Chillicothe Ghost Walk: Porch Swing Days

It’s time to tell the fourth and final story from the Chillicothe Ghost Walk. My last stop on the tour was at an antique store called Porch Swing Days. That’s the business that occupies this building now but it’s an extremely old building that has served many purposes over the decades.

For some years it housed a business that sold tin like you find on ceilings in old buildings. In fact, the ceiling in here is gorgeous. Many folks remember it as a candy store too. Today it is a neat store that specializes in a good selection of primitive antiques and reproductions.

Our guide related stories about former business owners who still visit in the afterlife and about an elderly woman who she witnessed working at a Hoosier cabinet in the corner they very morning. The guide said the apparition wasn’t impressed with having a guest in her space while she was busy working.

The best thing about these tours is that you get access into areas that the public ordinarily never sees. In this case, we got to see the basement.

Before the ghost tour they bring in someone who visits each stop and attempts to communicate with any ghosts present. This person said that this is one of the most haunted places in Chillicothe.

She related a story about a man with a broken leg associated with the building’s old coal bin. She also mentioned two men who claimed to be guarding a portal of some sort. This comment freaked out the other people on the tour but I found it intriguing. There’s actually an underground tunnel in this old section of Chillicothe. I don’t know how extensive it is or where it goes but I got to see a tunnel entrance in the basement at the Crosskeys Tavern a couple of years ago. I suspect that this storefront is part of the tunnel system.

The only thing that I experienced that day that was even remotely unexplainable occurred in this basement. There supposedly is a woman down there who is alone and scared and who presented herself to the ghost hunter, smelling strongly of a floral perfume.

I smelled the perfume. Strongly. So strongly that I badly wanted to cough. And then it was gone. I don’t mean the scent faded. I mean it disappeared as quickly as it occurred.

So weird.

Anyway, if you ever get a chance to do the Chillicothe Ghost Walk, I highly recommend it. The cost is just $10. You go at your own pace and get a guided tour at each of the sites. You get a lot of history and some fun stories and it’s good use of a Saturday as we enter the spooky season.

You can search to find the other stories I’ve written about this year’s tour. The other stops were the old county jail, the Majestic Theater and the current Masonic Lodge.

Chillicothe Ghost Walk

Yesterday I told you about meeting a ghost during my visit to Crosskeys Tavern. The rest of the ghost walk was pretty uneventful where the otherworldly are concerned but I had a great time anyway.

Thought you might enjoy a few more pictures from the tour sites.

The Majestic Theater is one of my favorite places in Chillicothe but I’m always a little sad at how unloved it has been for many years. Thankfully, there is some activity afoot and plans are underway to at least triage the grand ballroom upstairs. Community theater performances, comedy shows and bands sometimes use the stage here. About once a month they show old movies for just $5 a ticket. Go, if you can. There’s never many people and it’s fun to see movies like Pretty Woman and others on the big screen.

 

Plans to go inside the Foulke Block didn’t work out but we still had a great tour of the outside here. I had no idea that there is a walkway and basement access to storefronts underneath the sidewalk.

I’ve been by this staircase many times but never gave it a second thought.

This is what’s happening underneath the sidewalk!

One of our tour guides indicated that there once were more of these walkways in town but they have succumbed to age and progress. I’m not sure if it was this guide but I like his style and he did a nice job.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the Odd Fellows Lodge. This group is sort of a mystery to me but I know Vinton County once had three lodges. They’re all gone but the Odd Fellows continue to this day in other communities.

 

I even got my picture taken standing on the gorgeous old altar of the Odd Fellows. If you’re an Odd Fellow, I’m guessing you will think this is sacrilege. My apologies but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!

 

If you’re in the Chillicothe area the next time they have one of these Ghost Walks, my advice is to go. It’s just $10 a ticket and a fun way to pass an afternoon. I had to wait in line at three of five locations but the lines went pretty quickly. I think it took about four hours to do the entire thing and it was extremely interesting and a lot of fun. The event gives you a peak behind the scenes of places you might not otherwise notice.