantom soundsLights flickeringEquipment malfunction
The child spirit is the account that investigators return to most consistently when describing Poasttown Elementary. Multiple independent witnesses describe being grabbed or touched by unseen hands — not a push or an aggressive contact but what investigators characterize as a child reaching out the way children do, for attention or curiosity. The giggling that accompanies these reports is specific enough that investigators have captured audio recordings they identify as the same sound.
Shadow figures are reported throughout the building, in corridors and in individual classrooms. Investigators describe them as passing through doorways, pausing in hallways, and occasionally standing at the ends of corridors at the edge of flashlight range.
The electrical anomalies at Poasttown have been documented across multiple investigation groups: EMF meters respond in patterns that investigators interpret as directional rather than random, and lights have been reported turning on and off in unoccupied sections of the building without apparent cause.
Investigators from Travel Channel's Haunted Towns and Ghost Asylum — Mike and Chris, who now host Ghost Hunt Weekends events at the site — have conducted multiple investigations and documented their findings on-screen. Their continued return to the location reflects their assessment that results have been sufficiently consistent to warrant repeated visits.
The historical framework investigators bring to Poasttown is specific: a field full of the dying and dead on July 4, 1910, later built over with classrooms. Whether this framework shapes what investigators experience or accurately describes the source of documented phenomena is a question the site itself does not resolve.
Media Appearances
- Ghost Brothers: Haunted Houseguests (Travel Channel)
- Haunted Towns
- Ghost Asylum
