Lake Shawnee Amusement Park

Summary

---

Sightings – Lake Shawnee Amusement Park

Host: McLeod Andrews
Co-Host: Brian Sigley
Podcast: Sightings (REVERB | QCODE)
Date: August 18, 2025

---

Overview

This episode of Sightings delves into the chilling legends and tragic history surrounding the Lake Shawnee Amusement Park in West Virginia, known as one of America's most haunted sites. Through a dramatic narrative based on the real experiences of former park owner Gaylord White, the hosts explore the site’s haunted reputation, its grisly past, and the intersection of local folklore with historical fact. The immersive story is followed by an in-depth discussion unpacking the park's layered tragedies—from indigenous history and settler violence to devastating accidents during its years of operation.

---

Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Setting the Scene: A Haunted Vacation

[02:13]

• The hosts introduce the week's destination as a “haunted amusement park,” setting a playful but eerie tone.
• McLeod jokes, “Put on that sunscreen. Maybe a bit of ghost screen, too, if that exists.”

---

2. The Story of Gaylord White and Lake Shawnee

[02:43 – 24:16]

Early Memories and Nostalgia

• Gaylord White reminisces about first seeing Lake Shawnee in 1964 as a teen, describing its welcoming charm and quaint rides.
  • “That Ferris wheel stood tall against the West Virginia sky, painted bright turquoise and red...” ([03:35])
• He recalls rumors: a girl hurt on the swings, a boy drowned in the pond, and stories of a massacre before West Virginia’s statehood.

Rebuilding the Park

• 20 years after its closure, White purchases and restores the property, sourcing vintage rides and painting everything in lively colors.
  • "Finding a decent Ferris wheel was the easy part...but the swing ride was proven to be more of a challenge." ([05:50])

First Supernatural Encounters

• Working alone, White experiences unexplainable happenings—seeing shadows and hearing music from rides not yet operational.
• The most startling: seeing a spectral little girl in a white dress riding the swing late at night, only for her to vanish. He later discovers that the ride is the very one from the tragic past.
  • “Turns out that swing ride...was the original Lake Shawnee swing ride. Phew. The same one where that little girl had died all those years ago. Well, no wonder then, that she'd appeared to me. She'd come home.” ([12:25])

Ghosts Among the Living

• Despite his fears, White opens the park. Guests and staff report sightings of a solitary, old-fashioned boy who repeatedly vanishes.
• White himself attempts to save a “floating boy” in the pond in front of witnesses—but the apparition disappears as soon as he reaches.

Uncovering Older Tragedies

• Research at the historical society reveals the little girl (“Susan”) was killed in a swing accident; the drowned boy (“Tommy”) was one of several such deaths.
• Mrs. Patterson, the local historian, reveals deeper horror: the park stands on the site of the 18th-century Clay Massacre and an ancient Native American burial ground, discovered during an expansion dig.
  • “She said that the tragedies at the park were only the latest in a long line of deaths on that land ... less than 100 yards from where I'd installed the swing ride.” ([16:30])
  • White realizes his park is "doomed," recognizing it as sacred land, ultimately closing and fearing for what future owners may invite.

---

3. After the Story: Hosts’ Discussion & Historical Context

[25:58 – 39:52]

The Real Gaylord White and the Park’s Layout

• The hosts confirm Gaylord White was a real owner, succeeded by his children. Brian shares, “He certainly did [work there as a teen] ... wanted to return it to its former glory. I suppose that's hard to do in land that's haunted.” ([31:01])
• Description of the park: simple, open, resembling a rural carnival more than a modern theme park.

Layered Historical Tragedy

• The Clay Massacre: Settlement by Mitchell Clay's family in 1770s led to deadly conflict; children murdered during a raid, the land earning a bloody reputation even before the park.
  • “One day in 1783 ... Native American hunting party attacked the homestead, killed a few of the kids ... called the Clay Massacre.” ([28:30])
• The amusement park, established in the 1920s, saw at least six fatalities—including the notorious swing ride death and numerous drownings.

Unexplained Experiences and Hauntings

• Reports of multiple apparitions: White’s and others’ sightings of the little girl, a mysterious boy, and even an adult man seen leaping from the Ferris wheel.
  • “There's apparently a man who's often seen in one of the Ferris wheel cars ... even seen jumping from it.” ([32:03])
• Some accounts include hearing “Native American drums,” though the hosts are skeptical about this trope.

The Discovery of the Native Burial Ground

• After closure, construction exposed a significant burial ground—estimates range from 13 to up to 3,000 Shawnee graves.
  • “They really have determined that that's probably just a smaller part of what is much more likely a larger burial ground.” ([33:14–33:36])

Cultural Reflection

• The hosts discuss the mishandling of sacred lands, linking the trope of “native burial grounds” to other horror stories (Poltergeist, Amityville).
  • “It's become almost a horror trope in a way, you know. Oh, the house is buried on Indian [land].” ([35:11])
• They seek more historically informed perspectives and invite feedback from listeners knowledgeable in Native American customs.

