Beaver Creek State Park – Investigation

Beaver Creek State Park

June 30, 2019

East Liverpool, OH

 

Investigation

 Seemingly in the middle of nowhere in East Liverpool, Ohio, Beaver Creek State Park emerges beautifully from the heavily wooded, and sometimes single-lane, dirt roads. The state park itself houses many gorgeous features such as pavilions, creek entrances, river swings, picnicking areas, and just open-air green space. Beyond that lies a history that not many realize once existed in the small area.

Still standing to this day is Gaston’s Mill. This mill powered and produced the income for the small town of Sprucevale. Gretchen’s Lock also stands, at least a portion of it with its’ huge swinging gate and stone structure. Unfortunately, the surrounding buildings all fell into disrepair and all that remained were stone foundation. Luckily, the state stepped in and re-built the old, historical buildings over top of the original locations. Currently, there is a chapel, a shop, an outhouse (don’t try to use it, they don’t appreciate that), a wooden bridge, and the original bell.

 

 

After about an hour drive to the spot, we lost track of time and simply explored the beautiful location. Between the gorgeous day and the historic value, we took our good ole time to begin our daytime investigation. Lucky for us, during this time, a park volunteer unlocked all of these buildings so we could explore further and actually investigate inside of them instead of only on the exterior.

The investigation began around noon and lasted roughly two hours, as we had to avoid both cars, foot traffic, and the wind which picked up as we investigated the lock. We did not need to utilize all of our equipment mainly due to the time of day. We used a K2 meter, a handheld camera, SB7 spirit box, Rempod, and recorder.

The most activity we received was on the third floor of Gaston’s Mill where we believe we picked up some communication with a former Civil War soldier who still resides near the relocated tree where he surrendered his Confederate troops. However, we did receive Rempod alerts in the basement of Gaston’s Mill and a very odd scream/shriek out near Gretchen’s Lock. We never really felt anything too off putting or increases in energy but that may be due to the other energies active in the area during the day.

 

 

Below are our recordings and videos that we took during the investigation. We marked the locations where we feel we received communication from the other side like voices, noises, anything and everything we captured.  Let us know your thoughts if you get the chance to listen and watch some of the footage.

As always, you have been warned, some of this is not for the faint of heart and can be slightly explicit:

Gaston’s Mill – Third Floor

There have been numerous stories that took place in and around Gaston’s Mill. The first is that of a small boy who was killed here and is seen wondering around, laughing and crying, depending on who is present. Esther has also been spotted looking longingly out of windows still awaiting her husband who abandoned her at the altar, leaving her to suffer and hang herself in the mill. The third spirit who is said to linger in the mill is Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan. The tree where he surrendered his brigade was moved to the mill after the property was being renovated and, even though the owners did not care for it, they wanted to preserve it. This “Surrender Tree” was said to bring John Hunt Morgan with it who still protects the tree from anyone who wants to damage it or simply lingers too long near it.

Photos:

• We snapped a few photos around the room including all of the antiques and artifacts on display as well as the Surrender Tree but did not capture anything too odd.

 

 

 Recording 1 – EVP:

• We didn’t capture too much aside from passing cars, but around 2:40, we heard “Not Me” in response to us asking if any of the tools were special to the spirit with us.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/645383415″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]

Recording 2 – Spirit Box:

 As we opened the conversation asking if there was anyone with us, we heard “I am here” at :52.

• We asked if the spirit could tell us their name to which we heard “Go” at 1:53.
• As we moved around the room, Dan mentioned he saw something by the wall across from us. At 4:26, we heard “Me.”
• Again, Dan saw something behind the counter, and we heard a deep, inaudible grumble at 4:56.
• At 5:27 we captured “Dan” after Dan mentioned that he saw something move in front of the window.
• After some silence we asked who is with us and we heard “John” at 7:29 and repeated at 9:00 after we mentioned something is coming through (the spirit box).
• We told the spirit we’d like it if they came and spoke with us to which we heard “No” at 9:30.
• Before we packed up, trying to stir up some more evidence, we told the spirit to jump out and scare us and that Derrick doesn’t scare easy, to which we heard “Me?” at 10:32.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/645383412″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]

 Video 1:

• No evidence, but it gives you a good feel for the layout of the room and the artifacts in it.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RQyQHThR6o&w=560&h=315]

Video 2:

• This was another capture of simply exploring the room, there is nothing caught on camera here.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=779dMjJP0DU&w=560&h=315]

Video 3:

