The Ghost Above the Tunnel - Moonville Tunnel

Legend:

The ghost of a drunken man who was murdered near Moonville Tunnel is said to walk above the tunnel and toss pebbles at those below.

Baldie Keeton was from Moonville right around 1886. And his ghost story has been told by locals for more than a hundred years. He was forty-eight when he died.

One evening, Baldie headed to the Hope-Moonville Saloon and got drunk.  It was said he loved to fight and when he did, he would give his opponent a huge bear hug to subdue him. On the night Baldie Keeton died, he was drunk and in the mood to fight. One thing led to another and eventually, Baldie Keeton got into a fight at the bar. He bear-hugged a man and was told to leave town “or else”. Although, he was warned, it is said it took some persuasion to get him out the door.

On his way home, Baldie Keeton was jumped and murdered. He was found the next morning, however his killers were never identified. It is said his ghost has been seen above the tunnel, standing still and solitary. He has been known to throw rocks and pebbles at those walking beneath.

HHaunted Ohio - Hocking HillsMoonville Tunnel

Effects have been added to this image to illustrate real accounts of experiences.

Here is an account from Mike Shea August 16, 1961 as written in his collections:

"Baldie Keeton (David) was big and powerful and when in a fight or foolin' around he would hug a man and squeeze him. One day in Mat Lockhart's saloon he tried to squeeze Jim Mace and Jim knocked him over the bar and into the bottles. Then he go Baldie's head and bent him over the bar ready to break his neck but was talked out of it. A Dunn tried to break it up earlier in the fight and Jim "damn near killed him". Baldie was finally killed near the coal washer near the Bighouse place - supposedly by a train but everyone figured he was murdered."