---

4. The Park Today & Final Thoughts

[37:12 – 39:13]

• Lake Shawnee remains closed, its rusting rides overgrown—yet open to the occasional ghost tour or paranormal investigator.
• The image descriptions of the abandoned Ferris wheel and swing ride evoke both nostalgia and unease.
  • “This swing is nightmare fuel ... it looks like a torture device ... no harnesses, no safety harnesses...” ([38:07])
• The park serves as a cautionary tale about forgetting (or refusing to respect) the history beneath our amusements.

---

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Some places don't forget the past. And they don't forgive it, either.”
  — McLeod Andrews, [01:21]

• “Turns out that swing ride...was the original Lake Shawnee swing ride. Phew. The same one where that little girl had died all those years ago.”
  — Gaylord White (voiced), [12:25]

• “She said that the tragedies at the park were only the latest in a long line of deaths on that land.”
  — Gaylord White (voiced), [16:30]

• “It's become almost a horror trope in a way, you know. Oh, the house is buried on Indian [land].”
  — Brian Sigley, [35:11]

• “Of a lot of the places that I feel like we've discussed, this one seems like it has the setup more than most to be a haunted place.”
  — Brian Sigley, [36:19]

• Image Description (The Swings):
  — Guest/Co-host, [38:07]:
  “This swing is nightmare fuel ... it looks like a torture device ... no harnesses, no safety harnesses. It's just a swing that you would have to just hold onto as this thing spins you...”

---

Important Segment Timestamps

• [02:43] Gaylord White’s narrative begins
• [12:25] Discovery of the original haunted swing ride
• [16:30] Reveal of historical massacre and burial ground
• [25:58] Hosts begin detailed discussion and real-life context
• [28:01] Explaining the Clay Massacre and the land’s violent history
• [31:01] Confirmation of Gaylord White’s personal connection
• [33:14–33:36] Burials unearthed—mass grave confirmed
• [38:07] Modern description of the abandoned park/rides

---

Conclusion: What Haunts Lake Shawnee?

Lake Shawnee Amusement Park is more than a collection of folkloric ghost stories; it's a real location layered with loss, violence, and historical neglect. The episode masterfully balances its eerie, immersive storytelling with respectful historical analysis. The hosts suggest that while the site’s supernatural reputation may be up for debate, the true “haunting” comes both from the factual tragedies that occurred and the lingering aftershocks of cultural amnesia. The hosts encourage listeners with experience or knowledge of Lake Shawnee—or similar haunted sites—to share their stories for future episodes.

---

Next Episode Preview:
The team heads to Mississippi for an “alien abduction story ... different than all the ones we've done before.”
— Brian Sigley, [39:35]

---

Transcript

[Navy Advertiser]

You say you'll never join the Navy, that you'd never track storms brewing in the Atlantic and skydiving could never be part of your commute. You'd never climb Mount Fuji on a port visit or fly so fast you break the sound barrier. Joining the Navy sounds crazy, saying never actually is. Start your [e-mail] America's Navy forged by the sea. You say you'll never join the Navy, never climb Mount Fuji on a port visit, or break the sound barrier. Joining the Navy sounds crazy, saying never actually is. Learn [e-mail] America's Navy forged by the sea.

[Automated Phone System]

If you know your party's Extension, press or say 1.

[McLeod Andrews]

To leave a message in our company.

[Automated Phone System]

Mailbox, press or say 2.

[McLeod Andrews]

Spoiler alert.

[Brian Sigley]

It will be full representative.

[Automated Phone System]

Would you speak to your mother in that tone?

[Brian Sigley]

Speak to a real human being.

[McLeod Andrews]

You shouldn't need to shout into the.

[Pacific Source Health Plans Advertiser]

Void to get your health insurance questions answered.

[Brian Sigley]

Pacific Source Health plans.

[McLeod Andrews]

This is a real person.

[Brian Sigley]

How can I help you?

[Pacific Source Health Plans Advertiser]

Human service, not automated phone trees. Pacific Source Health plans.

[McLeod Andrews]

Amusement parks are built for joy, where laughter, echoes, and memories are made. But what happens when those echoes refuse to fade? When something lingers behind the rusting rides and overgrown walkways? Because some places don't forget the past. And they don't forgive it, either. Welcome to Sightings, the series that takes you inside the world's most mysterious supernatural events. Each episode brings you a thrilling story that puts you at the center of the action, followed by a discussion that dives into the accounts that inspired the story and our takes on them. I'm McLeod.

[Brian Sigley]

And I'm Brian. And welcome back after another week's break. But, McCloud, we are still in the heat of the summer, which means it is time to take another fun vacation.

[McLeod Andrews]

Oh, no. Last week, we went off the coast of Florida to the Bermuda Triangle for.

[Guest or Co-host]

Our vacay, which, I have to say.

[McLeod Andrews]

Was not in the brochure, Brian, so.

[Guest or Co-host]

Oh, do I actually want to know.

[McLeod Andrews]

Where we're going this week?

[Brian Sigley]

Well, an amusement park doesn't sound so bad, does it?

[McLeod Andrews]

Oh, yeah. I can handle that, I think.

[Brian Sigley]

Well, I should say one thing, though.

[McLeod Andrews]

Here it comes.

[Brian Sigley]

It's not just any amusement park. It is a haunted one.

[Guest or Co-host]

Of course it is. That's what I was afraid of. So buckle up, everybody.

