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(the
house was destroyed sometime in late 2002 or early 2003)
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Located in the Cuyahoga Metropark at Hampton
Hills, Top of the World is quite an impressionable place.
A farm house and a huge barn sit abandoned in
the surrounding woods.
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narrow rocky drive, the huge red abandoned barn greets you. A quick
turn to the left is the parking lot, and just beyond there is the uncanny
little white farm house. Our first impression was that we
found a great place to explore. It's surrounded by dense trees and
sits in an open field. The house is completely boarded up and looks
very eerie. The front of the house has 2 huge plywood boards that
are positioned like a cross. We explored around the outside and
noticed loose boards covering the basement window in the back of the house.
It looked like a deep dark hole that led into the basement, which featured
a dirt floor, crumbling stone walls, and a frightening staircase that
lead to the upper floor. There wasn't any furniture
left in the house except an old stove and refrigerator. There were
quite a few rooms, and one room on the upstairs had a sloping floor that
didn't look safe due to water damage and also had rotten vegetation that
fell through the rafters from the trees above. Nothing much happened
to us here, but we felt a real sense that this place had some history.
It definitely gave us a rush to be there exploring at night.
Next, we went to the big red barn, it looked like it was definitely very old but was in fair shape, at least from the outside. We didn't try to get inside because the door was padlocked and we think its being used as a storage space. Around the back of the barn there's a huge overgrown vine that's at least 5-6 feet wide and stretches from the ground all the way to the roof. Four of our photos showed a white fog that is unexplainable. It was a clear night with no fog and nobody was smoking. We didn't see any ghosts or hear any unusual sounds that night, (besides the reflected, glowing fireworks display from several miles away) but it was definitely worth the trip and is highly recommended. |
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A Little History and Hearsay It's a Western Reserve farmhouse, circa
1820-1850. The famous story behind top of the world is that a family who lived in the house was murdered. By whom; there are a two different versions. Some say the father of this family came home with an ax and killed his wife, daughter and son, then he proceeded to the barn where he slaughtered the horses and hung himself. Some say the family was killed by an evil cult as a sacrifice. Some say the father was part of this group. People claim to have heard a woman crying from the house at night. Others have seen the shadow of a man walking from the house to the barn carrying an ax. People have also claimed to have seen lights coming from the barn, and heard the sounds of horses. However, no one really knows if this family has ever existed. |
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| Directions
FROM THE SOUTH: Take 77N to the Route 8 interchange in Akron. Take Route 8 North to Cuyahoga Falls, take Graham Rd. exit then make a left. Drive down Graham Rd. about 3-5 minutes then turn right onto Bath Rd. Take Bath Rd. about 10 minutes, you will eventually pass a church on your left and a town hall on the right. Keep going straight and continue for another few minutes. You will see a yellow diamond sign that says 'School Bus Unloading' (or something like that), immediately after the sign, there will be an unmarked rocky driveway on the right. Turn into here, you will see a sign that says 'Park Closes at Night'. At the top of the hill you will see the barn. FROM THE NORTH: Take Route 8 South towards Akron, get off at the Graham Rd. exit in Cuyahoga Falls. Turn right. Follow the directions above. |