• Much like the recorder, we picked up mostly the same conversation, however, there are a few spots that were not picked up on the camera. It’s possible these are more EVP’s than communication through the spirit box.
• We asked if there was anyone with us, we heard “I am here” at :51.
• We asked the spirit to tell us their name and we heard “Go” at 1:52.
• Dan said he saw something by the wall and at 4:25, we heard “Me.”
• This was one of the spots we did not hear on the video, even though the camera was actually closer to the counter where Dan thought he saw some. We did not capture the mumble on the camera like we did on the recorder.
• At 5:26 we captured “Dan” after he said that he saw something move in front of the window.
• Another spot of discrepancy was where we heard “John” on the recorder after we asked who is with us. We could not hear this on the video.
• We told the spirit we’d like it if they came and spoke with us to which we heard “No” at 9:30.
• The last spot where the video did not pick up any audio like the recorder did was when we told the spirit to jump out and scare us. We heard “Me” on the recorder, but it was not captured on the video.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWro8E7ko-A&w=560&h=315]

Gaston’s Mill – Basement

The Basement has been known to draw the spirit of the boy who was killed at the mill more than any other spirit. He has been captured here by tugging on visitors’ clothing and his voice has been heard echoing out of the door, even when the mill is closed up to the public.

Photos:

• We took plenty of photos and, even though we didn’t catch anything paranormal, we got some good shots of the old mill’s gear shafts and waterway. We’d love to see it in action!

 

 

 Recording 1 – EVP:

• There was a box fan running in the utility closet during the entire investigation, but at 3:20 we heard an odd bump noise coming from that direction. We can’t be sure if that was the fan malfunctioning or something more other worldly.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/645383409″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]

Recording 2 – Spirit Box:

• As we asked the spirit to tell us their name, we heard something, but unsure what came through, at :50.
• At 1:05, without prefacing the spirit for any communication we heard “Fire.”

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/645383406″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]

Recording 3 – Spirit Box:

• We went a significant amount of time without anything, but at 5:56, the Rempod could be heard going off as Dan had touched an old piece of equipment.
• The Rempod reacted again as Dan once more touched the equipment at 6:10.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/645383403″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]

Video 1 – EVP:

• At 3:16, the odd noise in the utility room can be heard as we attempt to chase down the sound and debunk or prove that it was something paranormal.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5X38jZDhco&w=560&h=315]

Video 2 – Spirit Box:

• We heard an something, unclear but definitely a voice, at :49.
• At 1:05, we heard “Fire.”
• The Rempod was alerted at 7:21, and it can be seen in the video that neither of us were close to the equipment.
• We tested it again by stepping further away and Dan touched the item again as the Rempod went off at 7:34.
• We attempted to debunk this as Derrick touched the item but the Rempod did not go off. We attempted to get the same result of the Rempod going off but could not, leading us to believe that there was in fact something present setting it off.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV4LHzJ8P4c&w=560&h=315]

Gretchen’s Lock – Outside

Gretchen, who the lock was named after, was buried inside the lock itself after she died. Her father opted to take her back to Ireland with him but when his boat hit torrential storms and sunk killing him in the process, Gretchen’s body was lost forever. As was her longest resting spot, the lock has been said to be her eternal spiritual home. Gretchen has been seen and heard around the lock, crying and begging to be with her mother.

Photos:

• There was nothing paranormal caught in the pictures.

 

 

Recording 1 – Spirit Box:

• The recording picks up a lot of wind as it began to blow harder outside as we were investigating the lock. We never really caught too much in this spot, however, at :46 we captured a scream in the recording. This was not caught by our naked ears during our time there.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/645383397″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]

Video 1 – Spirit Box:

• Just like earlier in the day, we did not capture the same noise that we did on the recorder. Aside from the wind and some motorcycles, there was not much gathered in the video.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFmPpubSSdM&w=560&h=315]

After our investigation of the Beaver Creek Park, we do believe that we received some evidence of different hauntings throughout the area. Our initial thoughts and feelings made us second guess these results, but once we analyzed the data, we can say that we captured a few specific events during our investigation.

We felt that the energy and communication in Gaston’s Mill was more intelligent, most likely that of the former Confederate John Hunt Morgan or the broken-hearted Esther. Some of the shadow movements and slight communication heard drove us to this conclusion. However, at Gretchen’s Lock, the only thing we experienced was an odd scream which we gather to be more residual.

 

 

Being in the middle of nowhere, we tested the different radio stations and frequencies and we were unable to pick up anything more than static. Because of this, using the spirit box, and the evidence gathered there, seemed to be more acceptable and legitimate. The screams heard at the outdoor area at Gretchen’s Lock could be debunked by any children playing in the area. However, upon video review, there was no one around. On top of that, the scream could not even be heard on the video, only on the recorder. We believe this to be more EVP and unable to pick up from just listening with a plain ear.

Based on our experiences and the evidence gathered, we can conclude that the Beaver Creek Park is home to a few paranormal entities, a few which just want to communicate, others that simply replay their stories over and over unbeknownst if they are even passed on or not.