[McLeod Andrews]

Put on that sunscreen. Maybe a bit of ghost screen, too, if that exists. And venture with us to Lake Shawnee, a little place that's paradise for the dead. Oh, shucks. My name is Gaylord White, and I reckon I should Start by saying I never intended to become the owner of what some folks call the most haunted place in America. When I bought Lake Shawnee, all I intended was to bring back and share a piece of my younger days. A place where families could come together on hot summer days and forget about their troubles for a while. I first saw Lake Shawnee Amusement park in the summer of 1964, when I was just 16 and looking for my first job. And I have to tell you, as soon as I walked through those gates, I fell in love with the place. It wasn't fancy, nothing like the big amusement parks you'd see in magazines, but it had a charm that caught you right away and wouldn't let you go. That Ferris wheel stood tall against the West Virginia sky, painted bright turquoise and red that seemed to shimmer like. And the swing ride swung lazy circles near the center of the park, always humming a pleasant tune there was more of. But mostly I remember the kids with their sticky fingers and wide grins and exhausted parents trailing behind. I ended up working there three summers straight, first in maintenance and later helping operate the rides. And I loved every minute of it. Maybe just because it was all so simple compared to my adult life that came after. And, you know, sure, there were stories about the place. There always are in parks like that. You know, talks of accidents that happened over the years, about the little girl who'd been hurt on the swings and, unfortunately, the boy who'd drowned in the swimming pond. The older employees liked to whisper about all that, and if you pressed them, they might even tell you the real old stories. The ones about the family massacred on this land well before West Virginia even became a state. But honestly, I never paid much attention to that kind of talk. You know, it all just got bigger with each telling. But it must have taken hold, I guess, because the park closed for good just after my last summer there. I'd heard it was a whole mess of reasons. Insurance, safety regulations, maybe just changing times. So for the next 20 years, I'd drive past the abandoned place whenever I was back in the area. And it just. It broke my heart to see those beautiful rides surrendered to rust and weeds. And that's when an idea started forming in my head. What if someone could bring the park back? You know, by 1985, I'd saved up enough money to make a serious offer on the property, and that's exactly what I did. And the day I signed the papers, I felt like a kid again. I walked through those rusty gates as the new owner of Lake Shawnee Amusement park. And I swear I could almost hear laughter echoing through the trees. Of course, actually bringing the place back to life turned out to be a bigger job than I'd bargained for. The few remaining old rides were beyond saving, so I had to start from scratch, hunting down equipment from carnivals and smaller parks that were going out of business. Finding a decent Ferris wheel was the easy part. There was an outfit in Pennsylvania that specialized in refurbishing carnival rides, and they had a beautiful wheel that was just the right size for Lake Shawnee. When it arrived, on three different flatbed trucks, I spent hours just walking around it, admiring the fresh paint and imagining how it would look spinning against the sky. But the swing ride was proven to be more of a challenge. That circular swing, you know, with the seats hanging from long chains that spin and spin, well, that had been the heart of Lake Shawnee, at least in my mind. I must have called two dozen suppliers, describing exactly what I was looking for, and most of them had modern versions. But I wanted something that would capture the spirit of the original, something that would make visitors feel like they'd stepped back in time. So finally, a dealer in New Jersey told me he had exactly what I needed. It was from a park that had been long closed, and from his description, it sounded perfect. And it was. When it arrived, the ride looked almost identical to the one I'd remembered. Same style of seats, same chains, even painted in similar colors. I mean, it really was almost like finding a long lost piece of my past. So over the next months, I threw myself into restoration work. I repainted everything in those classic park colors. Bright turquoise, fire engine red, and forest green. I rebuilt the concession stands and repaired the walkways. I even had the old pool dredged and refilled, though I decided against reopening it for swimming. You know, times had changed, and liability was a bigger concern than it used to be. Working alone on the property gave me plenty of time to think and remember. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me notice some things out there. Odd things, you could say. It started with shadows in my peripheral vision. Nothing crazy, you know. I'd just be focused on painting or repairs and catch a glimpse of movement somewhere across the park. I'd look up, of course, expecting to see a deer or dog or something, but there'd be nothing there. Just empty space where I could have sworn I'd seen someone walking. And then there was the music. I was wiring the Ferris wheel when I heard it. That cheerful carnival melody. The swing Ride used to play when it was operating. I dropped my tools and followed the sound across the park. But as I got closer to the swing ride, the music seemed to fade. And by the time I reached the ride itself, everything was dead silent. I checked the electrical connections and remembered they weren't even hooked up yet. So, you know, how had I heard it playing? I'd know that sound anywhere. But ultimately, I chalked it up to memory playing tricks on me. Sometimes when you spend that much time thinking about the past, I figure our brains can fill in details that aren't really there, you know, that's what I told myself, at least. As summer approached, I hired a small crew to operate the rides and run concessions. Most of them were young folks looking for seasonal work, but a few were older locals with their own memories of the place. Having other souls in the park with me finally made everything feel more real, more legitimate. And by the eve of our grand reopening, I felt like we were ready to go. So, end of the night, I'm there alone. Everyone else had gone home for some much needed rest, but I decided to do one final walk through of the park. You know, just making sure everything was tip top and everything was perfect. And I realized I was just being a worrywart. So I. I was just about to head home when I heard that familiar music of the swing ride drifting across the park. And now I knew the power was off. This time, I'd even locked the control booth myself. So I hurried toward the ride, and I found the swing spinning slowly, which was odd enough. But there was something else. One of the swings wasn't empty. The seat held a little girl, feet dangling as she rose and fell with the gentle motion of the ride. She couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old, wearing what looked like a white dress that seemed to glow in the moonlight. She was just up there laughing, having a ball as she spun around and around, up and down, enjoying herself. Just as I hoped park patrons would. But this was no park patron. We weren't open yet. And surely an 8 year old couldn't have figured out how to turn that ride on and needed a key after all. And that key was hanging from my belt. So I called out, asking who the girl was and how she'd gotten into the park, but she didn't respond, didn't even seem to hear me. She just kept swinging with that peaceful expression on her face. So I ran to the control booth and fumbled with McKee to shut the thing off. And as the ride slowed and music Faded. I looked back toward the swing where I'd seen the little girl. But now every last one of those seats were empty. There was no sign of that girl anywhere. At least not as far as I could see. So I just stood there, searching the moonlight when something else caught my eye. Near the motor housing, there was a small metal plate I'd somehow missed during my restoration work. A plate with the serial number. And as I looked close, I realized that number seemed familiar. So I ran to my office, where I had records of all the original equipment from when the park first closed. And as I searched the files, I found what I was looking for. Yep. Turns out that swing ride I'd bought in New Jersey, the one that seemed so similar to my memories. Well, it wasn't just similar to the original Lake Shawnee ride. It was the original Lake Shawnee swing ride. Phew. The same one where that little girl had died all those years ago. Well, no wonder then, that she'd appeared to me. She'd come home. And with opening day coming in just a few hours, I got a feeling that seeing the little girl on the swing was just the beginning of what this place had in store for me.

