Ghosts of Punderson Manor

Visiting Punderson State Park on a sunny day may bring visions of swimming in the lake, golfing on an 18-hole course, playing tennis, fishing, hiking or enjoying a family picnic. However, some visitors venturing into the park’s stately manor lodge on a dark evening see more sinister visions as Punderson Manor ghosts reportedly roam the property.

I’ve roamed the property many times while attending a yearly writers’ conference at the manor lodge, searching out some of the corners and crannies reportedly haunted by Punderson’s most troubled apparitions. I’ve yet to spy a ghost, but I still enjoy hearing the puzzling tales of Punderson’s past residents.

The lodge, originally built as a 29-room home by Detroit millionaire Karl Long, sits on the shores of quiet Punderson Lake as park of Ohio’s Punderson State Park, a few miles east of Cleveland.

Lemuel Punderson settled on the property during the early 1800s, building a distillery, grist mill and home near the lake. The park’s namesake died under mysterious circumstances, with one of the more colorful rumors involving his reportedly committing suicide by drifting into the lake in a bathtub, pulling the plug and drowning.

W.B. Cleveland and his family next occupied the land, before its sale to Karl Long.

Long began building his Tudor-style mansion in 1929, but the stock market crash of that year led to a sharp decline in his fortune. Long died among unsubstantiated rumors of suicide and leaving behind the unfinished hulk of a home.

The State of Ohio acquired the property in 1948, eventually renovating the mansion and opening the property as a park and vacation resort in 1956. A second renovation in the early 1980s resulted in the addition of a new wing of hotel-like rooms in the lodge and conference center.

Park rangers, lodge employees and guests report numerous unexplained sounds and apparitions in the older portion of the lodge.

I’ve always stayed in the newer wing of the lodge, but I make it a point to ascend the lobby’s spiral staircase and prowl around the common areas of the original wing during each stay.

Laughing children playing on the spiral stairs, sometimes accompanied by a woman in mid-1800s clothing or a rush of cold air, occasionally appear to visitors and workers during the night. More disturbing visions like a man hanging from a chandelier in the dining room, the sounds of moans coming from supposedly unoccupied rooms or the uneasy feeling that something is sitting on the bed next to them sometimes spook visitors and park employees.

I always visit the supposedly spooky narrow hallway leading to the site of some of the most notorious ghostly tales, sit a spell in the small library of the old Tower wing and sometimes visit the library or a small lounge in the wing with friends to share a post conference bottle of wine.

While I’ve yet to spy any of Punderson’s uneasy spirits, I remember one of my fellow conference attendees reporting the unsettling experience of sensing an unseen visitor in her room one evening.

Punderson’s paranormal reputation makes it an interesting destination for those seeking supernatural experiences, like this geocaching travel bug we left along a hiking trail in the park. But the lovely lodge and park is also enjoyable for those who aren’t so easily spooked or sensitive to the site’s ghostly history.

© Dominique King 2008

Comments

[Rachel Burton]

What a cool old manor. I was just commenting on someone's blog yesterday that I've never experienced a haunting but would love to have one of those stories to tell! Maybe I should check this place out!

[jared alexander]

going to be staying there in june the wedding should be even more fun having read this

[Dominique King]

Jared-Have fun at the wedding. Be sure to prowl around the older part of the lodge if you're looking for the ghosts :)

[becky]

i went to the punderson manor with my boyfriend just to look around. i felt an odd presence and aimlessly ran around from place to place as though something were making me go there. the library felt really haunted i bet there is something hidden there.

[Dominique King]

Becky-Thanks for stopping by! I've been in that library many times, but never felt and otherworldly presences. The one conference attendee I mention in the story that felt an unseen visitor in her room (sitting on her bed, no less) stayed quite close to the library in the old wing, though.

[Dan]

Its funny you mention the library .. about 13 years ago our family used to go up to Punderson for brunch quite often. One time bothy my sisters were exploring and went into the library. When they walked in, they saw a little boy reading in one of the chairs. They thought nothing of it until they walked out of the room and went down the hall into another room. To their surprise that exact same kid was sitting in a chair just staring at them this time.

To this day they talk about that time and how weird it was. Sadly i decided the game room was more entertaining and missed my chance :(

[Dominique King]

Dan-I have heard a lot of stories about sightings of kids that seem a little spooky or strange, and your sisters' story seems to fit right in!
I've always wondered why I haven't spotted or felt any spooky things, but maybe I'm just as happy I haven't.

[Iesha]

I stayed at Punderson Manor after moving to Ohio from Tennessee a couple of months ago. Of course I heard everyone's typical ghosts sightings from a couple of workers there, but I suppose I never took into consideration how real these stories could actually be until my experience there. I stayed in room 238 called the Victorian room. Which was the original room 8. First, I am one who is not a morning person nor do I ever wake up randomly in the middle of the night. After my long day of walking around the manor I decided to call it a night. Therefore, I got into bed and quickly fell asleep. Around 4:05am the feeling of pressure on my chest started to wake me up. I was in the thought of it having to be my boyfriend wrapping his hands around me. Which every night I sleep with the covers over my head and a little bit of my feet left out from the blankets. As I began to try and push his arms off me, I quickly came to the realization of how heavy this pressure exactly was. So I uncovered my face a little and due to the two lights from across the lake there was a little light gleaming into our room. I saw a dark movement across the bed but was just assuming it was my boyfriend turning over and that it had been him laying on me. So as I turned my head to look over at him I happened to notice he was completely across the bed facing the opposite direction and as I looked next to him I realized there was absolutely no movement on the bed. I quickly came to the realization where I was at and all the stories I had heard that evening. I started hitting him in the back to wake him up and turn on the light. As he woke up to turn on the light to the left side of him and of our bed I heard a girls voice. Although the voice was so clear I could not make out what she was saying. I asked if he just heard that??? He asked was it a little girls voice? I said yes!! Right at that moment he started screaming in pain he couldn't even described the pain or speak to me at the moment. Later he explained it as if something was pressing on everything inside of him. The pain lasted approximately 1-2 minutes. After the pain went away the room turned extremely extremely cold. It was still summer at the time and I had sweats as well as a sweater on. Me and him both were experiencing this exact change in temperature. I felt as if whatever it was, was angry at me for waking my bf up. I quickly rushed downstairs where I sat in the chair by the stairs until 8 that morning. All I know is I have never experienced anything like I did there before and because of my experience with Punderson Manor I am a firm believer that place has more than it's guests staying there!

[Dominique King]

Lesha-Wow, that's some story! I guess the good thing may be that you didn't experience that alone. One story I heard recently came from a tour group leader who got a panicked call in the middle of the night once from a woman in her tour group after the tour group member had a ghostly experience in their own room. The leader ended up having to take the woman into her own room for the rest of the night because the poor lady was so spooked! I'm not so sure I'd want to stay in the old wing myself =%0