[Automated Phone System]

If you work as a manufacturing facilities engineer, installing a new piece of equipment can be as complex as the machinery itself. From prep work to alignment and testing, it's your team's job to put it all together. That's why it's good to have Grainger on your side. With industrial grade products and next day delivery, Grainger helps ensure you have everything you need close at hand through every step of the installation. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. If you work as a manufacturing facilities engineer, installing a new piece of equipment can be as complex as the machinery itself. From prep work to alignment and testing, it's your team's job to put it all together. That's why it's good to have Grainger on your side. With industrial grade products. And next day delivery Grainger helps ensure you have everything you need close at hand through every step of the installation. Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. If you work as a manufacturing facilities engineer, installing a new piece of equipment can be as complex as the machinery itself. From prep work to alignment and testing, it's your team's job to put it all together. That's why it's good to have Grainger on your side. With industrial grade products and next day delivery. Grainger helps ensure you have everything you need close at hand through every step of the installation. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgrainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[McLeod Andrews]

As the entrance gates opened for the first time the next morning, I felt like I had a stone sitting in my stomach. And as families arrived smiling and waving, all I could do was stare at the swing rod and picture that little girl in that white dress spinning round and round with that peaceful smile on her face. But what was I supposed to do? Cancel opening day because I'd seen a ghost? So I put on my best smile and ushered my first guests into the park. For most of that first day, things went smoothly. Kids laughed on the Ferris wheel, parents bought cotton candy from concessions, and the swing ride spun just like it was supposed to. And with no phantom riders, I even started to relax a little, hoping maybe I'd just let my imagination get the better of me the night before. Then Sarah, one of my teenage employees, came running up to me, looking white as a sheet. She said there was a little boy hanging out alone around the entrance, but something wasn't right about him. And when she tried to find his parents, he just disappeared. She described him as maybe 6 years old, with dark hair and distinctly old fashioned clothes. Over the next few days, even more reports came in. A mother said she'd seen a young boy standing by himself near a ticket booth, looking lost and confused. But when she approached to help, he'd vanished into thin air. One of the ride operators swore he'd seen the same child multiple times, always at the edge of the crowd, always alone, and always disappearing the moment anyone tried to get close. I began to worry that Lake Shawnee was collecting ghosts. Then I laughed it all off as nonsense. But then came the incident that, oh boy, it really shook me. It happened about two weeks after we'd opened. It was a busy Saturday afternoon and families were scattered all around the park. The old swimming pond was clearly marked as off limits. I'd even put a small fence around it, but people still like to walk over and look at the water. So I was over by the Ferris wheel when I heard a sound no one wants to hear at a park that has no roller coasters. I heard the sound of screaming. So I ran over to find a woman pointing at the pond and shouting that there was a child in the water. And I tell you what, I could see him too. A little boy, maybe seven years old, floating in the center of the pond. Like he was drowned. So I jumped the fence and dove straight into the pond. And that water was deeper than I'd expected. And colder, too. I swam hard towards where I'd seen the boy, expecting to grab him and pull him to safety. But when I reached that spot where he'd been struggling, well, there was nothing there. I dove down, feeling the murky bottom, thinking maybe he'd gone under, but there was nothing. No body, no movement. Nothing but old leaves and some mud. So as I come up gasping and looking around, hoping he'd somehow made it to shore on his own, but the woman who'd first spotted him was staring at me with the strangest expression, and she shouted that he disappeared the moment I hit the water. One second he was there, and the next, it was as if he'd never existed. So I dragged myself out of the pond and spend the rest of the day trying to convince myself that we'd all seen a shadow on the water or a trick of the light. But, you know, deep down, I knew better. That boy in the pond was the same one people had been seeing around the entrance. And I had a sneaking suspicion he was the same child who drowned in this park decades ago. So as I decided to do some real research into the park's history, I needed to understand what I was dealing with here. Where I started my research was at the county historical society, where a woman named Mrs. Patterson had been keeping records for longer than anyone could remember. When I told her I was the new owner of Lake Shawnee, she got this odd look that was part sympathy, part concern, like she was looking at someone who'd unknowingly walked into quicksand. She pulls out a thick folder with old newspaper clippings, photographs, and handwritten accounts. And it was right there I began to learn the real details about what had happened in the park over the years. That little girl on the swings. Well, her name was Susan, and she'd been killed when a truck backed into the swing ride while it was in operation. And there was an old photograph in the file. And the moment I saw it, I realized it was the exact same face I'd seen on the swing ride that night. And then there was the boy who drowned. One of several, actually. But Tommy, age 6, had separated from his parents and fallen into the pond decades ago. And his photo showed the exact same child I'd seen the day before. Now, if that wasn't unnerving enough, what Mrs. Patterson told me next left me outright shaken. She said that the tragedies at the park were only the latest in a long line of deaths on that land. Way, way, way, way back in the 18th century, a family named Clay had been attacked by Shawnee warriors. She showed me a hand drawn map that marked the exact spot several Clay children had died. And it was less than 100 yards from where I'd installed the swing ride. So as I drove home, my head was just spinning. I'd heard a few of these stories before from old timers back when I worked at the park, but, you know, I'd written it all off as superstition. But what was happening here wasn't just superstition. And it wasn't just that my park was built on land where bad things had occurred. It seemed. I don't know, it seemed almost like the land itself was drawing these tragedies, like it was collecting them. Now, despite everything I'd learned, I kept the park running through that first summer. That fall, once we closed our doors for the season, I decided to expand. If Lake Shawnee was going to survive, it needed to grow. Now, I had plans for a small roller coaster. Nothing fancy, but something a bit more thrilling than our swings or Ferris wheel. The excavation work started on an October morning, and I was excited to see the project moving forward. But by noon, everything had stopped. The bulldozer operator came to find me and said he'd hit something in the ground. Something that looked like it might be important. Human bones, and lots of them. Within a day, archaeologists from Marshall University were on site and said we'd stumbled upon a Native American burial ground. He guessed that thousands of Native Americans might be buried across the Lake Shawnee property. Men, women, and children who'd lived and died here long before any of us dreamt of it as a place for nostalgic entertainment. And yeah, that's when I realized that my park was doomed, just like the iteration before it. Because this wasn't just a land with a dark history. This was sacred ground that had been turned into something it was never meant to be. So, yeah, that night, I just couldn't sleep. All I could think about was all those poor children. The Shawnee kids buried in the ground, the clay children killed in their own yard, and the poor park visitors on the rides themselves. How many more victims might there be if I keep the park running, you know? So as I made the hardest decision of my entire life and I locked those gates for good. Yeah, the rides are still sitting there, slowly being grown over with weeds. And every time I drive by, I still feel nostalgic, of course, but I also Remember that little girl in the white dress spinning eternally on her swing? And the boy in the pond will never make it to shore. I told folks it was insurance costs that forced the closure, but, well, you know, now that's not entirely true. And I've got to be honest, it's becoming too expensive to keep the land. And, well, I might be forced to sell that soon enough. What worries me is I just worry about what the next buyer might try to do there. And I hope that, unlike me, they listen to the stories.

[Brian Sigley]

Sightings will be back just after this.

[Pacific Source Health Plans Advertiser]

When the Moore family ditched cable Internet and switched to Zigly Fiber, they got so much more. Mr. Moore got more upload speed for next level gaming and livestreaming to the masses with reliable service. Mrs. Moore is no longer her family's IT guru, leaving her more time to stream games into overtime.

[Guest or Co-host]

Let's go.

[Pacific Source Health Plans Advertiser]

And young Mason Moore got more done quickly uploading HD product demos and video conferencing without freesight.

[McLeod Andrews]

The numbers look good, Brad. You're on mute.

[Pacific Source Health Plans Advertiser]

Switch from cable Internet to Zibli Fiber and get more of what you love for $65 less per month than [e-mail].

[Mood.com Advertiser]

You know that feeling when your day finally slows down and you just want to relax, unplug and feel good? That's where Mood.com comes in. They're changing the game. Delivering legal THC products right to your door. No shady dealers and absolutely no medical card required. Just good vibes and better sleep. Shipped straight from their farm to your couch. From delicious THC gummies, smooth vape pens to premium THC flowers, Mood has it all. And everything's federally legal under the 2018 farm bill. Yeah. This isn't some loophole. It's the real deal. Head to mood.com and use code F I R-T20 for 20% off your first order. That's M O O D dot com. Find your mood.

[McLeod Andrews]

Welcome back. What a ride, everybody.

[Guest or Co-host]

Also, what a sweet guy. I really liked the perspective of that story, Brian.

[Brian Sigley]

No, I think you really brought a little bit of folksy rusticness that I thought was a lot of fun.

[McLeod Andrews]

Nice.

[Guest or Co-host]

Was that the guy? Was he real?

[Brian Sigley]

He's real. Yeah. No, he's real. He's passed away. His kids, I think, still own the park. Really? Or own the land. Yeah. But we'll get to the park as it is today a little bit later.

[McLeod Andrews]

Sure.

[Brian Sigley]

I just thought this would be a really fun place to take a little vacation because we're all, I think Familiar with amusement parks by this point, of course. Have you taken your daughters to any yet?

[McLeod Andrews]

You know, we've been to a carnival.

[Brian Sigley]

Okay.

[McLeod Andrews]

And that was.

[Guest or Co-host]

That was fun. They enjoyed themselves.

[Brian Sigley]

Interesting you mentioned carnivals, though, because I kind of got, like, a carnival type feel from this place. It felt like kind of a sprawling plot of land that happened to have a few rides and just kind of open space where people could go and hang out and go swimming and things like that. We do have a picture. We're going to put this up on Instagram.

[Guest or Co-host]

Yeah.

[Brian Sigley]

But McLeod, here's a picture of the watering hole is, I think, what they called it.

[McLeod Andrews]

Oh, wow.

[Guest or Co-host]

This is so cool, I gotta say.

[McLeod Andrews]

The watering hole, the pond.

[Guest or Co-host]

That felt anomalous to me. Like, I've never been to a park that also just had a pond or a swimming pool. Because obviously, kind of, like, was mentioned in the end of the story, like, liability issues to just, like, have a place for a bunch of people to swim, which, you know, there's water parks, obviously, but you have lifeguards and. I don't know, it's a whole thing. It just felt odd to me and obviously dangerous to just have a pond in the middle of a carnival with lots of people.

[Brian Sigley]

I have to think, like, back to the 1920s, which was when this was first built, you know, before there were a whole bunch of rides. I think the concept of an amusement park might have been just more of a place to go and do leisurely things, you know?

[Guest or Co-host]

Yeah, yeah. There'd be a ride or two. A swimming hole.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. But there's so much history in the plot of land that Lake Shawnee was built on.

[Guest or Co-host]

And that's true.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. So let's kind of take a dive through history on this one, because this has to be the most tumultuous history of amusement parkland.

[McLeod Andrews]

Yeah.

[Guest or Co-host]

I mean, like, that discovery is chilling. Was so chilling.

[Brian Sigley]

Let's go back to the 1770s here. Well, before West Virginia became a state. In that area of West Virginia, I guess the southern part of West Virginia, kind of over the Virginia border, there's a guy named Mitchell Clay who got a royal grant of 803 acres of land, and he and his wife and his children moved there. They built a home. They're kind of frontiersman, I guess, so to speak. But with that came, you know, the constant risk of clashes with the natives, Native Americans, whose land they were basically just taking over.

[McLeod Andrews]

Right.

[Brian Sigley]

One day in 1783, I guess, 10 years after they moved out there, Clay went on a hunt with one of his sons and Native American hunting party attacked the homestead, killed a few of the kids. In response, Clay rallied a whole group of locals who then went on to hunt down the hunting party. And it was just a mess. It's called the Clay Massacre.

[McLeod Andrews]

Yeah.

[Brian Sigley]

And the spot where all the kids were initially murdered is literally on this area where the rides. So that happened for a while, I guess. I don't really know what happened in the 19th century on that land. What I can say happened, though, is that West Virginia did become a state eventually, and with that became a whole boom in population as coal and timber and all those kind of industrial things became profitable. And that led us to the early 1920s when a man named Conley Snideow bought that whole swath of land to build an amusement park on. And his park ran from the 20s to the 60s. And it had rides and the pool. It also had a racetrack.

[McLeod Andrews]

Oh, cool.

[Brian Sigley]

It had cabins for people to stay in. It had a dance hall. So like I said earlier, kind of like a whole bunch of leisurely things that people can do rather than necessarily a whole bunch of rides.

[Guest or Co-host]

Like a resort, actually.

[Brian Sigley]

And it seemed very pleasant. And this part of West Virginia is really scenic.

[Guest or Co-host]

Yeah. Beautiful mountains.

[Brian Sigley]

But of course, not all was rosy at Lake Shawnee.

[Guest or Co-host]

Unless it was blood.

[Brian Sigley]

Yep. It's said that up to six deaths occurred in the park before it closed in 1966. One of them actually happened to be Snide Owl's daughter.

[McLeod Andrews]

Oh.

[Brian Sigley]

Now, her death didn't seem to happen in the park itself. It was still pretty unfortunate though. She apparently got caught in an elevator, the doors closed and she died, Man. And then the girl who was killed on the swing ride, that actually happened. What happened was a delivery driver backed his truck into the swings while people were on it, and the little girl was decapitated. It must have been horrifying.

[McLeod Andrews]

Yeah.

[Brian Sigley]

Then in the 1960s, more than one kid drown in the swimming hole. First the 6 year old boy that we mentioned, then an 11 year old, apparently his arm got caught in an intake pipe. That's like just brutal stuff.

[Guest or Co-host]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian Sigley]

And after that, of course, Snide Owl had to shut the park down, or willingly shut the park down, I guess. It sat abandoned for 20 years until it was bought again by the man you read in the story.

[Guest or Co-host]

Okay.

[Brian Sigley]

Gaylord White.

[Guest or Co-host]

Okay, we're up to the stories present and Gaylord. So did he actually work at the park?

[Brian Sigley]

He certainly did. I guess he worked there in the 60s when he was a teenager. And so he had this kind of Wistful nostalgia for the place that he kind of grew up in and wanted to return it to its former glory. I suppose that's hard to do in land that's haunted. So pretty quickly, people reported seeing lots of apparitions. The swing that he found, as we heard in the story, he tracked down a random swing that turned out to be the exact one that the little girl died on.

[Guest or Co-host]

Oh, wow.

[Brian Sigley]

And that little girl is still seen on the swings. Once in a while, the swings would move on their own. It has cold spots, things like that. Gaylord White even saw her more than once, apparently. The first time he was on his tractor mowing the grass, he saw the little girl by the swings, and he was like, no, he just left the tractor right where it was and hightailed the.

[Guest or Co-host]

That's about how I would respond as well.

[Brian Sigley]

So there were also a bunch of apparitions that weren't in the story. There's apparently a man who's often seen in one of the Ferris wheel cars.

[McLeod Andrews]

Oh.

[Brian Sigley]

And apparently is even seen jumping from it, which would be terrifying if the Ferris wheel were running.

[Guest or Co-host]

Sure, I guess. Is there any record of somebody committing suicide from the.

[Brian Sigley]

Not that I could find. So I don't really know the provenance of that story. It's just something that I saw reports of. There's also reports of people seeing or hearing Native Americans. Like, hearing Native American drums, which seems a little cliche to me.

[Guest or Co-host]

Yeah. Also like drums. It's kind of like that could be any number of banging. Banging sounds.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. But despite all this, you know, all these sightings, back when Whitehead first opened the park, he kept it open for a few years until he ultimately closed it due to insurance costs and dwindling attendance. And now here's where timing gets a little bit different between the story and real life. Because he ended up closing the park, and they were doing some kind of building on it or something, and that's when they ended up uncovering all these buried bodies.

[Guest or Co-host]

Gotcha. So he had already closed it, and they were like, we're gonna build a Starbucks.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. Or whatever, you know, or just, you know, I think just clearing land or something. I'm not sure. I thought it was more poignant for the purpose of the story to have it be like, and there's dead bodies.

[McLeod Andrews]

Right.

[Guest or Co-host]

Like, I'm out.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah.

[McLeod Andrews]

It's a good.

[Guest or Co-host]

It's a better button for sure.

[Brian Sigley]

But, yeah, they. They found some sources say 13 bodies, some say 25. They had all these experts come in from the local university, and they really have determined that that's probably just a smaller part of what is much more likely a larger burial ground with up to as many as 3,000 Shawnee bodies.

[Guest or Co-host]

That is intense. But you would think that they would have, like, with the building of this watering hole, unless that hole was kind of like, already a depression that they just filled in with water.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah. I wonder if it was, like, already a lake or something.

[Guest or Co-host]

Do we have any research on sort of the nature of these types of burial grounds? Like, or at least our best guess as to, like, what purpose these served for the Native American communities?

[Brian Sigley]

I did not dig that deep on that, so I do not want to put words in anyone's mouth. My impression seems to be that the. There weren't gravestones or anything. Like, it just was a place where people were buried.

[Guest or Co-host]

Yeah, it was just the cemetery kind of.

[Brian Sigley]

Yes.

[Guest or Co-host]

Actually, if any of our listeners are, you know, specialists or, like, have studied or very well educated in some of these, like, Native American histories and cultures, it'd be awesome for you to just educate us, like, shoot us information about, you know, these customs.

[Brian Sigley]

And it might help illuminate the energy that this park has.

[Guest or Co-host]

Right. Like, is it just a cemetery and that was just sort of customary in what they would do over generations and generations, or was it like a kind of mass grave for some horrible event? Obviously, my understanding is when colonialists started arriving, they brought smallpox, and it wiped out, like, 90% of the native population before anyone even raised a gun.

[Brian Sigley]

There's no doubt that Native American history in that part of the country and in all of the country, frankly, is rife with loss and. Yeah, it's become almost a horror trope in a way, you know. Oh, the house is buried on Indian.

[Guest or Co-host]

Yeah, like Poltergeist.

[Brian Sigley]

Exactly. I mean, that's the story of Poltergeist, where this house that has all this weird stuff happening on a Native American.

[Guest or Co-host]

Burial ground, even sort of Amityville, like, kind of tried to link to that sort of.

[Brian Sigley]

Yeah, they found bodies on the Amityville lot as well that some have said were Native Americans. It just seems to me no one did the research that they should have.

[Guest or Co-host]

Been doing before building an amusement park.

[Brian Sigley]

Building anything on this land. Although I have to wonder, you know, I mean, I wonder if that kind of history is all over the place in a lot of these lands that were formerly occupied by Native Americans. But in this case, beyond the burial ground part, you know, there was that massacre that happened, Right. There were children dying. There was all this stuff happening on this land that it's just like, oh, no, I'm out. Please. Yeah.

[McLeod Andrews]

And, you know, it's.

[Guest or Co-host]

I'm not gonna go full skeptical gecko on it, but it's like that kind of history has to seep into the minds and imaginations of the people living, especially at a time when there's even more credulity than there is now.

[Brian Sigley]

So are the ghosts on the property real or not? That's, I think, up for debate in this case. But of a lot of the places that I feel like we've discussed, this one seems like it has the setup more than most to be a haunted place. And there's been enough people that have seen different things over the years and over history. Kind of like the Stanley Hotel in a weird way, where just so many things have been seen that I want to believe that people are seeing something there.

[Guest or Co-host]

Yeah, absolutely.

[McLeod Andrews]

And if I were to go here.

[Guest or Co-host]

Like, obviously, I lean a little bit more skeptical gecko on things, but still, the knowledge of these events would create a kind of palpable effect on how I would feel in this space if I think I were to go to it.

[Brian Sigley]

Which I guess kind of leads us to, you know, we're kind of skip over theories, because I don't know if there's any theories to discuss here other than it's haunted.

[Guest or Co-host]

Yeah, yeah, the theory is it's haunted.

[Brian Sigley]

It's kind of interesting, though. Lake Shawnee now is kind of an interesting place. As I mentioned, it appears to be owned by descendants of.

[Guest or Co-host]

It's no longer a.

[Brian Sigley]

It's no longer a park, but the rides are still there.

[McLeod Andrews]

Oh, wow.

[Brian Sigley]

It's just kind of an abandoned plot of land. So got a couple more photos.

[Automated Phone System]

Whoa.

[Guest or Co-host]

What? Okay, so sorry, listeners. This is in full color modern photography. There's this nice green lawn to the right. There's a weedy. There's a hill rising in the distance with the sun just set, casting a silhouette of a Ferris wheel that's probably about, I don't know, 40, 50ft high. And then, like, a weird little ticket.

[Brian Sigley]

Booth sitting in front of it and totally overgrown. Everything is. And we'll put this on Instagram so everyone can see what this looks like now. And then there should be a picture of the swings as well.

[Guest or Co-host]

Oh, no, no, no, no, listeners. This swing is nightmare fuel. Holy cow. It looks like a torture device or like an Eiffel. Like a tiny Eiffel Tower that sort of, like, open structure and, like, it's all grown over with, like, weeds and rusted. And no harnesses, no safety harnesses. It's just a swing that you would have to just hold onto as this thing spins you.

[McLeod Andrews]

And these are long chains.

[Guest or Co-host]

It would spin you probably like 30ft.

[Brian Sigley]

I would not want to spend a night here, which to be what people do now. It's like you can go on the land, get a tour, spend the night, maybe things like that kind of thing, and. And hopefully, you know, have a ghost encounter. So that's Lake Shawnee, interestingly enough, not the only haunted amusement park in the world. There's one in Australia, too, that we might do an episode on maybe next summer. But that one's much more modern and like an actual theme park, so to speak. But. But listeners, if you've been to Lake Shawnee, we'd love to hear about your encounters there. If you remember going to Lake Shawnee, that would be really cool to hear.

[Guest or Co-host]

Or if you just have stories about haunted amusement parks that you've been to, don't tell us about it.

[McLeod Andrews]

Write it and we'll do it as a listener story.

[Brian Sigley]

Absolutely. Especially because we're getting close to spooky season McLeod.

[Guest or Co-host]

So, yeah, I know it's going to be the worst. All right, so short term, where are we headed in two weeks? Brian?

[Brian Sigley]

We are going to stay in the south, but we are heading to Mississippi for an alien abduction story that is going to be different than all the ones we've done before. There's a lot of intrigue on this one, so I think we're really going to have a lot to dig into on it.

[McLeod Andrews]

So I'm here for it and I.

[Guest or Co-host]

Hope you will be too, listeners.

[Brian Sigley]

Yep, we'll see you in a couple weeks. Reminder, if You're a Q code + subscriber, you're going to get a bonus listener story the last Monday of the month, and then we'll see the rest of you in two weeks, same place, same time, right here on Sightings. Sightings is hosted by McLeod Andrews and Brian Sigley. Produced by Brian Sigley, chase Kinzer and McLeod Andrews. Written by Brian Sigley. Story music by Madison James Smith. Series music by Mitch Bain. Mixing and mastering by Pat Kicklater of Sundial Media. Hard work by Nuno Sarnatis. For a list of this episode's sources, check out our [e-mail] Sightings is presented by Reverb and Q Code. If you like the show, be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you're first to hear new episodes. And if you know other Supernatural fans, tell them about us. We'd really appreciate it.

[Automated Phone System]

If you work as a manufacturing facilities engineer, installing a new piece of equipment can be as complex as the machinery itself. From prep work to alignment and testing, it's your team's job to put it all together. That's why it's good to have Grainger on your side. With industrial grade products and next day delivery, Grainger helps ensure you have everything you need close at hand through every step of the installation. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgrainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. If you work as a manufacturing facilities engineer, installing a new piece of equipment can be as complex as the machinery itself itself. From prep work to alignment and testing, it's your team's job to put it all together. That's why it's good to have Grainger on your side. With industrial grade products and next day delivery, Grainger helps ensure you have everything you need close at hand through every step of the installation. Call 1-800-GRAINGER clickgrainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.